Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-22
THE CHAMPION BLOWER.
the Cornet Virtuoso, Tells
the Story of His Life.
His Early Struggles He Bnlists
in the Royal Band and
Becomes Expert.
Discharged From the Army, He
Climbs the Road Of Fame.

sion yesterday morning, there was a
stout gentleman with a black moustache
and a Roman nose. At his feet was a
foot ball. The stout gentleman. was at
tired iii q shirt, suspenders, trousers,
boots, and a single barreled eye glass.
Suddenly he gazed at the foot ball
through the glass, then he gave it a Wig
orous kick and ran after it and gave 1t a
succession of vigorous kicks; then he
rested awhile and pulled his cheeks, and
wiped his face, and mopped the bald
spots on his Uranium. Very few people
were about, only a waiter or two and a
park guard, who nodded admiringly
when the stout gentleman drew attention
to the distance between his foot and the
ball. The stout gentleman was j. Levy,
the renowned ~cornetist, who was taking
his customary morning exercise.
II may not be quite so round" he re-
marked to a friend who emerged from
the hotel, 'but l guess l keep my wind
better than the ball. All! l see," he cor
tinued, after critically examining the
globe of leather, 'there is a hole in it. l
must have it repaired. That reminds me
OF my first cornet."
''Your first cornetl'
Eyes. l bought it for fifteen shillings
at a pawnbroker's in the Strand, London.
Dear me, what al objection there was to
that %cornet, to be sure! You see, from
my earliest childhood | wanted to blow.
l didn't care for any other toys except
whistles, and many a spanking l gotwhen
a youngster for awakening my family in
the dead of the night by a series of shrill
blasts. / used to follow street bands and
hold the music for one of the performers
and watch his lingering. Some
times l got a penny or twopence, m
times more, but everything was saved up
to buy a cornet. Unfortunately my peo-
pie were very poor, and when l had saved
up four or five shillings my mother would
take it from me and buy boots. That
oernet looked as though it were never
coming.
P~RoFITABLY EMPLOYED.
When | was nine years of age l got en-
ployment at Her Majesty's opera as one
of the skaters in "Prophete." That was
an opportunity. fused to sneak into the
musicians room and place one of the COW
eted instruments to my lips, but l dared
not blow any sound. Still l could finger
the notes. Finally, 1 succeeded in saw
ing fifteen shillings and a cornet was
mine. 1t was battered and furnished and
had n large hole in the wide end,
but l was happy. Drury Lane,
however-that is where l lived-was not.
They stopped their ears and cursed me,
but / persevered. / could play, or
thought l could, and l got an engage
ment in a small band. | was soon dis
missed. The leader told me l had no
idea of music and never would have. l
knew better. l practiced whenever l
could steal time from the hard work l
had to do as a boy, and by accident at
tracted the attention of Dan Godfrey, the
bandmaster of the Grenadier guards. He
advised me to enlist. | took the queens
shilling, and my place as a queens bands
man. 1t was plain sailing then; plenty
of appreciation and advice; everything l
could desire, but hardly any money, only
eight shillings a week. i stayed in the
regiment until / was offered a position in
the band of the Crystal Palace. To &C
cept it is was necessary to secure my dis
charge from the army; l obtained the
latter, thanks to influential friends. l
did not desert, as many persons have as
serted. Had l been a deserter | could
not have remained in England.
ANGERING FIGHTER.
cat the Crystal palace / made my
fame. l have played before an audience
of $4,000 persons and been overwhelmed
, with applause. The queen sent for me to
play at Buckingham palace. l felt l had
at last succeeded. The 6rst taste of tri-
umph l had was at tho Adelpha theatre,
when Fechter was playing Hamlet. | per-
formed a solo pricr to his appearance to
render the great soliloquy $40 be or not
to be-" | ipished, the actor stepped OH
; waiting for che applause to subside. 1t
continued enthusiastically. In vain
t Fechtey tried to begin. The people
wanted a repetition of my cornet solo
, and had to give it. Fechter was very
mad. Charles Dickens was behind the
~lscenes. He congratulated me.
4 "'You spoilt Fechter's speech he
said, but you deserved it,
II had a series of engagements in this
; country, continued Mr.. Levy, refresh
ing himself with a long drink. ''begin.
ming in 1864. Jim Fisk's was about as
lucrative rs any. He gave me $40, OOO
for six months in the band of the 9th
Regiment, which he organized, / believe.
Then / got this diamond ring through
him." pointing to a large solitaire on his
, finger, sit is worth 81, 800"
!, WINNING A IAMoN RING.
Why, there was a man named Henry
Smith, who was connected with Fisk in
some way. He had a mare on eIhibi.
! ton at Fleetwood trotting course, and
= crowds OF people were there to see the
a trial, and so was my band, and | believe
there was plenty of betting going
y on, Well, in the first heat, the mare
y was badly blown and the public got impa
n tient. 1t was necessary to give the ami,
NAL time to recover itself, only the pub.
n lie did not look like waiting. Set EN-
wild, and keep it up It'll | give you the
signal to quit, says Smith. | did, ant
the people forgot all about the race ant
listened. Meanwhile the mare had heI
blow, and then did her race in excellen
time, and everybody was satisfied. 'Yo,
did it, says Smith to me, and this rim.
y was his present.
d did you ever hear the present EN-
peror of Russia was a cornet PLAYER
y MOI Well, he used to be when he wa
~Czarovitch. ! went to Russia in 1871
That was also brought about by Fisk
l. When the Grand Duke Alexis was her,
the New York swells gave him a ball a
| thn -