The Standard Union from Brooklyn, New York • 24

T1IE DAILY STANDARD UNIOX: BROOKLYN. SUNDAY. OCTOBER IS. 3Dyj. 1 2 PHASES OF LIFE IN BROOKLYN'S OLDEST ITALIAN QUARTER SOP PICTURESQUE OMPAXATIVKLT fw ef th thou-udi of Brooklyn! t.

who dally Journey soots Ih. llrooklyn Bridge oa their way to Manhattan and located fat from tha generally utlllaad by traltlc. Pedestrians and vahlrl. In all appear to hava tha In th A noticeable feature ef Ufc quarter la Urn atrect peddler. afternoon shortly after chod dismissal.

Fullf thro thousand stout-lunged and healthy looking children, varying front Italian dfsUct he announces his wires, with ths conventional layer of sawdust, ooiMlsttng for the ufust part of vfta- I on can purchaso quart mug of Ttns blaa. Many women and young girts sur wins for a nickel. round Jikn and bargain for macaroni, If tha dealer caters to th levers of beans 'and, elongate bead of lettuce good smoke he wlH produce a long, nar-i thoroughfares th. vicinity Brooklyn tanntnua of tha Brlilf. aa thalr daatl nation, and Bottom under tha ahadow of th float mm-m W.VN tV 1 I Ihlrtsan ah b.glna la consider matrimony.

Bultora sf slatoen or sereatesn and a I gh l.tt art rapidly turn 4 dou until a daalrahla young man of perbapa la favorably locked Upon, U. Immadlataly bagtna to aavs hla apara changa until aoough capital 1c ao cumulated to buy a wedding ring, after which the ceremony la performed. At tha preeent time the brides, who are not by any meant fair, average about fifteen year. It le not an uncommon occurrence in tha taction to see aa many a a flve gen-era Ilona In one family, and -tha local kindergarten principal, Mlaa MeOlnnla. can point out to a visitor many of her pupils whose parents she has taught during her fifteen year a' experience.

"The children ere generelly very bright." eeye Mlaa Mcdlnnte. "they are apt and obedient, end I very seldom have trouble with them. It la a peculiar thing among the boys that their ambition leads to ahlny buttons alone A pasting po-llcemart or fireman la gated upon with awe. and the youngster who gains recognition from an officer Id very much envied." While the majority of the youth are Industrious, thoae who find It difficult to obtain a position have many Intereating pastime to while away the time. Secen and a half la almllar to a poker gam, only the English game le far surpassed.

Inasmuch a It la possible to have flve of a kind Instead of four The Joker la always used In this Interesting "tima chaser." aa It la called. Ascoop Is c.nother etrenuous card game and It Is always necessary to pull ott thle stirring paallme In the depth of Harrla Cour, an alley from eight to ten feet wide. Here the patrolmen keep a sharp lookout, although the Innabltanta appear to be amiable enough. '-VU'r- 'Q' -wi' ft 'A vU, nA IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE FIVE OF A KIND IN THE ITALIAN GAME OF SEVEN AND A HALF -i A GROUP OF HARRIS UOURT RESIDENTS. SHOWING 'THE GENERAL RATIO OF CHILDREN AND ELDERS IN THE SETTLEMENT.

A UNIFORM HAS A GREAT ATTRACTION FOR YOUNGSTERS IN THE SETTLEMENT. 1 to 11 years, occupy every available Inc of territory In the neighborhood und render life miserable for the older generation, who may be endeavoring to enjoy their afternoon aleata The Italian manner of wooing Is decidedly more rapid In this Italian quarter than It Is elsewhere. When a young miss reaches the experienced age of llK THB HEART OF THE QUARTER, 8HOWINQ THREE GENERATIONS OF ONE FAMILY. AND THE OLDEST INHABITANT I 1 1 pan, Brooklyn'! most typloal Kalian I comparatively few venture below Into the iquarter. i narrow, crooked streets of the settlement This can be attributed to the fact that Very Interesting la the scene In the I-DiO settlement la mostly on an Incline.

I cinlty of Main and Front streets on an row cigar. The tobacco Is wrapped I around a straw, which Is pulled out when! the smoker Is ready to enjoy the fruits of (ils investment, which is generally two' American coppers. Oita and imported dried flsh are sometimes vended, but not often. Wine stores take the place of saloons, and by descending a flight of stairs Into a cellar, the floor of which is covered every day he Journeys through the hilly streets leading hla emaciated steed and time-worn wsgon. In a high pitched SHIPPING TRADE REVIVAL IN SOUTH BROOKLYN1 (INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE FOR UNIVERSAL USE By BRIG-GEN.

A S. BURT, U. S. Army. Wharves which at one tlms wereIn great demand harbored Idle merchantmen If they were not deserted, and longshoremen became scarce In the locality.

They could reap a richer harvest along VE been around these piers and docks for many a day, recently saJd an old aalt water tar in the vicinity of Erie Basin, and it Is seldom I've seen so 1 one of the means by which humanity expresses or modifies its Ideas. All people use more or less gestures or signs, but among the highly cultUated they are used only aa adjecthes, adverbs, Interjections, to give emphasis and point to oral speech When two people, whether civilised or savage, neither speaking nor understanding the oral language of the other, meet oral language they neither speak nor understand, but everyday intercourse among themselves In their own camps and families, this language Is used so constantly that It becomes a natural and Instinctive habit, almost every man, even when using oral language, accompanying Ills words by sign pictures conveying the same meaning In this way wonderful facility and accuracy of ex- (Western grain and produce have been! arriving In the metropolis as a result of this years successful output and it Willj not be long before "tramps wll dAIIy arrive from every quarter of the globe, The new government channel 40 feeti in depth and 00 feet In length, which la' being dug Just south of the Buttermilk Channel will favor South Brooklyn ship-! ping and furnish more adequate condi-l tlons for craft of great tonnage to steam direct to a wharf in the Red Hook sec-1 tion. It will mean that In the future a survey of Brooklyn's southern water front will not disclose merely a tangled mass of schooner rigging, and occasion-1 ally a single smokestack, but wharfed atj the docks there will be large transat-j lantlc liners and heavy tramps and mer' chantmen. The project to have the city acquire control of the Thirty-ninth Street Ferry would, If carried out, lead to more ade-' quate rapid transit to Manhattan and Improve the local shipping conditions aj well, said Superintendent Smith of the Maritime Association recently. 'The South Brooklyn w'ater front should be wonderfully benefited before long, he continued, particularly If the canals are deepened sufficiently to ellow large grain boats tp come down from the lakes.

The South Brooklyn grain elevatorai which have been Idle for a few years) would again be running. The question; stract ideas of every kind, the uniformity is indeed marvellous Every tribe of the plains has not only Its distinctive name, but also Its sign, by which It la known and designated by all other Indians In some cases these signs indicate the character of the tribe, in others they appear to be purely arbitrary, at least, no Indian appears to be able to give any satisfactory explanation of their origin or meaning. I give a few of the signs as an example: Man Inax finger of right hand held erect before the face, back to front, push slightly outwards and upwards. Woman Right hand, fingers open but Joined, bai to front, is passed with a circular sweeping motion to the right sid of the face and head, indicating flowing hair. pay Hands open, fingers extended, palms upward, are carried from front and centre of body to each side and held horizontal and motionless, backs down, indicating all open.

Night Hands open, fingers extended and Joined, palms down are carried to centre of body and crossed, right hand above, but not touching, and held motionless, indicating all closed. These may all be regarded as natural sighs. I will give one example of what may be called a complex sign To express Ucyaild coffee, ready for the table, the Indian represents: The Bean Thumb pressed against forefinger of right hand, a short distance from the tip, other fingers closed (a natural sign for any small object). A Pot Thumb and forefinger of both hands, open and crescent-shaped, other fingers closed, palms inward, are held about a foot apart. To Put On Hands so held are movd downward toward ground, as if putting on a fire To Boil Both hands held low in front of body, backs down, fingers partially closed, then flip out thumbs and fingers, at the same time making a slight upward motion of wrists To Drink Right hand, held as If grAsptng a cup.

Is carried to the mouth and turned up as in the act of drinking. Coffee The bean, that you put In a pot, and put on the Are, and boll and then drink. An expert sign-talker will make the ITH the search belns made by scientists and educators for a universal language, one that could be easily understood after a week's study by people of varied tongues, I wonder that some atentlon has I Bot been given to the sign language of (tha Red Men of the Plains" I Those of ua who hate lived many pears on the plain and In the days when no Indian could understand the English tongue know of what great benefit was tha sign language In "making talk" with the Indiana, how easily It was learned and how the member of the various tribes though of different "tongue" could understand us and each other. The benefits ot and necessity for a universal language to-day are as apparent aa was the case among the Indiana In the "frontier days of long ago. All the plains tribes depended al-Imost entirely on the buffalo for everything.

That animal, though regular In dil migration (going north in aprlng. Lnd south In fall and winter), waa exceedingly erratic in his visits to any particular section depending on his own rood supply, the condition of the grass (If the buffalo did not coma to the Indian, (the Indian must go to the buffalo, at brhatsvsr haxard. IITie same necessity possibly actuating nr bends and tribes, the country In i vicinity of the buffalo became lgerous ground. The tribe or band In oss territory they were, regarded the lalo as their own property, an evl-ice of the favor of God They resented i Intrusion of other bands and hunt- parties not only as killing and driv- Off their property, but as Interfering their "medicine," the medicine ef taking care that all shall understand that his Influence with God brought the buffalo. Each year the country occupied by the buffalo became L.vast battleground, the proper owners UNLOADING A SOUTH AMERICAN CARGO.

INDIAN BRAVE MAKING SIGNS FOE A CUP OF COFFEE many three-masters and mixed craft as is here now. A look around the Basin would tend to verify the old sailor's assertion. The inlets and docking coves are congested with merchantmen tramps, river craft and passenger ships. Every available docking ground has been taken and a casual glance would disclose myriads of masts, from the sciuare rigged to the slanting reed-like stick of the pleasure craft. The latter, however, are very much In the minority at the present time.

The season for pleasure sailing is practically at an end and the owners of the various yachts will not attend to their repairing until early next spring. Just above the great repair shop and along the Red Hook water front, large schooners and foreign tramp steamers are again conspicuous, and the reaction following the recent shipping slump is very apparent. For two consecutive years grain receipts have been very poor, which has played havoc along the South Brooklyn water front In the vicinity of the gigantic grain elevators. and wish to commjinicate, the first and most natural Impulse is to attempt to gain or convey information by means of signs. Even at the very first attempt some Ideas will be interchanged, and after repeated efforts, they will so far progress as to be able to exchange Ideas, with some certainty and satisfaction.

The sign language undoubtedly sprung from this natural tendency, and has Its foundation those natural signs and gestures which are common to the races of mankind. It is among the plains Indians alone that gesture-speech has arrived at such perfection, that It may properly be called a language, and this for the very sufficient reason that these tribes use It not only in Intercourse with people whose presslon by signs is attained. The sign language is a true language, and, like all other languages used by great numbers of or yvldely scattered people, it has Its dialects and its provincialisms. It is not strictly speaking a common or Identical language, but in all the vast area I have indicated, it varies less than the English language In Its two small home Islands or the French language In the territory of France. Taking into consideration the vastnes of territory and the sparseness of population, the sign language is remarkably identical.

Considering, further, the fart that the language is made up of signs representing not only all animated na- lgrm nw8ftry to express coffee ture, but relatlonalships, time, place, clr- almost as quickly as that word can be cumstances, thoughts, feeling and ab- I uttered. VIEW SHOWING THHJ CONGESTED CONDITION OF ERIE BASIN INLETS. the freight piers In Manhattan. Recently thousands of carloads of of deepening the canals, which la before I the people, directly concern the Southl Brooklyn shipping locality. If It were possible for large grain boats to reach this port by eray of! BROOKLYN APPROACH TO THE WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE IS NOW READY FOR GRADING I another week the Bridge Department will begin the work of grading the property which covers what will be 600 men has daily been at work tearing down the dwellings which occupied the land, and at the present day only a few blocke of ruins.

Only last June more than .600 tenants were notified by the Bridge Department time. "The houses for the most part have been old frame structures, and. with the of few the Just below thSSlte of the Bridge entrance the Park Department will soon begin work on the proposed paik to be located the arches. wtN REPRESENTING A BEAN (OR ANY SMALL OBJECT. beneath It Is expected that the work will be completed In th course of a few months.

the Brooklyn approach to the Williamsburg Bridge. For the past three months a fores of exception a large hotels, city has not lost much in th way of architectural beauty. scattered foundations of masonry are left to Indicate that at one time the landlord was conspicuous on the several square that they would have to seek other quarters as a. place of abode, and shortly afterward moving vans were seen often In the vicinity. "We notified all the landlords that ths tenants would have thirty days In which to move, remarked a Bridge official recently, "but judging from several complaints we have received a few of th landlord failed to warn their tenants In HIS SUIT.

Oh. why do they all spurn my suit?" he murmured sadly. Then he tried another pawnshop, i' IP 4 HI a' 3: rtrv4ng tha interloper at every favor-ftfcte opportunity. But hunting parties met otherhuntlng partial ot tribes hot hostile. To distinguish between the hostile and the friendly to 'communicate withe and possibly common causa with the latter souse means of Intercourse must bo Not being able to or un derstand each others language, cotfc-fnuntpfSfm was had by signs.

tfs miy suppose that at first signs most natural and. expressive were used. By-snd-by other signs were introduced always, conventional, but become more fns bums arbitrary, until therw resulted ronrr of communication oil most as pqfect ss if each understood and spoke 'tbs oral language of the other. This lpca of communication is uaed in Its completeness only by the plain Indians, I is called by them the wsign language. Tbs use of signs to eommunicets Ideas ta common to all the world, not only to man, but to the brute creation, end from Iths pleasure evidence! by the (wagging ot a dog's tall, to a.

bet ruse problems la astronomy and every idea may be oommunfteated by means ot signs. i This method ot Intercourse was like ermj speech, natural and and le to constant use to thb day. It is so adjunct to oral speech, and must ever NOT UNUSUAL. "Who was the best man at th wed' ding- The bride's mother, as near as I could Judge." If-' LONGSHOREMEN FOUND LITTLE WORK ALONG RED HOOK WATER FRONT DURING THE SHIPPING SLUMP. PHYSIOGNOMICAL.

They say that large ear are a sign ot generosity." guess It's so, admitted Mr. Cotn-squees. They would seem to Indicate some ort of aaalnlnlty. tha prevent faellltiea, arhlch ora practically ububo1 would not bo raffl-dent to handle the butlnm. Tnotead cf dismantling the elevator, os was proposed more would mmnrlly have to he built.

Ships coaid not find barfing room, and the section would flourish as a grain centre. 4 A CONSTANT REMINDER. Mia Hammock I think It fa a funny Uea that- your husband should lend his letters to ye typewritten every dty. Mr. Plaxxa Not st alL It was my Idea.

It keep both him and th typewriter In mind that fa has a wits MtLi.ua LH AB LMPLOYED DAILY HXMUVIN'U THB LAbT BUILDING TO 'VS ON THE SITE ilifi NSW 1 BRIDGE ENTRANCE. 1 US rituh. i 4.