Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-16
CURIOUS ANALOGLES
Some Persons Associate Sounds Y h Colors Others See
Resemblance of Men to animals
Bv W.4LTER PRICHARD EATON

What color is the oboe? To me it is straw
yellow but I know people who passion
atey maintain that it is green. The
French horn Is the blue of the twilight
sky. The cello is deep maroon and so on.
When Oscar Hammerstein was conducting
the Manhattan Opera House. in New York.
and making the Metropolitan look to its
laurels and step lively. Mrs. Claiming Pol.
lock. who was Oscars press representa-
tive, and I used to sit in the office and dis
cuss the colors of operas. while Claiming
regarded me with contempt and his wife
with alarm. He felt, l am sure that rea-
son had departed from us. especially as
our debates sometimes waXed hot. We
could agree on Aida" which Is undoubt.
edly nile green and gold, but we never
reached an agreement on Don Giovanni"
which Renaud was then singing and act
ing as only he could. To me it was the
same color as a violin till the last act,
when it became dashed with somber scar
let. To Mrs. Pollock it was some prepos-
ferrous color I now forget. Once. recall.
somebody came in who declared that all
operas had their peculiar perfume, too,
and Claiming fled into West Thirty-fourth
street with his head in his hands.
ANOTHER association of my own brain
"A is between numbers and shadow.
can distinctly recall that this association
was strong even when I was a child, learn
ing-or. rather trying to learn-the multi
plication table Indeed, it was stronger
then than now. l see all figures in grada-
tions of light and shade, and the gradations
go by decimals. Starting with l, which is
high light. the shadow dusks over till is
in it completely, begins to emerge and 10
is in full light again. From that point the
shadows are rather light on IS and 2S;
there are none at all on 3S, faint shadow
on 4S. but beginning with about 60 the
heavy shadow creeps across till 8S is very
dark. Then the 90s come out and 100 is
in full blaze. Beyond 100 my mind
Erasps figures but vaguely, and the deep
shadows are at 500. 5000. $4,000, and so on,
with the high lights on the ensuing tens.
Somewhat similarly the piano keyboard
always gives me gradations of light and
shade; not only is the bass dark and the
treble strong white light, but in each oc-
tave high and low are light and A is
dusked.
GO FAR as have ever investigated this
~ particular association is popularity
of my own, but probably others share 1t
in some form or other. The human mind
Is an odd thing and its tricks of associa-
tion are infinite. Indeed, it is the power
of association which makes it a mind and
not a mere animal instinct. 1t would be
strange if some seemingly irrelevant and
useless associations did not get mixed up
in a process which is constantly going on
as naturally as breathing.
DUT am forgetting the Crown Prince.
~ AS I say, for a long time the vague
resemblance he bears to something or
other in the animal kingdom had haunted
me. I could not quite picture what it was
But today I learned. / was cultivatins
between two rows of Swiss chard and
turned up long, greensh-gray cut worm
| 1t lay almost upright on cod of earth
| facing me- I uttered cry of relief. II
was a perfect image of the Crown Prince
' of Germany. Then ! stepped on It.