The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 8, 1906, Page 10

x THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. i,u /.: L H O its beginuivg the P A. dand for the ¢ band of umber modest litt @ domen in 1 fve instrum uni ms, but now it has grown Into one of best equipped most band nks to the gift of aged am Anspacher old man ev t" of the institution, It has a 1 all its own of $10,000, the income £ wi goes to supply Its needs. It wt twenty-five members, as well um co t twelve and it has as fine a bra 1 lustruments (as little conld Instruments worth has Profe L. von der 3 its very own Instructor now, uniformed like a company of eau Brummels t turns out | ttle tr f postmar boys or 1 its full strength, d tunics and pl ing almost pro- iston on Its d that makes ok and stop 1 that moves zest and Isn't ki fine Who would nave ex- pected It from such little fellows?" e's 1 8 boy in the band over 14 irum major up 11 and 12. of their fund Anspacher band such a dif tion is 1t to b that ther is a wa ylum a column lor perults for waiting for men to drop out to irteenth birthday, when he and make way for the donor called the tat the one of has some The bovs play for all the celebrations the asylum for at various \n)nr': the old folk at the Home. In the asy- d that of the cholr very distinetly felt musical house,” Superin- r explains, as the sound of 0 or quartet floats to you o girls are attending to dining-room dutles, or little g at thelr needle practice. g at thelr work, and I m happler.” bay, over in Marin 18 little boy band and heard the entertainme ts of some Ror eering of there's a fam perhaps you have se who V\m tell privately, e, that they ¢ ul d ‘make that League d look lke 30 cents if—" always happens around in- if" and you never find 1ld do it. You only could Vincent's b was formed twelve age, when Archbishop Riordan ed St Vincent's Orpban Asylum un- Brothers, intendent of his charges, found a good many of the the agement of the Christian with Brother Michael as super- Brother Michael, taking stock ¥s with a talent for music, and know- as most efficient educators do, the comfort and value of music to the lonely and bereft, he set about getting Instru- ments for the orphaned boys and form- ing them into a band. Through friendly contributions he gathered together enqugh to equip a band of thirty-five players and taught them himself and with the ald of other musically educated brothers. Until the past five years the band thus organized remained under the direction of ‘a brother, but now it has the leader- ship of a paid instructor and is as thor- oughly crganized as a Sousa combina- tion. Each instrument of the band has one or more erstudies, who receive daily instruction and who afterward play in ert, so that when a member of the st band leaves the school (14 years is the age limit for boys to remain in the institution) his understudy Iimmedtately takes his place. In this way the efficlency of the band is constantly kept up to its high standard and the ragged edges that the admission of a new player ordinarily makes are successfully avolded. St. Vincent's Band has given many en- tertainments for the school and thelr friends, but has not made any money by the entertaingrents and has no fund. It has thirty actual members now, averag- ing In age about 12 years, and they are all youngsters with actual musical tal- ent, some of them capable of very good solo work, The New York Catholic Protectory band Recitve EEEREA RN AsI2sar ZIND is famous among little boy bands, and Brother Zenophon, the present superin- tendent of St. Vincent's, is taking that as his model, and hopes to make his brass band equally famous on this coast. A finer lot of small musiclans or greater enthusiaggs it would be hard to find than the little boy dand of the Masonic Home at Decoto. in Alameda County. There are siXteen of them in actual membership, but they play with the vim of ferty strong. and they have half a dozen recrults ready to take the place of any player and play any instrument in the band. The lttle band has been organized less than five years, but it has a spirit and enthusiasm that traditions of a century could not make heartier. It is the honor club of the Masonic Home, and any boy _who can get into it 1s looked on as a top- : DAl IEe: Lalon; STAIlBoYS: There is just a touch of romance and tender human interest in-the story of its organization. Among the inmates of the Masonic Home there s an aged veterap of the Civil War, a Mr. King: He Is an old mu-' siclan, and In the quiet and the ease of the home he logged for something to do the lines of his busier artist life. He Interested himself in the orphaned boys that were also the care of the home, and found among them many with the musical gift. These he gathered together and trained as best he could. He found & sympathiger and fellow-enthusiast in M. Siminoff, ene of the benefactors of ‘the home, who had-given it the hand- some temple, and Mr. Siminoff made It possible for the little boys with musicai talent té be formed into a band by his Bift of the set of fine instruments it uses and the natty little uniforms that set it oft and make it & point of interest at the big Masonic gatherings. The sixteen little boys in their silver gray gold-braided uniforms, with their Jjaunty little pillbox cags, each with its gold pompon, make a .gala showing with their 10-year-old dfum major at their head, almost extinguished under his bear- skin head covering, us imposing as an officer of the Queen's guard. there. az.ma P4 JOYQ‘ < DN SUMAMER TOLT. \ - aged tor, and although they have a pald in- structor once a week from the city now, they -still continue under his dally guid- ance. They play on Sunddys at the home for the pleasure of the inmates and for visit- ors. They play on zall the holidays and at the funerals. They play at the recep- tions of important vistting Masons. They outside entertalnments occaslon- nd have toured as far as Stockton and San Jose, as well as in the immediate vielnity of the home, and they have toured and played to good purpose, too, for they have a fund of their own earn- ing of beiween $1500 and $1600 In the trea- sury, that is reserved entirely for the use and needs of the band. The band of the Home for the Feeble- minded is not really a little boys’ band except In so far as the members of it always remain children. As Dr. son, the medical superin- tendent, says: “No matter what their age may be they still experience the joys and sorrows of childhood. “With few exceptions.” says Dr. Daw- son, “they, all have an fnnate love for the sound of music. Some are capable of being taught to read and play by note on string or brass instruments. Our brass band’ under-the leadership of an {nstrue- tor' has a repertoire of about 100 pleces, > /// SN m/mm- 4 vW—'a.? M\(o including both lfl-m LCMPAURITIGITET *“Our band boys are leloc(cd from the brightest and most capable of mates who show « talent for music range in age from 1S to 33 years, To & member of the band and wear natty uniform of a bandsman Is con ered by the boys to be the goal of stheir ambition. They exert a strong moral fluence, which Is felt throughout the in- stitution. In faet, the members of the band set the highest standard for indi- vidual conduct and are leaders among their companions. “The band usually accompas boys on their annual outings attend Barnum & Bailey’s circus and on one occasion the band took Fourth of July celebra A dally practice takes place in the : sembly hall of the home from 10:30 11:20 a. m., A concert is given to the public every Saturday from 2:30 to 3:30 p. m. The band takes part in the var entertainments i during the year for the amusement of the ehildren:and at times furnishes the music for the social hops given for the officers and employes of the home. It has been a part of the school-department of the home s work was founded. It has been an now more than eyer recognizec force in the education and feebie-minded children Californfa -Home, but in for feeble-minded through: world.” Perhaps the most pi the little boy bands is band of the Columbia Park and it surely is the ban: most varied enjoyment ot sical accomplishments. The Columbla Park Boys’ sentlally a musical club. W else the boys excel.in, 1 in groups, they are all m sing as sweetly and Spo birds, and most of them ca instrument Sidney P head worker of the club, Damrosch, the organizer of chorus of New York, bel every one can sing if couraged to, and he P factorily demonitr’hc‘i hl! the boys’ club. He has a famous club chorus that is known by the charming entertainments it has given, not enly here in San Francisco, but in dozens of towns from Seattle to Angeles, and part in the at noma. Boys’ that Club i3 es- atever he has formed it not picking and ¢hoosing smong the Columbla Park boys to see which has a “volice” and which has not. He works upon the theory that every boy has a “voice™ and can sing with it if he has the chance— and the training, which in Mr. Peix- ptto’s plan is chiefly the example. He started In some four or five years ago by organizing a military band for the club's military department, which had already a most inspiring drum and bugle corps. That band s exists and s the club’s senior band, and another following in its footsteps gives opportu- nity to the younger boys growing up in the club. That is the club’s little doy bend, and ranges in ages from ten years g v Mr. Pelxotto argues that no musie is too good nor too popular for his boys to play, and the result is that any time you go to one of the Columbia Park band concerts, or musical or vaude: entertainments, you are likely to anything from Wagner and Verdl to ragtime, and hear it well played, too. At the most recent concert the boys gave there was the overture from the “Barber of Seville,” Sousa’s’ "il derer” march and the final aria from “Lucia di Lammermoor” on the : pro- gramme, which also included selections from Wagner a Tobant, Verdf, Asher, Peters and Whitney. The most original departure of the Columbia band is its summer. walking tours, when it goes out for a 40 or 500 mile walk. giving concerts, vaude- ville and minstrel performances by the way, and having such a vacatiom of Jeliity and outdoor life and sightseelng as the average boy only vaguely dreams of. Last year, for exa band of forty-tw Angeles. The bagszage went along m themselves were & squads, one of another of dishwashers. etc. They wore khaki breeches oxford gray swealers bands at neck a» gave their e Bails or strument. enthustasm ness along receipts for the to 820, of which NN wes clear prof that went to the cation expemses and of a camp of wev boys at Carmel-dy publte. That s doing »n boyy' band, sa't With all these sations Rt is easy boy band i3 a very rea fe, that its exis c fteelf and its frie to stay, and t mudgeon of 2 must in his heart to say 1 never saw & easure to has come But I can you, anvhow. T'd rather SEE than HEAR ema