Evening star., 1896-11-28
MUSIC AS A CIyILIYER.
It's Practical Use i'm a Lumber Camr
In kentucky.


Music hath charms to soothe a savage
to rend rock and bust a cabbage" quoted
the hotel clerk 10 the guest from the noun
tain region Of Kentucky. as that individual
dropped a nickel i'm the tin cup of la bella
ltalianna-organ-gr -grindera.
We'll" he laughed, here's a cabbage II
can bust every time it hits IT, and I'm glad
of 1t. I'm a great believer in music and its
power over the tutored and the untutored
mind. OF course. there is a margin Of poet
ry in it, but its practical workings are no
less. As an instance let me tell you my ex-
perience. i am, as you know, in the lumber
business in the mountain region of Ken
lucky, and, as you are also aware, that
particular section is not entirely inhabited
by Quakers. 1 had employed at my mill
about a dozen men who were fair average.
That is to say, rs long as they were not
drinking they were not shooting, but when
the wine was in the pistols were out and
civilization was not greatly advanced by
the subsequent proceedings. Among my
men We're two Who played the fiddle, and
it occurred TO me after reading something
about what Prof. Somebody had done in
the Chicago slums with music TO try IL on
my people. So L called them up and talked
to them on the subject, suggesting as o
kind of inducement that the company would
ray for the instruments IL they would
ganize and hire teacher for brass
band"
'oh, that's all right" laughed the timber
man, Il know that brass band practicing
isn't much for pleasure, but it's a good
deal safer and more agreeable than shoot
ing chunks of lead around town, and our
brass band was introduced a public
seother, so to speak. At first our musicians
were disposed to shoot up the town be-
cause some in1iscreet persons made re-
marks about what a brass band sounded
like, but L put the wickedest man of the
lot at the head of the band for he was
leader wherever he was, and l told him how
necessary discipline was.
He caught on at once, and as all the
young fellows were afraid of him, he soon
had them well trained as soldiers. The
teacher was city man or courage and a
gentleman as well, and his influence helped,
too, so that within six months you wouldn't
have known my people or our little town.
They worked nearly every night till
O. clock at their music, and soon as they
could play a piece fairly well they went
on exhibition with 1T, and when summer
came 1 furnished the material and they
built q public music stand, where they play
ed every evening for an hour or more. L
never saw such an Improvement in men.
and IL extended to their friends and the
whole community.
After a time they were playing well
enough to go to the neighporing places to
play at local celebrations, and once they
played three days at a county fair and
made quite little sum of money. When
they went away on these trips, which were
not numerous enough to interfere with their
work, their conduct was something to be
proud of, and they would as soon have
thought of getting drunk or raising a row
as they would of throwing their instru-
ments in the river.
They stopped their nightly gambling and
saved their money, and after two years
of that band 1 wouldn't have parted with
1t for a p per cent dividend OF our COM
pany.