The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-07-28
t0pulAa alas ) SONGS
ause'srfai Haiiads By Men Not Known
% Fams Or Fortune.

~ AhAha eE AlFtuhes ff-taf B
IitOuldseen that BY some strange
fatality tie writers Of popular songs
never do participate IN the occasionally
enormont profits derived BY publishers
from iheif works. A newspaper para
.graph vent the rounds duri1g Titiens'
Elast tour N america describing how
Couch. the composer Of Kathleen Ma.
youlpeen, came to the great artist and
thanked her for the feeling and the skill
with which Abe had sung his song at q
concert IN Baltimore, where he was then
rehdlng, aforementioned at the time that
Ne had sod his composition long years
beton fct ) POUND sterling. b. P.
Danlul ayery prolific song writer, dis
posed ofhls Silver Threads Among the
God for Se5. For a year he had failed
70 induce various publishers 10 take hold
oft and make some business arrange
meni With him. At last he found a
printer Who agreed to sharethe expenses
Of lIlngit up for one-haItof the result
ing rrghti q there were anJ. The ex-
pos d. printing ) cong . consider.
able. ThepIatesc cost about SIS, and copies
Of It may be turned out for something
Ike 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 To-
cilihes for circulating through the trade,
and thus paving a way for It's introduc-
ton to the piblic, Iii q supposed ad-
vantage, Il longs are introduced to the
public by a man or woman on the stage,
singing them, and not by a music clerk
behind the counter inducing seminary
girls or young collegians with musical
tastes to purchase copy here or there.
However, Mr.. banks and his printer got
the song upin shape for public sale,
and did what they could to present 1t to
the public attention. They made a lit
lie success the first year, but the impet-
uouS and creative spirit Of Nh. banks
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 its way to England, and in point
Of sale easily ranks with any song ever
published. The share which Mr.. banks
sold for S25 would have yielded him per-
haps 5000 In the two or three snbse-
quent Year,. ]. P. Sicily, the composer
Of 4My Pretty Red Rose" and many other
successful songs whose sales have
reached four and sometimes five figures,
has never proRted by those successes.
he invariably sells his compositions to
publishers outright, and is 30 prolific
that he makes a living from this work.
He sells songs all the wayfrom IS to S95
apiece, and writes as many as half a
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.
eir. Work never sold q song to a
music publisher for a fixed sum-" re-
Gently said Willis Woodward, who knew
Mt. Work intimately. 4He 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 100000,
and his songs are still profitable to hii
helm. Babylon is Fallen and March
ing through Georgia were among his
earlier successes; 'Grandfathers Clock
among the latest. Marching through
Georgia is considered q standard song,
and sells to the extent OF 5000 or 5000
yearly shall never forget the first
time ! heard 'Grandfathers Clock.
was then employed in a western music
store. he came in and sang It to me,
He was q very bad singer. and the sub
iect and It's treatment were both SC
quaint the movement Of the melody SC
unusual, that l did not know what tc
think Of It, 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 moi
venture to say anything further. The
song was published, but it was a long
time before 1t won its way to the popular
ear, To say nothing Of tho popular heart,
1t was shown to minstrel singers, who
threw it impatiCntly 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 it, and especially
advertised the fact. Among Works
other songs are: Father, Dear Father,
Come Home with Ne Now, The Loss Of
the Lady Elgin,' The Fire Bells, and
Drop the Pink Curtains Work tried q
number Of times to write successfully
humorous songs, but failed every time.
Nashville American.
How to Write an Grafton.
Tho recent examples Of college ora,