The age-herald., 1899-12-17
A MINSTREL FOR
 THE FRENCH NAVY

some great naval fleet.
 Albert Robin-for that Is the poets name was a very small boy when he joined a naval training ship at Brest Three years later he had learned the business of a bluejaeket and was in the signalling branch of the service on the Ocean," one of the vessels connected with the Pacific station.
 Yam had always possessed considerable dramatic talent and as he was a good singer his songs and recitatonS proved the chef source of amusement for his comrades in the fo'c'sle There too the officers heard him and they were so much impressed by his ability as an entertainer that they en- eouraged him to improve himself Books Were provided for him and it was at this that he conceived the idea of composing his own songs and from that day it has been his one ambition to appear as the spolzes- man of the sailor-folk. While his early compositions were crude as compared to his later efforts they attracted immediate attention and especially because they struck new tone in French literature
 The rules of French prosody were stumbling block to the new poet. The Bre- ton seaman did not speak by rule and they had a perfect contempt for the silent e, so Yann resolved to break with classic tradi- tions and make his sailors speak without convention, straight from the heart, in their own homelY tongue.
 The result, while inspiring in the original cannot be translated without a complete loss of the original spirit that has made the verses what they are. All this, however does not worry the homely poet. He has no ambition to pose as an international genius. He is content to be the poet of the sailor flock and he feels that in his present posi- tion he has achieved the height of his am- bition.
 During the past few years, most of which he has spent in Paris, he has made many friends. In the Quartier Latin his songs and poems were received with am outburst of applause that almost swept the singer from his feet In the more fashionable salons the gaunt sailors rough hands we're forgotten and the poems of life on the sea, in which he depicted the life of his sailors, moved the most cultivated audiences to laughter or to tears at the will of the home ly poet.
 But he is perfectly content to leave all this in order that he may return to the sea he knows so well. There he will appear before the audiences that love him and to them he will read and sing his choicest poems With flowers of fancy, touches of humor, or visions of sadness and solmnity he will endeavor to guide the thought of his hearers into channels in which they will be able to catch a glimpse of the spirit of patriotism that will inspire them to per- form great deeds for their home, their na- tive land.
 But love of country will not be his only theme He has shown that seamen love the sad lays that appeal to their humanity. He has been a ptiless realist and realist he will remain, but whether it be in songs of sadness or in the more merry airs of thea fo' c's'le he will still be the genuine poet of the sea and his Interpretation of the life. of the sailor, his translat tions of the emotions and ideas born of that calling will continue to be the inspiration of the men whose duty it is to defend the flag of France. What other effect the experiment may have is quite another story but the innovation will certainly be watched by the naval authorities of every land. few years ago "Lockroy's poet'' would have been greeted with ridicule by every naval beard in the world. Today men do not laugh at the idea. They admit that the French minister may be correct in his theory and if he can show that song and verse makes better fighters of his sailors minstrelry will be an official profession recognized by every navy. In that case the name of Yam Nibor will be given place of honor upon the pages of history