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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
A SONG FOR OUR FLEETS.
A song for our fleets—our iron fleets
Of grim and savage beauty,
That plough their way through fields of spray,
To follow a nation's duty!
The winds may blow and the waves may flow
And stars may hide their faces,
But little we reck; our stars o'er deck
Still glitter within their places!
Let never a one who gazes on
This pageant calm but splendid,
Doubt that our coasts from hostile hosts
Will gallantly be defended!
A desperate foe may wish us woe;
But what is their petty knavery
Against the right, when backed with might,
And Anglo-Saxon bravery?
A song for our fleets—our gallant fleets,
,'Neath flags of glory flying.
That carry the aid, so long delayed.
To those that are crushed and dying!
And flames may glow, and blood may flow;
But still, with a stern endeavor,
We'll rule the main, and lash foul Spain
From our Western world forever!
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—Will Carleton, Every Where.
Here the interviewer interjected, " Was
your father a musician, Mr. Sousa?"
" My father was very fond of music,"
he answered, "but between ourselves, I
do not think his attainments would be
quite up to the grade of the present time.
The critics sometimes say that in my
heredity the union of the impulsiveness of
the Spanish, with the meditativeness of
the German is where my music gets some
of its elements, but between ourselves,
that is all nonsense. .The fact is, my
mother, a most excellent woman, was ab-
solutely no musician at all, and knew
nothing whatever about it; and when I, as
a boy, used to stand her up in the corner,
and get her to listen to the piece I had
composed, while I sawed at her on my
fiddle, she thought it was very fine be-
cause it was her boy; but in reality she
knew nothing about it, whether it was
good or bad."
ever, enjoy fiddling, according to the
Quarterly Review, and lizards go crazy
for music of any kind. As for serpents,
the boa constrictor and python are sense-
less to melody, but the cobra is fascinated
by the flute and still more by the fiddle.
Polar bears enjoy the violin; so do os-
triches; wolves will stop in the chase to
listen to a cornet; elephants are fond of
the flute, especially the upper notes;
tigers, while appreciating violin and flute,
cannot stand the harmonica, while the
musical seal shows no emotion on hearing
any instrument, not even the bass drum.
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ALFRED ERNST died suddenly in
** Paris recently after an illness of only
a few hours. He was the most noted of
French translators of Wagner, and his
commentaries on the poetry and music of
the German composer are among the best-
known in the French language. Ernst
was only 40 years old. He was essentially
JVA R. MAX O'RELL, the humorist, was scientific in method as well as in mind, and
• " *• a speaker at a meeting of the Inter- the results of his education in the poly-
national Arbitration and Peace Association technic school were always evident in his
in London the other day. He told how later work. He was the most successful
his friend, the late M. Darmesteter, had of the translators of Wagner, and among
once written a book for the use of schools his versions are the Tetralogy and '' The
on the history of civilization, which showed Meiste,rsinger."
the blessings of peace. It did not give
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one account of any war. There was not a
the brink of war, people are apt to
murder of any sort in that book. Before
speculate
somewhat as to the duties,
being allowed in schools it had to receive
T is generally believed that John Philip the approbation of the Minister of Public etc., of the several branches of the army
Sousa came from Spanish ancestry. Instruction. M. Darmesteter took it to and navy when they are called into active
His" dark, swarthy features and brilliant the Minister, and the Minister said he service. Specific titles such as engineers,
eyes would seem to indicate it. Sousa, would look over it. When he returned to gunners, artillery, cavalry, infantry indi-
however, does not propose to have the learn the book's fate, the Minister ob- cate the line of duties in general to which
matter of ancestry interfere with his popu- served: "Your book is beautiful—it is each branch is devoted. In the cane of
larity, and he denies that he is of Spanish lovely! It is one likely to impart into the musicians the title but half informs one of
extraction, claiming Portugal as the an- heart of youth the love of peace. Every the service expected of that class of men,
cierit home of the Sousas.
boy shall have it—as soon as France has says The Dominant. During the civil
There is a marked difference in the recovered Alsace-Lorraine! " Peace socie- war, musicians of the army besides pro-
complexions of the Portuguese and Span- ties ought not to invite professional funny viding music for marching and concerts,
were required to assist the hospital corps
iards, the former having a reddish brown men to talk to them. It is dangerous.
in attending to the wounded, and many a
coloring, which is totally lacking in the
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Sousa make-up.
However, we suppose I AST September, Dr. Ferrand read to poor fellow had to thank them for their
that Mr. Sousa knows all about his ances- **-* the French Academy, a paper on timely and tender ministrations, given in
try, and in a recent interview he says:
music. He showed its effect on the body moments of need and often at great per-
" The Sousas come of Portuguese and mind of a patient by practical demon- sonal risk. Musicians carried the wounded
blood. The first governor of Brazil was strations. Dr. Betzchinsky, the famous from the battlefield to places of safety and
Thomas Sousa, and Portuguese history is Russian savant, told of the therapeutic comparative comfort provided by the hos-
dotted over with the name of Sousa. My worth of music. He pointed out the fact pital corps. Besides these functions of
grandfather went from Portugal to Se- that musical composers usually have very mercy, they were required to lend a hand
ville, and there my father was born. Or, heavy heads of hair, and proposes to prove to the commissariat, and many a stirring
story could be told of the foray parties in
to put it in my father's words, he ' came that music is directly responsible for it.
which
musicians took part. Being non-
from Seville, and was born in America
Piano players always have tremendous
combatants,
they are supposed to be avail-
some twenty-five years later.'
quantities of hair, Paderewski being one
able fof" any line of duty, where real fight-
" H e came here because this was the of the many cited to prove the theory.
country he desired to live in, and the form
Harpists, violinists and 'cellists, too, ing is not a part, and after the battle is
of government that he believed in, and usually have a fair amount of hair, as the over be prepared to furnish the solace of
music to the gallant soldiers who have
admired, and I myself was born within kmg-locked M. Ysaye witnesses.
the shadow of the capital at Washington,
If a little experimenting proves this been so fortunate as to escape the death-
and have liyed there most of my life."
theory correct, a well-equipped orchestra dealing bullets, shot and shell of the
" What sort of a *nan was your father?" may become part of every properly con- enemy.
"Myfather,"answered Mr. Sousa, "was ducted hairdressing establishment, and
On board ship, musicians are required to
one of the loveliest men I ever knew. He floods of melody from a big cornet may perform somewhat similar functions, but
was a scholar and a patriot. He knew pour upon the customer's head after the in addition they are utilized to pass pow-
everything, except how to make a living. electric fan has done its duty in drying der and assist the gunners in replenishing
He used to say that the day was made for the hair.
the charges. In the olden days of wooden
rest, and the night for sleep, and he lived
ships they were further required to keep a
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up to his maxim with a consistency which "TARANTULAS do not dance to the sharp lookout for conflagrations and act in
few men ever attain in carrying out their
* sound of the violin, but let the people capacity of a fire department.
ideals,"
Musicians provide the only element of
they bite do the dancing; scorpions, }iow-
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