Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-09-30
Music militant
ny Frederic J. Haskis


arc not only sore; they arc hurt and
disappointed. For The first time, several
Of the moro notable ones have thrown
down their slaves and condescended
TO discuss mundane and non-esthetic
things, such as politics. a few have
even come IN Washington and sur
prised their representatives by the How
Of their eloquence and their ready grasp
Of political considerations, which aro
not uneonplicated.
The item in the revenue bill which
has caused this sudden activity on tho
part Of the musicians II that which IN
creascs the tax on admission to CON
certs from 10 TO 20 per cent. For large
portion Of the population music Is not
n luxury but a necessity, they assert
and the proposed increase in the tax
will make IL prohibtive TO many. The
tax on musical Instruments - also OBJ
Iected to-
After all that music has done to
help win The war, IL Is unbelievable
that the government ahOuld fail tn
recognize it's Significance IN our national
life declared well-known musician
recently And one Of the most inter
esting things about the controversy
is that with many If the gentlemen
have carried their point
wusfc noIsG HEH Blr
ITndeniably, music Is PLAYING an i'm
portant part IN tho war II the noise
Of the cannon has olisted il from its
old place on the fields of battle, II has
gained in Importance back Of the lines.
II il the band which arouses tho pa
triotism of every man as he goes up
TO the trenches making The weight Of
his task little less; and # IS the band
that rrects him on his way back 10 the
bilcts. appiauding him as n hero and
making him forget tho experience he
has Just been through
The influence Of music on tho psy
chologv nf the soldier has long been
recognized. II ran keep him cheerful
IN the fare of depressing obstacles, II
can turn him into savage, or 4 ran
soothe his lrritatcd nerves Napoleon
ascrlbed his defeat IN RusSia partly
10 the Russian army music Tho weird
and barbaric tunes If the Coasack rcgi-
mcnts. he said, simply Infatuated
the half-starved Nnscovitce, and they
wipod out tho beat regiments Of the
French army
Today the United States NAVY has
a regulation which requires the band
10 play while sailors arc coaling ships
Our jackiea have 2 special hatred for
this Job. hut when the labor Is per
formed 70 The strains Of lively one
stop II i not 50 bid Md. incidentally
IT. has bcen found that about 30 per
cent moro coal can be put N the bunke r.
during y special specified lime when
accompanied by music
rEHsHtEG APPRECIATES HIS RANDs
According 10 Walter Damrosch, the
famous orchestra leader, who has just
returned e. this country after spend
ing three months IN France, General
Pcrshing is also greatly impressed with
the value ~ music in war and has made
large increases IN the American musical
forces
When the musicians Of the American
army return 10 this country II the tcrTnI-
nation of the war. we shall have a musical
force a. large ~ the whole United States
army was twenty years ago, said Dam
rosch IN an interview recently gwen
tout 10 the press And General Per-
shlng intends 10 make it 4 force 50 per
fected IN is art that when II return.
It's ni.sIc vii b n overwhelming test-
imonial to the value 81 military train
ing
4 training school for American mill
tarv musicians has been established
in an old mill near the headquarters
of the American Expeditionary Forces,
and Nhere Mr.. Damrosch trained over
two hundred band leaders during ms
sojour>,in France. Many talented musi-
cian, were found among the Ameri-
can forces, but thae Was a shortage
= ,srtff 4hn k-anrh
ment released a number of famous
French instructors from its army, and
turned them over 10 the American train
Ing school. Il the same time several
makers of band instruments were re-
leased from the army TO supply the
school with the necessary Instruments.
When the American bands were first
sent across they contained practically
no oboes, baSsoons or French horns.
Since then. however. Congress has
authorized the enlargement Of the bands
from y 70 ~ pieces, and these in
struments will be added as soon as they
can bc procured from the French makers.
JOHN BULL KNOWS, TOO
The British have learned the value
of music as a stimulating force, saws
MIR Damrosch, and their bands &C.
company the men nearly 70 the outer
trenches when they 20 up To the front.
We are also learning that men who
come back from the trenches need music
need all the music we can give them.
not only To wipe out from their minds
the experiences they have gone through,
but TO brace them with the mental
stimulus, the spiritual force which is
quite unrelated TO waf, but which is
the great factor IN building q cheerful
confident army
When Mr. Damrosch first went to
Paris it was his intention TO make a
tour of the american camps 10 enter
tain the soldiers. but this proved I'M
possible owing to transportation Inn
itations Instead, the famous leader
gave a number of concerts in Paris.
with the assistance Of noted French
conccrtlstS. where, according to his
own words, they played TO a veutable
sea of khaki
Mr. Damrosch is not the only one
who has brought back reports of the
American soldiers craving for music
In the \ NJ G. l. huts. the pianos
and vctrolas are always laundering
forth American tunes, and the singers
who occasionally manage t. stage
tout through the rear lines of the war
zone are usually overwhelmed bv the
enthusiasm of the soldiers praise In
the German PRISON camps, moreover,
music has proved a grca; Solace Many
Of the bows have managed to buy Ger
man musical instruments to leorl 10 play
them and several bands and nrchcSt ras
have been formed The Ailied prison