Evening Star Newspaper, October 28, 1936, Page 7

‘Traveling Around in Europe Allison, at 79, Still Sings in English Streets and Prays to This is the third of a series of articles on people and places in England and France, as they appear to a Star reporter traveling at random. BY I WILLIAM HILL, Btaff Correspondent offlne Star. ONDON.—A flower garden with every home, a tightly rolled umbrella with every man and a street musician with every block—that is England. In London the quota of street musi- cians per block increases to at least three, You can find whatever variety you wish. There are singers, violin- ists, trombonists, accordion players, | men with phonographs, and even a man who pedals a small hand organ about on a bicycle. Coming out of a theater you always find two or three taking turn at per- forming and admirably adapting the music they present to the mood of the theater performance you have just witnessed. One of them told us it increases the number of tuppence that drop into the proffered hat or tin cup. Evidently, too, there are unofficial eoncessions, for, after a week, 9 a.m. before the Park Lane Hotel on Pic- cadilly grows to be associated with the same violinist, cornet player and two singers rendering the serenade from “The Student Prince.” It is the street musician who pro- vides the greatest amount of color for a foreign visitor to an English city. We had thought it would be the flower girls, but something has happened to them. The few we have seen were elderly, more often than not with a baby in one arm and their flowers in the other. The picturesque young girl with her rosemary and violets disappeared with the passing of their last mart—the fountain of Piccadilly Circus, which was lost when a subway station was built under that busy intersection. The pleasure the flower girl afforded the eye has given way to the pleasure the street musician affords the ear. As we listened to these Pagliaccis Pamt,wm Brighten and Beautify YOUR ROOMS FOR WINTER Washable Will Not Chip or Peel 1010 omir BY SE 4 N\ RELICK - Another product of Sears own laboratories. Produces a smooth, velvety finish with semi- Lovely color assortment from gloss lustre. which to choose. Die in the “Open.” Vignettes of England . . . street singers ... men with ume- brellas, tightly rolled . . . women with flowers, and babies, too. THE EVENING STAR, of the pavement render hymns, opera, ballads and American jazz with equal ease we began to wonder about them. Just who were they—sublimated beg- gars, or one-time music hall perform= ers who had felt the heel of the de- | pression in the wake of talking pic- tures, as did many of our vaudeville song-and-dance men? Did fhey per- form because they were too proud to beg or because the law prevented it? We couldn’t remember seeing & single panhandler on a London street. | There was a young tattooed man who | took up a collection after escaping | from about 50 pounds of iron chains | with which his confederate bound | him. There was another who did | card tricks on a corner of Charing | Cross road. Then, of course the oc= 7 SEARS Are as Fine as casional match seller, but that was well, for English tobacconists do not give you matches with the cigarettes you buy. But panhandlers—no. They always give you a show for your money. The Tale of Allison. | Finally we decided to talk to some of | these street musicians, just to find out about them. They were strangely reticent about’ themselves, much the same as an American business man would be if you walked into his of- | fice and asked him to tell you about | himself. You got the impression you | were interfering with their work. And | then we found Allison. He was a man of 79, shabbily | | dressed, and he was sitting on a bench | in a cemetery in which there had been PAINTS | writing my clients anonymous letters | Money Can Buy! Pay what you will, you cannot get better; made of finest ingredients obtainable, in Sears own factories, under exhaustive tests. Super Service Flat Finish 1.98 gal. | Super Service flat finish Paint dries with a soft toned effect, makin, it ideal for walls, etc. 4-Hour Enamel—Dries in 4 hours. Sixteen sparkling col- Quart ____ ors. 1.00 Super Service Floor Enamel— Tough, attractive, long- wearing finish. Qt. . 85¢ Super Service Color Varnish— Rich, ent. Quart = clear, transpar- 1L.05 Super Service Varnish 4.2.) Clear, hard dry- ing; el. fic. will not scratch, chip or Stands eavy foot traf- STORE OPEN EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT UNTIL 9:30 No better time than now to repaper Fibre Roof Coating 55c gal. In 5-gallon cans Sears Sears. in the home. Seals roof against mois- ture, fills up small cracks and holes; fire resistant. your home, and no better place than to select the paper. designs shown that are exclusive with Patterns suitable for any room Many new ¢ Color Perfect Fade Proof A brand-new idea that will transform your walls no interments for more than & hun- dred years. A sofled and battered felt hat and a banjo lay on the bench beside him. He sat, hunched over, seeing nothing unless it was the panorama of long, strange years be- hind him. He wasn't even conscious we had sat down beside him until we spoke, As we talked his eyes gleamed brightly, You could tell he was one of those men who rarely experience the delight of having some one to listen to them. On the subject of Devonshire and Cornwall he grew positively lyrical. Neighbors in Cornwall. “Ah, sir, St. Ives in Cornwall. There is a place. The houses—so very old, so very beautiful. And the little, narrow streets, some 80 narrow you can lean out your window and clasp hands with your neighbor across the street.” And gradually, without urging, without questions even, Allison began to tell his story. “I was born in a small town in | northern England,” he said, “of a family that was wealthy in a modest way. My father was in general trade —nhandling everything from pin to| anchor, sir. A good house it was, and it was back there as a boy that I sat in the garden and taught my- self to play the banjo.” He paused and rarn his knotty fin- gers over the strings of the instru- ment beside him. Then he started and looked all around, as though he were being watched. Presently, after | looking at us intently for a moment, | he went on. When his father died Allison suc- | ceeded to the business. There must have been some, he said, who were Jjealous of this, however, for gradually some of his clients began to withdraw their trade. “I didn't know why at first. But | then I found out. Some one was saying my business had gone to wrack and ruin. But when I found out it was too late. Before then one client had appeared and demanded the £1,000 he had placed on a large order. He wanted it immediately. That day there was only £400 in the | safe. The rest of my cash was tied up in orders. The client grew an-| gry. He went to his solicitor. That | day a writ was issued. Suddenly I| found myself thrown out into the street.” | Allison sighed. Again he looked all around us before continuing. “I was ruined so far as getting into business in that town, sir, as you can see. €0 I left. I don't know as to how it is in the States, but it's a dificult thing in England to go into business in a strange city. Too difeult for me. It looked as though I might be thrown into the work house, sir.” Allison shuddered as though the very words were humiliating. Still Sings at 79, “There was only one thing to do, sir. . I did it. I took my banjo and began playing in the streets. I had a fine voice then. That was more than 50 years ago. Even now I have & better voice than any man my age. I'm 79, sir.” “Do you stay in one place?” “Not for long, sir. I travel from town to town.” “Where do you sleep?” “There’s always somewhere. park or under a bridge. Sometimes I even have enough for bed and breakfast, It's harder now to get along than it was 20 or 30 years ago, | sir. It's because so many musicians drink and bother people. That's why the police restrict where we can play. In some cities they only allow us on the back streets.” “Can you play for us here?” Music in a Cemetery. Allison looked all about in that nervous way of his. Then he stood ENTERPRISE ROOFING CO. 1 2125 R. 1. Ave. N.E. Pot. 0200 ’ | STEAMSHIPS. MEDITERRANEAN as Luxe service on famo: the smooth Southern Route ITALIAN LINE. __ 621 5th Ave.. New York. WEST INDIES & CARIBBEAN GUEST CRUISES every week with the Great White Pleet. 17 and 18 UNITED FRUIT New York. or vour Travel In & WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1936. up, put his battered old hat on his head and picked up his banjo. He shuf- fled over to the cover of the cemetery wall. Half hidden behind a tree, he stopped and turned. After peering about once more he began to play. It was a ballad called “The Diver.” Strumming a prelude first, he sang in a thin, tired voice that at one time must have been a lyric temor. As he sang our eyes wandered over the indecipherable inscriptions above the tombs of the dead. “I don't play jazz,” Allison said as he finished. “I don’t like it. It's too fleeting. I like music like ‘The Lost Chord,’ ‘Lost in the Deep’ and ‘Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.’” ‘We stood in silence for a time. 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