PRIZE FOR A SONG

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 46, 31 August 1928, Page 9

PRIZE FOR A SONG

U.S. NATIONAL ANTHEM, (From "Tho Post's" Representative,)' ■ NEW, YORK, Bth August A prize of 0000 dollars fur the best now ..national anthem for the United States is offered by Mrs. FloVence. Brooks-Aten, who established the Brooks-Bright Foundation for the promotion of a better un* dorstanding between the United States and Great Britain. For many years there has been rivalry in American popular taste between "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and "The, StarSpangled Banner," for first place as a -national anthem. The line, "Laud of the Pilgrims' Pride" in the former did not appeal very strongly to a certain section of the country, which looked with suspicion on New Zealand's glairo to be paramount. Against this, "0 say, cm you see by the dawn's early light," the first line of "The Star-spangled Banner," was written about a single incident in tlio nations history and to music of an ancient drinking song, uusingablo except by trained vocalists. Foreigners naturally mistook "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" for "God Save the King" owing to tho music being the same, recognising England's prior right to the tune. Other nations also had claims on. it. So a military order made the "Starspangled Banner" the official national anthem of the army and navy. 1 During the . Spanish-American War, "There'll be. a Hot Time in the Old Time Tornight" was .so favoured by American service bands that the troops stood at the salute while it was played j Iv 1917, Georgo Cohan's "Over There" replaced everything jn popular sentiment, except for the formal salute of the colours,