The New York Herald Newspaper, December 20, 1873, Page 3

CHRISTMAS TOYS. Treble-Headed Dolls and Cows That May Be Milked. WHAT SCIENCE HAS DONE FOR TOYDOM. Where to Purchase, How to Purchase and What to Purchase. Unless the rattle is gilded the chila is not so apt to be pleased with 1t nowadays as in the time of Pope. The modern child is critical and analytic. Young America is fastidious and exigeant, apt to Jook askant at the pretty tnings provided tor him and to turn up his nose if they do not exactly cor- respond to the taste which his years of infancy have educated, or, shall we say, pampered? It ‘was Mr. Chadband, we believe, who expatiated Upon the advantages of being a ‘soaring human boy,” born under the light of Christian teachings; but we do not remember ever to have heard a pul- piteer claim that one of the benefits accruing to the juvenile Obristian was that of receiving gifts during the holiday week which closes the year. Be it our privilege to supply this omission, And since we have assumed a monitory strain we ask permission to remind our young readers how thankful they, ought to be for not having come into the world 30or 40 centuries ago, not only without any HERALD to instruct parents and guardians where to look for playthings, but without any Playthings to look for. It belongs to modern genius to perfect the toy, The few relics of iniancy that have been found at Pompeii and Hercula- neum reduce us to a state of compassion for the Pompeilan and Herculaneum infants. The little trinkets we make of lava nowadays are worth all the toys buried beneath it centuries ago. We sus- pect the children of the past were educated ina severer school than those of the present. Perhaps the reason Isaac submitted so meckly to be made @ burnt sacrifice was because no remembrance of. drums and wooden soldiers sweetened the filial sentiment, A home without toys is like a plum pudding void of raisins. There is fraudulency in the very idea, and the child brought up under it feels obscurely but strongly that he is wronged. You can- not eradicate the toy instinct from the child mind, By virtue of it he creates a mimic world which re- fects the realone. The practical and serious side of life is imaged in the fancied and imaginative one, With his box of »uilding-blocks the embryo architect erects in miniature the palace which 1s to amaze a town or & continent a score of yea: hence. The maternal sentiment is the one usually developed in little girls, Their dolls Ihave every attribute of the human infant with which the liveliest imagination, injormed by such a sentiment, can supply them; are afficted with mysterious attacks of measles and whooping cough, are sent to bed for misbehavior and kept on severe diets of bread and water; are dressed for balls and parties, and are sometimes clung to with profounder affection than real mothers feel for their actual children. And when wooden sol- aiérs are not supplied to the one sex of childhood and dolls to the other infant invention inevitably sets to work and supplies itself. The boy takes a more direct method and organizes his comrades into @ militia company, and every rag-bag supplies the little girls—those little mothers of humanity— ‘with an infant family. The importance, therefore, of the toy realm cannot be disputed. And the only question that remains is what toys to select. Perhaps the children are almost as good judges ofthis as any one can be. They have the advan- tage of knowing what they like, and there area suMcient number of exceptions to that spirit of juvenile criticism to which reference was made at the beginning of this article to make the satis- Sying of these demands frequently a pleasant task. At %8 well to remark, however, that there are few or ne very striking novelties, Are we coming to the bottom of toy invention? About two centuries ago Philippe Camuz made for Louis Quatorze a toy chariot and team of horses which pranced around the table as if it was a turn- pike, and were esteemed almost miraculous, D’Alembert, in his “Encyclopédie Méthodique,” gives @ description of a toy fute player in- vented by Jacques de Vaucanson, and ex- hibited in Paris in 1738, Macizel, the in- ventur of the metronome, cxhibited in Vienna, in 1809, a wonder(u) toy trumpeter; Vau- canson produced a diminutive duck which not only ate and drank, but digested. Bientait, in 1746, constructed a set of toy soldiers who enacted the “Bombardment of Antwerp,’ and the ‘Assault on Bergen-op-Zoom ;" and in 1850, a jeweller at Bou- Jogne gave tothe world a marvellous toy necro- mancer, who performed remarkable feats of pres- tidigtiation, and a marionette flute player which discoursed very delectable music. But these ex- ceptionadle instances of the toy-maker’s sub- creative genius, these graceful Frankensteins of the fantoccini world, rather reveal to us the capa- bilities of the art than become representative of it. Ef were evoked for the delight of princes or for cular occasions. ‘Io understand what modern loys are, direct inspection of the stores alone is ARTZ & LEVY'S MAGICAL BAZAAR, No. 1,181 Broadway, deserves emphasis, because the dignity and respectability 01 sclenve underlie 80 Many Of the neat and beautisul litte orhiogs: on view. The range of prices ts from 60 vents to $300, 80 that the hint that every taste cun be suited acquires in this instance particular force, ‘The greatest novelty is the new patent game en- titled “‘kri kak,” whose etymology we leave to te Inguists. The game is played on a table apout one-fourth the size of an ordinary billiard table, of which itis a modification, and can be joined in by any number of people. The balis are Pree by means of a lever knob at one end of the board, and roll deviousiy through a forest of small pins and diminutive ten-pins. The game ts to billiards what the cigarette is to the cigar, or what the ice -known ag Rosman puuch is to punches of a more liquid character, Another novelty is rae Arel Kaleidoscope, tu which the kaleidoscope revolyes on a iframe and reveals its ever-changitg contents like a@ Agger of flame opening and shutting its petalg With tireless energy. Then there are complete sets of Ponch and Judy figures, elegantly carved and handsomely dressed; a new Oriental puzzle; our old mend lancheite, as perplexing and wiysterious as ever ; he chameleon top, just imported; the prismatic I-Windiing Coloy fop, very beautiful; the Egyp> Ffin valrgeth the mechaniza! mice and rata, Jne- simile of nature; a new bubble biower. capable of blowing a bubble within a bubble, like a dream within a dream; the anamorphoses, or enchanted crystal; the anorthoscope, or magic dise, which is extremely gg and some very elegant model steam engines. We have not room to specify all the very beautiful and interesting little toys which Mr. George Hartz, the principal member of the firm, and one of thé most accomplished prestidigi- tateurs in this country, has on hand. The magic burning globe, the gold fish and water trick, the atrial treasury, the magic pistol, the imex- haustible notte, the ve ag a pe diss earing and reappear! ja the an ice rings, the mysterious seven-spot card, the mysterious glass and the corn, the changing plate, the bottle and colors, the magic laundress bottle, the pinme and enchanted case, are all extremely clever and moderate in price, The toy called the wonderful negro is new; the megro’s head is severed from his body yet he still remains unde- capitated. Among other fresh inventions are the drums for the hat; the ball, ring and rod; the en- chanted aviary, the fairy star, the yase and cards, the electric bell, the growth of flowers, the bell, clock @nd stand; and a new conjuring table, worked by electricity. We trust it is not aside from the purpose to mention that Mr. George Hartz is riecting an Hlasion over which le has been laboring for months and which is intended for public dispiay. All that we can say with certainty 36 that it is conceived On scientific principles, and that the grace, beanty and finish of wie toys and tricks to which allusion has already been mace, furnish @ reason for anticipating that his more serious attempt will contain mone of the vulgar elements by which baat 4 fy So easily optained. at Nos, 287 and 289 Eigiith avenue, 1s one of those toy emporiuins which, at this season of the year, keep open from eignt in the morning until an hour alter midnight. We do pot pretend to give an adequate idea of the picturesque heterogeneity of the display there, All the floors are crowed, and every floor is worth looking at. All the conven. tionilisms in the toy World are of course on tand in overwhelming quantities, A few novelties are also to be seen, The reatistic ts intimately blended with the fanciful, Caleb Plummer wou'd shrink with an overmastering sense of ignominy amid such an exposition of Wie resources of the Dimbe- dolerie, First comes a wondertul breed of cows, large and small, covered with real skin and capa ble of uttering sounds which we readily recognize as the vaccine vernacular, But these sounds are only emitted when the cow's bead if manipulated, whick proves that 4t 8 Nob 80 dangerous to turn 4 Cow's head COVAGaAWN= NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1873.—-WifH SUPPLEMENT. SANTIAGO DE CUBA. Map of the City and Harbor of Santiago de Cuba, Showing the Scene of Burriel’s Butcheries ender of the Surviving Captives by Spain to America. and of the Surr EXPLANATION, Penitentiary & Quard Ho. Convent of St.Francis & Inf.Quard Ho. Artillery Guard Ho. Mountain Battery Barracks Marine Guard Ho- Military Hospital Intendency Jal Covernor’s Palace & City Hall Public Square si sii College & Sem. Hospital of Belen Cathedral Church of St.Lucia Church of Dolores Church ofthe Trinity St. Thomas Square & Church St. Francis Church Carmelites Church 20 Shambles 21 Tivoll HII Sou SMa 4s to turn a woman’s. Another peculiarity about Mr. Ebrich’s toy cows 18 that they yield real milk, the only objection to which is that the milk has to be put Into the cow before it can be got ont. But, after all, we do not know but what the method has its advantages, There is no possibility of your making a mistake with your dairy. Your cow is responsible for so much milk, and if you do not get ou can “take” it out of her, and that isfaction, Every master spirit of the toy world cannot be a Vaucauson, and it would be expecting too much to demand that this improved Zep tin Fyn " Wins iy Lity cow should not only make Fovceas manufacture it also, Some of the dancing doll thie store are also very interesting, manutactured in France, are handsomely dressed the top Of @ Velvet covered stand, Machinery inside the Dox is wound up, 80 a8 to ex- ecute a tine, to which the fi for several minutes, Other independent of the box. and occupy at the southeast corner of Sixth avenue, j#@ mot less laviabiv srocked apd to WS i HAWS we iS iw gs Ws 8 ws PRESIDIO COVE Vj Bargallo Ldg. PIA yy oH ei aN MACY’ SLAUQHTE! U.S. Ship Kansas, AUN SSN SY; MoM (eG / Y ew American Man-ofwar. Spanish Man-of-war. Spanish Man-of-war. AN NN WN AAS RR ZU KSI 3 Of milk, visit there you might think that the first duty of man Was to buy toys and enjoy them forever. ‘The race of dolls ts cash discount o' re gracefully dances jolls dance on wheels, ‘Fourteenth street and -————____—- eee Spanish Man-of-war. BLANCA PMU esti) ZY, PaaS ‘S Gy NWS NS GRINS MH ANS “Maggy ZAIN : Af! MN \ iA) ha Pe Mea Gy) articulariy Well represented. A 10 per cent t@ made on all pur- chases amounting to 60 cents and upwards in the toy department, and a speci 1s made to parties baying holiday wares for Sun- day schools, fairs, &o. chanical in connection with music boxes. One of the great features of the place, however, ts tts superabundance of dolls, And the dolls are not all models of Dubn tie haauky either AD mstnelis and extra discount lany of the toys are me- RNS = taste demands contrasts, and Mr. el u Chie! te obit nooe ind common. ire the unloved was-a-favorite’’ to set of t vey put aot admirable in average little girl to tn- y's without feeling ner than before she went, for uum- there are in absolute destitation, axposad to ‘thi Macy, as one of the purveyors-in. gotten to include a number of home! place dolls in hig collection. Thes children of the family, ir and brilliant specimens, themselves, We defy any spect this dep more of & mot bers of the Ly 3 Clemency oF the weatner and apparentiy quite conscious that they need a good stock of clothes in order to become respectable, SOME SCIENTIFIC NOVELTIES, which deserve to hold a high level in the toy king- dom, are to be found at establishment of Hartz, No. 850 Broadway. Here, as in 4 similar establishment of great Merit previously men- tioned, toys and magical implements are to be ob- tained at prices ranging from 50 cents to 200 or 300 times that amount. The portable electric wand is an American peasants, and is especially adapted for parlor use. itis not thicker than the fore finger, and illustrates the heating pewer of elect: The experiments it enables the possessor to per- form are known as the electrical bead of lair, trical repulsion, or the suspended pith balls; the electric canvas and the alarm bell, Another charming invention is the charimorphoscope, an improvement on the kaleidoscope. By it Jeathers, laces, silk floss and colore pad are made to form bdeautiiul designs, The me- tabloscope illustrates the persistency of and some of the more delicate phenomena of light and color, Some balloons of goidbeaters’ are highly Ornamented and very beautisul, Oi the articles for sale here are the invention of M. Hartz himself, The gentleman is known as @ very dexterous conjurer. But perhaps the time ts coming when every boy wiil preter being his own conjurer, and if so we Know Of no establishment Superior, in its facMities lor acquiring that art, to Ube Magical Repusitory at No, 850 Broadway, and the Magical Bazaar at No. 1,131 Broadway. Bot: establishments are finely located, both are con- ducted with skill and energy, and in both the new- est magical inventions of the day are always to be discovered. % TOY ¥MPORIUMS IN GENERAL. We do not vroiess in ths article to describe elaborately every tin soldier and Noal’s ark, which it has been our felicity to encounter, The more salient freaks and caprices are those whic! in a theme like the present, will always comman attention. At Strasburger, Pleifer & Co.'s, No, 394 Broadway, @ very large and very interest- ing stock of toys is to be found. Here, too, as in some other pinces we have mentioned, the dolis remain a principal feature. ‘The walking dolites are not to be obtuined here, for the simple reason that they do not take so much as last season. It maybe difficult to understand how a doll that can walk can lose ground more rapidly than one that can’t, bnt such is the fact. But im spite of being deprived of their feet the dolls cannot be said not to have made some head- way, Jor (on the principle, perhaps, that two heads are better than one) some Frenchman has invented @ doll which can be decapitated at a touch and sup- plied with a fresh face and brain instantaneously. in fact, at Strasburger, Preiffer & Co ’s, you not un- frequently come across a three-neaded doll—that 18 to say, adoll whose spiral structure admits of the original head being entirely removed from the shoulders without injury to the integrity of the rest of the irame and two others successively substi- tuted. The advantage of being this kind of a doll, therefore, ts the impossibility of your bein; out of your head, or, rather, heads, for if you don’t like one you can get another, and between three there is a chance of getting suited, Sometimes one of these complementary heads is old, and then we have the realization of the anachronism of young heads on young shoulders—a mechanical satire of What occasionaily happens among flesh and blood. Then, we admit, there is some anatomical contra- diction between the structure of the head und that of the limbs and bodies; but these little objections must easily give way before the satisfaction a child must feel at being able to depict the grie! ol a favorite doll by making it seem to have grown old before its time. If we visit Altho!, Bergmann & Co.'s, Nos, 30, 32, 34 and 36 Park piace; Meares’, Sixth avenue and Nineteenth street; &. Ridley & Son's, at the inter- section of Grand and Allen streets; Jonnson, Bros. & Co.'s, Nos. 34 and 36 Union square; Schwarz’s, No. 765 Broadway, and Lord & Taylor's, at the in- tersection of Broadway and Twentieth street, we shail find an immense assortment oi toys and fancy articles—so immense that the recapitulation of them would bewilder from its very pro!useness; and we might mention in this connection that Dick & Fitzgerald, No. 18 Ann street, have pees out a very suitable book, entitied “What Shall We Do To-Night* and having reference to social amusements for evening parties. To the subject of holiday gilts we shall return again; for there 1s more that is beauriful and interesting to be seca at other places, to be nereafter specified. ART MATTERS, The Bali & Black Statuary and Paintings To-Day. During the sale, begining this morning, at eleven o'clock, of the stock belonging to Messrs. Ball, Black & Co., the statuary and paintings possessed by that firm will be disposed of. The sale will probably be prolonged until late in the alternoon, To the principal art objects we have already re- ferred. They include some excellent sculptures by Lombardi and Romanellf, a market scene by Hoguet, “The Tourist,’ by Kindler, and some fine elaborations by T. Ball's chisel. The sale will take piace at Ball, Black & Co.’s magnificent ware- rooms, Broadway and Prince street. THE ANNEXED TERRITORY’S DEBT. A Conference Between the Westchester and New York Supervisors to Fix the Debt of the County and the Valuation of County Property=The Debt About $845,000—The Value of the County Property About $212,000. Among the many details of the annexation of the towns of West Farms, Morrisania and Kings. bridge“ the apportionment of the debt and interest tn the county property is one of unusual dimculty, and several conferences have been had between the Committee on Assessments and Fi- nance of the New York Supervisors and the Super- visors of Westchester county. Finally both boards appointed sub-committees to consider the matter, Messrs, Ottendorfer and Koch being named on the part of this city, and Messrs. F. M. Carpenter, of Newcastle; Edmund G. Sutherland, o! White Plains; A. 0. Wheeler, of Greenburg, and Daniel Hunt, of Louisboro, being chosen from the Westchester Board, Yesterday the New York gentlemen, accompanied by General Pinckney, clerk of the Board of Super- visors, visited White Plains to confer with the Westchester authorities as to the debt of that county and fx a valuation on the county property. The party had with them Mr. Joseph Kreutzer as a valuator. Arriving at the depot hacks were in attendance, and the party drove out to the poorhouse and farm, five miles from the city, where they were received by superintendents Jonn Kenslet and George Cooper, Warden Ham- mond and Surgeon Scriber, who escorted the ; oMficials through the premises and grounds. The poorhouse, Which has 40l inmates—men, women and children—was very clean, and to al! appear- ance the inmates are carefully treated. A thorough ey bane was made of the nine stove and wooden buildings and members guessed at the valuation, but they came to no understanding. The 1arm ts 155 acres, located close to the New Boston and Northern Railroad, only 30 acres of which, however, is fit for cultivation. The build- ings are probably worth $60,000 and at the rate land is selling toe ground is probably worth $7,000. Returning to White Plains the Court House and jail, a fine stone structure on about two acres of land. was examined, but no vaiue was Axed, The debts of the county, a8 near as could be as- certained from Mr. Charies E. Johnson, clerk of the County Supervisors, are about $845,000, and con- Bist ol— The bonded loan due in 1890 for bowtaties for the 25 tows Which the county guaranteed, .. + $562,000 The seconded bonded loan for similar purposes now being paid off, and $6U,0.0 of which matures in April... 000 Pelnam Bridge ‘000 ‘the Willetts deta! Central Bridge bonds... County buildings improveme: Total debt The value of the county property is probably about as follows :— Poorhonse buildings. . $60,000 The tarm...... 7,000 The Court Hou: 136,000 Tne land attache: 10,000 Total value of property..... . - $212,000 The New York Committee notified the West- chester Supervisors that they would meet at one P. M. to-day and then officially ask them to make a statement of the debt of the county in detail and fix their valuations of the county property; after the reception of which they would name a day for another conference to apportion the debt au New York must assume jor the three towns an- nexed and decide the smount the city should be credited with on account of the interest held by the said towns in the couuty property. THE RYE NECK MURDER, A Mystery Still Unsolved=The Jary Render a Veratet of “Not Gatity.” The jury in the case of Peter Terrell, tried in the Court of Oyer and ‘Terminer, at White Plains, Westchester county, for the murder of Gilbert H. Robinson, concluded their deliberations at eleven o'clock on Thursday evening, and rendered a ver+ dict of “not guilty.” As it was generally under- stood that when the jury came into Court a second time fot Instructions they stood ten for conviction to two fos acquittal the announcement the verdict was a complete surprise to all who heard tt, It appears now, howe that this rumor, which was credited not oat he prose- cuting attorney, but aiso by the cot for the prisoner, was precisely the reverse of truth, the jury standing ten pariest to two for conviction. The prisoner mantfested no other emotion on hear- ing the verdict than was visible in @ faint smile which stole over his features, His discharge wae promptly ordered by the Court, Thus the bratal murder of Robinson still remains @ hideous mya ae deiled ali efforts directed towards its sooo