its well-known variations, the pièce de résistance of so many generations of violinists and soprani. I was drilled in every note, the bowing was rigidly fixt for me, the whole piece was marked, bar by bar, with slur, p and f, rall. and crescendo. I was not allowed to depart a hair's breadth from rule. When I could do this easily and accurately, Oury surprized me one day by saying:
"Now you can play it as you like; you need not attend to a single mark!"
"How so?" I said.
"Don't you see," he said, "the marks don't signify: that is only one way of playing it. If you have any music in you, you can play it in a dozen other ways. Now, I will make it equally good," and he took the violin and played it through, reversing as nearly as possible all the p's and f's, "bowing" the slur and slurring the "bow," and it sounded just as well. I never forgot that lesson.
(1153)
Free Will—See Will, The.
FRICTION DISSIPATING FORCE
An English writer says:
Three or four years ago an attempt was
made to supersede the water-carts of London
by laying down on each side of the road a
horizontal pipe, perforated with a row of
holes opening toward the horse-way. The
water was to be turned on, and from these
holes it was to jet out to the middle of the
road from each side, and thus water it all.
I watched the experiment made near the
Bank of England.
Instead of spouting across the road from all these holes, as it should have done from any one of them, it merely dribbled; the reason being that, in order to supply them all, the water must run through the whole of the long pipe with considerable velocity, and the viscosity and friction to be overcome in doing this nearly exhausted the whole force of water-head pressure. Many other similar blunders have been made by those who have sought to convey water-power to a distance by means of a pipe of such diameter as should demand a rapid flow through a long pipe.
This is a clear illustration of friction
dissipating force. How much life force
needed for constructive works of righteousness
is wasted by mere friction.
(1154)
FRIEND, A TRUE
At a "home" in the country which the children of the slums are allowed to visit for a short time in the summer, the following incident occurred. A party of about one hundred youngsters was returning to the city. The attendant noticed that one of the girls, Rosie, was walking rather clumsily. This is the way the New York Tribune tells the story:
When the attendant heard a chorus of
gibes all aimed at little Rosie, she saw that
the girl was wearing a pair of shoes of
large size. Then the attendant remembered
that Rosie had had a new pair of shoes, and
the little girl was asked about it.
"Well," said Rosie, "you see, the shoes ain't mine. They're Katie's. I know they're awful big, but her mama ain't had any work lately, so she couldn't buy her a new pair. She just gave her own shoes to Katie.
"Katie felt awful bad about it, and cried all the way to the station. The girls all laughed at her. I just lent her my new ones and took hers.
"You see, teacher," said Rosie, raising her eyes to the attendant's face, "Katie's my friend."
(1155)
Friend, The, of Animals—See Kindness, The Power of.
FRIEND, THE ORPHAN'S
Margaret Gaffney was given the name of
the "Orphans' Friend." She was an orphan
left to the care of Welsh people who were
very poor. Charity was the very spring of
her being. Having lost her husband, her
childless heart caused her to enter the
Paydros Orphan Asylum, for which she
solicited stores, wheeling them herself in a
wheelbarrow when she had no other means
of conveyance. She built another orphan
asylum, and started a dairy to help its support.
Later she established a bakery. She
would not indulge herself in anything unnecessary
because there "was so much suffering
in the world." New Orleans owes to
this poor, ignorant woman her three largest
homes for children, which are for orphans,
black or white, irrespective of denomination.
When the Fourth Louisiana Regiment was
taken captive to New Orleans, Margaret
went to the fort with a load of bread, and
when ordered to halt, she replied, "What
