A New Memorial to Stephen C. Foster,
America's "Tragic Troubadour" Elmo Scott Watson
? VE DIED poor but he
left to his fel
j low-Americans a
JL\JL ?// wealth of melo
^ ' dies which have
been their favor
ites for nearly three-quarters
of a century ? such songs as
"My Old Kentucky Home,"
"Massa's in de Cold, Cold
Ground," "Old Folks at
Home," "Come Where My
Love Lies Dreaming," "Oh,
Susannah" and "Nelly Was a
Lady."
And now ? such is the irony
of fate ? they are building a
memorial which will cost half
a million dollars to honor
Stephen Collins Foster, in
whose pocketbook was found,
when he died, 38 cents in
coins and "shin plasters,"
Civil war paper money. The
memorial will stand on the
campus of the University of
Pittsburgh in the shadow of
Pitt's famed Cathedral of
Learning and it will be dedi
cated early this year dur
ing Pitt's celebration of its
growth in 150 years "from
log cabin to skyscraper."
Funds (or the erection o( the
Foster Memorial building were
raised by the Tuesday Musical
club of Pittsburgh, in co-opera
tion with the university and with
musical clubs in 25 other states.
In it will be a "Foster shrine,"
containing the collection of Fos
teriana which Joseph K. Lilly of
Indianapolis, Ind., has gathered
together at a cost of approxi
mately $160,000.
This collection and its curator,
Fletcher Hodges, who for six
years directed the gathering of
the original Foster manuscripts,
first editions, books and personal
belongings of the song writer,
arrived at the Cathedral of
Learning recently and began
storing away these priceless rel
ics of "America's Tragic Trouba
dour." As soon as the newly
completed stone work on the in
terior of the memorial is finished
he will move the collection to its
place in the shrine where, under
the terms of Mr. Lilly's gift,
they shall "belong to America."
The building in which this
Fosteriana will find a home is
adjacent to the main building
of the Memorial which contains
an auditorium seating about 750
persons, with rehearsal and re
ception rooms below. It has been
built of stone to harmonize with
the other buildings of the Cathe
dral quadrangle in the heart of
Oakland, Pittsburgh's "civic cen
ter."
Depicts Foster Characters.
Leaded windows, with colored
medallions depicting the charac
ters in Foster songs, will be in
stalled this spring. The memorial
room, connected with the audi
torium foyer by a covered pas
sage, will house the Foster col
lection and will be open to the
public. Students of Foster's life
and times will have access to
the research facilities of the Lil
ly collection.
The collection includes literal
ly "everything under the sun"
relating to the composer. There
are hundreds of books in which
he is mentioned ? some in only a
sentence ? including some mod
ern histories of jazz.
1 One of the rare personal effects
Is the pocketbook Foster carried
when he died, containing the 38
cents and a scrap of paper on
which was written. "Dear friends
Architect's drawing of the Stephen Collins Foster Memorial on the campus of the University of
Pittsburgh. It will house a "shrine" containing a priceless collection of Fosteriana.
ody, is one of the valued
articles.
His Most Popular Song.
One large bookcase, ready for
installation in the Foster Memo
rial, contains 500 phonograph
recordings of every Foster song,
some made especially, but most
? including the Japanese version
of "My Old Kentucky Home" ?
produced for commercial sale.
Many songs, such as the most
popular, "Old Folks At Home,"
which had 250 editions before
1900 and many more since, ap
pear in several versions.
Second most popular, the
classification based on numbers
of editions published, is "My Old
Kentucky Home," according to
Mr. Hodges. "Massa's in de Cold,
Cold Ground" ranks third, and
artist only one sitting. Whether
the artist was not satisfied with
the portrait or whether the pub
lishing firm cancelled the order,
cannot be ascertained and no
definite statement can be made
in this regard.Thomas Hicks, the
artist, gave the portrait to Wil
liam Hicks, a prominent mer
chant of Brooklyn, who was an
admirer of Foster. William
Hicks died in 189S. His widow
gave the portrait to her grand
daughter, Man' Elizabeth Post
Holmes, who in turn gave it to
her daugher, Mary Elizabeth
Case, she being the last of the
family to own the portrait, and
who sold it in the summer of
1935.
The reason for erecting a
memorial to Foster in Pittsburgh
STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER
(From the portrait painted by Thomaa Hick* in 1832)
for fourth place "Old Black Joe"
and "Oh, Susannah" are tied.
Six of the rarest items in the
collection are manuscripts from
Stephen Foster's hand for songs
containing both words and mu
sic. One notebook in the collec
tion, 220 pages long, contains
practically all his drafts for
verses written between 1851 and
I860.
In addition to the Lilly col
lection the Foster thrine will
display other contributions. One
is the composer's flute, given to
the university by the grandson
of a personal friend of the musi
cal genius.
Recently announced, too, was
the gift to the university by the
Andrew W. Mellon Educational
First F>|?i o I "Mtm'i la De Cold, Cold Ground."
and gentle hearts," probably the
last thing Foster wrote and the
likely title (or a song. It, too,
ia In the collection.
Eighteen letters written by
Foster, principally to members
of his family in Pittsburgh in
chiding his brother, Morrison,
one of the few contemporaries
to appreciate his genius, are also
included.
Foster's melodeon, only four
and a half octaves in range and,
hence, not suitable for the Anger
ing of a composer seeking a mel
and Charitable Trust o( a por
trait of Foster which belonged to
the famed Thomas G. Clarke col
lection of American portraits.
A Portrait of Foster.
The portrait, 25 by 30 inches,
and in an excellent state of pres
ervation, shows the composer in
a three-quarter length pose, and
depicts him as a young man in his
early twenties. It was painted
by Thomas Hicks, a noted artist,
for Firth, Pood A Co. of New
York, who were the publishers of
Foster's music. Footer (an the
lies in the fact that he was bopi
in the Lawrenceville section of
that city, much of his ca
reer was spent there and his body
lies in Allegheny cemetery, not
far from his birthplace, beside
those of his father and mother.
Considering the place which he
and his songs hold in the hearts
of his countrymen, it is appro
priate that the birthday of the
nation should also be his birth
day. For he was born on July
4, 1826, and at noon on that day
the ninth child of William B.
and Eliza Foster was ushered
into the world to the tune of
"Hail Columbia," "Yankee Doo
dle," "Hail to the Chief 'and "The
Star Spangled Banner," played
by blaring bands as Pittsburgh
celebrated the SOth anniversary
of the signing of the Declaration
of Independence.
William Foster was not present
to welcome his youngest for, as
a prosperous merchant trader
and a leading citizen of the com
munity, he had been made an
assistant to the mayor of Pitts
burgh in the conduct of the In
dependence Day celebration. So
Eliza Foster endured her travial
alone and it was she who named
her latest - born Stephen Collins
for the son of a neighbor and
childhood friend of hers, a little
boy who had died just before
her own son was born.
The Child Musician.
The youngest member of a
large family, Stephen was both
petted and spoiled, but he
seems never to have been very
well understood by the other Fos
ters. He showed an aptitude for
music early. When he was two,
he would place his sister's guitar
on the floor and, bending over
it, pick out harmonies from its
strings. When he was seven he
was taken into a music store by
one of his brothers. There he saw
a flageolet, picked it up and was
playing a tune upon it before his
brother realized what ha was
doing.
At the axe of thirteen Stephen
was taken by his older brother,
William, to Towanda, Pa., ao ha
could attend Athena arartemy at
Tioga Point, not far away. But
the boy was homesick at Athens
and spent much of his time with
his brother at Towanda, attend
ing the Towanda academy as
well as the one at Tioga Point.
He was not a particularly apt
student and about the only im
portance there is to this per:cd
in his career is that during this
time he composed his first music,
"The Tioga Waltz," arranged for
four flutes and written for the
commencement exercises at
Athens. On that occasion Stephen
played the leading part himself,
while three other students played
the remaining parts.
In 1841 Stephen entered Jeffer
son college at Canonsburg, Pa.,
18 miles from his home at Pitts
burgh, and stayed in this institu
tion just seven days. Then, over
come by homesickness, he left
college, never again to seek a
formal education. A year later
he composed the music of his
first song "Open Thy Lattice,
Love," a poem written by George
P. Morris which had appeared in
a supplement to the New Mirror.
As a gay young blade of nine
teen in Pittsburgh, Foster had
a half dozen boon companions,
youths of his own age, who met
regularly twice a week to sing
at Stephen's home. They brought
their banjos and guitars with
them, and called themselves
"Knights of the Square Table."
It was for this group that Ste
phen wrote many of his finest
and earliest songs, including
"Louisiana Belle," "Uncle Ned"
and "Oh, Susannah." The latter
was immediately taken up by all
the minstrel shows, of which
there were a great number then
on the road.
For this song Foster received
$100, an event which determined
his career for him. "Imagine my
delight in receiving $100 in
cash!" he wrote later. "Though
this song was not successful,
yet the two $50 bills I received
for it had the effect of starting
me on my present vocation."
Disputed Authorship.
Then E. P. Christy, head of
Christy's Minstrels, asked him to
write a song for him to sing be
fore it was published and the
result was the world-famous "Old
Folks at Home" or, as it is more
familiarly known, "Suwa-iee
River." By permitting Christy
to sign his name instead of Fos
ter's to this song, the composer
obtained an advance of $15. Later
he received more than $2,000 in
royalties from its sales but he
had a great deal of difficulty in
establishing his authorship for
Christy copyrighted it in his own
name.
The decade 1850 to 1860 was
Stephen Foster's heydey. In 1850
he was married to Jane Mc
Dowell. In 1852 he wrote
"Massa's in de Cold, Cold
Ground"; began efforts to have
himself acknowledged as the
rightful author of "Old Folks at
Home," and with his wife took
that memorable steamboat trip
to New Orleans, the rich fruit
of which was to be the song, "My
Old Kentucky Home," copy
righted in 1853.
But Foster's married life was
not a happy one. He and
his wife lived for a few years
with Stephen's family in Pitts
burgh, then moved to New York.
There the composer yielded more
and more to the temptation of
strong drink until at last his wife
left him, mainly because she had
to earn a living for herself and
their child, Marion.
Foster died on January 13, 1884,
in Bellevue, a charity hospital
in New York City. In his clothes
they found the small purse con
taining 38 cents and a slip of
paper with five pencilled words
on it They were "Dear friends
and gentle hearts." Says John
Tasker Howard in his biography
of Foster:
"No doubt this was to have
been the title of an unwritten
?ong, but whatever its intent, the
phrase describes quite perfectly
the dear friend and gentle heart
who added 'Old Folks at Home'
and a dozen other immortal songs
to the world's spiritual riches."
IMPROVED
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY I
chool Lesson
By REV. HAROLD L. LUNDQU1ST.
? Dean of the Moody Bible Institute
of Chicago.
O Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for March 7
LIFE HERE AND HEREAFTER
THROUGH CHRIST
LESSON TEXT? John 14:1-19.
GOLDEN TEXT - I im the way. the
truth, and the llle: no man Cometh unto
the Father, but by me. John 14:6.
PRIMARY TOPIC? In the Heavenly
Father's House.
JUNIOR TOPIC ? Many Mansions.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC?
Why We Need Christ Always.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC?
Life Here and Hereafter through Christ.
It was the night before the darkest
day in the world's history. On the
morrow the Son of man was to
hang on Calvary's tree for the sins
of the world? for your sins, and for
mine. But for the moment he was
alone with his disciples. The last
Passover had been eaten together,
the betrayer had been discovered,
and the Lord has told them that he
was soon to go where they could
not follow. Peter had, by his bold
self-assurance, brought forth the
prophecy of his denial. The disciples
were disturbed. Then came from the
Saviour the words of comfort, as
surance, and power which have been
the strength and solace of his peo
ple through all the centuries. Our
life both here and hereafter is in
His mighty hands.
I. Comfort (vv. 1-3).
Troubled hearts are everywhere-=
in the palace and in the cottage, on
land and sea. There is a place of
rest, thank God! There is One who
stiU speaks the majestic words,
"Let not your heart be troubled,
ye believe in God, believe also in
me."
His comfort is one which covers
the future life, for he says:
1. "I go to prepare a place"(v.2).
Concern about future destiny is set
tled at once when Christ Jesus be
comes our Lord and Saviour. We
need worry no longer. He has gone
on before to the Father's house to
prepare a place for his own. When
we come to that ever-peaceful shore
we shall not come as strangers, but
as sons and daughters to a prepared
place in our Father's house.
2. "I will come again" (v.3) is
the word that gives present mean
ing to the future promise. He not
only prepares the place, but he it
is who brings us there. The glorious
hope of his coming again is the
Christian's greatest comfort and
mightiest incentive to" useful, holy
living.
n. Assurance (w. 4-11).
The doctrine of Christian assur
ance is one of , vital importance,
and should be taught in all its scrip
tural power and beauty. Unfortun
ately it has so suffered violence at
the hands of some of its friends
that others have not only come to
fear it, but even openly to oppose
it. This is most regrettable, for it
is manifest that until one has as
surance he will make but little prog
ress in Christian usefulness.
The believers assurance rests
fundamentally on Christ himself.
Two grounds are given in the text.
1. "I am the way, the truth, and
the life" (v. 6). These words are
their own best commentary. Read
them again, slowly, weighing the
meaning of each word. If we are
in him who is the way, how safe
we are! If we are not in him? Read
his own solemn words in verse 6,
"No man cometh unto the Father
but by me." (v. 11).
In Christ dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead. He is not only a super
natural being, he is God. How can
anyone deny that and read his
words in these verses? To do so
is to make Jesus a liar and
blasphemer.
HI. Power (w. 12-15).
His followers are not left in a
world of sin and need as a little
group of hymn-singing weaklings,
thinking only of the day when they
shall be in a brighter land. Ah, yes,
they sing hymns and rejoice i n
them look for a better land;
their weapons of warfare are not
carnal? but weaklings? Oh, no! God
uses them to do great and mighty
things for his glory.
1. "He that believeth" (v. 12).
This army of God carries the royal
banner of faith.
2. "Greater works . . . shall he
do" (v. 12). Jesus only began his
work on earth. Its greatest develop
ment was to be the joyous privilege
of his followers.
3. "If ye ask ... I will do"
(v. 14). Someone has called this a
signed blank check on all the re
sources of God. Faith fills it in, un
der the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Moody knew how to use it. So did
Mueller, Livingstone, J. Hudson
Taylor? the list might go on indefi
nitely. Shall we dare to trust God
and add our name as one of those
who ask in faith?
The Man of Wisdom
He is a wise man who does not
grieve for the things which he has
not, but rejoices for those which he
has. ? Epictetus.
Thoughts at Good People
The thoughts of some people live
so near to God, that to ask them to
think of us is to ask them to pray
for us.
Chief End tt Education
Manhood, not scholarship, is the
I first aim at education, ? E. T. Seton.
L
UNCOMMON
AMERICANS
? ? ?
j ^ ?
By Elmo 6 Western
Scott Watson "'uS*"*'
His Gun Became a Judge
SOMEONE once observed: "The
^ Declaration of Inoependence
stated that all men are equal, but
the Colt revolver made that state
ment a fact." Certainlv that was
proved on the Western frontier
where the quality of man depended
upon his quickness of the "draw"
and where this little weapon be
came the symbol of law in a law
less land? it was judge, jury and
high executioner all in one. Little
wonder then that it should become
known as "Judge Colt."
The father of "Judge Colt" was a
Connecticut Yankee, born in 1814.
As a boy Samuel Colt listened to
veterans talk about battles of the
Revolution and especially about the
feats of a rifleman named Tim Mur
phy who had a double- arrelled ri
fle. If someone could invent a gun
that would shoot five or six times
without reloading, that nation would
rule the world. But. of course, that
was impossible, said the men of
that day.
Young Sam Colt didn't believe it
was impossible. So he began ex
perimenting with a four-barrelled
rifle but he couldn't make it work
satistactorily. Then he was appren
ticed to a sea captain and from the
sailors he learned to carve out little
objects in wood.
One day in the Indian ocean,
while idly watching the steersman
at the wheel, he noticed that re
gardes of which way the wheel
was spun, each spoke always came
directly in line with a clutch that
could be set to hold it. As he
watched he found himself visioning
holes in the rim of the wheel? holes
which successively came into align
ment with a stationary opening. In
a flash he saw the answer to his
problem of a repeating gun. Then
with "a jacknife that cost less than
a dollar he started to whittle out the
foundation of a fortune which was
to run into millions." From that
model came the revolver which first
proved its value in the war with the
Seminole Indians, won' an even
greater reputation in the Mexican
war and by the time the Civil war
had begun was an indispensable
part of a soldier's armament.
Not enly was Sam Colt the inven
tor of a weapon which vitally af
fected military history, but he "was
the first of the great American in
dustrialists. Colt, not the modern
motor car manufacturer, conceived
and first utilized in his plant stand
ardized machine production, di
vision of labor and the 'assembly
line.' He showed the way to the
modern promoters of war ... .he
was the precursrr of the modern
munitions kings ? a pioneer in the
art of playing one nation against an
other to increase his sales."
An Important Vice-President
IT'S a standard joke that the vice
president of the United States is
about the most unimportant indi
vidual in our federal government
unless the President happens to die.
In that case he immediately be
comes a very important man. But
there was one vice president whose
high place in American history is
due to hi own death, rather than
that of a President.
In 1884 Thomas A. Hendricks of
Indiana, who had served as con
gressman, senator and governor
and who had twice before beer, an
unsuccessful candidate for the Pres
idency and once before defeated for
the vice presidency, was elected
viie president when Grover Cleve
land defeated Blaine, the Republi
can candidate. Hendricks died eight
months after his inauguration but
his death while in office was not
unique. Four other vice presidents
?George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry,
William R. King and Henry Wilson
? had suffered the same fate. But
for the first time in three-quarters
of a century America became aware
of the potential dangers in such a
situation.
The Constitution provides that in
the case of removal, death, resigna
tion or disability of a President,
the vice president shall succeed
him. But in 1885 the vice president
was dead. Suppose now that the
President should also die, resign or
b? removed from office. Who would
then become President? Neither the
Constitutiou nor any act of congress
had provided for that emergency,
and apparently no one had ever
given any thought to its possible re
cults.
So congress got busy and on Jan
uary 19, 1886 it passed a law pro
viding for a Presidential succession
in case the vice president could
not serve. Under its terms the sec
retary of state would become Presi
dent. In case he, too, would be un
able to serve, the next in line would
be the secretary of the treasury
and so on down the cabinet? sec
retary of war, attorney-general
postmaster - general, secretary of
the navy, secretary of the interior,
secretary of agriculture, secretary
of commerce and secretary of la
bor.
Thus in bringing about this
change Thomas A. Hendricks be
came an "important" vice president
?but be had to die to do iti
Ask Me Another
0 A General Quit
6 Bell Syndicate. ? WNU Service.
1. When were thimble* invent
ed?
2. When was the Great Wall of
China completed?
3. Who was the only English
Pope?
4. What is a fusillade?
5. Who discovered the Pacifia
ocean, and when?
6. What was a warlock?
7. Who were the "Graces"?
8. What is the monetary unit of
Cuba?
9. From what other inflamma
ble liquid is gasoline distilled?
10. What type of verse bears
the same name as an Irish coun
ty?
11. Is the lion a "cat" or "dog"
animal?
12. At what was the "Shermaa
Act" aimed?
Answers
1. First used by ancient Chi
nese. Brought to England in 1695,
by John Lofting, a mechanic,
from Holland.
2. In 212 B. C.
3. Nicholas Brakespeare, who
was elected in 1154.
4. A simultaneous discharge of
firearms.
5. Vasco de Balboa in 1513. The
ocean was given its name by Ma
gellan in 1521.
6. A witch or wizard.
7. Three goddesses conferring
grace, beauty, joy, etc.
8. The peso.
9. Petroleum.
10. Limerick.
11. Cat.
12. The prevention of trusts la
restraint of trade.
A Three Days' Cough
Is Yonr Danger Signal
No matter how many
you have tried for your cough, chest
cold or bronchial Irritation, you can
get relief now with Creomulslon.
Serious trouble may be brewing and
you cannot afford to take a chance
with anything less than Creomul
sion, which goes tight to the sea*
of the trouble to aid nature to
soothe and heal the inflamed mem
branes as the germ-laden phlegm
Is loosened and expelled.
Even If other remedies have
failed, dont be discouraged, your
druggist is authorised to guarantee
Creomulslon and to refund your
money if you are not satisfied with
results from the very first bottle.
Get Creomulslon right now. (AdrJ
Sometimes It's Pleasure
In combining business with
pleasure, one or the other suffers.
i
CgmlcLuu
tuUeve*.
NEURALGIC PAIN
quicke/ibecauU
Jfo liquid ...
ALREADY DIStOLVCtf
When Consolidated
Human thought is one of the
most dynamic forces on earth.
Si
QO ranch trouble is earned by cfarooie conrtfr
D pation! Headaches, timet digestion, usrrous
^33
lack of pep Mt frequently cawed by pot
wastes that accumulate in tbs briwtto
Too often people merely uas son
relief See for yourself if it doesn't a
d difference in tbs way yon fed U
pwaly vegetable laxative. Give a ?
trial to Nature's Remedy (NR Tablets). Not*
bow gentle they are? and noo-habit formiaf.
Get a 2Sc box,
containing 25 d
Don't Fear Motherhood
Mrs. V. A. Soodeis of
423 W. Church St,
town, Md., said: "I can
wefl recommend Dr.
Pierce's Favorite Prescrip
tion to prospective moth
ers as a tonic to tfimalats
the appetite. I was weak
ened, I didn't care to eat
and I felt just miserable.
I noticed an improvement
ig-w ^ a iz
Mlpdoo, and f know thnt It wu tlx eSta
ti tfafa tonic thit kept mt up." Bar noirl
Indicated at an Attarath w *n
'*? Treatment of
RHEUMATIC FEVER, GOUT,