Alfred Baldwin Sloane

[9] His parents wished him to pursue a career in business,[10] and in his youth he worked in his native city as an apprentice at a wholesale dry goods dealer.

[6][10] Sloane's interest in lyric theatre led him to take a leading role in the founding of an amateur dramatic group in Baltimore, the Paint and Powder Club (PPC).

[7] He wrote his second stage work for this group, the burlesque Midas, which was given its premiere at Albaugh's Lyceum Theatre on 5 February 1895 with Sloane once again portraying the title role.

[7] The theatre impresario Edward E. Rice caught a performance of the work while in Baltimore with a touring show he was producing, Robert Barnet's 1492.

[12] His first original score for the Broadway stage was in 1896 with the musical Jack and the Beanstalk;[8] a work which featured several well known fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters.

[12] The work was very successful financially between its run in New York and a subsequent national tour, and significantly raised the profile and popularity of actress Madge Lessing in the title role of Jack.

[19] In New York, Sloane quickly adapted his compositional style to what was then the current trend of the Tin Pan Alley publishing houses; a shift which enabled him to be gainfully employed by having his songs interpolated into shows both on the musical stage and in vaudeville.

[9] His biggest success as a songwriter was the tune "Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl," which Marie Dressler introduced in Tillie's Nightmare (1910), but none of his songs found enduring popularity.

[21] While in the home of his daughter, Mrs. June H. Brackett, Alfred Baldwin Sloane died of heart disease at the age of 52 in Red Bank, New Jersey on 21 February 1925.