San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-06-04
BANDS.
STATUS OF OUR MINsTRELs.
The Pipers and Their Pay i'm San
Antonio 49, Military VS.. Civil
ian PLAYERS

town. OF the fine arts, music is the only
one ably represented in this city. 1t is
true, We have some finely laid out gar
dcm>. but there Is nothing in the shape of
tirSt-claSS landscape gardening. In
| architecture, we have nothing much for Il
town of this size to boast Of. In sculpture
we have made but little progress. In
literature, the town has done fairly well:
in painting we have done much better
but in music We have attained the great
est success. The people here apprcciat"
good music and they want to have IT,. 1t
is point of great JOY TO them when. in
change of military bands, the change Is
for the better.
The bands of this city besides the ten or
twelve string bands, are the twenty
third Infantry. Musical Union. FirCmOn'
and the Washington Theatre bands. The
string bands. such aS the Juvenile OrcheS-
ira. Arts. XOtarclli'S and others. furnish
chiefly the dane" and Scrcnadtng music
of the city. Besides the string bands
there are lonely groups OF two or three
Italian or Mexican musicians who also
play some good music. The members of
our various string bands number about
fifty. those of the other bands something
like SiXty-S"Vcn. These latter alc dis
tributrd among tn" four bands as follows:
Twenty third Infantry. -: Alamo Fire
mems. 20: Musical Union. l., and w ash
ington Theatre ~.
I'VE have not in this city" says Mr..
Held. leader of tn" Musical Union band.
more than ten or twelve good. that is
real good musicians. lie said that there
were quite number Of pretty fair play
rrS. but that did not mean good mu>i-
clans.
Mr. Held. when asked what he thought
of the alleged discrimination Of the citi-
ZcnS in favor Of the new military band. Sa d
that he had no knowledge of the military
band competing with the civilian bands.
and said he didn't think there was any
thing in the charge. I'VE haven got. as !
told you before. more ;ham about ten good
musicians. and what is that for a town of
sixty OF seventy thousand people. They
appreciate good music here. and if the
citizens cannot furnish that it is but ma
tural that they should look to the mill
tarv band for it. Unless the Firrm"m'>
band can furnish enough really good mu-
SiciamS for this town, they should not OPP
pose the military band.
BandmaStrr Jones. of the Twenty third
Infantry. was found up at the Post and
interviewed in regard 20 this subject 1t
was point ON which he seemed anxious
to speak and expressed himself. especially
on the charge that his band played for
less prices than tn" civilian bands. about
as follows: Il didn't care To notice the
charge, as did not wish to enter into any
controversy with them, else would have
COntradicted the statements sometime ago.
You can Just say there i nothing, what
eyer. in tn" charge. ! haV" not made
single contract for the band while I've
been here" Mr. Jones further stated that
the military would not do such thing:
it did not have to. He said. that as IA
good band it could fix its prices and if the
people wanted TO pay tn" difference be-
tween the civilian and military bands. II
was all right. but the military band did
not have to put its price below that Of the
city bands.
The books. he told the reporter. were
open at the headquarters to everybody
and anyone might come up and see uSt
how much the men of the band had re-
crived for their engagements in the city.
but the Twenty Infantry band had
never bid in competition with the city
bands. He reiterated the declaration that
there was also absolutely nothing in the
charge.
Mr.. Spindig. leader of the Alamo Fire
mems band, by whose members the charge
was made, stated that he could not posi-
lively state that the band had Outbid the
civilian bands. but ne said that he had
heard that thirteen men Of the military
band had played at the Little Casino
Garden at an exceedingly low price, fig
ureS for which no town musicians would
play. Several members of this band very
pmphaticaIly declared that such was the
case. This. it seems. is what the members
Of the Fir"m"u'> band based their COM
paint upOE.
NOTES.
Mr.. Held, leader Of the Musical Union
hand, plays tn" cUrnrt in the Washington