Evening star., 1897-01-18
Sunday Funeral hands,

70 the Editor of The Evening Star:
Ihe enorts Of the Commissioners to Sc
cure a Sabbath stiffness in this civ
through the choking of the newsboys' cries.
should be followed up along the same line.
II consistency Is to mark their enterprise.
While there is divergence of public opin-
ION on this question Of the newsboys. l am
sure there WIN be no general protest
against an enforcement of a regulation al
ready on the books of the District. which
ought to operate to abate a much more
abominable nuisance than the criers of pa
pers ever perpetrated. l refer to the bands
OF music that are permitted to parade
through the streets Sundays, at the head of
funeral professions. Aside from the oues-
ton OF the propriety and decency of trans
FORMING so solemn rite into a riot these
performances are an intolerable ANNOYANCE
Yesterday such a band, with its ineyfta bIe
accompaniment Of a bowling disorderly
rabble OF negroes, went swinging through
the northern and eastern part of the city,
piercing the Sabbath stiffness with a dis
cordant sound. The band itself was a
travesty on music. But the two hundred
esccrttng idlers of both sexes, with their
loose actions and language, were certainly
amenable to the general charge of disorder
ly conduct, which seemed to have been for
gotten as one Of the common Police Court
charges by the policeman who marched in
the van. The cacophony was trebled when
the alleged funeral returned from the
decent imitation Of dead march, had be-
come lively air, familiar probably to the
patrons of the music halls. and utterly out
of keeping with the function that had lust
been performed.
In order to ascertain the extent Of the
authority to thus desecrate the Sabbath I
have examined the police regulations. and
find that part of section } Of article o
reads thus: Bands accompanying process
sions shall not play except upon a permit
by the major Of police which permit shall
designate the route to be followed by such
procession and the hours within which such
playing shall be done. No musical instru-
ment of any kind shall be played on Sun
day In any of the places heretofore referred
to In this section" Those places enumer-
ated In previous section, are the streets,
walks, parkings or other public spaces in
the District Of Columbia. So it is a cues
tfon whether bands can be allowed to play
on Sunday even by permission of the major
legal Interpretation, but on the face of the
regulation it would seem to be the intent
OF the Commissioners who drew the rule
to prohibit all kinds Of music from being
performed In the streets on the Sabbath
day. But even IL the regulation, by a
stretch of reading, Is intended to give the
major of police the right to allow bands
to parade the streets Sunday. it remains a
question whether he is justified in exercis-
ing this right in granting permits to such
a band as that which disturbed and dis
gusted thousands of residents yesterday.
This matter Of bands at funerals is large
ly one OF taste. In general, I have no
doubt, the people disapprove of such per-
formances, save at the burial of high pub
lie officials or military persons. Even then
1t Is questionable whether Sunday should
be chosen for such disturbing perform
ance. Certainly, IL permits are given for
Sunday musical funerals. there should be
positive orders given to prevent the bands,
on returning, from playing miscellaneous
programs of airs OF questionable appro-
priate;iess. I do not know that there is
any way In which to stop the unattached
rabble from escorting the bands, save by
prohibiting the bands themselves. Surely,
the best way out of the difficulty, II seems.
would be to give to the final clause of the
regulation the effect of q positive prohibi-
tion against all forms of Sunday street
music, whatever might be the occasion. l.