Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-13
They Wander Along the Highways
Merrily Trilling Their Lays.
THE HAPPY STREET WARBLER
Researches Into the Art
Of PICKERING the Lips.
THE STONE AND OTHER AGES

III q oodIuiuS HOuSc, ITO u2SSOfCKS lWo
things, whatever else hs may fail to And
out.
First he learns 'sho 'nough' who his
friends are, and. second. the fact that
Washington is the home Of the 'Whistling
Willie. He needn't have front room to
ascertain the first, but 1t is essential for
full enjoyment of the latter.
II have been lying sick for the past week
in the front room Of house not thousand
miles from the state, war and navy build
ing and while have known that the juve-
nile population was merrily and happily in
clined, 1 had no idea that the springs of
their musical genius bubbled in such melo-
dious refrain. Much Of the tedium Of my
illness was relieved by the whistling OF
youngsters. old or young In point of years
[ know not. for 1 was too Ill to get UP. as
thsy struck my block, which is a sunny
one and must have inspired them to song.
The FavOrite Popular Songs.
''The favorite songs Of the whstling pop
ulation of Washlngton-that is, that portion
OF 1t as trundied by my window-can't be
summarized. In fact, there doesn't appear
to be any particular song in the puckering
of the street whistler's mouth just at pres
ent. as is often the case, A Hot Time In
the Old Town Tonight and Turn Me
A1oOScs MI. JOulsOIs DSiAS LILO uAoSl IFUtt.
BILE of recent years. 1 heard the former
whistled but once.
Perhaps Come Listen to the Band I'D
Leave My Happy Home for You and She's
a Captive in a Giided Cage are the IA
vorites. The last appeals to the street
whistler. So does anything in the musical
line which has a she in 1t, especially If the
dear darling is unhappy. She must be I'M
happy. you know, to appeal to popular
sympathy. Remember the proud but
curtling words and accents, cried Take
Back Your Gold in the popular ballad Of
that title. The street whistler down in the
bottom of his heart always thought that
this girl displayed poor taste, as gold from
his standpoint is thing not to be spurned.
Pipe Their Own Compositions.
"A good many of our street whistlers pipe
their own compositions. These original
compositions are not published in the music
stores, and are not, therefore, appreciated
by the music-loving public. But they ap-
peal to the hearts of their composers. and
that's enough for them. Some are of a
fearful and wonderful rhythmical texture.
Nearly all are sad; that is. they are intend
ed by the composer to be sad. To the lis
tener they are generally funny. 1t is re-
markable. but true, that when the street
whistler pitches into music of his own 1t Is
pitched in lugubriouS key, nine times out
of ten Maybe he thinks that a lighter vein
wouldn't do justice to his genius.
From early morning until late at night
these street whistlers passed my door.
Their warnings were a genuine pleasure to
me. and learned to look for several whose
notes became familiar to my ear. One was
a young fellow who had a fine baritone
pipe and perfectly correct ear for tune.
All of his songs were whistled correctly.
One in particular, the new song, set In
march time, of the mother who buried a
son at Appomattox and another at Santa
l,.ti
was delight, his notes finally receding in
the distance most effectively. As a rule,
while street whistlers will carry the air,
they do not whistle all of the notes Of a
new song with musical correctness. This Is
because they pick them up In the theaters
and on the street by ear. The march in
The Ameer' l heard several times. This is
short, and most any person can pick it up
after hearing 1t played once or twice.
The Sweetest of the Love Songs.
THE prettiest song of the year is AL
ways 1t is a love song. Its whistling got
me out Of bed. My unknown friend with
the baritone notes stopped under my win
dow one day and whistled 1t through with
his usual sweetness and correctness. When
my sweetheart wishes to be especially kit
tenish. she drops gracefully down on the
piano stool and, curving her swanlike, lily
neck, pours forth her soprano notes in AL
ways in the most telling and killing effect
upon my susceptible heart. Anything she
wants within the limits of my hundred-dol-
lar-a-minute income Is hers forthwith. I
owe that fellow a debt of gratitude l
hadn't seen her for over a week. and there
Is a limit to every mans power OF endur-
ance 1 was out of bed that day, and two
evenings subsequently a tall, thin, pale
young man might have been seen meander-
ing weakly in the direction Of his best girls
house Whistling words something like these,
which will be recognized by those in love
as we'll calculated. with the sweet notes Of
the accompanying song, to arouse the
tender passion:
Always, always. 1 will love you, always,
Do not fear, my love Is true
And live alone for you.
Always. always. will love you, always,
Love like mine Is ever thine
And it lives always, always.
The Genesis of WhistIing.
The genesis of whistling," continued the