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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
12
NO MORE^DISCORD,
discordant note which has marred the
§ HE harmony
of the full choral service in the
Church of the Holy Cross, at North Plainfield,
N. J., during all the months since Easter morn,
is hushed, says the Herald of Wednesday.
Holy Cross has a new choirmaster, and hence-
forth its song of praise will be full throated.
The discordant note grew out of an effort at
musical progress which the vestry made two
years ago. Choirmaster Charles W. Kellogg
drifted away early in 1891, and was succeeded
by William H. Miner, an energetic young man
from New Haven, Conn.
Mr. Miner was a musician of marked attain-
ments, and under his care the choir attracted
widespread attention. And the choirmaster—he
was organist as well—was vastly independent
and told folks how he was beset by flattering
offers from more prosperous churches.
LIKED HIM AND RAISED HIS SALARY.
A POINTS OF SUPERIORITY
*^
OF THE
Celebrated
"Conover"
Pianos.
AND SWEETNESS of TONE.
^ " S C I E N T I F I C CONSTRUCTION.
(THE ONLY STRICTLY
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MANUFACTURED
IN CHICAGO.)
CHICAGO COTTAGE ORGAN COMPANY,
The vestry were troubled by this, but they
liked his work and increased his pay from time
to time. So it went until the organist reached
SOLE FACTORS.
the limit. The vestry knew it. Organist Miner
didn't. At Eastertide he was assailed by
(The Largest Dealers iD Pianos and Organs in the World,)
another flattering offer, and spoke about it to
the rector, the Rev. T. Logan Murphy.
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL WAREROOMS,
'' Mr. Murphy,'' he said one day after the
choir practice, " I ' m going to leave Holy Cross." (SECOND FLOOR.)
215 WABASH AVE.,
" Ah ! " the rector replied with passive inter-
CHICAGO.
est, '' are you ? ''
" Yes," the organist replied, not at all abash-
ed. " Had an offer from St. George's Church,
in Brooklyn.
The rector threw a well developed leg over his
bicycle—they are all wheelmen in Plainfield ex-
cept the wheelwomen—and grasped the handles
of the "safety."
" You've settled it, have you ? " he asked.
" Yes, " Mr. Miner replied. " I am to sign a
contract on Saturday."
The clergyman rode away without comment.
When he went to the church on Sunday morn-
ing Mr. Miner was there as usual.
" Well," the rector ventured, " did you sign
that contract ? ''
" Oh, yes," the organist answered, " i t ' s all
settled."
Enterprising dealers all over the Country are
fast securing the agency for the wonderful
A.
B.
CHASE
PIANOS.
PASTOR AND VESTRYMEN WAITED.
The rector and his vestrymen smiled and
waited.* Mr. Miner told the Rev. Mr. Murphy
that he had decided to allow St. George's Church
to wobble along as best it could and stick by
Holy Cross.
" But, " the rector exclaimed, " you've signed
the contract, you know ! ''
" Oh, well, " the organist said, " they won't
hold me to it if they think I don't wish to keep
it."
Mr. Miner remained at Holy Cross, but there-
after the singers seemed to fall under his dis-
pleasure with marked frequency. One after The Company Scrupulously protect their
another he told them to hang up their robes
agencies,
and
and lay down their metaphorical harps. They
Never change when it can be avoided.
obeyed, but there was murmuring. It increased
in proportion to the dismissals. The music was Hence the agency becomes more valuable
growing ragged.
every year.
The rector was in New York one day and met If you can, you should secure it at once,
the Rev. Mr. Harris, of St. George's Church,
by writing to
Brooklyn, from which Organist Miner had re-
ceived his Eastertide offer.
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Style, Finish, Strength,
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Improvement of Tone by Age and Use.
" T O O K " A VACATION.
'' Well,'' said the Rev. Mr. Logan pleasantly,
'' you didn 't get Mr. Miner.''
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Thomas and Gilmore Concerts
at Madison Square Garden,
New York.
THE A. B. CHASE CO.,
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" N o , " the Rev. Mr. Harris replied, " w e
never thought of him. His application was one
among many. We never thought of him."
"Ah, indeed! " gasped the North Plainfield
rector, and then he was silent. His faith in
human nature was slipping from his grasp, but
the good man headed it off with an effort and
returned to Plainfield.
The organist was accorded a week's vacation
early in July. He granted himself five weeks
more a little later without consulting any one.
He hired Tenor Clarke to play the organ, left
him with the few singers who had not been dis-
missed, and went away—where, no one knew.
Discipline might have saved the remnant of
singers from utter rout. The organist's under-
study was unequal to the task. The ranks
thinned Sabbath by Sabbath. At last only a
few of the boys, of whom there had been twenty
originally, could be persuaded to enter the
choir. They struggled weakly through another
service or two and then gave it up. Holy Cross
had fallen back upon congregational singing.
WANTED PROMPT PAYMENT.
That is how matters stood on August 16th,
when Rector Murphy received a letter from
Organist Miner, in which the church treasurer
was sharply arraigned because the organist had
not been paid as promptly as he wished. Mr.
Miner demanded a signed contract and said he
would resign unless it was forthcoming.
The contract was not forthcoming. Instead,
the rector called a special meeting of the vestry,
at which Mr. Miner's resignation was accepted.
No one knew exactly where Mr. Miner was, so
the letter was sent to the General Post Office
about ten days ago. The organist replied that
he had not resigned. The vestry fell back upon
its old policy—silence.
A new organist and choirmaster, Frederick
H. Chesswright, of New York, was engaged, and
on Sunday last he directed the choir, or rather
its surviving members.
AND MR. MINOR WAS OUT OF IT.
Mr. Miner appeared just before the service
and asked the rector if he was expected to play
the organ. The rector replied that Mr. Chess-
wright had been engaged for that purpose.
Then Mr. Miner suggested to the singers that
they rise up and follow him. The others sang
under the direction of Mr. Chesswright. The
defection was not great enough to materially
weaken the choir.
Organist Miner sat in the seat of the rebellious,
with his little army of faithful choristers around
him, and he listened and slowly the great organ
filled the church with swelling harmony. The
choir joined it and sang—the new organist says
the selection was entirely accidental.—"Ami
a Soldier of the Cross ?"
MORTGAGE—NOTE—INDORSEMENT.
In the case of Nettleton vs. Ramsey County
Land and Loan Company, recently decided by
the Supreme Court of Minnesota, where it ap-
peared that the defendant purchased mortgaged
premises, and in the deed conveying the same
expressly assumed the payment of the mortgage
as part of the consideration, the court held that
an indorser who had become liable upon the
notes secured by the mortgage was entitled upon
payment thereof to be subrogated to the rights
and remedies of the holder of the notes, and
might recover the amount which he was obliged
to pay of the defendant by virtue of the stipu-
lation in its deed.
130 Fifth Avenue, earner 18th Street) New York.
BOSTON,
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CHICACO.