The Arizona sentinel., 1886-09-25
POPULAR SONGS.
Gems of Melody Composed by Men Not
 Known to Fame or Fortune.

Gems of Melody Composed by Men Not
 Known to Fame or Fortune.
 It would seem that by some strange
 fatality the writers of popular songs
 never participate in the occasionally
 enormous profits derived by publishers
 from their works. A newspaper para
 graph went the rounds during Titiens'
 last tour in America describing how
 Couch, the composer of 'Kathleen Mavourneen," ," came to the great artist
 and thanked her for the feeling and the
 skill with which she had sung the song at concert in Baltimore, where he was then residing. He mentioned at the time that he had sold his composition long years before for f5. H. F. Danks, very prolific song-writer, disposed of his ''Silver Threads Among the Gold'' for S25. For a year he had failed to in- duce various publishers to take hold of it and make some business arrangement with him. At last he found a printer who agreed to share the expense of setting it up for one-half of the result ing profits, if there were any. The ex- pense of printing song is considerable. The plates cost about S15, and copies of it may be turned out for something like ? cents apiece. The supposed advan- tage of having a song published by that he bears the expense of publishing as that he has facilities for circulating through the trade, and thus having a way for its introduction to the public. It is a supposed advantage, for songs are introduced to the public by man or woman on the stage singing tiem, and not by a mus c clerk behind a counter inducing seminary girls and young theologians with musical tastes to purchase copy here and there. How ever, MT. Danks and his printer got the song up in shape for puplic sale, and did what they could to presentit it to pub lie attention. They made little sue cess the first year, but the impetuous and creative spirit of MT. Danks was not satisfied. It was going too slowly for him, and he finally sold out to his pa tner for the amount mentioned above. 'Silver Threads Among the Gold'' steadily grew into popularity; it made its way to England, and in point of sales easily ranks with any song ever publ shed. The share which Mir. Danks sold for S25 would have yielded him perhaps S5, ,000 in the two or three sub sequent years. J. P. Skelly, the com poser of "My Pretty Red Rose," and many other successful songs whose sales have reached four and sometimes five | figures, has never profited by these suc- c sses. He inval iably sells his compo- sitions to publishers outright, and is so | prolific that he makes living from this work. He sells songs all the way from 8 to S25 apiece and writes as many as half dozen week. From some of his compositions the publishers never get any return; from others the returns are very large. MT. Henry P. Work, who d;ed in 1885, and who was without any doubt the most successful among the WI ters of modern popular songs, is the exception which proves the rule it. lustrated above.
 "Mr. Work never sold song to a music publisher for a fixed sum" re- gently said Willis Woodward, who knew MT. Work intimately. "He was a printer by trade, and when he started in to write songs, as a pastime for leisure hours, he determined that he would never publish his works save on royalty. The result was that he died worth over S100,000, and his songs are still profit able to his heirs. Babylon Is Fallen and Marching Through Georgis' were