Music Trade Review

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THE: MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
TALKING MACHlNEj:HEERS LEPER.
Mr4 Eldridge R. Johnson, Wife of President
of Victor Talking Machine Co., Sends Ma-
chine and Big Supply of Records to Exiled
Chinaman in Pennsylvania—Gift Proves a
Revelation and Great Source of Pleasure.
Yee Sui, the Chinese leper, knelt in his little
shack on the pesthouse reservation one day re-
cently and poured forth to his new-found Chris-
tian God a prayer of thankfulness.
A little box rested on the bare table in the one
room in which Yee Sui eats, sleeps and—lives, if
life to him until now has been living. The little
box was a present to Yee Sui, and there is a
long story about it. As was his habit, Yee Sui
had daily watched Yee Tang trudge up the hill.
But last week a boy accompanied Yee Tang, and
the boy bore a package. Yee Tang made greet-
ings and spoke a word of comfort. Then he laid
aside the wrappings of the package.
The little box with polished sides and glistening
trimmings was revealed. Yee Sui wondered, for
Yee Tang had not spoken of that which he
brought. From a smaller package Yee Tang
drew a black disc. Anyone but Yee Sui would
have seen that it was a talking machine, but Yee Sui
knew not of such things. With increasing won-
derment he saw Yee Tang turn a handle.
The record was one made by the choir of Trin-
ity Church of New York, and the famous old
hymn was exquisitely rendered. Yee Tang said
afterward that the beauty of the hymn had seemed
to transform the bare, little room into a thing of
beauty, for both had stood as in a trance, as men
in a higher realm.
Yee Tang had the song sung again; he trans-
lated to Yee Sui, and Yee Sui chanted in his
native tongue to the accompaniment of the sing-
ers.
The next selection was one of Sousa's
marches. To Yee Sui it was a sort of shift from
the sublime, but it enraptured him. As the music
would wax softer until there was scarcely a mur-
mur, Yee Sui would look anxiously, child-like. As
it flowed swiftly into a crescendo, finally ending
in a magnificent crash, Yee Sui smiled: "It is like
a beautiful flower suddenly bursting into bloom,"
he said to Yee Tang.
Though these two pieces were a superlative de-
light, there still was a climax waiting, thanks to
Yee Tang and a new found friend of Yee Sui's.
It was Mrs. Eldridge R. Johnson of "The Chim-
neys," Merion, Pa., and wife of the president of
the Victor Talking Machine Co., who brought this
sunshine into the life of the outcast Chinaman,
says the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Gazette-Times.
Not only was there with it excellent variety of
records—hymns such as "Oh Come, All Ye Faith-
ful," "Joy to the World," "Praise Be the Father"
and "Onward Christian Soldiers," and Sousa con-
certs, comic operas, quartets, duets, solos and the
like—but there was a score of records in Chinese.
These records—though often .they are kept in
stock—were made specially for Yee Sui. They
are chants and songs with stringed accompani-
ment. They arrived at the company's store last
week and were turned over to Yee Tang.
It was one of these records that Yee Tang had
saved for the climax of his entertainment. Sud-
denly he started the machine and there rolled out
a song favorite with China's sons. Perhaps it
brought memories of more happy days, days
among loved ones in a faraway land, perhaps
many things—but the shock was almost too much
to be borne. Yee Sui cried; but Yee Tang's com-
forting finally prevailed. Yee Sui wanted it played
again, and he seemed to grow wonderfully young.
He danced about in delight as Yee Tang played
the others to him. Then Yee Tang played them
all over again. Afterward Yee Sui learned how
to adjust the machine and then he played one all
by himself.—The Talking Machine World.
GEO.
W. LYLE VISITING THE TRADE.
General Manager George W. Lyle, of the Co-
lumbia Phonograph Co., General, New York, is
making an extended trip through the South and
West.
Wanamaker's
(New
York)
Auditorium,
Showing the (Irtat
Victor-Victmh
Kxhihition.
Victor-Victrola
The one instrument toward which the
entire music world is turned today is the
Victor-Victrola.
Towering far above all other musical in-
struments, it stands as a splendid example of
what real merit can accomplish in even so short
a space of time.
The Victor-Victrola is one of the greatest
successes of modern times—a success so great
that it has wrought a wonderful change in the
talking-machine industry. A change that is
even apparent in the appearance of the talking-
machine stores.
You can remember such stores before the advent of
the Victor-Victrola; and then compare them with the
modern salesrooms of today.
What was once perhaps just an ordinary everyday
store has been transformed into a bright attractive estab-
lishment, bustling with activity and a veritable Mecca for
the music loving public.
And in elevating the talking-machine business to a
higher and more artistic plane, the Victor-Victrola has
brought to the dealers a new era of influence and pros-
perity that is constantly widening and
leading to still greater things in the
years to come.
Victor Talking Machine Co.
Camden, N. J., U. S. A.
Berliner Gramophone Co., Montreal, Canadian Distributors.
Always use Victor Records played with Victor Needles- -there is no other
way to get the unequaled Victor tone.