The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1904-06-02
SOME DESIRABLE sAToNs.
Those That Have Belonged to Famous
Orchestra Conductors Coveted
by Lesser Lights.

Batons welded by famous orchestrs
conductors have value nowaday'
apart from their intrinsic worth The
| have entered the list of collectors
specialties and would sell at q hig.
| figure il put on the market and auc'
toned on properly, states the Men
York Times. Those who aspire IL
possess them are, as a rule. small-fry
musicians, chiefly conductors. Some
how they fancy that their own cir
cumscribed talents might blossom int
real genius through the association
| and their efforts to secure a number
Of consecrated batons are most strenu-
GUS
A baton, to be desirable from the
collectors standpoint, must possess
| one of two virtues-it must have been
the property Of a popular conductor
or it must have done duty on some
red-letter operate or symphonic occa-
sion. The second condition presup-
poses the first, because at most gala
performances the conductor is man
of previous achievements. Hence q
baton that has figured in a star mu-
steal event acquires double Importance
In the eyes Of the collector.
II the famous batons now in New
York were to be passed in review prob
ably the prize would be awarded to tho
magic wand welded by Conductor
Hertz, Of "Parsifal" fame. Mr.. Hertz
might have done much for himself In
q financial way il he had realized mis-
opportunities. II he had been willing
to place commercialism on level with
art he could have made mint OF
extra money this season by selling
souvenir batons. Their christening. 1t
Is true, might have interfered slightly
with the progress Of the music. but
what of that?
The batons used by Sig. Mancinelli
In extracting from his orchestral
forces those dulcet strains for which
he is famous are in demand. and he
has received many letters requesting
the gift of a Romeo and Juliet" or a
Faust" baton. Two seasons ago the
baton that led sPaderewskis opera
Manu." to q tragic end was an objecs
Of veneration. Had not its owner been
above sordid consideration he might
have received q tremendous price for
It while the Paderewski fever waa
raging. Another conductor who could
make . good thing out of selling ba-
tons 10 Theodore Thomas, who gets
many requests for his batons-
But, unfortunately, the men Of power
among orchestra leaders have the in
convenient habit Of forming an attach
ment for the batons with which they
beat their way up to glory. Still 1t II
possible. by means Of cajoling, some
times to gain possession Of the coveted
treasures. One woman. who has con-
Quoted . number Of singing classes
~ well a. Juvenile orchestra in this
city. has in her collection 30 hatons
with . history. She picked them up
here and in Europe. Most Of them she
considers too precious for ordinary
use, but the one she uses in public
IL = batch that was fourished by Wal
ter Damrbsch several years ago at IN
especially brilliant performance Of
4O0Su6Alu QS S\1CA At88k - Al
nowise extraordinary. but somehow 1t
has brought luck to the woman con-
ductor. and although she has others
commemorative Of more important oc-
casions, she likes this particular mas
cot best Of Ill.
This scrimmase for celebrated b.
tons II induced solely by . spirit Of
hero worship. A baton good enough
for ordinary purposes can be bought
nrst-hand for 80 cents. It II Z plain
stick Of white holly End seldom II used
on dress occasions. After rising above
that modest price the purchaser may
mount by 60-cent intervals Ill the way
up to SIS. The expensive variety u
made Of ebony and has IN ivory ham
die and solid gold trimmings. but even
this splendor can be improved by the
Of . few precious stones,
which are sometimes thrown In for
good measure. The demand for thu
really expensive batons II small-ex-
cept on special occasions, when they
come In handy for presentation pur-
poses.