Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-18
Some boardwalk Musings on the In
fiuence of Music.
MAKES ONE FORGET HIS HOME
Sweet Strains on Every Hand Soothe
and Charm = Range From
Wagner to Bag Time.

"The place to acquire the right kind Of a
musical souse." observed q man who looked
as II he ought to know, els Atlantic City.
A musical souse is composed OF equal parts
of rum and music, well mingled. Now. you
can get rum and you can get some music
right here in Washington, but you can't
get 'em in equal parts. There's heap
more rum In washington than there Is
music-publio music, / mean, In places
where you can sit around and make rings
on the table, and, at the proper stage OF
It, mentally bemoan the .lostness OF your
lost youth. When you set out TO pick up a
musical bun in this town there's always
the danger that some of the glory OF the
rum will die within you before you can
get to the next place to switch your brand
Of music. I The pickle is punctured because
you've got to hike around on cars ana IN
cabs In Atlantic City you're just rolled
around in a rubber-tired roller chair. SO
that the serene gurgliness of your state 10
never Jared out Of you. That part OF
your ba-ad subconsciousness which reveis
in the combination OF Wagons and hddles
remains unjolted. Your wooze is not dis
raRtime to the rsus NIT i'm of yogner
Without any break Of intermission, and II
all seems as natural as Hlacs and 5onquits
ton Of the Boardwalk 10. Of course. neces-
sary. The gray or garish light of day erects
no illusions. affords no glamour|f you're
AFTER a long, dawdling Atlantic City din
ner. then, and with Ave or six chirk- makers
on top Of the dinner. you step into tine
roller chair with somebody r.other-any.
body of sympathetic temperament. but
not even remotely related to you. VIII DO:
You're feeling about right. You don't
care whether the little red school house
there isn't going to be any tomorrow. all
rightLlet It 20 as It lays. You're there. In
q roller chair, bathed IN the soft effulgence
Of the Boardwalk lights on one ~, side nt, OF
the the music, which il what I started to talk
about, the music. ff.-,.s.
"A ten horsepower graphophone chirrup.
ing lola. through . megaphone the size OF
the main funnel OF a deep-sea steamer nails
your attention a. you slowly wheel by, and
you tell the chair-pusher to pull up min
ute. Tola,' hey2 Fine! You'd never no
ticed that that song sounded particularly
good before Now IT'S full Of tricksy sug-
gestiveness, even as chirruped out of
graphophone In front Of moving picture
theater. Pretty name. that-lola- Not such
a bad sort OF sentiment to the words. either:
Any fellow couid-or ought to-become kind
Of WOODY over a girl by the name OF lola
When you start the chair-boy a-going again
you direct him to the nearest grotto. where.
just to show there is no acidity OF feeling
on your part, you have couple. Over IN
the corner there's an Austrian with wavy
black locks who's doing things OF the tremo-
10 sort to a concert either, and you stand
over him for little while. He's sweeping
the strings with folk songs Of the Tyrol.
and, somehow or another. after you've had
those couple more. the foik songs souno
maginably sweet. You feel sorry for the
Austrian and you slip him half or some
thing, which he takes with sad smile and
goes right on playing You wonder why You
can't hear either music every night OF your
1ffe-blame thAt SNUG, conventional, mone!o-
nous, dry-as-dust kind of q life that your
compelled, to live when you're at home. any
how! It's wonder a fellow couldn't have
lights and music, and-well, then you step
into your roller again and are propelled out
and again feel the breath of the wild sea
in your face.
Titivated With Brass.
after going little distance. your tym-
panum Is titivated by a mighty blare Of
brass II is the italian band, on that
pier yonder. doing 'Orpheus and Eurydice.'
Vince! What gorgeous thunderous con-
cord. Sounds like the trumpets before the
trumpets before the walls Of Jericho, but
that's what 1t sounds like. anyhow It's
brassy chant Of victory! It's a-well.
the pier for yours, anyhow-you want to
hear some more of that Italian band.
when you line up with the other roller
chairs on the glass-inclosed pier, you notice
that six cornetists and trombonists OF the
band are stepping to the front You think
you know what that means, and you're
right Lucia!' The sextet. You turn
to your program, and there 1t is, Just as
you doped It out. Then they stride into
t. and by the time they're getting to the
gale singing in every nerve-cell OF your
frame, and. as there are about nine trillion
nerve-cells, you feel like you're pretty well
fixed out with nightingales, anyway. Yee-
ow! But it's a lifting thing. the finish
of that sextet-and the Italians doing 1t
seem rapt. TRANSPORTED. exalted. You're
sorry you've got home. What's the use
Of living in a fiat when there's music like
the Lucia sextet going on somewhere
in the world all the time? For an encore
the band does the grand aria from 'Rigo-
letto.' Oh, shucks. you're never going
home any morel You're going to pick up
and fare through the world in search of
the higher and nobler. and-but, by the
way, it's been all OF twenty minutes since
you've attended to. the liquid end OF the
combination. But as you start to go the
band blares into Rheingold' music-wh!te
cars of Joy bursting upon palm-lined South
sea shores! Vince! Great! But go ahead,
chair-boy, off the pier. and to that place
down the walk with that 'pinKlsh eieetrc
sign in front.
well, in the place with the pinkish cleo
trio sign in front there's a reckless-looking
dog of thirty or so whanging out the rag
time stuff on a grand piano In the rear.
Maybe he doesn't know how! After you've
attended to the liquefied end of it you move
over to where he thumps. And 1t seems an
easy transition from the .Rheingold' to Not
because Your Hair Is Curly Any old
thing seems easy, In Atlantic City when
you've got the proper superstructure built
Move on, Man. -'Ah Nevuh Liked a Blue
summed Nigguh' Nah Rabbits Foot Dun
Gone Bad'-oh, II seems all right. and that
how is there with the syncopated stun big
ger than timber wolf. You purchase sew
eral drinks for him. and shudder to observe
that he takes five fingers every time ana
takes 'em neat You wonder how he can
svneopate and do that Move out. chair
how and let's have some more OF the wild
breath of the wine-dark sea. It's pretty
good to, be just living, that's ALL Pretty
good-blamed good. Home and the fiat and
ali that? Oh, those things existed In some
nrevious incarnation! Out again under the
Nights. where the laughing. chattering girls
move I'D and down! You've never noticed
how powerfully pretty they all are before
EVERY one of 'em raging beauty. Junos:
Nvmnhs. Mercedes Oceanidaes. Vince!
Great! But who, is that woman singing and
where Is she!
The Singing Of Sylph.
you're passing garden with eighty
four million lights in front Of 1t just then,
- .,,a yoJ,ca reenins ringing notes OF q