CHILD'S SONG SOFTENS HEARTS OF BUSY MEN. ~ SHOP TALK CEASES WHEN GIRL BEGINS TO SING.

February 6, 1909
CHILD'S SONG SOFTENS
HEARTS OF BUSY MEN.

SHOP TALK CEASES WHEN GIRL
BEGINS TO SING.

Odd Scene in Baltimore as Sweet
Strains of Tot's Voice Are
Wafted Down From
Balcony.

"Bring back; bring back; bring back my dollie to me."

The voice of a little girl singing about her "dollie" floated from the balcony in the Hotel Baltimore last night and in an instant men who had gathered in the lobby to talk over business and other affairs, ceased their conversations. Only the voice of the little girl could be heard above the noise made by the bell boys rushing here and there. A new light seemed to spring into the faces of those men of hard business cares and in the silence of a few moments there was a transformation which no other influence could have wrought.

The song of the little girl brought back to many of them the memory of their own little girl or little boy in the home they left a few days or a few weeks ago and there was a smile on the faces of some and a look of lonely longing on the faces of others.

"A little child shall lead them," quoth one who had no children, but who noticed with pleasure the change the voice of the little girl had brought among the men who a moment before were sending up wreaths of smoke as they talked of the selfish, serious sides of life.

"Never did tell you about my little girl, did I?" inquired one of a group of men in the lobby who had been talking earnestly about some business proposition before the child began to sing. There was quiet for a moment after the little girl had ended her song, but only for a moment. In all parts of the lobby men could be heard conversing about the sweet little songs their own little girls and boys sang in their homes and about the gladness and joy of home life where the enchanting sunshine of childhood is present.

"I never saw the scene of real life change so quick as that," a traveling man said after enjoying the thrill of it. "The voice of a little child is the sweetest music on earth and it has charms to drive away business cares and bring smiles of joy into the hears of those who really appreciate the best part of life."