Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-22

other men branded as evil doors. Years
and years in one of the States houses
OF imprisonment. Nine years. A final
hearing and release. A clean discharge,
a suit Of clothes, a bit of money-and
the warden's warning to go straight
down the unstraight path of life.
What was left after nine years wasn't
much to look at. Gaze at bars long
enough and you can't meet the eyes of
gang for nine years, then try to walk
alone. Get job, go straight and be a
man-With the smoke of hell upon you.
He had directed the prison orchestra
for which Otto Kahn had given the in
strumentS. So he had his hand in a
trade he might turn to. But
1t costs $50 to join the union in New
York anc a good deal more to buy the
Northumberland then find a lob.
There are always more musicians than
jobs. Come out Of jail with your spirit
broken, something gone wrong with
your backbone and it's hard to stand up
and face the world. Hard to tell the
story that is almost certain to be met
with a Sneer.
GO over to the Juilliard Foundation, -
We told him, land tell your story to DR..
John Erskine. He will probably find a
u.
Resourceful John Observation-Disclosures
musician, leader of youth, maker of
llterature-and, above all, defender of
weak human nature.
Later in the day John Erskine came
on the phone.
THE Foundation has no funds for
this sort Of thing" he explained. But
l should like to help the man myself.
There Is only one thing I wanted to
stra1ghten out. He says you offered
him money, but he could not take
money from woman-even as a loan.
He wants to go on his own"
Poor devil. He wanted to make a
good story better. He wanted respect.
He would rise nearer to the stature of a
man II he could make this real man be-
lieve some shred of pride had stayed
with him. That was what happened in
books-in the kind of books that go into
the prison reading. ITO proud to take
money from lady" He might have
refused money II we had given him the
| cnance 70 measure up as hero. But
we hadn't. We hadn't mentioned
| money.
Sorry" said John Erskine.
And we dismissed the case. We
Thought we did, but we began to think
about the poor devil and how easy it
would have been for him to get tripped
up on one little boastful lie Sc VIC
wrote to the man who had sent him to
us ana confessed that we did not think
that we should sit in Judgment on a
man who had been punished by life.
The answer came back with this in
formation:
1T will probably interest you to know
that John Erskine gave him the instru-
ments after all and got him q job"
A friend asked John Erskine about it.
She wanted to know what had changed
his mind. And here is the answer:
:! felt that no matter what the man
said, he was straight-and that consid-
ering the injustice he had suffered. we
all owed him something. 1t was time
Tor him to have Christmas gift"
And then we learned about Christ
mas from a priest.
We were in the rectory when nun
/ came In leading a weeping child.
He Is bad boy father" she said
In shocked tones HE did a sacrilegi-
Gus thing. Terrible, fatherl"
What did you do?" asked Mgr. La
velle. Fifty years and more he has been
listening to the sins of mankind. What
could weeping child have done to dis
tirb him? What did you do?" he re-
peated gently.
The child was speechless.
He went into the sanctuary, to the
Continued on Sixth Page.)