The San Francisco call., 1905-06-11

- NE evening while old Limuel was
entertaining a party OF friends
at the Jucklin homestead the
darkey woman who for more
than a generation had baked the FAM
fly corn bread came IN and whispered
TO Mrs. Jucklin.
''The eood-for-nothing." said the
mistress of the house why on earth
doesn't he go to work? Limuel. that
trinIn' Bill Soniers wants a side OF
bacon"
We'll. let him have it." said the old
man.
"But he's no account on the face of
the earth" she persisted; and the old
man agreed that with this statement
she had swept the field clear OF argu-
ment. Then he added. speaking to the
nesress: GIVE him a middlin' OF meat
one big enough to founder him. and
mebbe he'll let me alone for while"
The woman went out. and Limuel ex-
plained that Bill Somers was a fiddler
from over the creek. And" said he,
Il don't know Of anybody that is much
less account from the Industrial point
OF view than the country fiddler. He
suends the raost Of his time in
neglectin' the things he ought to do.
Everybody sneers at him, and yet the
neighborhood couldn't get along with
out him. without him there couldn't
be any dancin'."
The young preacher was present He
siShed-an art which he gave promise
of carrying to a high state of develop
ment. The girls said that his sigh was
so sweetly melancholy. The old man
allowed that it showed depth. To the
old women ii called up the memories
of trouble. and was therefore vir-
tue. So the young man sighed and said
that while II was far from him to
condemn any man. yet he thought that
the fiddle was a JACKIE lantern that
Dancing, Brother JuckIin. has never
benefited community"
THAT may be true" Limuel ad-
mitted, "but music benefits man, and
man dances because it IS a sort of
body music. The most of the folks
that dance are lightweight, I must ac-
knowledge, but they act out the music
and II is from this source that they
get. their enjoyment. In one of the old
books I bought at sale not long ago
1 read this: Every human feelin' Is
greater and larger than the excitin'
cause-a proof that man is designed
for a higher state of existence; and
this is deeply implied in music. in
which there is always somethin more
and beyond the immediate expression
All nature struggles to express music
the thunder of the heavens is a
music-the singin' of a bird and the
chirrup OF a cricket Man sings. and
he made such a bad Job of 1t as a gen.
eral thing that he had to call in other
means to get his emotion out of him,
so he invented instruments. the fiddle
bein' the chief among them. It is
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body likes to hear fiddle well played,
but few people are willin' to admit
that the fiddler is any account. 1t would
make no difference how much money
feIler might earn with his fiddle. the
American. especially in the country.
would look on IT with a sort OF smile.
1t wouldn't look like the money was
as honestly earned as IL the feller had
dug up stunps for it. But I don't
think. parson. that music leads souls
to perdition. / don't see why 1t should
Now David stood pretty well with the
Lord. didn't he?"
oh yes" the minister answered.
He was anointed."
"Well, David liked music and It was
noised about. from what 1 can infer.
that he danced"
'Ah, but it was different sort OF
dance" the preacher objected.
YES" said old Linn. ''mebbe IT was, for
fashions In dancin' change as time goes
on. But sDeakin' of the fiddler. 1 think
lnat IN MS way ne serves the Lord as
well as anybody. The movement of music
within him shows that his soul amt
stagnant. Over in the Bald Knob neigh
borhood there used to be fiddler named
Josh Norris. An acquaintance caught
him lyin' in bed one mornin' after the
sun was UP, and OF course that branded
him as bein' no account whatver. But
he was good lookin'. had curly hair,
and one of the comeliest girls in the COM
munity became his wife. 1t appeared to
be a love match. She said that all the
happiness she desired was to sit down
and have Josh play for her. And this
was exactly what Josh did. The weddin'
presents had been mostly things that
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