Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-10-01
WHY'S VOICE
Copyright. BY Joseph B. Rowles.)
BY JOSEPH

Copyright. by Joseph B. Bowles)
Willie Dodge, just turned 10. was
not only the pride of his family. he
was the admiration of the community
at large.
He trilled like a bird, or what IL
more to the purpose. he sang like a
prima-donna, and all who heard him
marveled at his wonderful voice. He
possessed much girlish beauty, and
he had the g%entlest of dispositions
which nc amount of adulation could
spoil.
The many flattering professional of.
fers made him were peremptorily re,
jected by his family. They coddled
the boy as carefully as they nursed
his voice.
His uncle, Mr.. Robert Triggs, the
wealthy proprietor of several large
auction stores in the city, had made
Willie his special care. Mr.. Triggs
intended (when the time camel that
his nephew should study under the
best masters abroad, but, in the mean.
time, he should learn all he could from
local talent.
Nc expense was to be spared to
make Willie the greatest of modern
tehors; that he would be anything
else never, for a moment, was enter
tanned by Mr. Triggs, who had said,
NOR than once, that Heavens great
CT gift to man was a lyric tenor
voice, that a bass voice was a neces-
sary evil, and that a deep-toned wom-
an was a visitation of Providence.
Willie had learned from the vii.
lage music teacher all the latter had
to teach, and began preparations for
his trip abroad. The event was cele-
brated by a musical entertainment
rendered Willie by the members of
the First Congregational church. The
concert came off on the v of the
boys departure, and Mr.. Triggs had
brought a score of musical friends
from the city to attest the wonder
full quality of his nephew's voice.
The church was crowded, and
everything passed off more than sat
isfactorily until the third number of
the second part of the programme.
Then something happened: Willie's
voice had gotten away from him.
While he was in the middle of an
elaborate Wagnerian air his voice sud-
denly leaped three bars over the
clef! 1t fingered there for an in
slant, and then as suddenly dived be-
low it. After see-sawing in this man
ner for nearly a minute, Willie sat
down, followed by-silence.
Some thought that the bellows had
burst, others that the organ pipes
were out of joint, but Mr.. Triggs, who
was an authority, raised his hand.
"The boys voice has changed" he
said; "and that's all there is about It."
The gloom that settled ove Sunny
vile that night was not lifted for
many months; and v to this day
the wonderful gymnastics that Willie's
voice went through that night are not
referred to without a shudder.
Willie was entirely o%blivious,
strange to say, to that which to
everyone else was painfully evident,
for he continued in the choir, notwith-
standing the many hints that his res
ignation would be accepted, and that
he should be reinstated whenever his
voice had established itself upon a
less uncertain basis. But he did not
take the hint, until one night at re-
hearsal Squire Bishop, the bass, took
him aside.
Your voice is the most wonderful
fbipy IN th4 wnr1d UUf1Ifn hn coid
zone can never tell what it's going to
do next. One minute it's %ballooning
above high G., and the next it's grub
bling under low G. Why don't you
adapt it to a sliding scale?"
That's right, Willie" said MI.
Trainer, the tenor, who had overheard
Mr.. Bishop. "But If you can only
manage to blend those two voices of
yours I'll advertise you as the great
and only duetest on earth. I'll take
you on the road and make your for"
Before the tenor could finish he lay
sprawling under a bench, while Will
lie, with hands clenched and eyes
ablaze, stood glazing at the bass.
Look here, Squire Bishop" he
squeaked, "Pve stood this thing just
about as long as l intend to stand
it. And if you or any other man says
a word to me about my voice there
his tones scared skyward) II will
SO help me Bob, will (now his voice
came from the depths) I'll punch his
head!"
In the meanwhile Mr.. Triggs was
waiting with not a little impatience
for the day when Willie with a tenor
note would soothe the souls in Purga-
tory" GSee faux %Italiens," by Owen
Meredith a day which, however,
never came, for Willie's voice one
night resolved itself into the deepest
kind of a most untuneful bass.
t NAf1n~.- G~tI.~-y- E-.a--L