The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-08
:. = a1rvUnr,s DRUrD BAnD.
Hsw the shewnsn Pseled the Public with
the Pameus Company.

the world and passed through many vicissitudes
Of life. Until a short time ago he possessed a
secret which was living with him alone. and
would have died with him doubtless had
he not been prevailed upon by n Courdnt re-
porter to tell the whole story. The secret WIS
not one CT crime. hut it was no less interesting,
for II was the secret Of one OF those marvellous
schemes of the worlds great Snowman, Z. T.
Barnum. by which lie attracted and fooled tho
public. Since the day that he placed on cXhibi.
ton the Druid band the public has remained IN
ignorance of what 1t was or whence its origin.
Barnum is dead. his manager Is dead, and all Of
those who shared the secret, with the exception
ken. Silas Nj. Brooks is the name of the man
from whom the story comes. Ho is a native of
Burlington, and Is II unique character,
About ls47 Barnum conceived a plan of put.
ting upon his stage II Druid band. Such an an
o of M at nr"iSs ibs euss new wou NJ rem GcSSe n1d us
decided TO Manufacture IL. He read books which
described the musical Instruments OF the age
anything the world then had. The pictures rep.
resented them as being OF all sizes rom 1S inches
with keys like a concertinu. and various shaped
horns were arranged on each side. Such instru-
mcnts, he soon made up his mind. were entirely
foreign 10 those used by any living nationality.
They looked like gigantic %tatirons with some-
thing OF an octopus aspect. The ingenious show
mans success IN other schemes was nothing it
would not satisfy him or quiet his unquench-
able thirst for a Druid band. His dreams were
hS"@'S %,,S BY , visions iD Of S1 sf,qPt s 81 Srny, G ,saui. ID
things could give out only such nasal tones as
are attained by a vigorous snorer.
played a horn and led q band, and to him he un-
folded his plans, He then asked him to Try his
stefan, attracted by gold and hopes OF fame, un-
dertook the Job; Long and earnestly he worked.
at the rate OF $40 a week. and at the, end Of six
months he reported to his employer that he had
made the horns. When tho invinclble p. I. saw
the Instruments he may have damned the tor
.-.,t % 80, 40 la .,sa1 nN,,tt ri 10 a, l,t ~ a.,
doubted, Tor the horns were suitable for an up
to-date. conservatory of music. but not for n
mouthpieces and engraved work in abundance.
Somewhat discouraged with the timo lost and
about W 900 gone to crafty q fool, he thought
some months, during which time the scheme
tried to strangle itself, 1t, again returned in a
and agonizing ideas, which during the years of
grace had computed compound interest.
Bo astnTH With M his s SmS afHMat to pro %aiS mS a pssuid
band. As Brooks tells the story. .Botsford went
one day to Barnum and said: Sec here,
and growing bald headed over this thing. II you
want a Druid band, and a Druid band is all that
you where you'll find a man that will do the
business for you in a shipshape manner"
AS bo ont Of 1 Sis ehnir, t and It fra sHrnSIn e Tspss,,
who is the man and where may he he found y
well, Barnum,, you'll find your man up in
beyond the power Of the living"
Hes a young fellow named Brooks-s!las NJ.
Brooks, and he's q genius; You want a Yankee
like him to perfect your plans"
from his work by Botsford. who informed him,
"Silas, a gent ont here wants to see yoq;"
took me up to q nice team with a gentleman in
the wagon. and introduced me to p. T. Barnum.
hsrRu and if 7 aia so. snd % Was 70 ar aT@p of Into w In f 6im
and his manager clear to Bristol without my
knowing what was wanted for. ,Barnum drove
directly to the South Side Hotel, and, hitching
the horse, went with Botsford and myself into q
private room. There | was enlightened-he told
me everything and showed me drawings Of in
struments such as he wanted. laughed at first
and exclaimed, Want il SO u man can play on
eight or ten horns and play tuncsf
"P. 7. replied that that was what he wanted,
and he of sred INT, $40 a month in case | made u
success of 1t, and then he turned to me and
on IT.: Will you undertake the jobf BY this
time ! had become quite enthusiastic, and had
begun 10 think soberly. and simply replied. L
"well, after his talk we drove back to Forest
vile. and both OF the showmen bade, me good
by. l didn't rest long without taking active
steps in the cnterprise-fvc horns were wanted
and all OF them were different.
Il went to Plainville and procured n lot of
odd.shaped horns at n lanyard and went TO
work. | was something OF a musician and an
ingenious young fellow, il do say it; but | had
an awful iobto buck up against. George Brooks,
my brother. helped me. ana we had the hardest
time trying 10 get a horn, that would make IA
noise, while IA tunc seemed ont OF the question.
We'll, you bet we were delighted boys when
We extracted the trst note out OF the horn and
horn that l could play bounding Billows' on.
That WAS the sweetest music j ever heard and i
up from bridgeport NJ once aud met me at For.
c%6tyiilc. We all went 70 the hotel in Bristol and
to .hc private room, where VIC locked the door
and then | took the parts OF the horn out OF a
box. Barnum stood spellhound, watching me
put 1t together. but he didn't say a word. But
both he and Botsford showed by their faces that
! they liked the looks OF the instrument,
lit was the p]rordcst moment OF my life when
Strengthened up, put the cord of the thing
fTHG o my VISIT 3eIk n HaS G IL :st old ID Pay. to n"HbH nanlnaFt
ing. l swear on mi life he hopped up and down
tune he slapped me on the back and said: My
young friend, you've got it-you've got just
what we want
Il must 20 10 work then and make five better
Instruments and l}arnum was 10 pay for all the
help | needed and give me 500 q month. ]
took possession OF an old shop Mt Falls Noun,
tain, near Dunbar, and there We set to work
that is. my brother. myself, and Two other men,
We had an Immense water wheel and several
iathes and a complete kit of tools. We worked
hard, but we finally succeeded in getting five
other ;bh. he horns ms, made nHH ia Hn dn EHey WsTe s even n6 better 81
Barnum thai my work was done and that the
horns were ready to be played upon.
The wind chest into which the horns entered
was made OF sheet brass. and the harp orna,
ments were originally made for the shoet.iron
horns were common cattle ana COW horns
scrapcd Thin, and highly polished, and wer,
from 3 inches TO about IL inches long. These
were inserted into GRASS tubes which entered
the wind chest. Each horn had Il reed inserted
In the end entering the brass tube. and this wal
controlled by IA round key on the principle OF the
German conccrtina. The wind was furnished 10y
the Druid. who blew through a flexible tube
which entered the top Of the wind chest.
~ had been given the job Of training the
band, now that tn" horns were done. and / wish
you could have seen the material he sent
Inc. They were three Gcrmans-Scbastiar
Miller, George Ribault, and II gawky fellow
named Rothc. Miller couldn't speak a word o
English, but he WAS u good musician. and the
others were nearly Ignorant OF the language
! had n great timo training these chaps. My In
structions were drilled into solid rock, and Tho
questions the men asked me could only be con
veycd TO me by signs, but Barnum had secured
me that we're we'll able to keep his secret
guarded. We made the Bristol Hotel a place %
practice, and from morning to night we playcC
behind thick walls with mutiied tones. Tn,
Dutchmcn did exceedingly well, and before tn,
fall was half over We could play several tune
without IA break. all tho music we used bcinl
the production of Herr Miller.
Tho first Of August Barnum sent up thu
Druid costumes we were to wear. They con
sisted of iie7h.colored tights and velvet tunicl
trimmed with silver and gold tinEcl. There
were sandals for each man and an aCorn-shaprt
gray cap. Long gray hair hanging 10 the shout
ders and whiskcrs falling down over tho brcas
al-n added 10 the effect, and bracelets of blACl