Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-18

make ChopinS funeral march look like a
piece of frivolous ragtime.
Played on q bright day they are out of
place. If they are hurried they travel
with a rheumatic limp. They can only
be played at a funereal pace if they are
to be played effectively.
But when the sound of Break the News
to Mother" come creeping sobbingly from
an aged street piano on wet. rainy day,
and ;he listener looks our and A
poor old man YEARLY grinding the crank.
he usually strains himself in trying to
reach his pocketbook and give the old
man money at the same time.
The old fellow in question is strong as
an OK and couldn't take cold if he tried.
But that doesn't worry him. He doesn't
mind the little fiction he practices.
OF late years these masters of canned
music have aimed high. Time was, and
not so very long ago either. when the
organ grinder was satisfied with COM
Portable little one-legged affair that would
butcher the tunes and choke on the third
and never tried to keep In time. he would
get a machine like this and monkey.
1t is necessary to repeat-and monkey
The monkey was as necessary to his out
fit as a corpse is to a funeral.
He would take the unhappy thing mot
the corpse, but the monkey, and dress
it up in red shake like those worn by the
"Old Guard at Waterloo. and he would
drape it's protesting form In red coat
and start out through the streets Inc
music box and chewed aimlessly at its re-
straining chain. When the affair stopped
the monkey would climb down and dance
more theoretically than gracefully. and
the performance would end when the
monkey passed around the hat
That was long time ago. FULLY Two
decades have passed since the monkey
held sway as the chief attraction OF the
music master of canned tunes. But what
times those were! How the little boys
:-I<. %bo~ n nd
sad-faced beast in silent wonder as he
danced the measure with a pathetic little
limp.
The monkey seemed to always be suf-
fering from y cold. He SMILED much and
continually wiped his nose on the back
of his hand Most of his kind have gone
now. 1t Is rare that the red coat and
high hat of the organ grinders monkey
are seen on the streets. The ltallan mas
become Americanzed of late and goes IN
for such high things as classical music
and ragtime played by an instrument That
seems innocently ignorant of such things
as time and ryhthm.
OF all of the host that once marched
through this city with their barrel organs
and monkeys there only remains one. and
he is growing old. The monkey that he
now possesses looks, if anything. older
than its master. while the organ looks
oldest of the three.
Vincenzo is his first name Most peo-
pie do not know his last. He lives by
himself in a small house in the northeast
section of town. He has a comfortable
little home. just large enough for himself,
his wife, the monkey and the organ. He
has saved money they say. but the habit
of years is upon him and he cannot rest
from his work
Vincenzo is not seen in Washington
very much. for while he is here he lives
in retirement. During the long days
of the winter he remains in his home
and spends his old age in quietude. but
when spring comes with that sweet
virile influence the old man cannot re-
main inactive. He picks up his old in
strument and arrays his monkey and
bids his wife farewell.
Il will be back soon." he says when
he leaves, but his wife only smiles, for
she knows that the wanderlust is upon
him and that he will wander far before
he returns.