Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-24

this echo by accident and he was alone
in his knowledge. for not one of the other
dogs ever sang his solo from this spot.
My fox terrer ranks the piano above all
other musical instruments. Its timbre seems
to be especially pleasing TO his ears. The
violin comes next In its power of pleasing,
followed by the organ The flute, piccolo
and fiageolet rank about the same, but the
coTnet-in fact, all brasses no matter what
the key may be-are not at all agreeable
to him. This dog is remarkably intel
ligent and has heard good music since his
earliest infancy, hence, perhaps, his phe-
nomenal powers of discrimination in the
matter of harmonious tonal vibrations.
Dog Detested False Notes.
At one time there lived In my town a
large Portuguese bloodhound which was
owned by Lieut.. Conway of the United
States navy. A short time before Conway's
death, while talking of the phenomenal in
telligence of this dog, he informed me that
this animal possessed such discriminating
ear for music that he could at once tell
when the bugler of the ship made a mistake
In sounding the various ships calls, on
one occasion. when the musician was sound
ing lights out" or some other call one of
ms shipmates stuck a pin into him In his
pam and surprise, the bugler made a false
note. The dog, which was some distance
away, uttered a dismal howl and at once
Went below Repeated experiments after
Ills OSNui SIlCc demonstrated the fact that
the deg could really tell when a mistake
IN the calls was made
The actress. Aimee, once owned King
Charles spaniel that peculiarly sus-
eeptIple TO music. On one occasion this
animal escaped from her dressing room
While the actress was doing her turn on
INC stage and for a few moments, held
the boards in defiance of his mistress and
the stage hands, who tried to capture him
he rushed here and there about the stage
IN Wild and fantastic dance, uttering
noWls and sharp yelpfng barks. He was
finally captured by the villain in the play
who fell on him, thereby nearly Squeezing
thelife out of him. His mistress explained to
the audience in her queer English that the
mooseck always made i'm crazee and IN
flame She told ME that the dog had al
WAYS shown fondness for music. Tie
majority Of dogs are music deaf" only
the favored few possess musical discrimna-
lion.
Two Singing Mice.
Several years age singing mouse" lived
III my fathers library; 1t was my privilege
to hear this little musician on several occa-
stons. My father in the habit of TAX
ing lunch about II O'Clock at night, and he
would Invariably throw the crumbs to his
tiny visitor. Shortly before lunch time the
mouse would make its appearance, and
sitting erect on its launches begin its tune
ful little song. l use the word tunefuI
advisedly. for there a great deal OF
melody in the simple theme which made up
this creatures musical effort
Its song, in timbre. bore some resem-
blance to that OF the canary There were
however, no cadenzas, though l noticed
passages in which there were both ascend
ing and descending scales of four notes.
There also considerable trflling which
made the song most birdlike in character
Not long since a singing mouse took up
its abode beneath the mantelpiece In my
bed room. l heard II sing on numerous oc-
casons. but its song was not so pleasing
nor was IL we'll rendered as that of my
fathers little songster.
Mice frequently show that they are in
fuenced by music The organist of the
First Presbyterian Church OF this town
(Owensboro. ky-) gave me a remarkable
instance of this fact. In relating his en-
perience with a music-loving mouse, he
said;
When I lived in Cuba, n. Y, mouse
dwet beneath a bookcase in my music
room, and l often performed the following
experiment: Seating myself at the piano. l
would begin improvisng softly. In a few
moments the mouse would come from be-
meath the bookcase, approach the center OF
the room, and. standing its hind feet,
listen intently to the music. A loud chord
on the piano would send II scampering away
to Its home. | would then resume nv
pianissimo Improvisation and the mouse
would soon return to Its former station near
the center of the rom. only to vanish