In the eastern part of Victoria, nestling among the mountains, lies Warburton, one of the prettiest countries in this colony. It is fifty miles from Melbourne and twenty-five from Lilydale, the nearest town from which the coach runs daily. The mountains are thickly covered with gum-trees, many of which reach the height of 300 feet, and sometimes 400 feet. In the evenings the mountains vary in color from deep pink to a very deep purple, reflected from the setting sun. The effect is grand.
In the valleys are beautiful gullies, full of ferns, varying in size from a foot to about sixty feet high. It is delightfully cool in the gullies, as they are pleasantly shaded by trees with closely matted tops that we often go and sit in, especially at a place where there are many comfortable swings and hammocks formed of bark which is shed from the gum-trees.
These gullies abound with most of our native animals, such as bears, wallabies, wombats, dingoes, opossums, etc. Warburton has numberless creeks, and a river called Yarra Yarra, which is a native name, meaning flowing. The river is very winding, and is flecked with rocks here and there, and shaded by trees which bend their branches over to the water. The river is full of rapids and little cataracts, and is not navigable except within about twelve or fifteen miles of its mouth. It is a beautiful place in which to enjoy peace and rest.
Daisy Damman, R.T.P.
The Music Rack.
Not long ago I read an explanation stating that to the public, not understanding music, classical music sounds like the tuning of instruments. Don't some of the Round Table Knights and Ladies think this an error? I think the strains of Tannhäuser and Wagner's Lohengrin, as also Träumerei, Bohemian Girl, Cavalleria Rusticana, Maritana, and ever so many other masterpieces which are certainly classed as classics please anybody. Of course they have not any similarity to "Liberty Bell," "Maggie Murphy's Home," and other compositions of this order, but they do please the masses. The Grand March from Tannhäuser always does catch popular fancy. Also the "Bridal March" from Lohengrin.
I have often heard Martha played and treated to deafening applause, and no music-studied audience were the people who applauded. Have players ever heard that when rosining the bow they should not draw the bow up and down rapidly? A great many know this, but many more do not. The reason is because the bow becomes warm and melts the rosin and spoils the hair, whereas if you go slowly the rosin comes off crisp and fine. Another thing, for orchestra playing tighten the bow, but for solo playing leave it slack, as the sound is finer.
I would be very glad to hear of some music Chapter, as I would like to join one.
C. Arnold Kruckman, R.T.K.
1235 North Thirteenth Street, St. Louis, Mo.
Why He Sawed Wood.
The Bishop of Pennsylvania was formerly a frontier or missionary bishop in Nevada. While in the West he had a loyal friend in a man noted for his big heart and his wonderful combination of profane words. He was the possessor of a good carriage and a pair of fast horses, and was always ready to stop swearing for half a day or long enough to take the Bishop, whom he greatly admired as a man, out on worthy errands.
One day the Bishop had accepted the use of the team to go in search of funds to build a small chapel. Passing a rough shanty at a smart pace they saw a man before it sawing wood. The day was hot and the man bareheaded.