The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1906-05-22
De only fren 3 dat's lef' ME am dat
little dog er mine, I, @S.,.,....
An dat 1iftla olo loo ooh;nofS =, 10

An dat little ole log cabling in de
...@ lane.' #s
"Why those words simply wrote
themselves in my mind. sIt.was easy
to finish the song, and it was any easy
matter to form the plaintive air ac-
companying the words.
"When 1 was al title shaver 1 had
a sweetheart who was very religious
and she had grave doubts for my fu-
ture. 1 think I must have been just
trihe wild. She told me she used
to stand at the window Of her home
at night looking out at the sky and
pray for me. 1t made All impression
upon me and that is why in after life
I wrote 'I'll Remember You, Love,
In My Prayers The first two lines
made that song. .,
" 'When the curtains of night arc
pinned back by the stars
And the beautiful moon mounts the
sky
The Story of Evangeline.
The story Of Evangeline is a rather
peculiar one. There was al Evangcline
and that was her name. When my
hair was not white as snow and
when there were no wrinkles in my
face I had sweetheart by that name
and she was society girl in Louis
vile. She didn't care snap for
me. She saw L was becoming popular
with my songs and thought it would
be something to boast of to be able
to say she had me on her string.
"a party Of us went out in the
country to spend the day and heavy
rain came up. We sought shelter un-
der rude shed and built fire. 1t
just poured down for more than an
hour. Evangclinc said she wished l
would write song about her. There
was not scrap Of paper or a pencil
in the crowd and she seemed terribly
disappointed. So | snatched up q
piece Of the charrcd wood from the
fire and went over to high board
fence and scrawlcd the words and mu-
sic to Evangclinc' there.
Everybody could sing and we sang
the song over and over. II made a
hit with Evangeline, and she came
back the next day and copied it from
the fence. Some years later l sccur-
ed a copy Of il from her and had ii
printed. 1t was successful but | only
got few dollars for it.
"[ have made no money from my
songs. Perhaps $1,000 would cover
what I have earned in the last 60
years in this way. But don't write
songs for pay. I write and sing them
because | love to do so. / am of the
south, and I think the old fashioned
negro melodies contain more music
than any of the high sounding compo-
SitionS Of the so-callcl masters. Only
a person who has been tho, oughly
trained in music understands the
classic compositions, but the songs of
the south appeal to the heart as we'll
as to the ear. While You are away
ont in old Missouri, don't it make
your blood run little faster and
your eyes get kind Of watery to hear
any old kind Of band play MY Old
Kentucky Homc?' That same band
could play something of the swell and
it would not rufflc hair.
"I try to reach the heart in the
songs | write. They are for the plain
every day people, and about things
and places with which they are famil-
lar. | have never been very religious
and 7 know my time is short now, but
| dom t think I have wasted my time
in writing songs, for which received
nothing, for feel they have brought
some brightness into the world. may
not go to heaven, but l hardly think
[ deserve to be sent to the other
place.
Col. Hays is far from being u
wealthy man. He owns the home in
which he lives, and that is about all.
He depends on his income from the
Courier-Journal and a little outside
business to provide for the wants Of
his family.