putterings 140 < 141 > 142 index
gray-haired men, their contraptions and strange sentences
A gray-haired man leaned over his bench, puttering with a series of cogs and pulleys, fitting strange rods and arranging a belt. A machine was in his mind, a contraption to do many’s work. That was more than a hundred years ago. His neighbors called him queer.
In a distant city, a second many hurried along the street, his eyes on the ground. Moving in his mind were wires and levers; a series of dots and dashes. He was podering, measuring, analyzing their action. People stared at him and tapped their heads. A strange fellow indeed.
Down along the water-front came earnest voices in animated discussion: “Will solve the problem” — “more balance” — “reduce the strain” — “pressure” — “less friction” — “yes, yes, it’s coming.”
Strange words and prophetic.
and
A gray-haired man bent over his desk; puttering with a series of words and phrases, fitting strange sentences and arranging a key. A machine was in his thought; a contraption to measure men’s minds. That was twenty-odd years ago. His neighbors called him queer.
In a distant city a second man hurried along the street, his eyes on the ground. Moving in his mind were impulses and complexes, a series of instincts and emotions. He was pondering, measuring, analyzing their action. People stared at him. A strange fellow indeed.
Down along the hospital front came earnest voices in animated discussion: “Will solve the problem” — “more balance” — “reduce the strain” — “pressure” — “less friction” — “yes, yes, it’s coming.”
Strange words and prophetic. They spoke in a new language and told of a different world...
—
respectively pages xiii and xiv, Introduction to
David Seabury, Unmasking Our Minds (1924)
same (Michigan copy, via hathitrust)
David Seabury (1885-1960), wikipedia
Unmasking Our Minds is dedicated to the author’s (then) wife, Florence Guy Seabury (1881-1951), “journalist and feminist essayist” (wikipedia),
whose The Delicatessen Husband : And Other Essays (illustrated by Clarence Day, Jr., 1926) — here — is dedicated to him.