The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-07-28
A BLAINE CAMPAIGN STORY.
The Band Did Not Disturb the
Speaker in the Least,

Zone of the most miserable moments
of my life." said a Maine bandmaster,
was at county convention where my
band unintentionally broke into a
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 l have forgotten, and
many prominent Republicans of the
county. Two other bands were pres
ent, and the three put in their best
Hicks. Our band was asked to furnish
one or two selections between the
speeches. AS leader, I 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 preliminaries wore
everybody out before the speaker Of
the day was introduced Our boys had
ridden twenty miles in the early morn
ing 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 windmills in
the State. By the time Mr. Blaine
who carried the big brass horns were
dog tired.
The selection I had made opened
with solo by the f fiat, and 1 eau
toned the player to be ready the mo-
ment Mr.. Blaine took his seat to play
at a glance from me. The great states
man spoke. with his usual impressive
ness, and. after getting warmed I'D,
he began to lay down an array of facts
and figures which should furnish the
local orators with timber for many a
triumphant argument during the cam
paign. He was laying the foundation
for his address-one of those lengthy
texts which meant so much to the
nearer before the argument was COM
plete. 1t was dry to tired, non-political
band men. Cheers We're not yet in
order.
Presently Mr.. Blaine paused for his
words to take root while he took a
swallow of water. 1 glanced around
at the boys, and noticed that the big
bass was slowly slipping from the
knees of its operator. Pat was asleep.
I winked at the B fiat to punch him be-
fore that $50 instrument got dent.
The poke in the ribs was fatal. Pat
opened his eyes and was looking at
him. The speaker was quiet. There
was only one conclusion for Pat Like
flash up came the horn, and before I
could give warning shake of the head
the big bass beloved out the first
measure of the solo, C E G G E F.
Every person in the hall started and
stared. There were Interrogation points
in Mr.. Blaine's eyes. The rival bands
snickered and snorted. I nearly faint
ed, but gave the signal for band cheers
instead, and the boys responded with
out break. Mr.. Blaine may or may
not have appreciated the situation to a
musician; do not know what his mus
ical inclinations were, but he came to
the rescue in a 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!'
II waved my hand at the other bands,
and we joined in such a band cheer as
that old hall will never hear again.
Next day I wrote letter of expla-
nation and apology to Mr.. Blaine, and
received characteristic letter from the
statesman, as follows:
My congratulations to the boys.
They did nobly.
I" wish political speakers could do
no worse than the break you men
ton. I hope to meet your band at
other places where the good work is
going on. Sincerely,
JAMES G. BLAINE"