outbreak of the Spanish–American War, a folk version of "Wabash" with different lyrics began circulating. "On the Banks of Havana, Far Away" ridiculed the war. In 1902 the song was so well known that after power outage at the arena on Coney Island left thousands of people in the dark, the entire crowd sang "Wabash" to prevent a panic while repairmen fixed the lighting. In 1913 "Wabash" became the official state song of Indiana. In 1900, with selling sheet music copies "Wabash" still selling "extremely well", Howley, Haviland and Company opened a new and larger office in New York City. In addition, the firm had offices in Chicago and San Francisco and representation in Toronto and London. Dresser also contributed to a book on composing music, Hits and Hitters: Secrets of the Music Publishing Business. Later life Fall from fame As the nineteenth century ended, American taste in popular music turned to less sentimental fare: patriotic songs, ragtime (more syncopated African-American styles than the minstrel songs and cakewalks), union and labor songs, and songs created for and derived from the more recent ethnic immigrant communities. At the same time, a new group of writers and composers began to dominate Tin Pan Alley and the explosive growth in recorded music soon dwarfed sheet music sales. Despite these changes Dresser continued to write in his own genre, known as "mother-and-home" songs to later generations. In 1900 Dresser published one of his last hit songs, "The Blue and the Gray". Although Dresser's songs were popularized by Richard Jose and others, his music was falling out of style. Sales of his music quickly decreased. In 1900, although he was not a competent businessman, Dresser became an acting partner in his publishing business, which was renamed "Haviland, Howley, and Dresser". His partners hoped Dresser's name would help spur more business, but the enterprise was not a success. Haviland left the partnership in 1903. Dresser continued to write songs, but none brought the financial success that the business needed to survive. In 1905 the "Howley and Dresser" partnership declared bankruptcy. Determined to continue as a music publisher, Dresser established the "Paul Dresser Company" with money borrowed from his brother, Ed, but this venture failed as well. According to one biographer, Dresser's generosity “had few limits.” In December 1900, Dresser's father died. Although the two had not been close, Dresser wrote a poem in his father's honor.