The Dickinson press., 1889-10-19
MUSIC In HIS WHISTLE.
THE TALENT OLA MEMBER OF THE
CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE.

CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE.
How Tic Did His Share of the Entertain.
ins-rlayins 'Dtxie'' Oh the Grave Of ar
Old Friend Tho Soldier Who Whistled
Down ~ Brigade.
".Ata little gathering he was called upon
to do his part in entertaining the company
and begged oil on the plea that he could dc
nothing but whistle. That was n fatal ad.
mission, and he was Immediately sentenced
by ~ unanimous vote to whistle for tho cdi6-
cation of the ladies and gentlemen present.
Ike went to the piano, touched the keys in a
way that indicated that he was no tyro, and
then began to whistle, playing his own nc.
compartment, There are n good many imi.
t"'i"ns of the nocking bird cxtant, but in
TIL, case the notes and trills of the mock
iiiS bird were faithfully and wildly repro
dicc'l. aud it was not n minute until the
r'rniful of people realized that they were
listening to Il whistler who outranked NIL the
professionals they had ever heard. Then he
wl!istled Annie Laurie and before tho end
OF the performance the ladies and gentlemen
voted this quiet business man tho most de-
!i.ghtful of entertainers"
THE MERCHANTS REQUEST.
VI know whom you mean" said n CONNER.
cial traveller. ''This same whistler was on
the roau a good many years ago and he was
one of the hest statesmen that Travelled. When
he could not sell II man a bill of goods he
would sit down and begin to whistle softly
or would take out Il little harmonica from
his pocket and begin to play rs though for
his W amusement or 10 kill time. He
wlli>tlcd and played whilo lie waited, while
other men would have spent the time grum-
bling and growing over their disappointment
in not making n sale. After the whistlins
solo he very rarely failed to make a salts
factory sale of goods. The %stoniest hearted
old merchant could not withstand such music.
There was one old merchant down in Indiana
who was a regular customer of our whistling
friend, but lie never gave him an order for
goods until lie had played the harmonica and
whistlel several tunes for him. This, as l
have said, was many years ago. When our
whistler made his last trip before leaving the
road, this old merchant bought n big bill of
goods and then said: My young friend, your
music has been to me one of tho sweetest
things i'll life. For that reason l regret that
you are going to leave the road, but | want
YOU to promise me that if ever you come to
Evansville again you will come over to tho
store and play for me-. If l am not there
my body will probably he i'll the cemetery,
and in that case | want you to go out to my
grave and play "Dixie' and "Sweet BY and
By.m
The promise was given, and a few years
later my whistling friend and myself hap
pencd to be in Evansville, and we called at
the store of tho old merchant who had made
the strange request. Wefound tho son of tho
former proprietor in charge of the establish
mcnt. who stated that his father had been
dead some years. Among those present was
the old bookkccper, who spoke of the promise
made years before, and the son insisted upon
its iulillment. Tho family carriage was
called and We drove out to the cemetery. A
large granite monument marked the grave
and the whistler of tho old time sat down at
the base. He remained silent for u few min
utes, and then taking out his harmonica be-
gan to play Dixie 1t was a strange tune
for IL graveyard nnd the effect was confusing,
but when he had finished Dixie he began to
play IN the Sweet By and By | never
heard that tune so played before. The man
threw his soul into tho music, and if a mes
sage ever went from earth to heaven l be-
lieve that one did. The music was simply
o'N vi aINh SNShS oLlS WIS very HuCQ
moved"
Il WRESTLING SOLDIER.
"a good whistler is, as n rule, the best of
fellows" said tho colonel. I'VE had one fell
low i'll our regiment who could whistle any
thing, and who was generally moved to
whistle his best when the rest of lis were feel
ing our worst. The ugliness in soldier nature
was pretty sure to come out at the tail end Of
II long, muddy march and the swearing at
such tlmes was very distressing to u man who
had faith in human nature. AT such times
our gay whistler would strike up some favor.
lite tune. The swearing would cease, the
boys would catch step, and they would go
merrily along to the whistlcd melody. After
a bate, when the men were Respondent and
discouraged, the whistler of the regiment
would whistle tender, plaintive tunes by the
hour. and | know that he gave great com
fort.
After the battle Oh Lookout Mountain le
was one of the guards detailed to escort the
prisoners taken i'll the mountain fight down
to Bridgeport, where they were to take the
train for the north. There were several hun
drel of them, and the march down from
Chattanooga to Bridgeport was a tedious one;
but the Slow progress brought about a close
acquaintance between the guards and the
prisoners, and on several occasions during the
march tllccleering whistle of the gay hearted
man i'll blue cheered tho heavy hearted men
in gray, and they were won't to call for music
when the circumstances of the march were
more than usually distressing.
"As they started across the pontoon bridge
ct Bridgeport, two lines of gray in the center
and Il thin line Of blue on each outer edge,
the whistler, i'll accordance with a very gem
eral call, started a melody suited to the &C.
casion. The men caught step and Went swing
ing across the bridge, ignoring the command
of the officers to change step. AS the column
nearcd the center the march had become a
SORT of jollification, and just as the jolity was
at its height the bridge parted in tho middle
and in all instant scores of men were strug-
CLING in the water. There was, of course,
great confusion, but in good time all the men
except three or four wero rescued. Among
those lost were one Ohio boy and two of the
prisoners.
"The survivors were Immediately loaded
into the train waiting. Every one was greatly
detected. Just before the train started there
came from the whistler who, in his wet
clothes, was the very image of discomfort, a
soft, tender melody. 1t was like the wall Of
a child, like tho song Of a woman with a heart
break, but ended with something that was
like a tribute to the dead, like a story of some
ono gone to rest. and scores of the prisoners
stepped out to the whistler aud silently shook
his hand."-Chicago Inter Ocean.