San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-09-14
CATER THE BALL"
A Single Song That Makes Its
Composer Rich.

Milwaukee boy has broken the re-
cord in these recOrding-breaking
days, as a song writer, publisher
and seller. Everybody nowadays
is singing that irresistible ballad,
after the Ball." The chorus
After the ball is over, after the break Of
| morn,
After The dancers leaving, after the stars
Many heart is aching, if you could read
them all,
Many the hopes that have vanished, after
| the ball
is heard everywhere, land it is prob
ably the most successful song of
the country, over 100000 copies
having been sold. 1t is said that
no other song ever Melted its COM
poser fortune in a few months
time.
The story of this song, "After
the Ball." is full of human inter-
est. The words and music were
composed by Charles X. Harris
in a few hours, and the most re-
markable thing of all, outside of
it's popularity, is that the COM
poser doesn't know one musical
note from another. Harris is of
Hebrew extraction, is % years old,
is self educated and is the
composer of at least twelve ballads
that are now riding the topmost
wave of popularity. He is Of small
stature, with red hair and blue
eyes, and had eked. out the usual
everyday existence, until a few
months ago, as a teacher Of the
banjo. Today he is one of the rich
men of Milwaukee, and is enjoying
an income of over $1,000 a day,
from the sales of after the Ball."
Harris has struggled with all OF
the phases of poverty, but one
morning, about six months ago, he
awoke to find himself famous.
The composer showed me a
record of forty amusement enter
priSes that were using his song as a
feature of their entertainments. 1t
was first brought out by a men,
Der Of the Hallen & Harris COM
pany late in the spring. Its re-
frain has travelled around the
world and is now being sung
everywhere. Go where you may,
you can't get out of its reach. 1t
has been dubbed the Column bian
song of the Worlds fair, and one
has heard nothing else there. The
bands have played it, the sOlOists
have sung it and even the DahO-
meyans and Nubians of the Mid
way who can't speak word of Eng
lish and the dancing girls of the
Persian and Algerian theatres
have learned to hum the tune.
That almost a million copies
have been printed and sold is no
surmise or matter of gueSSwOrk. |
called on Mr.. Harris, the composer,
yesterday, and he verified this re-
markable statement by showing
me his order books and cash re-
ceipts. Leading dealers are order
ing the song in 5000 lots, and Mr..
Harris income has averaged for
several weeks 81 200 day from the
sale of his song.
The career of the young composer
and the story how he wrote CATER
the Ball" possesses many elements
Of romantic interest. He was born
in POughkeepsie, n. Yin '6f. When
a year old his parents moved to New
York city, where his bOyhOod was
passed. When thirteen years of
age the boy came with his family
TO Milwaukee, where he has lived
ever since. When comparatively
young he began composing music,
and thus far, upward of twenty of
his compositions have been pub
lished. He never had the advant-
age of musical education, but he
takes to music and matchmaking
as naturally as a duck takes to
water. His first songs were sold to
publishers, but shortly after young
Harris became his own pub
Usher. Several songs proved tair-
ly successful, and one entitled /
''Kiss and Let's Make Up" netto d |
him $4,000. But it was not until |
he composed "After the Ball" that
things began coming his way in
tallyhos and coupes. Harris told
me, and l now give for the first
time the simple story of how the
song was written. Last March the
Milwaukee bicyclers were prepar-
ing to give an amateur entertain
ment. Sam Doctor, local singer,
called on Harris one morning
about a week before the show and
asked him to write him song.
Harris had attended ball in Chi
cago the night before and was lying
on a sofa in his office when Doctor