Evening Star Newspaper, July 11, 1926, Page 63

* . e {Carillon toMemory of W.J.B B May Have Its Site at Hains Point akes Proposod Sig-uett;rg ik '_g,‘! sGrowing Appreciation in United_'States of This Form of Music M 3 , _ Especially HE soft bell music of a carilion, floating from & rhajestic tower ing probably 300 feet from a beautifully designed audi- torium _ buflding—that. is the lization of the Ndtion's memorial n Washington to Willlam Jennings n, for the realization of which icers of the Bryan Memorial Associ- tion are now making definite plans. The first of these beautiful bell in- ents to be heard In the National ital will be installed in a tower closely after thie design of memorial tower of the new library, the University of Louvain, if tenta- ive sketches already submitted are ollowed in the final plans as mem- of assoclation’s carillon ittes mow believe will be done. is the -beautiful . structure for ich, .as & gift from the American ple to the people of Belgium, the er stone was laid by Dr. Nicholas rray Butler on July. 28, 1921, in the sence of . distinguished persons. e old 'Louvain library and:tower re destroyed during the war. Especially because of ite ideal locd- n for a carillon, the type of instru. ent which had its origin in Holland d Belgium centuries ago, and whose fectly attuned and appealing music now heard from .a dozen or more ing' towers™ in the New World, carillon committee believes that he Hains Point section of East Po- lomac Park offers an excellent site for he Bryan memorial. The question of tion, however, it is explained by es A. Douglas, prominent. at- ey of this city, who is chairman the carillon committee, is not to definitely considered until other s for the memorial are further ad- It is understood, however, that the Jding plans as they have taken pe up to this time are viewed ¢ Hains Point. Officers of the as- tion already have conferred with this commission as to the architec- character of the memorial and site. Before any final plans are *,@dopted they will be submitted for ‘Wpproval to this commission, as well @8 to the library committees of Con- and to Maj. U. S. Grant, 3rd, or of the Office of Public Build- d Public Parks of the National THe estimated cost of the memorial Will be $1,000,000, with an additional d of $500,000 for its maintenance. 'he memorial association, of which jossphus ~ Daniels, former Secre- ‘tary of the Navy, is president, plans o raise the total amount as soon as ble and - contributions aiready being received, organizations ugh which to raise the fund by r _subscription having been d.in each State. *xx N suggesting, merely as their indi- ‘vidual and personal opinions, at this ime, the advantages offered by Hains oint as & location for the memorial, bfficers of the assoclatlon point out on feature of the memorial.. . ) Indeed; it is in this feature that, the beauties and charm of the ‘carillons more generally known the N ‘Warld, the st popular interest in the .pro- ‘would undoybtedly America 1s, to be sure, rapid- the "beauty of " these ts, the ‘For those who have but a hazy idea Ale power and beauty of the ‘sttinéd bell music of the the low countries of Europe, in hich thelr music has cheered and the love of generations of ts in the field and city dwellers _well, declares the carillon *sur- the chime, or mere ring or of & bell, much as the cathedral surpasses the child’s one-finger plano.” -~ Their music, heard softly, under wvorable conditions, over miles of nding. country, emanates best a tower located apart in open . - Hence, it is suggested the ng space of the Potomac Park ‘would lend itself perfectly to the on feature of. the me- , in the installation of which . Rice has been ‘selected as adviser the carillon -committee. What are these majestic instru- ents of which Longfellow sang 80' n, in his “Oise in Flood,” to ex- laim, on - hearing their music in jum: “We thought we had never eard bells speak so intelligently?” question is still very generally ed in this country whenever the ment is spoken of. The carillon had its origin in the nth century in the 18w coun- Belgium, Holland and French ders—and through the next 300 jually reached a degree of xcellence which the present genera- n in those eouA\\tflel hugrbmHSh; perfection. great oup of pertectly attuned bells, 50 or more, nd with & range of three and often ;. octaves, with all the tones and rtones of the chromatic scale to ble them to render music of al- t.any character, hangs in a lofty r high above the lttle chamber hich: is occupled by the keyboard. s for special occasions ‘are d:by the carilionneur, who sits the keyboard, arranged like that of organ, out 'of sight of his audience, o ‘whom the strains come, indeed, as “magic from the sky.” "There is none of the blurred note of js that swing; for the bells do not ng, but are “hung fixed,” to use phrase. - 'When the in- : Pleasi sary fund hak aimost been complted it;rb:hc installation of a carillon in” America The wing . of the beauties of ‘cariilon music is was - the yfirst stalled jn the United States. These bells were pressively dedicated in 1922 at ceremonies at which Cardl- nal O'Connell of Boston Other carilions are at Andover, Mass.,. Birmingham, . Detroit, Cranbrook, Mich., and Plainfleld, N. J. An ae sembly of 43 bells will be .| next Christmas at.St. Chrysostom's Church, in Chicago, and Mercersburg, Pa., Academy and Germantown, Pa., also are to have carillons ready for dedication next year. A 63-bell caril- lon is soon to be inaugurated Ottawa, Canada. In that country the carillon of 23 bells at Torénto has the distinction of being the first in- stalled in America. To obtain the precise tons ahd qual- ity in the bells of the truly fine carillons requires the most exact proc- ess and workmanship in their manu- facture. " Contrary to.the poetic-al- lusions to “golden bells’ "and “'silvery notes, carillon bells of the best qual. ity.are made only of an alloy of the purest copper and tin, in the_ propor- tion of three parts copper and one part tin. In his exhaustive study of carillons and their bells, Mr. Rice has found that today the bell manufac- turers of England enjoy & monopoly {in the production of such bells, all*of carilions FREDERICK ROCKE, CARILLONEUR, PLAYING THE BELLS OF ST. PETER'S CHURCH, MORRISTOWN, N. J. are 63 bells, with the lighter bel hung at the top. It is chiefly on th light bells that the automatic play- ing of ‘simple folk songs, which the traveler constantly hears as he wan- ders through old towns of Belgium and Holland, is produced, with now and then a deep base tone sounding in the melody. & » The carillon has developed from a crude beginning -centdries ago, when timepieces were a rarity and the people depended upon the town or village clock. It became the custom, as a premonitory signal, to precede the striking of the hour by a short auto- matic chiming of three or four small bells hung in the clock tower. From this-beginning, as each town souight to surpass its neighbor In it “‘hour musl more bells were to the towers until the musical of tones -and half-tones became ' com- plete. . Brief melodies began to float from the towers, and as fiiore’ bells’ ‘were added whole tunes wers played. church on Riverside Drive, which is to succeed -the Park avenue strue- ture. The chamber for this carilion, comprising 53 bells which are unsur- | passed in their accuracy of pitch and with a keyboard and mechanism of perfect responsiveness, will be 300 feet from the ground in the new structure. The concerts which Anton Brees.of Antwerp has given upon this carillon have not only been heard.by ‘thousands in the streets, but have taught the . ears .of multitudes Up'.to this stage, all of the playing |- was done-automatically. ‘With the :adoption .of .the key- board and expansion of the note range | of the belis; the:carillon entered upon its- development, as a really majestic instrument, responding fully to .the art of the accomplished musician. In the later development ,pedals were g:v(ud for the playing of the heavier s, In Belglum and Holland the key- board playing by a carillonneur is re- served for such speclal occasions as the market day and on Sunday; and during the Summer weeks, in the larger cities, concerts also are general- 1y fixed for a certain evening in each week. On such occasions there is an elaborate concert for perhaps an hour, with a program of the best music of the, great composers, such as Bee- thoven and Schubert, and beautifully arranged Flemish and French folk songs and hymns, For the thousands that gather for these concerts, quiet is usually maintained in the vicinity of the tower by an order of the city heads diverting vehicular traffic from nearby streets. Mr. Rice has counted 180 carillons in the world today. Of this total 134 are located in Belgium and The Neth- erlands, with the remainder scattered in other parts of Europe, the United States and Canada. Eleven carillons were.destroyed in the World War, but of these, three already have “been replaced. X The finest instrument‘of the kind in this country is that in the Park Ave. nue Baptist Church tower, in’New York, the gift of John D. Rockefeller, jr., in memory of his mother, which is to be transferred eventually to the commanding tower of . the great "AUTOMATIC DRUM OF throughout the country the beauty of the carilion through radio transmis- sion.of the recitals. % * ok % YOUNG Canadian, T. Percival Price of Toronto, is now studying under Josept Denyn, at Malines, who is known as_the Paderewski of the carillon, in preparation to become the player of the Park Avenue Chiurch carillon. Denyn,”who has served 35 years as the carilionneur of the most glorious of all the world’s ‘singing towers, that which rises aboye St. Rombold’s Cathedral’ at Malines, is the diréctor of a free school of carillon instruction there, which is maintained in part by music-loving Americans. The first municipal singing téwer in the United States will be the City Hall tower at Albany, N. Y. whers, those of the best modern being products of the skill and crafts- manship of two English firms. Properly. made and hung, & carillon bell will retain its perfect apparently until the end of time. Of the 39 bells in the singing tower of 8t. Lawrence's. Church, Rotterdam, most of them were made by Frans Hemony, one of the first of the bell makers, in 1660. To give ah idea of the craftsmanship required in’ making the bells, one foreign foundry has an equipment consisting in part of 1,500 tuning forks, by means of which the bells are brought into as accurate tune as is a plano. % Mr. Rice found in his-study that fn past generations, when cannon were made of the same bronze as_ were carillon bells, ip the Netherlands in time of war the bells were not infre- quently . converted into cannon and when peace returned the cannon were reforged into bells. ¥ x e bells of a carilion, scaling up in their notes, have a wide range in size. The largest bell of an assem- 27 ONE OF THE: BIG. CARILLONS. - bly . may be taller than a man and weigh four, five or even six or eight tons, while the smajlest will be per- haps 10 or 12 inches' high with a weight of less than 20 pounds. Of greater ‘{mportance, however, than size, weight or number, is the pitch relationship of the bells, the bells of a carillon always progressing by regu- lar semitone or chromatic intervals. Not only in-America alone, but in other parts of the world; laxly here' exidonce of o onean evker: ing to the beaities Of this great in: Mr. Rice through public\aubse ption, the neces- | po, at | public. ' DC.heaiéi?Féfls of Form | erYears, . Contribute to Rambler’s Record Ta.les of Well Known Agtors of you, . So much mail has come to me—a Jetter almost every day—that I be- leve the old theater rambles are in- teresting the Rambler’s million read- ers. I recall a talk with a man who followed my trade of writing for the He had been at it a long time, contracted writers’ cramp and had not amassed more than two or three mil- lion dollars. We were dining at t Plate of Stew and, after eating his dish-of beans and folding his napkin, sald: Harry, as you look into the faces|. of people in automobiles, see the pic- tures of persons prominent in society and study the features of screen actors you must know that human in- telligence is not high. To succeed as a. writer two ways are before you. Write #0 that people do not understand what you write, and they will say ‘He has n excellent style, “very clear and ly descriptive.’ They will not have the nerve to may the work is atturiement | ™ Don’t neglect to put in some phrases without any excuse whatever. Nobody knows anything about Latin, especially- thoss persons who ‘took’ it at high school and college, but they hate to be found out. Throw in, just as though you knew their meaning, of ‘north Europe. As you write of statesmen passed a reader will yawn and say “Yes, yes, I used to read about him once't. I heard him make a great speech on “How to SBave Our Fair and Native Land.” Forget what it was about, but I remember that it was and lasted two hours.”’ If you remember -the pious soul. used to Kill the best chicken when he came to-dinner. He married me, but that was so long ago I ought not to well.. Every Ame in human equality thinks himself su- to an) ly else. - “Write up poor old Bill Jones, who lived in & cabin on Piscataway Creek, and say that he -got a patent from the King of England for 1,000 acres and ‘wore silk stockings and a sword, and a horde of Jones will buy the paper and send marked coples to their neighbors. But if you want to get a hold on a large parcel of people *Every man went to a show in the tewn hall when he was a young fel- low, and now, that he wears a gray beard, he believes that 60 years ago he wds a dashing patron of the drama, drank with I the great actors in- Shoomaker’s, Hancock’s and Driver’s and took lovely actresses pper at Gautier’s, Perreard's or ‘Welker' He will read your stories till_he falls asleep, and your stories all. ~ Also, the woods will help to fs 3 tull of old fellows I WILL pass on to you two letters which were mot written with the thought that they would be pub- lished. The first is from my old ftriend, Charles T. Harris of Wash- 1 did not knt:w that Chu'llih e 1 |meé™like a tigress, 3 nigan—was & N. J., and his history s well to old Star readers. Rob Hart, ator’ Charles Southerland in private his new art, that | of t' {;r nwllsv:o; even the high pro- ‘which does not exist will koqpmnen the instrument.” it |~ Mr, Rice describes one of da) 1 by De: concerts given Malines ‘carfllon, on which oc- he carill t the Mon- $ Theater HELEN WESTERN. ¢ fm Susan,” played while well in le age, had all the vim and action of a young man, and he danced “The Sailors’ Hornpipe' as gracefully as of old. “Helen and Luécllle Western were daughters of Bill English of Boston, an old-time actor. Helen was the elde a very handsome woman, but had not the dramatic fire of her sister. I first saw them on the old Bowery stage in “Three Fast Men,’ classed in those days as a ‘popular play’ and what one of today would cali a ‘blood-and-thun- der’ - production. - The sisters played her | together for some years, and then Hefen married James H. Mead, actor and singer, and died not long after. | Lugcille, being the daughter of a. poor actor; had no educational advantages. but like Rachel and other illiterate geniuses, won her way to the top, un- aided, through hardship and suffering. She-was of dusky beauty, with large soulful eyes, a wonderfully expressive countenance, and of fine physique. ‘A pure woman, genefous to a fault, and while not having many plays in her repertory eveéry character she' under- took to play she made famous. As Lady I 1'in ‘East Lynne’ she stood alone and as Nancy Sykes she ex- celled Charlotte Cushman and others who played the part. The first Bill Sykes to her Nancy wss E. L. Daven- port, but the Bill Sykes of all was the late James A. Hearno of Shore Acres fame and father of Cristal Hearne. _The late Matt Lingham used to-tell a story of his experience with® Miss Western. The company was billed to play ‘Oliver Twist’ at the Park - Theater, Brooklyn, when Mr. Hearne was taken ill and Lingham was asked to play Bill Sykes. Matt was one of the quick study sort and soon_mastered the lines. At rehearsal, when it came to the murder scene, Lingham started in: perfunctorily when Miss Western stopped him. “*Mr. Lingham,’” she sald; “we play tonight and as the murder scene is the climax, Mr. Hearne and I have made it very realistic. Now, we will rehearse.it as we will play it tonight. Be as rough as you can and don't be afraid of hurting me.’ ‘Now,’ she sald, after rehearsal, ‘you have done fairly well, 'but there must be more fire in that scene tonight." ““That night,’ related Lingham, ‘when it came to the murder scene, I grabbed her by her long an abuna- ant hair and dragged her about the . She gained her feet and fought in and again 1 threw her to the floor lik» a sack of| , while she . kept whispering, “That’s right but fight harder.” Fin- ally T dragged her off stage .center where the last blow was supposed to be struck and I was to make my es- cape. - Standing in the wings I saw + Photos from the William Seymour colleftion. her crawl out of the room, dishevéled, her clothing in rags and bedatbed with red paint. I was fairly blown, as she was a strong woman and I am no feather-weight. Old stager as I am, as I saw her crawling out, for a moment I felt as gullty as Cain, the first murderer, forgetting the mimifry of the scene. Presently the call boy came and said that Miss Western wished to speak to me after the cur- tain. I went to her dressing room when she grasped my hands. “Oh! Mr. Lingham," she said, “I congratylate you on that scene! It was splendid— Mr. Hearne never did better.” I told her I was very glad the play would not run for'a week as I doubted we could stand it." “Lucille Western died from pneu- monia in 1877 in a Brooklyn hotel, la- menting the disappointment of her business manager, ‘the best woman 1 ever knew.”" LR Y second letter is from William Seymour, written at his Sum- mer home: at ‘South Duxbury, Mass. He writes: “Our mutual fiiend John B. Ran- dolph sent me the page from The Star of the.20th. In this ramble the name of my father, James Seymour, appears. The’ photos reproduced are all familiar, but not always accurate. well and acted with at ‘the Union Bquare Theater) but an opera singer in' the costume of Marguerite in ‘Faust.’ It looks like Emma Thursby. ‘Which brings me to last Sunday's There on Fanny Davenport pleture. claimed, ‘Oh! that is my-favorite pic- ture of him. Don't think I am critical. I am deeply interested in all that pertains to our stage’s his- tory, and if I can be of any assistance to you in your rambles I wish to be s0.. I am sending you two prized photographs — Lucille and Western. I knew ‘Jim’ Lucille’s husband—and heard Herne (Jas. A.) speak often and e logistically of the sisters. Thel father was Willlam B. English—one of the old managers. Helen Western ‘was a very beautiful woman—Lucille, not beautiful, , but a wonderful actress. I have all the books you mention, I appreciate Mrs. Shannon's desire to ‘clear up your desk’—and for many years mine has been held inviolate by wife and children. “You. mention A. W. Fenno. He was one of my stage managers in New Orleans just after the Civil War the Past Throw Light Upon Some of Their Personal | Characteristics. later at Booth's Theater, New He was a very handsome man Bhad been a fine leading actor. wife Mme. . de .Marguerite, an author and her adaptation of Tennyson's ‘Enoch Arden’ was one of Edwin Adams’' most popular roles. Isabel Freeman was a beautiful woman and an accomplished actress, with me in New Orleans (the between New York and New Orleans. Norton was for many years editor of the Marine Journal in New York City, where I used to see him ago. He was over 70 not related to E. L. Davenport. His real name was Hoyt, which he used as the middle initial of his stage name. His first name was Adolphus, but he was known to his friends as ‘Dolly.’ His wife was Lizzie Westin, who became Mrs. Charles Mathews. He. too (Dolly), was with me in New Orlténs. An excellent light comedian ~ and long since dead. Viola Crocker, a niece of Mrs. D. P. Bowers and Mrs. F. B. Conway, married Joseph Barrett (Lawrence brother) and they were both in New Orleans when in 1863 the play of ‘Rosedale’ was produced by Lawrence Barrett, then one of the managers of the Varieties in - association with Dan Setchell and John Lewis Baker— later John Drew’s father-inlaw. In the cast of ‘Rosedale’ were Lawrence Barrett, Joe Barrett, Dan Setch J. Lewis Baker, Mrs. Baker, Viola Barrett and myself. “Harry Davenport, E. L.'s youngest son, is now playing a stock star en- gagement at the Fulton Theater, Cal. He opéned June 20 in and will next play ‘The Music Master.” The Encyclopedia is in error when it states that Mrs. E. L. Davenport (Fanny Vining) was a cousin of Mrs. John Hoey. Mrs. Hoey was the leading lady at Wal lack’s Theater, New York, and r husband, John Hoey, the head of Adams Express Co., Jt was Mrs. - John Wood (Matilda 'Vining) who was_Mrs. Davenport's cousin. Les- ter Wallack was her cousin, and his cousin, James W. Wallack, jr., was thereby related to E. L. Davenport, with whom he was so long assoclated | professionally. “I did not see Lucille Western play - Nancy Sykes, but in 1865, I did see _ them (Davenport and Wallack) play Bill Sykes and Fagin at Wallack’s, with Rose Eytinge as Nancy and Jane Burke (daughter of Charles Burke, the half-brother of Joseph Jeffterson) as Oliver Twist, and George Holland (father of E. M. and Joe) as Mr. Bumble. This per- formance remains vividly in my re- membrance, as does the performance : of John Wilkes Booth in ‘Richard IIT' the year before. Mrs. Seymour always sees Gracle Kramer when in New York City, and they are fre- . quently in correspondence. “Over my desk at which I am writing are photographs of the elder (Junius Brutus) Booth, Edwin Booth, Joseph Jefferson, E. L. Davenport, Harry Montague, Willlam H. Crane, Sol Smith Russell, A. M. Palmer, Annie Clarke, Mrs. E. L. Davenport, Otis Skinner, E. H. Sothern, Maud Adams and Cardinal O’'Connell—so you see I am in good company. Par- 7 don my rambling on at this length, but I fear we are kindred souls (don't { be afraid, Bill) in that regard. There 1s so inhack wiore to think of i the * past’than in the present. It is mail time and I can hear you exclaim, * ‘For this reliet much thanks.’' Our kind regards to you and Mrs. Shan- non, and with remembrance to John Randblph should you See him. Iam sincerely yours. . “WILLTAM ‘SEYMOUR.” Thank you, Willlam, for writing so much of this ramble for me. It is & great lift and I know our circula- tion will take a jump. a Sixty-Seven-Year. Fire. BURNING for 67 years, a fire in ' the Summit Hill coal mine in Pennsylvania has not yet been extin- guished. Engineers estimate that it has consumed 14,000,000 tons of coal, says Popular Mechanics, involving an area about 1 mile long and 1,600 feet ‘wide. More, than $3,000,000 has been expended in fighting it. > The blaze was started in much the same way as many fires in the homes of coal consumers originate, from hot coals mixed with ashes. It was com- mon in the days before the Civil War . to have large stoves at the bottom of - the slopes for the comfort of the miners. The man who tended the stoves was late one morning and, in - his haste, shoveled out live coals with the ashes and dumped thém into a : wooden car which was hauled to one : of the unused gangways and forgot- ten for about two weeks. When re- pair men were sent to get the car they found the ‘coals had started a blaze that had spread to the mine out, it spread into the coal areas be- yond. Next a barrier was attempted - by sinking holes 6-inches in dlameter and spaced 25 feet in each direction, and filling them with fine silt or coal dirt mixed with water, but this failed to check the fire. Finall gap was sunk 160 feet into the eartn, i:‘n:l with ;o“lsre‘t':. u‘g‘ the interven- space ith y, making a fire wall 700 feet long.