The work of the band has been in some respects the most important single activity in which the boys have been engaged. No other trade or profession, whichever it may be called, so appeals to so many boys in such a way as to hold their interest and deep enthusiasm. Mention could be made by name of boy after boy who has found his chief delight in the practice of his instrument; and the ensemble work of the band has had a most important result in binding together the relatively small abilities and attainments and from them displaying a musical organization which has secured recognition widely throughout the adjacent country.

We have been most fortunate in our bandmasters. Professor Nicholas Shilzony, noted throughout the country and elsewhere as the director of the Hungarian Boys' Band which toured the United States several times some years ago, succeeded Mr. Thomas Toolan soon after the change in the School administration. In the interim the band had been rather neglected, the instruments were sadly in need of repair, and necessary instruments were lacking.

Professor Shilzony at once changed the entire musical atmosphere of the School, and the band began to make better music from the first hour of his instruction. Continuous improvement followed, and the demands from the boys for admission left a large waiting list available to draw from. The public also, knowing the previous reputation of the Whittier State School Band since the founding of the Institution, sent frequent invitations to participate in various celebrations and social functions. This added much to the value of the band as a means of discipline to the boys.

Professor Shilzony, after about a year of training, developed a quartette of colored boys whom he desired to take on tour. A leave of sixty days was granted him, and the boys, having earned their parole, were paroled to him. Just as they were ready to start, the European war drove such large numbers of vaudeville acts back to this country that it became very difficult to secure bookings. The act was very well received and frequently listed as a headliner. The quartette played in San Francisco, Oakland, Fresno, Bakersfield, Santa Rosa and Vallejo. The bookings were too irregular to justify the necessary expense and it was for this and other reasons decided at last to discontinue. After six weeks the boys returned to the School.

During the absence of Professor Shilzony, Professor Mills was secured as bandmaster. Professor Mills is an old-time military bandmaster from the U.S. Army, and recently trained the boys at the Sherman Institute. His success was also immediate and lasting; and we expect to have at the Tournament of Roses this year the largest band this School has ever taken. No orchestra has as yet been organized. This is due in part to the unfortunate conditions so frequently mentioned in these pages. The consequent lack in the number of boys available for all purposes of work or instruction has made its influence felt in music also.