My father's playing the violin lights up any room. To him, it is an instrument of faith, hope and charity. My mother used to joke, "Your papa would play his violin if the world was about to blow up."  _  In the early years of the 20th century, the boll weevil   began destroying the cotton farms in the southern USA. In May 1910, folks all over the nation were talking about Halley's Comet  . There were all sorts of frightening stories about it, the main one being that the world would pass through its tail, said to be millions of miles long. Between the threats of the comet and weevils, the farmers were running low on optimism. One night, they gathered at our farm to discuss what to do. Will Bowen, a local man, suggested, "Charley, how about giving us a little music?" "I don't think anybody'd want to hear me tonight," Dad replied. "Come on, Mr. Nordyke," one of the younger women urged. "Play for us!" Dad got the hang of getting people in the mood for his music. He played church songs, and then switched to war songs. By the time he had finished performing, people were stamping their feet, clapping their hands and yelling. All of our neighbors went home whistling. Very few remembered to look to see whether the comet was still around. Another evening, Will Bowen called Dad on the telephone and said, "Charley, I'm downhearted and blue. Could you play a tune or two for me through the phone?" Dad handed the receiver to me and then set about playing the songs he had performed that night. I could hear Mr. Bowen whistling and yelling. By the time the tune was finished there were half a dozen neighbors on the line. They talked about how wonderful the music sounded over the telephone. They made numerous requests; I relayed them to Dad and he played. Our broadcasts became regular features of community life. When the weather was bad in winter and farmers were forced to remain in the house, someone would ring us and ask Dad to play. Usually it developed into a network affair. Our phone kept ringing with requests for music until radio came into fashion. All the following statements are FALSE except   _  .
The neighbors often dropped in to hear Mr. Nordyke's performance. Mr. Nordyke's music entertained and comforted people in the community. The farmers knew listening to music would help them avoid being destroyed by Halley's Comet. At that time people loved all sorts of music deeply.