Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1933-09-14
FABLE OF HIS
PROGRESS in
ART AND MUSIC
Sc
By GEORGE ABE
Q. Ben syndicate.-wNU Service.

e. Bell Syndlcate-WNU Services.
- nee there was like who had
not been born with q Silver
Spoon in his Mouth. Out in
the Town Of Paisley where
Orville first opened his Eyes expect
ing to find the Light Of Day and dis
covering only Kerosene Lamp, 1t was
about an even Bet that any favored
Infant born with an expensive Food
Implement tucked into his Face would
learn that he had drawn q Knife in
stead Of q Spoon.
It was Settlement which believed
in birthstone Hell up to about three
Years ago and is still sore at the The
Ory Of Evolution but friendly to
Whiskers. 1t is hardly surprising that
Orville, in his lifelong Endeavor to
emotionally comprehend all that ia
Worthy in Art and Music, got away,
as you might put it, to a Bum start
with a two-ton Weight attached to
each Ankle.
If he believed, at the age of 6, that
the large Bills advertising the Circus
were the Last Word In Art and that
"Jaybird," as rendered by the local
Sheepskin Band, was the ultimate in
Music, it must be remembered that
Ideals are always controlled by imme-
date Contracts and that very few
Persons who pay large Income Taxes
ever heard of ''Parsifal."
By the time that he had come to
the age Of ten, Thanks to the broad
ening and widening Influence of our
Free School System and the golden
Opportunities which beckon to every
Lad born in the Land of the modified
Free and the Home of the ostensibly
Brave, Orville had learned that q
Work of Art does not command Re
spect unless 1t has a Gold Frame.
Once in while he would be permit
ted to enter that Holy of Holes
known as the Front Room, which was
kept sealed most of the time but
would be opened when they had Fu-
nerals, formal Parties or a Visit from
the Presiding Elder.
A Lot Of Oil.
It was in this Sanctuary of Sea
Shells, Hair-Cloth and Antimacassars
that Orville was permitted to study
the Crayon Portraits of his Deceased
Relatives, whereupon he realized that
Everything which he had previously
admired in the way of Art was crude,
ah0rfOinoI opd uuifhout onu raol Mas
sage. The air-brush Likeness Of
Grandpaw wilkins and Aunt Hester
Of Chillicothe were, it struck him, the
real Peruvian Doughnuts.
About the same time, responding to
his Cultural Environment and subtly
| Influenced by the Entertainments at
School Hall every Friday Evening, he
began to assimilate such Musical
Achievements as "MOlly Darling"
Little Bunch of Lilacs' and "Come
Where My Love Lies Dreaming" At
that time he was too Young to COM
prehend the Improperly Of the Sug-
gestion contained In the last Title.
One has only to read the Cata-
logues advertising our Higher Institu-
lions Of Learning to know that it is
the Campus Life which encourages
Soul Growth and expands the adde's
cent zap into a self-confident Man
competent to throw Trolley Cars off
the Track or handle policemen.
If you assume that after Orville
matriculated at Old Atwater all of
his Concepts concerning the True, the
Beautiful and Good were metamor-
phosed, then you are right, for once. He
was eighteen and wearing the Watch
Chain high up on the Breast Bone
and had been on an Excursion to
Mammoth Cave, KY, 80 1t Is little
Wonder that even the President of
the College could not tell him where
to get of.
He had now definitely escaped
from all the cramping Influences of
the Crayon Portrait and was reveling,
for the first time, in the larger and
more inspirational Sphere of the Oil
Painting. At the home Of Mrs. But
terworth, where he roomed in the Col.
lege town. there was a notable Paint
ing which challenged his Attention the
first time he saw It.
1t had been done by an Artist at the
Indiana State Fair in a little over Two
Hours. II bore no Title but there was
Wisconsin Lake in the Foreground
with Sail Boat scudding before a
breeze which, for some Reason, did
not affect the Surface of the Water.
Beyond were the Himalaya Mountains.
wrapped In Eternal Snow. It was the
sort of Painting which no one could
look at without feeling Different and
Mrs Butterworth knew 1t was an Orig.
inal because she stood right there and
watched the Artist slap 1t on.
TubercuIar Art.
In the Room which OrvilIe occu-
pied there were other Evidences of the
Late-Victorian Influence which ban.
ished the Cooley Fashion Plates and
Wax Flowers and inaugurated the
Revolution which finally led I'D to the
Golden Age Of Rotogravure Sections
and Artificial Fruit.
The Period to which we refer had
somewhat escaped the Trammels of
cardboard but had yet advanced to the
Dignity Of Typography, which means