CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 69 



illustrative of the man: Mr. Chase, while crier, had 

 a certain announcement to make. In the course of his 

 perambulations around the town, he arrived in front 

 of one of the hotels where a number of young ladies 

 were sitting. While Mr. Chase was making his an- 

 nouncement, one of these young ladies dared another 

 to ask the crier where his bell came from, which 

 remark the gentleman overheard. His announcement 

 having been made, the lady asked the question: " Mr. 

 Crier, where did you get your bell? " With a polite 

 bow, Mr. Chase answered, "I got my bell, young 

 woman, where you got your manners, — at the brass 

 foundry! " Ding-dong, ding-dong! 



They have other queer ways of doing business in 

 this old town. The bank opens at 9 A. m. and closes 

 at 1 P. m. This custom, to a person used to city ways, 

 seems strange, and often causes a deal of annoyance. 

 It seems to the writer of this that if the only banking 

 institution in the place would keep its doors open until 

 3 P. m. in the summer season, the public would be 

 greatly benefited. 



The custom of retaining the Indian names of various 

 localities about the island has been observed to a great 

 extent, and is deserving of commendation, for the ab- 

 origines, when they gave a name to anything, always 

 had a reason for so doing; many of the more modern 

 names being, alas! too often devoid of sense, sound, 

 and meaning. 



A good many years ago, the inhabitants of Cape 

 Cod were called by the people of Nantucket " Coofs," 

 and the Edgartown people, on Martha's Vineyard, 

 " Old-Town Turkeys," — the latter a derisive refer- 



