The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-08-02
THE MUSICIAN SLEPT.
An Am using Incident In One of Ja IN e.
RIaln<.,s "a x....-I..

An Amusing Incident In One of James
q. BIaine'n Campasans.
| One OF the most miserable moments
OF my life" said q Maine bandmaster,
was nj county convention, where
my band nnintentIonally broke into a
speech made by the late James C.
Blaine. Mr.. Blaine was the speaker OF
the day. The stage also held Hon. Seth
l.. Milliken, congressman from Ohio
whose name have forgotten and
many prominent Republicans Of the
and the three put in their best licks
Our band was asked to furnish one or
two selections during the speeches. Az
| leader gave out the next number and
charged every man to be on the alert
for the signal and to do his level best.
"-All know how political conventions
drag along. The prcliminarIcs wore
everybody out before the speaker Of
,the day was introduced. Our boys had
ridden 20 miles in the early morning
over rough country road. had march
ed for two solic hours III the forenoon.
to say nothing OF pumping wind enough
into 20 OF more brass Instruments To
run all the windmills in the state BY
the time Mr.. Blaine stepped down to
! the fOotlights the men who carried the
big brass horns were dog tired
"Thc selection l had made opened
| with IL solo by the Il fiat bass, and l
| cautioned the player to be ready, the
| moment Mr.. Blaine took his seat, to
play at glance from me. The great
statesman spoke with his usual impress
fivcness, and after getting warmed up
lie began to lay down an array Of facts
| and figures which should furnish the
local OrntOrs with timber for many IL
triumphant argument during the cam
paign. He was laying the foundation
for his nddress-One OF those lengthy
texts which meant SO much to the
| nearer hefore his argument was COM
plctc. 1t was dry to tired, nonpolitical
bandmen. Cheers were not yet in or
der.
presently Mr. Blaine paused for his
words to take root while he took a
ut the boys and noticed that the big
bass WAS slowly slipping froin the
knees Of its operator. Pat was asleep.
winked at the B fiat to punch him
before that $50 instrument got dent.
That poke in the ribs was fatal, Pat
opened his eyes. anu l was looking at
him. The speaker was quiet. There
was only one conclusion for Pat. Like
4 flash up came tho horn, and before
could give n warning shake Of the
head the big bass beloved out the
first measure Of the solo, C Il G G G
L G t.
Every person in the hall started and
stared. There were Interrogation
points in Mr.. Blaine's eyes. The rival
bands Snickered and snorted. l nearly
tainted. but gave the signal for band
cheers instead, and the boys responded
without break. MI. Blaine may or
may not have appreciated the situation
to Il musician. do not know what his
musical inclinations were, but he came
to the rescue in way that won the
solid vote of our band then and there
He smiled broadly and said:
THAT is right, boys; give us anotli-
er and wake us upr
II waved my hand at the other
bands, and we joined in such band
cheer as that old hall will never hear
again.
"Ncxt day l wrote letter of expla-
nation and apology to Nr. Blaine and
received n characteristic letter from
the. statesman as follows:
@'My congratulations to the boys They did no.
bly,. wish political speakers could do no worse
than the break you mention. I hope to meet
your band at other places wherc the good work is
going Sincerely, JAMES G, BLAINE"
New York 6iuii und EXPRESS.