, 1870-12-29
4 sdELx Old sHow1rAN

~ sa-i]teLf E4tF---r- h0rf-rr d trr.is- ID
Was in our troupe remarkable
.ehafacter By The name of Frank Lynch,
who played the tsmbOurine and banjo.
He aud the celebrated diamond had been
10 their youth among the first and greatest
of dancers, Too pOrsly now to endure
sqstainsd sffort on bis feet, he was yet an
; excellent instructor and l was constantly
under his training. d,
ma He taught me in addition TO the legiti-
mate -sleights Of our calling, TO aid him in
a droll way be had Of amusing himself at
the expense Of the general public. He in
iliated pe, into the mysteries Of beating
! the rolls and drags on snare drum and
then it was our custom Of summer after
noon to steal away to the top Of the hotel.
Or more generally to the roof Of the hall
where we were to exhibit. Placing our.
selves so that we could observe the passefs9
by on the street, without being observed,
BY them, Lynch would strike mp tune on
the fife, and 1 would accompany him on
the drum; and straightwAy the whole
,thoroughfare, for block OF so in each di-
rsction, would keepltime to our music.
twas omadslieht to- set our people all
a going, faster or SLOWER, at our viii.
Curious persons would sometimes look
about, them, puzzled, to see whtre the
music came from but, failing In that, they
almost Invariably marched on to somelbriski
OF melancholy measure rs ,oit ebaneed to
be our mood at q the moment, Anyone
who may doubt this statement, has but to
observe the foot passengers the next time
he or she hears a band Of music playing on
the street. gs d3idR s3y3 o. syoi bsIooI s5ys ~
It would sometimes happen, however,
that Dur notice would be attracted By the
peculiar walk of an individual who bad so
,littleonusin in, his soul that we could not
bring him, into step. In that case We
would perform Mohammed' miracle Of the
mountain, BY accommodating BUR fife and
drum to EhiSl Oeculiar gait and bring the
rest of.theI street INTO the same pace r..
If We saw an elderly gentleman, or, lady.
Lynch would Immediately launch forth
into The weIl-known 1imping tune of : the
old man 10 the paatomime,i and, as sure
as fate, our venerable actor Or actress ,bs-
low, would keep times The conventional
air which heralds in Columbine on the
Christmas boards was also brought into
fequisition, with most remark able aefect.
when we caught sight Of a young lady, or
beyy Of young ladies, pr0rnenading; be-
meath Us in spruce toilet. ,r.fr..-.
sOnfa, hot day l am afraid we were some
times a tri6e cruel in the way we hurried
up Aeshy people. From onr point Of
view on the roof, and generally behind a
shady chimney, the effect was, in TRUTH,
not unlike that Of a diorama. But espe
cially was this the case when some stout
old gentleman, whom we had precipitated
along a whole block at a very lively per-
spring rate, through hot sun, would, as
ifmelted or absorbed in the white light,
disappear suddenly. from our gaze, as a
brisk and fiery execution of " The gid l
left behind me" would carry him steaming
round the corner. ~, aa,i 80 .-.-,- -li''
In short, our martial music was an end,
less amusement to Ms, when time hung
heavy on the hands Of the more dignifed
members Of our company. BY some ac-
cident, / forget what, we lost our small
drum, aud were afterward confined to fife
aud bass drum, This, / think only made,
the effect Of our music more iudierous in
developing the peculiarities Of individual
pedestrians Lynch seemed, remember,
more than ever satisfied in this exigency,
for he stoptly maintained that any two
faces are mere alike than any. two @gaits,' p
and that, for his part, he always wanted
the. top Of house, Rfe, and at least a
bass drum to read character KeetctS
KagaboRd AdventHres. .-ar 1'''' !. Ii