Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-16
s'Graharr

"NO get an ar1SWer 10 question: o-
? day hit upon q method which
to me, was quite exciting, and
r Il which set me to thinking about
how, in the future, we may turn
an history the way we turn on water
faucet. H. M. Terry Of the construc-
tion branch of the. ]. G. White En-
rineering Co. of Herman, MO-, wrote
me. in substance, as follows: DID OF
Aid not Dempsey knock Tunney down
= in the tenth round of that second bat
:, 4le at Chicago? Was he on one knee
or was he completely on the hoor?,
was sure knew the answer, pu'
/ wanted some authority, Wnen l nap
psned TO remember that, once IN q
while, monograph records nave Oeen
made of my broadcasts. =
After a little mining and sapplng ~
a big closet, dredged up the recoro
of this Tunney-Dempsey matcn anu
mt, IL ON the photograph. When II
came to the seventh round, 1t seemed
that one Graham McNamee was aDout
ready to Jump out OF Sololers Flsto
with excitement. The wild yeils OF the
crowd came in with my voice. Con-
shifting myself. as a pinch-hitting his
torian. / learned that it was not in the
tenth but in the seventh round that
Tunney went down; that he was all the
way down and not on his knee; that
Dempsey hesitated an instant in going
to the corner assigned him by the rel"
cree this giving rise to the later con-
troyersy as to whether Tunney hao
taken more than the full count. Thus,
here's an answer for Mr.. Terry, served
on nat rubber plate.
This photograph record conjured up
the old thrill Of the boxing match Tor
me. Just as soon as I get time I'm
~GF Tax nf
doings which 1 have sat In during
the last few years. If recording phono-
graphs were as common in houses as
coffee grinders or percolators they
would make q fine court of last resort
for all these you said, said, he said,
she said" arguments. Seriously, what
valuable historical library could be COM
piled if not only historical broadcasts
but other great events could be thus
preserved! But, best of all, I'd like to
run on the yells of the gang down at
the old "swimmin hole" 1t was just
about this time of the year when we
used to get going,
= Popular Sacred Song.
The sacred song which I find most In
demand is IT Love to Steal Softly
Away" It Is a song of first-pate mu-
steamship, and certain poetic quality
of the words has made 1T one of the
most singable of such pieces. Always
/ have found warm public response to
this song, but never happened to have
been informed as to its origin or back
ground. Recently found out. On May
26 I sang on a hook-up of about 35
stations. The next day got letter
from Percy G. Smith of l Robbins
street, Lynn, Mass, the author OF the
song.
Mr.. Smith intimated that he had al
most forgotten about his song and was
greatly surprised to hear it coming over
the radio. He explained that he had
written it is years ago for his friend
H. r. Fisher, an undergraduate in Tufts
College, who had written the music. An
originally written, the line was IT love
to steal away" 1t was to have been
sung, Mr.. Smith explains, by special
odist Church, when William w. Walker,
director of the chorus, suddenly showed
great alarm with the prospect of the
+. chorus suddenly launching into ct love
/, to steal" Mr.. Walker opined that this
sentiment would never do for a church
chorus Hence they hurriedly pried
open the song an inserted the word
softly" before the STEAL" and nobody
: ever accused them Of fiouting the
eighth commandment.
Mr.. Smith expressed pleasure in be-
ing reminded Of "the days when used
!. to have an interest In such things
The inference was, to my regret, that
/. Mr.. Smith has softly stolen away from
song writing. Radio stirs up many old
. memories laid away in lavender. Mr..
! Smiths stationery did not reveal his
present occupation. I am sure the
. thousands to whom he has given pleas
ure would be glad to know. II he will
news.
Makes Funny Noises.
My more or less facetious reference
last week to careers open to expert