The National tribune., 1906-08-23
VIII =. Hrys.

| preached there until his neaItn began
to fail. He died in 1885,
| VIII :. Hays.
Among the song writer's of America
there is none better known than Will
s Hays. an eX-Confederate soldier. who
| for more than a generation has been
| connected with the Louisville Courier
Journal.
a reporter of the ST. Louis Republic
| recently had an extended interview with
| this song writer and obtained from him
the interesting details of the circum-
stances which led TO the writing of the
song. "Mollie. Darling
| In speaking of his long career as a
song writer. Mr.. Hays said: Every one
| of my songs means something There
was a reason for its being written. OF
| course. 'Moliie. Darling had the great
est vogue. There was a time when Il
| was sung everywhere in America. and
| have heard it in England, France, Ger
man and Spain.
| There is a very pretty story con-
nected with the writing of this song il
you care TO hear it, said Mr.. Hays 81
had been writing songs for some years.
| and once year I took a batch of them
to New York to sell to a music publish
er- At the time of which I speak I had
| 10 songs. with the words and music.
and I started up the river from Louis
vile. KY. on a steamboat. intending to
go by water as far as Pittsburg. but by
! the time I reached Pittsburg I was tax
| en- i'll with pneumonia. and they carried
| me ashore to the MonongaheIa House.
There I was III for several weeks. and
was close to the shining portals
My attendant was an Irish girl
named MoIlie' She was a bright,
sparkling. rosy-cheeked creature. just
from the Emerald Isle. and she never
seemed to weary of ministerfng to my
wants. a Mailman on the same floor was
| an Irishman named Pat. II was not
long until L learned they were sweet on
each other
| zone evening the doctor told me that
| IL 1 would be real good he would be
| willing for me to leave my bed the next
day and go down to dinner. I was de-
| lighted, for / longed to see the river
and hear the splash of the buckets as
they doused into the waters. It was
dark, but the lights We're not lit and
| the door of my room was open. Di-
rectly in front of my door was a deep
window. and in this Mollie and Pat
We're sitting about as close together as
| it was possible for them to get. They
| thought I was asleep, and 1 suppose
ought to have been.
II heard Pat whisper. DO you love
| me. Mollie, darling?' Mollie made no
| reply and only snugg1ed closer. Let
| your answer be a kiss whispered Pat
There was a Slight scuffie in the
window. and then they went away. But
| all through the night the words kept
| running in my mind. Do you love me,
| Mollie. darling? Let your answer be
a kiss L was still weak and nervous
as would have been expected of a man
| who had been as sick as was. Then
1 began to hum the very same tune tina,
countless thousands have since hummed
and sung.
'In the morning Pat assisted me to
dress. and then Mollie came in to tidy
up the room bit. 1 sat down at the
washstand and scribbled off the song In
its entirety. music and ALL as I had
| composed II in bed. I said nothing to
Pat and MOllfe. They took me down to
| breakfast, and all the old river men
and my other friends were glad to see
me. Then. as we arose to leave the
table, I asked them to step into the
parlor, and specially requested that Pat
and MolIie. who had been so good to
me. go with us. 1 said that I Ionged to
sing and play something, and 1 wanted
them to hear it.
Everybody went along. and I sat at
the piano and played and sang 'Mollie.
Darling II made a hit with the COM
pany, and everybody crowded about to
congratulate me. The last was MoIlie
She leaned over my shoulder. her face
as red as the rose. and whispered. And
did yez hear the answer I gev him.
'Well. did not put that song with
my others to sell in New York. because
it was not in shape as the rest. Instead
placed it in my inside pocket. In New
York / had no trouble in dispOsing of
the others I had written. and was stand
ing talking to the proprietor about the
batch I thought I would be able to grind
out for the next season. A poor old
Irish woman entered the store begging
money with which to bury her dead
child. 1t was a pitiful story. and I
turned to the proprietor and suggested
that he give me S25 for .Mollie, Oar
ling L played it over for him. and ne
agreed. I passed the money over to the
old woman, and she showered blessings
on me, and said she hoped the song
would be under the special patronage
of all the saints.
"The song was published, and it lay
on the shelf until l came the next year.
The publisher remarked that 1 had sold
him something like gold brick. This
touched my pride. l knew the song
had merit, and 1 resolved my judgment
should be vindicated. A famous min
strel was playing at one of the theaters.
He had sung some of my songs, and we
were good friends. 1 asked him as a
special favor to sing 'Mollie, Darling
He did so. and I led the orchestra.
within a week the entire edition
had been sold, and there were so many
orders for it the entire edition was put
on the press again. Everybody on the
street was whistling it. Since then mil
lions of copies have been sold. and the
publisher made fortune out of that
one song. 1 did not get a cent out of it.
Il also wrote Keep in the Middle of
the Road on the impulse of the mo-
ment. l was walking along a country
road in Kentucky one day when / saw
an old negro woman with switch in
her hand driving her drunken husband
along before her The road was steep
on each side. and he was staggering
from side to side. Every time he would
stagger over towards the embankment
the old woman would hit him with the
switch and shout:
Keep in de middle of de road;
Don't you look to de right,
Don't you look to de left,
But keep in de middle OBJ de road
''That song almost wrote itself. When
I got back to the hotel all I had to do
was to put it on paper. In all country
towns you always find an organ in the
hotel parlor. and 1 sat down and played
and sang the song there for the first
time. 1t passed out into the world and
petted me So