Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-05
A BLAINE CAMPAIGN STORY,
The hand Did Not Disturb the speaLe,
I'm the Least.

FROM tie Boston Journal.
'One of the most miserable moments OF
my life" said a Maine bandmaster. IVA.
at a county convention where my band un.
Intentionally broke into speech made by
the late James G. Blaine. Mr.. Blaine was
the speaker of the day. The stage also
held Seth L. Milliken, a congressman from
Ohio whose name I have forgotten, and
many prominent republicans of the county.
Two other bands were present. and the
three put in their best ticks Our band was
asked to furnish one or two selections be-
tween the speeches. AS leader. | gave out
the next number and charged every man tc
be on the alert for the signal and to do his
level best.
''All know how political conventions drag
along. The preliminaries wore everybody
out before the speaker of the DAY was in
troduced Our boys had ridden twenty
miles In the early morning over a rough
country road, had marched for two solid
hours in the forenoon, to say nothing of
pumping wind enough into twenty or more
brass instruments to run all the wind mills
in the state. by the time Mr. Blaine step
ped down to the footlights the men who
carried the big brass horns were dog tired
The selection had made opened with a
solo by the Z fiat and | cautioned the play
er to be ready the moment Mr. Blaine took
ms seat to play at a glance from me. The
great statesman spoke with his usual inn
presslVeneSs and, after getting warmed IN
ne began to lay down an array Of facts and
hgures which should furnish the local ora
tors with timber for many a triumphant
argument during the campaign. He was
laying the foundation for his address-one
of those lengthy texts which meant so
much to the nearer before the argument
was complete. 1t was dry to tired, nom
order.
Presently Mr. Blaine paused for his
words to take root while he took a swallow
of water. 1 glanced around at the boys,
hot tha 10 hacg 81,
slipping from the knees of its operator
Pat was asleep. l winked at the b fat to
punch him before that $50 instrument got
a dent. The poke in the ribs was fatal
Pat opened his eyes and l was looking at
him. The speaker was quiet There was
only one conclusion for Pat Like a fash
up came the horn, and before 1 could give
a warning shake of the head the big bass
beloved out the first measure of the solo,
&C Z @ c Z c F.
Every person in the hall started and
stared. There were Interrogation points in
Mr. Blaine's eyes. The rival bands snick-
cred and snorted L nearly tainted. but
gave the signal for band cheers instead and
the boys responded without a break. Mr.
Blaine may or may not have appreciated
the situation to a musician; | do not know
what his musical inclina tons 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 another
and wake us up
1 "GNeu mana at the Other bands,
and We Joined in such a band cheer as that
old hall will never lear again.
Next day wrote a letter of explanation
and apology to Mr.. Blaine. and received
characteristic letter from the statesman as
follows:
My congratulations to the boys. They
did nobly.
4 wish political speakers could do no
worse than the break you mention i hope
to meet your band at other places where
the good work is going on. Sincerely,
JAMES G. BLAINE"