The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-07-28
Populsa GINS Or SONGS.
lust,.lni naliAds by Men Not known
tsYems q Fortune.

t9lnmn OF Fortune.
llfould ,gem that by some strange
fatality the writers Of popular songs
never do participate IN the occasionally
enolmous profits derived By publishers
from their works. A newspaper para
graph vent TIE rounds during Tihens
last tour IN america, describing how
Couch, the composer Of Kathleen Ma.
younaen, came 70 the great artist and
tbankcd her for the feeling and the skill
with which she had sung his song at q
concert IN baltimore, where be was then
residing. BE mentioned at the time that
he bad sold his composition long years
befole for 5 pound sterling. Il. P.
Danlu, ayeFy prolific song writer, dis
posed ofhls Silver Threads Among the
God ior s2S. For q year he had failed
toinduce various publishers to take hold
oft, andmake some business arrange
meni with him. AT last he found a
printer who agreed to share the expenses
Of Ilingtt up for one-half Of the result
ing rrodlsi 4 there were any. The ex.
pee pti1fiig song Z consider
able. Theplases cost about SIS, and copies
ofitmay b turned out for something
like two cents apiece.
The supposed advantage Of having .
song published by well.known pub
Usher Is not Sc much that he bears the
expense Of publishing as that he has "a.
cilities for circulating through the trade,
and thus paving q way for It's introduc-
ton TO the p blic. 1t is q supposed I'D.
vantage, Il songs arc introduced to the
public by a man or woman on the stage,
singing them, and not by q music clerk
behind tho counter inducing seminary
girls or young collegians with musical
tastes TO purchase a copy here or there.
However, Mr.. Danks and his printer got
the song upin shape for public sale,
and did what they could to present It to
the public attention. They made lit
tie success the first year, but the impet-
uouS and creative spirit Of Nh. Danks
was not satisfied. It was going too
slowly for him, and he finally sold out
to his partner for the amount mentioned
above. Silver Threads Among the
Gold" steadily grew into popularity; 1t
made It's way to England, aud in point
Of sale easily ranks with any song ever
published. The share which Mr.. Danks
sold for $25 would have yielded him per-
haps 8, 900 In the two or three mbse-
quent years. ]. P. Skelly, the composer
Of my Pretty Red Rose" and many other
successful songs whose sales have
reached four and sometimes FIVE figures,
has never profted by those successes.
BE invariably sells his compositions to
publishers outright, and Is 80 prolific
that he makes a living from this work.
He sells songs all the way from IS to SIS
apiece, and writes as many as half q
dozen week. From some Of his com.
positions the publishers never get any
return; from Others the returns are very
large. Mr. Henry P. Work, who died in
in 1885, and who was without any doubt
the most successful among the writers Of
modern popular songs, is the exception
which proves the rule illustrated above.
slir. Work never sold a song to a
music publisher for a fixed sum-" re-
Gently said Willis Woodward, who knew
Nj, lFGfk intimately. @He was a printer
by Trade, end.when he started in towrite
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 100000,
and his songs are still profitable to his
heiB. Babylon is Fallen and March.
ing through Georgia were among his
earlier successes; 'Grandfather's Clock
among the latest. Marching through
Georgia Is considered a standard song,
and sells to the extent OF 5000 or 1900
yearly. l shall never forget the first
time l heard 'Grandfather's Clock.
was then employed in a western music
store, He came in and sang It to me,
He was very bad singer, and the sub
ject and It's treatment were both so
quaint, the movement Of the melody so
unusual, that l did not know what to
think Of Il, or what to say about It's prob
able success. My opinion Of it was that
the imitation Of the clock movement
was novel and attractive, but did not
venture to say anything further. The
song was published, but It was long
time before it won its way to the popular
ear, to say nothing OF the popular heart.
1t was shown to minstrel singers, who
threw It impatiently aside. Wambold
declared that he would not sing such
trash. In spite OF everything, however,
it made its way and became popular.
Then Wambold did sing 1t, and especially
advertised the fact. Among Works
other songs are: Father, Dear Father,
Come Home with Ne Now The Loss Of
the Lady Rlgin,' The Fire Bells and
Drop the Pink Curtains Work tried a
number Of times to write successfully
humorous songs, but failed every time" !"
Nashville American.
How to Write an Grafton.