Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-11-07

! soon relnQuiShed. Similar efforts have been
| made in Germany and France but In no instance
| nave the results been satisfactory. Even In our
| own country the experiment has been tried in
recent years, but the result was not encourage
| ing"
The STAR man. very much interested in this
! orlet but fragmentary glimpse into the methods
| employed IN the instruction of the deaf mutes
| was obliged at this point to break Oft the con-
versaton in order to join his friends who had
! gone on ahead.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE RANJO.
How the Instrument Has Advanced i'm
the Favor of Society.
| From the New York Times
1t Is astonishing how fashionable the banjo
has become Of late years." said an eminent
instructor in the mysteries of that instrument
the other day. The Professor" was seated In
an easy chair, with banjo resting across his
knee. while his hand. wandering over the
strings, produced dreamy suggestions of planta-
| ton melody.
"Once," he continued, 'the banjo was con-
sidered a barharous instrument to be cassed
| with the kettle-drum and tom-tom. aud was
| thought incapable Of anything beyond an
accompaniment. Nowadays the development
OF musical taste has brought about an apprecia-
ton oil the higher possibilities of the banjo and
| has also produced Il marked improvement in the
! instrument itself The modern banjo with its
carefully stretched sheepskn steel frame, and
cat-gut strings, is a very different affair from
the original instrument which one sees even
| now in the south in the hands of the negro,
whose greatest delight is to strum upon it &C
| compartments to those strange, baTbarous
chants. the primitive music brought from Africa
which were doubtless once the war-sones aud
feast-so OF the native tribes. The first banjo
was doubtless simple bamboo stick with ibres
stretched upon it, upon which the magicians, or
| Obi-men. in Africa may have played while con-
| Quoting their entertainments. The next step in
! the evolution of the banjo was a calabash q
gourd-like fruit with long stem, upon which
! the strings OF the instrument were stretched
| The present shape is probably directly traceable
| to TINS curious instrument. Even now in the
south the darkIes make baniOs out Of .rourds
across which they stretch some sort of skin for
a diaphragm. Snake-skn is a favorite material
| for the purpose.
There is no race of people more generally
giteo with natura musical ears than the
| African. 1t is rare thing to see q negro i'm the
south VINO cannot sing or play upon some must
c.i instrument. once lived upon plantation
Tor lew weeks. and every night the negro
quarters were filed with the music of the banjo
and the voices OF the darkies singing There
was one instrument heard which puzzled me
very much. 1t seemed to give forth but single
long droning note. 1t wasn't for some time that
l knew what produced it. and you could never
guess what it was. negro would lay his
sounding board. and. wetting the finger with
his tongue. draw the stick slowly across it, pro-
ducing the long bass note have described
year and half ago the banjo Juror was at its
height 1t even became fashionable 10 Eng
land. where proficiency in PLAYING upOn the
instrument came to be considered an elegant
accomplishment. 1t is still fashionable though
not quite so much SO now as when it first became
the rage. Many young ladies and gentlemen
come to me to learn how to play the banjo. 1t
IN III
accompany singing in the parior."
The Latest Fashion i'm Mems Clothing.
From the American Fashion Review
Prominent high class houses are introducing
quite number of changes. which will proba-
bly, soon become popular and general They
are making great many walking coats shorter
and less cut-away than formerly. The regular
lengths are still in vogue. but the shorter coat
| with fuller fronts is rapidly gaining in popu-
| larty. The very short-waisted and long
skirted coat with the skirts cut away almost to
a point has had SO long run that the newer
| form Is welcome innovation. The lengths for
| TINS coat Tor a man Of average height say five
| feet nine inches. are eighteen and one-haI and
thirty-thIee. The sleeves are made shapply,
but are gradually increasing in size the pro-
portions most in favor being sixteen at elbow
! and twelve at hand. They are finished with
! imitation cuffs closing with three holes and but
TONS Flaps are frequently put on the waist
seam. and seem to be growing in favor. dag
onals and other nne goods. which. during the
past season. We're almost invariably finished
with binding. are now generally slit ched-one
| row as close to the edge as possible, and the
other three-eighths Of an inch back.
The disposition Is to close le-breasted
| frOcks five holes, with narrow lapel, but
where the customer is large or tall they are
closed with six. The lengths Tor an average height
range from 181f to 10 waist, and from 80 to 80
full length. Narrow fat braiding is quite popu-
| lar, but when the goods will admit OF it the
edges are almost always double stitched, as for
| the walking coats.
| Sacques are cut close and long. They are
| made to tit the form as closely rs q frock, and
range from 30 to 81 inches in length The
| edges are stitched, and the sleeves are finished
with small vent, with or without buttons
Coarse; rough goods are very popular. with .
decided tendency to favor iadistinct plaids
OvercOats are about the same as last season.
| They are made rather longer, however, the
average length being about forty-two inches.
| The edges are generally piped with velvet or
| cloth, and are sometimes finished with tubular
| cord. the sleeves are often finished with cuffs
| though generally made to initiate them, and
| have three holes and buttons.
PantaiOOns and vests are being made about
| the same as last month. The former are grad
ually increasing In size, and are often finished
with q narrow welt. The latter continue to
| close high, with six or seven buttons generally
seven, and are made with or without a collar
The nO-cOllar vest will continue popular 40
long as coats are made to close SO high on the
chest.
t*Catch On.'
Old friend, don't gT1eve, nor be downcasts
"Catch On" the preSent-eave the past:
You can't recall what's fled and gone.
Brace up, old pard-yOu can s'catch ON
TINS worlds not givn The rich, the few,