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Show SONG THAT LINCOLN LIKED. Written by a Soldier and Lives After He Died, Poor and Unknown. (New York Sun.) "One of the old patriotic songs that has outlived most of its competitors and seems likely to last for all time is -'The Flag of i the Free,' " said a music publisher, "and i it has a little history of its own. For one thing, it was composed 'under cireum- i stances which ought to give it the right j sort, of ring. - : "Harrison Millard composed it when the I civil war was at its height.. Millard had : enlisted in one of the Massachusetts vol- i unteer regiments. He had just returned ! from an extended tour through Europe, i where he had studied music and had ap- J peared as a concert singer. He fought ; bravely at the front and rose to the rank I of colonel: and in odd moments he used to write music. One clay he finished a new ! composition, which he named 'The Flag j of the Fy-ee,' and gave it to the regimental band to play. It became) very popular j with the men in the regiment, and at their j request was often playeH when they were on the march. . "When Harrison's regiment was reviewed re-viewed at Washington by President Lin-' coin that was the air the band played. The bandsmen put their whole souls into their playing that day. and the melody sounded'exceptionally fine. Mr. Lincoln's son.who was standing on the White House steps with his father, asked the president: " 'Dad, what Is the tune that regimental band from Massachusetts is playing?' . j "Mr. Lincoln's faicy had been caught by the air, too: He asked Colonel Millard about: it, and, on learning that it was his own, complimented him on it. "Millard died In this city about t"..ree years ago, poor and practically unknown. He w'as not buried with military honors, for few remembered his services to his country. But his memory will live in that song he wrote. After the war he held an office in the custom house -until Cleveland's Cleve-land's second term, when he was discharged.. dis-charged.. He told me once that it was through Lincolif,y Influence that he got the job. I published .another of Millard's compositions, called" 'When the Tide Comes In.' but It will never equal 'The Flag of the Free' in popularity and endurance." |