The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1891-09-17
HIsroRIcAL.
Another Letter from John Gibson n
Which he sp&sks Of fimes Gone by.

HIsf0RIcAL.
Another Letter IRON John Gibson IN
vhich he speaks Of Times Gone BY.
WEST GROVE, L., Sept ID, 1891.
FRIEND CHARLIE:-In your men.
tion OF the third annual fair, which
occurred In 1871. brought to my rec.
objection the many features OF that
great event. The incidents In regard
to the fair are just rs they occurred.
with the exception Of the perform
ance Of the celebrated race-horse,
Col. King. The race was made so
tina, the people could see what the
noted flyer could do. At the appoint
ed time for the running 1t required
shout four men to hold the King. At
the word "gow he flew like the
wind for the first quarter, and then
he was done, and everybody enjoyed
1t, ~ IL made lots Of fun for the
boys.
We were all boys then, and being
all acquainted with each other, we
were easily amused. No big men In
those days, unless IL was Capt. Han
M, Of the Herald. He rode out to
the grounds In q carriage, and the
small editor, Mr.. Sampson, rode out
In the band wagon. There were no
ten cent hacks In those days. and
the principal coachmen were Uncle
Johnnie Smith, NJ. 8. Price, W. c.
Beach and I'd Esmes. Their vehi-
cles were ordinary lumber wagons;
fare, so cents for the round trip.
The brass band on that occasion
was the original organization In Sa-
lima. 1t was organized In 1870 by Ad
Norton and J. X. Chapman. They
raised money by subscription to buy
the first set OF instruments. These
were bell-back, rotary valves, and
bought Of Root 4 Cady, Chicago. The
firstteacher WAS Major l. Holenberg,
OF Lindsborg. He was with them
several weeks aud gave them as good
= start rs could be expected, cousid-
ering the time. Then a Mr.. Banta,
Of Topeka, q contractor Of the court
house, helped them for a couple Of
months. After that w. NJ. Durham
became their leader and teacher for
the next winter. In the spring Of
1871, became a mem Der Of the or
ganizstion. Our first engagement
was for the Odd Fellows parade, A prIl
70, when we marched from the Tres
Gin building TO the Presbyterian
church. The mud was about . foot
deep on the average, and there being
no sidewalks at that time, made 1t
very elegant walking. Our second
engagement was at Minneapolis
on the fourth Of July. We created
great excitement among the chill
dren, ~ this was the first band that
had ever been In that neighborhood.
After this we had no more work un-
til the fair.
Our contract with the managers
was that we were to have SIS, free
transportation and free dinner at
Willis Kessler's grub stand each day
Of the fair, as this was to be state
occasion with the band. It was de-
cided to employ Mr.. Lee Hawkins, of
Bennington, he being a superior and
noted musician. So we hired q team
at the Couse livery stable for the
modest sum Of $40, and started Paul
Huff for Mr.. Hawkins. He returned
safely.
The roster Of the band on that oc-
casion WAS rs follows: Lee Hawk
inf and Brick Thompson, fiat cor
nets; w. M, Donegan, b fiat cornet;
J. X. Chapman aud J. c. McSpadden,
altos; J. H. Gibson and NJ. A. Fas-
sett, tenors; ID. d. Dods, tuba; Ad
Norton and M. s. Price, drums. The
stock OF music Of the band comprised
the national airs, one waltz and one
quickstep. We were not as brilliant
as the GermanIa or Fourth Regiment
bands, but we attracted as much at
tention and worked just as faithful
as the best band In the world.
When the fair was ended and we
called for our scads, we received SIS
in each and an order for $50, signed
by A. 8. Norton, and Jacob Dewitt,
The order was written
on good paper, / saw IL three years
ago, and IL was still in q good state
OF preservation. As we never could
collect IL, 1t was kept as q relic. Ii
required the SIS to pay Mr.. Hawkins
and the band boys made up the SO
to pay for the livery rig. This is the
fate Of the first and all succeeding
brass bands-plenty Of work, lots OF
fun, but no money. But that was a
great affair, and everybody enjoyed
II as much or more than they do the
fairs of the present day.
OF that old band bu. one IL new
living in Salina, and that IL NJ. s.
Price. Two are dead. Ad Norton and
M. A. Fsssett, and the others are
scattered In different parts Of the
As the fair of 1871 IL q mat
ter Of local history IL 10 but right that
the first band organization should
also have o history, and that II why
/ have given this sketch at length.
Yours truly, a.,