The Press., 1918-03-21

Mattio Castagpera on Monday.
 | Miss Fitzpatrick will have he
 millinery opening on Saturday.
 An electric motor for the organ
 being placed in the Congregations
 church to replace the water motor tha
 was put out of commission by freezing
 The Current Events club will me
 Monday evening with Mrs. O. B
 Pinney at her home on East street
 The program will be Literature am
 Music of Switzerland by Miss A. D
 Washburn; Inteflaken and it's Lake
 by Mrs W. H Reed, and Household
 Economies by Miss Elizabet Sohreier,
 Music will be a piano solo by Mis-
 Charlotte Beckwith
 The funeral of Elder Amasa Morse,
 103 years old, was held at the Congre
 gatiouAl church Saturday afternoon al
 2.I5. Rev. o. 0 Earnham, an ad
 vent of Springfield, Mass conducted
 the service, assisted by Rev l. Rees
 The bearers were 0. E. Butterfield, O. P. Hodgson, 0 F. Beokwith, F.
 " Howard, A. NJ. Walker and Christopher Booth. There was s large attendance. The body wal placed in the tomb and the burial will be later at Union,
 The marriage of Captain John Hawley LaFned of this town, now stationed at Houston. Texas, to Miss Sarah Marguerite Hollopeter. daugh- ter of Dr and Mrs. ". O Hollopeter of Merion, Pa. will take place on April 10th at o'clock Captain Larned on returning to his post after few days in Washington found that his recent commission as n captain was in the regular army instead of the officers reserve which makes the promotion a higher one than he ex- peoted.
 Rev J.O'Neill's recent production, 'fThe Patriot Girl" is called by ex- ports the best song and march hit of the waI and it may rival the fame of his "When Evening Comes. He refused an offer of one thousand dollars for "The Patriot Girl" from a mem ber of a music house who chanced to try over the new song and march, in manuscript form, the day after it was finished The entire music setting of 'The Patriotic Girl" is his own. The Catholic Transcript of last week contains the following in regard to Rev. O'Neill and "When Evening Comes:'' Within two years it had be come a classic Though soundly Catholic in doctrine, it has oaptivated the ohoirs of all denominations, and is snng at the social gatherings of people of the most cultivated taste. In public halls and military camps also it has been warmly welcomed. It is no small praise when B we'll known professional singer writes of it: "Both its words and music make 1t one of the sweetest songs born in America '' For all of this authors verses shat have been set to music he wrnte the melodies himself. But, while he composed all the tunes him. self, he says that the Sisters of Mt. St Joseph's Seminary added embellish- ments to some of the Acoompaniments in certain of the sacred process. But the entire musical setting of "The Patriot Girl, and some others, is his own. Writing to The Transcript fn relation to this piece he says: ' Tn answer to your question, Why not send us some kind of patriotic poem next week 9 enclose one of "some kind" to-day. It is the kind that will probably be of most general interest to the vast majority of American homes at the present hour, and for many days to come. It deals with the two sentiments that are uppermost in the American breast to- day, and it gives credit to the patriots nf both sexes. Isn't it singular, MT Editor, that you have been the occasion of my writing the two songs that have received the most cordial well come of the several that have written 1? One is religious, the other patriotic. You know yourself that 1 had only a short time in which to turn out this one. am ashamed to confess that I wrote the words in three hours, and the music iR twenty. Twice before this you stumped me to do quicker jobs than this. as a joke, and I called your bluff, and put the joke on you. Will you ever forget how you were the occasion of "When Evening Comes?" Two hundred of us were on our spiritual retreat at Manresa, of South Norwalk, in June of 1915 One evening, just before chapel, you tried to irritate me with the un- reasonable challenge: "Write me fine poem tonight for the paper to- morrow" ''But were on retreat" " said, "and this week I'm supposed to be pious. Then said you," Can't you make the poem pious2 ?" Possibly" said l. After chapel I went straight to my cell, I felt 90 pious And went straight to bed. I felt SO pious But could not sleep, I felt so pious. So jumped up in my night robe, to write, I felt so pious It was forbidden to turn the light on after taps, so didn't break the rule, felt so pious. The only piece of furniture in the narrow cell, the Jesuits felt 50 pious, was Gn old wooden wash stand, with hole out In it to steady the tin basin and make it sure to slip and slop over. The writing desk got omitted. With pad and pencil. and without being able to zee line in the darkness, I soribbled away all my piety onto the paper. In one minuteP No Like a thief in the night, scratched a match under my hat, and hid my light under hr,ahnN