Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-04-18
IA, MICH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1S, 1883.

the music. The notes were all made
with pen and ink, and pretty bad
they were. | should have been
ashamed if | had made them. Just
to prove that | could have -'4one it
better than the man who did do it, |
took a pen and ink and tried it |
made beautiful notes, and as a great
many Of the pieces Of music weren't
half full Of notes, ! just filled in the
places where there weren't any notes.
| don't know how long Mr. Travers
and the leader of the band were gone,
but / was so busy that | did not miss
them, and when ! heard them coming
| sat up as quiet as possible, and
never said anything about what | had
done, because we should never praise
ourselves or seem to be proud Of our
own work.
Now | solemnly say that | never
meant to do any harm. All | meant
to do was to improve the music that
the man who wrote it was too lazy to
finish. Why, in some of those pieces
Of music there were places three or
four inches long without single note,
and you can't tell me that was right
But | sometimes think there is no
use trying to help people as | tried to
help our brass band. People are
never grateful, and they always man.
age to blame boy, no matter how
good he is. | shall try, however, not
to give way to these feelings, but to
keep on doing right no matter what
happens.
The next night we had the concert,
or at any rate we tried to have it.
The town hall was full Of pcopleand
Sue said it did seem hard that so much
money as the people had paid to come
to the concert should all have to go
to charity when she needed a new
scal-skin coat
The performance was to begin with
n song by Sue, and the band was to
play just like piano while she was
singing The song was all about be-
ing so weary and longing so hard to
die, and Sue was singing it like any
thing, when all of sudden the man
with big drum hit II most awful
bang, and nearly frightened every
body to death
People laughed aloud, and Sue
could hardly go on with her song.
But she took Il fresh start, and got
along pretty well till the big drum
broke out again, and the man ham
mered away at it till the leader took
his drum stick away from him. The
people just howled and yelled, and
Sue burst out crying and went right
off the stage and longcd to die in real
earnest.
When things got a little bit quiet,
and the man who played the drum
had made it up with the leader the
band began to play something ON its
own account. 1t began all right, but
it didn't finish the way it was meant
to finish. First one player and then
another would blow q loud note in
the wrong place, and the leader would
hammer on his music stand, and the
people would laugh themselves most
sick. After Il while the band came
to a place where the trombones seem-
ed to get crazy, and the leader just
Jumped up and knocked the trombone
player down with big horn that he
snatched from another man. Then
somebody hit the leader with cor
net and knocked him into the big
drum, and there was the awfulest
fight you ever saw till somebody turn
ed out the gas.
There wasn't any more concert that
night, and the people all got their
money back, and now Mr.. Travers
and the leader of the band have Of |
fered reward for "the person who
maliciously altered the music"-that's
what the notice says. But | wasn't
malicious, and do hope nobody will
find out | did it, though | mean to
tell father about it as soon as he gets
over having his nose pretty near
broke by trying to interfere between
the trombone player and the man
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