when it came to playing with her feet also she could not do it. We next tried Seth McGraw, who had been to college and who, in addition to his musical ability, was able-bodied and strong. Seth put all the power on the motor, pulled out all the stops, and kicked and pawed with might and main. The organ shrieked and bellowed and roared. As for noise, the bulls of Bashan were out-*classed. But as for music—well, it requires more than a big organ and a big man to produce that. The congregation was disappointed, disgusted, and fast becoming desperate. They said that the organ was too big, too complicated, and that it had at least nineteen hundred pipes too many. There were charges of mismanagement and even fraud against the committee, and hints that "something might be doing." Now, Indiana lies in the north central portion of the lynching belt of the United States, so the committee felt a trifle uncomfortable.
To my way of thinking, there is a marked similarity between the musical experience of this congregation and the educational experience of many communities in this country. We have built great schoolhouses and prepared elaborate courses of study, with more manuals, stops, and swells than characterized the great organ of Newtown. The old course of study, which was so simple that even Sister Jones could play it by ear, has given place to a new, elaborate, and highly organized course which is difficult—entirely too difficult—for the Minnie Wrights and Josie Graysons, no difference if the one is a relative of some member of the school-*board and the other is the daughter of a poor widow. It requires more, too, than an able-bodied man to get proper results from the course of study, even if he has been to college and played fullback on the football team. He may make a great ado about it, but the results will be very similar to Seth McGraw's music on the pipe-organ—calculated to incite a riot.—J. W. Carr.
(1982)
MASTER MIND, THE
Jesus, as the Master mind of the world, rules in it by controlling many other minds, as the master clock in this account controls many other clocks:
"A German has invented a new clock system
which has some original features worthy
of mention," says The American Inventor.
"The system is that of a master clock which
controls electrically as many individual clock
installations as may be required. The clock,
which is installed in the house or place of
business of the subscriber to the system, is
similar to the ordinary one, inasmuch as it
has a face and two hands; but the works
are replaced by a couple of magnets and a
balance-wheel. The master clock is provided
with a transmitting apparatus designed
to be operated by the movement of the
hands. An impulse is sent from the wires
when the hands of the master clock advance
one minute on the face of the dial. This
impulse affects the magnets in the small
clocks in such a way that the hands are advanced
the same amount as were the hands
of the master clock. This operation is kept
up indefinitely, and, of course, all of the
small clocks keep exactly the same time as
the master clock." (Text.)
(1983)
Master Revealed—See Captain, The, [*delete ,] Divine.
Master, Thinking About His—See Duty.
MASTERY
One of those strong currents, always mysterious,
and sometimes impossible to foresee,
had set us into shore out of our course,
and the ship was blindly beating on a dreary
coast of sharp and craggy rocks.
Suddenly we heard a voice up in the fog in the direction of the wheel-house, ringing like a clarion above the roar of the waves, and the clashing sounds on shipboard, and it had in it an assuring, not a fearful tone. As the orders came distinctly and deliberately through the captain's trumpet, to "shift the cargo," to "back her," to "keep her steady," we felt somehow that the commander up there in the thick mist on the wheel-house knew what he was about, and that through his skill and courage, by the blessing of heaven, we should all be rescued. The man who saved us so far as human aid ever saves drowning mortals, was one fully competent to command a ship; and when, after weary days of anxious suspense, the vessel leaking badly, and the fires in danger of being put out, we arrived safely in Halifax, old Mr. Cunard, agent of the line, on hearing from the mail officer that the steamer had struck on the rocks and had been saved only by the captain's presence of mind and courage, simply replied: "Just what might have been expected in such a disaster; Captain Harrison is always master of the situation."—James T. Fields.
(1984)
