Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-03-06
"a PERFECT DAY."
Shrapnel Quartet Sings Carrie
Jacobs Bonds Songs.

Somewhere in France there are
four blind British Tommies, who go
about among their more fortunate
comrads AID sing songs to them
They call themselves the Shrapnel
Quartet, for they lost their sight
through flying fragments of eXplod-
ing shells at the battle front. They
refused to accept their discharge
from the army, but returned to the
firing line to cheer their companions
in arms, for songs are a necessity liz
the life of the soldiers.
The Scrapnel Quartet members
made their own instruments, boring
holes into gun barrels for flies and
fashionirlg their own rude fiddles.
They play on these instruments and
they sing sorgs to their own &C.
compartments. There Is little de-
mand for the multifarious war songs
now on, the market, for the soldiers
prefer the more tuneful, honey
melodies. The blind Tommies of
the Snrapnel Quartet siL!g to them
the songs of Carrie Jacobs Bond.
Every place the British Tommy
goes the songs of Carrie Jacobs Bond
are heard. "A Perfect Day" is more
popular in the army than all the war
songs that have been written. The
Tommies sing it behind the trenches,
or wading in the mud, or at lunch
time, in the snow and cold, and they
always sing it at the end of the day
and after returning, wet ard tired,
from raids on the German lines.
Ore cartoon, sent to Mrs. Bond by
the Tommy who drew it, shows
killed Highlander, the hairs stand
ing out on his bare knees from the
cold as he stands ankle deep il the
trench mud, the rain pouring down
upon him, trying to fry an egg over
smokey fire on ledge scooped out
in the side of the trench to protect
| it from the rain, while a German
shell is bursting overhead, and he is
singing: This is the end of perfect
day."
1t is the same in the American ex-
lpeditio1ary forces iri France. Carrie
Jacobs Bond is an American woman,
and she has written, melodies that
sing themselves over in the mind.
General Pershing himself has written
to Mrs. Bond, telling her how much
her songs mean to them all, adding
that "A Perfect Day. is his favorite
song.
The sale of this one song, by the
way, has reached enormous proper
TORS, more copies of it having been
sold than of any other song publish
ed, and it's popularity is constantly
growing. Since the war began it has
repeated it's American popularity IL
England, being sung throughout the
British Isles. Ar American soldier
recently sent Mrs. Bond postcard
from Folkesgate, England. telling her
that I'M this city he had seen two
store windows filled with her songs.
Their popularity with the army and
the civilian population of England
is growing by leaps.
1t is hard to get Mrs. Bond to talk
about herself. She says her songs
belorlg to the people, but her strug-
giles, her hopes, her life, are too in
innate to share with the public.
She has been chosen to write the
official song for the National FEEDER
alton of Musical Clubs. I tried to
get Mrs. BoIh to talk about this
honor that has been conferred upon
her. but her remarks were entirely
il keeping with the unassnming
womanAiness of her MANUFACTURERS
worth Wright in Musical America.
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