* By Daniel I. McNamara
I a BRAM CHASINS, brilliant young
American musician . -. . com
poser, pianist, musicologist ... is a
notable exponent of industry in art.
He adheres strictly to long
schedules in his busy New York
studio overlooking Central Park.
Luncheons are brief; often he
works far into the night. Still in
his early thirties, he enjoys world
wide prestige.
Chasins was born of Russian
^parents in New York City, August
|17, 1903. Discovered as a child
[Iprodigy by the late Mrs. Thomas
[Tapper, musician-friend of juvenile
genius, he began studying composi
tion with Rubin Goldmark at twelve.
Later teachers were Richard Ep
stein and Ernest Hutcheson. He
studied at Curtis Institute in Phila
delphia, remained as piano teacher
until 1934. During 1931 and 1932 he
made two successful concert tours
(of Europe.
Chasins' first compositional efforts
[were in his student days in Curtis.
His “Three Chinese Pieces’’ found
(their way into the concert programs
[of many leading artists.
He made his own pianistic debut
with Gabrilowitsch and the Phila
delphia orchestra in 1929, playing
his own First Piano Concerto. Tos
canini honored him in the 1931
season of the Philharmonic by per
forming Chasins' “Parade” and
(‘‘Flirtation in a Chinese Garden.”
(Thrice in a single week in 1938 he
(appeared in Barbirolli’s Philhar
monic Symphony series, playing his
mwn Second Piano Concerto.
His regularly scheduled lecture
(recital radio broadcasts initiated in
1934 attained great popularity.
These revealed facility of oral ex<
pression to complement his thor
ough musicianship.
Chasins is a staunch ally of fellow
composers, a defender of the righta
in intellectual property created by
them. He is a leading spirit of the
American Composers’ Alliance, and
an active member of the American
Society of Composers, Authors and
Publishers. His favorite composers
are Bach, Chopin, Brahms and Wag
ner. Rachmaninoff and Strauss are
his most admired contemporaries.
Chasins finds time for recreation
in the midst of constantly increas
ing activities in composition, con
certs and radio broadcasting. He
plays chess and bridge, enjoys out
door sports. His favorite reading is
biography and philosophy, occasion
ally a detective story. He converses
fluently in three languages.
Singularly devoid of the tempera
mental instability traditionally at
tributed to composers, he insists
that hard work 1b his best inspira
tion. He loves his work, bears his
hostors modestly. Success in youth
has not spoiled him. * - ——*
{Music Features « Photo Syndicate)
DEMURRER GRANTED BY
JUD6E IN VIRGINIA
TEACHERS SALARY CASE
a!ITY OF NORFOLK ADMITS
INEQUALITY BUT CONTENDS
TEACHER HAS NO LEGAL
ACTION
—
NAACP Appeals At Once
Norfolk, Va., June8—Following
a three and one half hour hearing
in the Circuit Court here June 1,
Presiding Judge Allan R. Hanckel
denied a petition filed by Miss
Aline E. Black, local high school
teacher, which sought to compel
the Norfolk school board to pay
Miss Black and all other Negro
teachers in Norfolk, the same
salary as white teachers with si
milar qualifications and doing the
flame type of work.
Judge Hanckel sustained a de
murrer filed to Miss Black’s peti
tion for a writ of mandamus by
City Attorney Alfred Anderson
and his assistant, W. Old, Jr., and
ordered the case dismissed.
In sustaining the demurrer
which means simply that while the
City of Norfolk admits everything
in Miss Black’s complaint, it con
tends that she had no legal basis
for the suit. Judge Hanckel com
mented that the case would go to
the U. S. Supreme Court anyway.
He was referring to a statement
noted in the original petition filed
last March 2 by attorneys for Miss
Black, that they intedded to carry
the case to the high court of the
decision of the lower court went
against them.
Within a few hours after Judge
Hanckel’s decision Miss Black’s
attorney’s: Thurgood Marshall, as
sistant special counsel for the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People;
Leon A. Ransom, of the associa
tion’s national legal committee
aad completed their appeal for
filing before the Virginia State
Court of Appeals for a writ of
error.
The City of Norfolk’s attorney,
hq We argument for dismissal #f
the case set fourth the following
main points:
The petition was insufficient in
law; Miss Black was employed on
a private contract basis and the
defendants could either hire her or
not and pay her whatever they
wanted to; Miss Black could not
complain if she accepted such a
contract; the courts could not con
trol by mandamus action a dis
cretionary power that could be
exercised by the Norfolk school
board alone; Miss Black waived
all constitutional rights when she
accepted the contract.
The NAAOP attorneys, denying
that the petition was insufficient
in law argued that the high school
teacher’s contract was not as is
sue in the case. They pointed out
that the issue was the establish
ment of a salary basis for teachers
in Norfolk that did not discrimin
ate against Negro teachers.
Attorneys for the NAACP cited
the salary schedule, which was
filed with the petition. This sche
dule provides that white female
high school teachers shall receive
a minimum of $970 and a maxi
mum of $1,900 a year, while a
[Separate salary schedule for Ne
gro high school teachers provides
a minimum for female leaehers of
$699 and a maximum of $1,106.
Miss Black’s petition alleged
that the Norfolk School board was
enforcing the discriminatory sal
ary schedule, actually paying Ne
gro teachers less than white teach
ers with identical qualification and
experience and doing the same
type of work, solely on the basis
of color.
The NAACP attorneys argued
that “there is no discretion to
violate the United States Consti
tution,’’ that the Board, although
it had power to fix salaries, had
it had power to fix salaries had no
power <to pay Negro teachers less
than whites sk'ply because of col
or. They argued further that when
color was made the basis of dis
crimination the Board violated the
fourteenth amendment to the Con
stitution. They oited numerous
cases iatexded to show that Miss
Black eould *«t waive her Coe
stituuorial rights.
Most of tKeir argument was
hased on the fourteenth Amend
ment as it applied to requiring
equal treatment for all citizens
in the distribution of public funds
for schools.
Commenting on Judge Henekel’s
decision, officials of the NAACP
said.
“We are not surprised to
receive a reversal in the lower
courts of Virginia in this case,
just as we were not surprised
to receive a reversal in the
lower courts of Missouri in
the University of Missouri
case.
“Wo want an opportunity to
get a decision from the United
States supreme court because
we believe that the high
court’s decision will affect the
question of equalized salaries,
in all the states, not only ae
it applieg to white and colored
teachers, but as it applies to
white and colored workers in
every field of public employ
ment”
_
"MIDNIGHT SHADOW GOES
FROM IjOT TO CUTTING ROOM
WILL BE REIJiASED SOON
"Midnight Shadow” has just left
the lot as a completed product—
is now in the cutting room and
will soon be on its way to the many
theatres which have been anxious
ly awaiting its release.
After viewing the rushes, men
renowned for their knowledge of
motion picture production are un
animous in their opinion that
‘‘Midnight Shadow” is the finest
and greatest p;cture ever pro
duced Iby an all colored cast.
This film, is sure to capture the
good wishes of motion picture
fans because of the brilliant artis
tic technique dbplayed, the poise
and instinctive acting of the cast,
and instead of the ugly, the rough
-i ■
and common, this picture will be
distinguished by its loveliness of
scenic sequence, smoothness, of
execution and right elegant cos
tumes, good taste, refinement and
gay, mirthful comedy blazing
through the entire faerie.
Frances Redd who recently ar
rived in Hollywood by plane from
Chicago to play the role of the
loading lady in “Midnight Sha
dow"’ a George Randol Produc
tions film, though new in motion
picture work, was well received by
everyone; and because of her
grace, beauty and natural ability
as an actress has proven herself
to be a real modem Cinderella and
an immediate star.
Watch your local theaters for
early release.
-0O0
FILTERED AIR IS BETTER
FOR LUNGS
Studies of the lungs of human
beings, after death, have shown
that the amount of dust of all
kinds that is breathed in, which
gets past all the protective devices
in nose, throat, trachea and bron
chial tubes, is much greater than
i8 commonly realized, says a bul
letin of the National Warm Air
Heating and Air Conditioning As
sociation. It has long been known
physicians that a coal miner can
readily be identified by autopsy
by the blackness of his lungs; and
some studeiis believe that (the
lungs of a resident of a soft coal
burning city, and a resident of an
anthracite burning city would
show considerable difference in
this respect. The theroy has also
been advanced that the greater
susceptibility of elder people to
pneumonia is due, at least in part,
to the cumulative effect of the
dust which has been gathering
from year to year, in their lungs.
The Association points out that
one of the great advantages, from
the health point of view, of mod
ern warm beating systems, which
are also being increasingly used
for summer caol air conditioning,
is that these systems, in which
the air » forced up into the liv
ing rooms by a blower fan, make
it possible to filter the air Purer
air, as well as better control of
warmth in winter and coolness in
summer, is consequently one of
the advanages of forced air heat
ing.
-0O0——
Driscoll Commencement
Speaker at Boys Town
Boys Town, June 4 (Special)—
Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home to
day (Sunday June 4) held their
third annual high school commence
mont exercises. Nine boys, who
came 'to Father Flanagan’s famed
Boys Town a few years ago, re
ceived their high, school diplomas
from the Catholic priest (Father
Flanagan) who gave them their
first break in life, a break they
might otherwise never had, for
they came to Father Flanagan’s
Boys’ Home from broken homes or
were homeless, abandoned or neg
lected youths.
Today these nine boys 8tep up a
rung of life’s laddeT as normal
and healthy American youths,
trained in only one ISM—Amer
icanism—all because of Father
Flanagan’s long interest in giving
the homeless and abandoned boys
a better chance in life.
Charles B Driscoll, New York
cclumnist who wri'es, “New York
Day by Day,” which is pub'isheti
in ever 300 dai y \v<papcis, in
thi Boys Town comoftc-uumit ad
d;ess begged the gr'< uales “not
to lelieve a word that there is no
h,nj.er any opportunity,’’ He said:
“You have heard a great deal
I have no doubt, about wlat a
dark and dismal place the world
is getting to be, how h*.»e ess it
is, and h^w cruel; how the dicta
tors and bolsheviks and ’.he crack
oots are ta .mg it tver. Ar.d, a
bcve all now there is no ici.j er any
opportunity, that he last frontier
has been closed, the la»t great dis
covery made, the last no-man’s
land explored,”
“I beg of you, do not believe a
word of it.”
“It is true that this thing which
we call civilization is sick—yes,
sick abed and running a bit of
temperature. But I assure you,
young men, that this is no new
condition. If you will read a little
farther over in the book you will
find that sickness is a chronic con
dition with civilization. In fact,
the old fellow is a bit of hypoch
ondriac. Civilization was sick
when I graduated (too, tossing on
his bed and calling ourt in an alarm
ing delirium. The trouble just
now is that the bedside of the pa
tient ig haunted by an innumerable
multitude of quacks . So many
yarb doctors, medicine men, mir
acle men and sages are stewing
up concoctions, beating their tom
toms, and uttering incantations,
that the poor patient, Civilization
has no chance to get well
“I suspect he is going to let a
great cry out of him pretty soon,
and call for the old family doctor.
If old Doc Common Sense gets to
work on the case opens the wind
ows, and makes up a couple of old
fashioncy} hot poultices, those
quacks will dive out of the win
dows and the patient will sit up
and ask for nournkshment.”
Continued the New York Col
umnist: “Now about the last
great frontier. About this story
that there is no more important
work to be done, and that you
young men will of necessity lead
idle and useless lives for the sim
ple reason that there is no mors
need for energetic, hard working
or'ginal thinking, young men. It
is all nonsense.
“Do you realize that three de
velopments of the present gener
ation combine to render obsolete
! practically every building in this
(continued on page 6)
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I '
j | El« «n C®ntg°y°^°|^ C® M®“ BIRTH OF A SONG _ By Joseph'R. Fliesler and Paul Carrutfi
BOB MILLER was born in rural Memphis,'
Tenn., in the heart of the hill billy country. |
It was not until he was ten that his talent for j
music was discovered.
He began to popularize the hill billy songs,
and with the aid of a little orchestra he formed,
made many recordings, including numBfcrs of
hit own composition..
Orphaned at an early age, he ran away at
thirteen, large (or his years, made his way as a
piano player, did odd jobs — and went back to
Memphis.
He is a prolific composer and arranger, ond
broadcasts frequently. Hi* own favorite com
Eeser is Stephen Foster, whom, he says, the hill
illiet odore^'
Relatives and friends furnished help for him
to finish his education at the Southern Con
servatory of Music in Memphis, and later at the
Chicago Conservatory of Music.
Bob Miller's hill billy music is generally
topical, and bandits and heroes are celebrated
alike, as their deeds ore reggrded^
Bob played frequent theatrical engage
ments, and even tried the prize ring to help
finance himself. But the music of the hills kept
coming to his mind. __
Bob Miller it a member of the American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers,
and hit hill billy melodies are ova'.laa;« to el{
vlicj>n£ed gitablishmenfs. __
