Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-04-09
A FIDDLER WANTED.
HE WAS FAMED AND AT DANCE MUSIC
 DID VERY WELL.

Fun and Trolic In a Washout on the Ore
 gon Short Line-MnIionaires and 4mmi.
 grants Attend Dance and Experience
 Musical Surprise.
 On St. Patricks day, 1894, five through trains, bound both to tho east ward and westward of the Oregon Short Line of the Union Pacific, were tied ID at Glenns Ferry, Ida. They had been caught between two serious washeuts one at Pocatello and the other at Indian Greek, three days before, and had to wait at Glenns Ferry for track repairs along the line before they could proceed. t3Ienns Terry is bleak little railroad and sheep herders town of 800 or 400 inhabitants, situate on sagebrush bluff overlooking the unspeakably dark and dreary Snake river
 Tho five stalled trains carried GOO passengers of as miscellaneous eharae. ter as could be gotten together at 6 carefully selected congress of fypes. There were enligrants and millionaires; soldiers on the move; dainty women in palace ears and women bound for Creede and Cripple Creek ill day coaches; min CTS who killed time during the wait in shooting magpies oircling over the Snake river Shoshone Indians travel. ing to the limits of their reservation: well behaved and quiet people, noisy and tumultuous people. But all were stuck alike, and they made the best of it.
 Lines of social demarcation were for the time erased. All hands mingled easily on the little station platform and in the little station waiting room The supply of food on the dining cars gave out the first day of the hitch, and every. body was fed, and well fed, too, in the station eating room. They sat down at tho tables ill relays and patiently awaited their t1rns
 The railroad employees and their wives were 10 give dance at the little town hall on St. Patrick night The switchman who had been customarily employed to fiddle for them had been switched to another division. In quan dary, the dance committee toured the trains and station to ascertain if any of the stalled passengers happened to be carrying a violin and was capable of producing music on it. In one of the sleeping ears they came across all artistic looking man, with very long hair, a seraphie, oeaginous countenanee and exceedingly baggy clothes. They were looking for fiddler, they said Did he know of any on tho train? We'll, he didn't know Gin outrageously bad Eng lish) he played a little himself once in awhile, and had rather a fair fiddle with him. The long haired man aeeent- cd the afddle" rather curiously. But the railroad men were overjoyed. Would he play for them to dance with their wives and Eweethearts? Certainly Did he know dance music? Well, some.
 All of the stalled passengers were in- vited to the dance, and they all went A good many of them could not get in. The baggily clothed fiddler turned up ill good time. The pianist was waiting for him. So was the railroad danee committee, ono of the members of which slipped $9 in one dollar bills into the fiddler's hand as payment in advance for tha evenings work. It was smiling. ly accepted The dance began. The tireman'a wife, who played the piano, produced an old bethumbed violin and piano tune book and turned to the Ian. cers. She told the fiddler, at the end of the first dance, that lie did pretty well, only ha went too fast. Then there was q waltz. The fiddler was informed by his aceompanist that he waa getting along fiaely and everybody ill the room began 10 prick up his ears at the sweet ness of tho violin music, although the danceH were common enough and tawdry enough.
 Another waltz-the Beautiful Blun Danuhe. All of the dancers on the floor stopped dead at the first bar, and the travellers with cultivated musical ears 1aoved close to the piano The pi. anist ceased. She wished to listen. The violin music was miraculous. The play CT swayed from side to side as he phras ed. He appeared to be oblivious of bis surroundings He improvlsed variations of inspiring tenderness. He out-Strauss cd Strauss His violin sang, throbbed with passion. When the last note died awaH the people in the hall .npeared to be in q dream-all lUt one.
 "M. Ysaye, said Charley Fasr. tn, son of the late United States Senator Fair, stepping from the throng, won't you play that lively, rattling thing you gaya us at the Bohemian club in San Francisco the other night? It's been running in my head ever since.
 II. Ysaye played Berlioz's 8 "Piz2i cato" as he perhaps never played it F, fore Washington Star.