Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-07-20
THE DAY OF THE BANJO.
Dobson. the Veteran Player and
Teacher, Says IL Is over.

IeuCntFs Snyr - Oftfs
In commenting upon filing a petition
| In bankruptcy recently George G. Dob
son, the veteran banjo teacher, declar-
| ed that the day Of the banjo was done
The bicycle, golf and the camera, he
said, had proved too strong a combna-
| ton for the instrument whose PUNK
, ETY. plunks have endured since the
pyramids and which has flourlshed
wherever man has lived.
When In 1913 at the Bowery theater
Joe Sweeney, the minstrel, introduced
| Il TO the New York public, ii aroused
But languid interest. II was n Niger
ssS. ament," and the aholitiOnists were
noe in the majority ut that time. II
was ut this concert that Sweeney add
ed the little or Il string, an idea Of his
own. The next serious attempt TO
bring IL before the public was in 1888
when the three DobSons gave series
Of concerts at Barnum's museum.
The next forward step was in 1860.
when Charles u. Dobson, Sr., men,
Der of the orchestra in Wallack's thea
ter, during the entractes performed a
number of banjo solos. The fashion
ables were Interested and amused The
war added TO its vogue with northern
sympathizcrs, and no soldiers festival
or hospital fair was complete without
banjo Accomplishments
After the war it languished until
1873, when the addition of frets by the
elder Dobson gave 10 its musical capa-
bilities much wider range. Violinists
and pianists saw its capabilities and
its danger to them professionally and,
as n concession TO it, interspersed their
own performances with limitations Of
the banjo.
In 1888 the craze was at its height
Tournaments were held throughout the
country, and the people seemed banjo
mad. Charles e. Dobson issued a
challenge to any player in the world
to compete with him in picking for a
5000 gold medal" Steinway hall was
packed to It's doors to see him defeat
eight candidates, With the redoubtable
Horace Weston at their head, and the
next day the papers gave the perform
ance columns.
With the original Spanish Students
who appeared at Booths theate came
the mandolin, and Its tremulous tinkle
marked the first jangle OF the banJo's
deathknell. The Students made a
tour through the country. and the first
wedge to knock out the banjo had been
driven In. And. alas. where is the ban
10 nOwf
The career Of George DobsOn as a
banjo player is full Of pathos, for it is
the general history Of the rise and fall
of very picturesque instrument II not
delightful In itself delightful In its as
sOciations CT in its suggestion. Yet we
should expect to see golf and the CAM
era and even the bicycle itself die out
utterly before the banjo.
You couldn't pack a Droadwood half i mile;
You mustn't leave a fiddle in the damp;
You couldn't raft an organ up the Nile
And play 1t In an equatorial swamp.
I travel with the cooking pots and pals;
I'm sandwiched tween the coffee and the pork.
And when the dusty column checks and tails
You should hear me spur the regiment to q
walk
With my "Pilly-willy- winky winky popp"
Ooh, it's any tune that comes into my head)l
So keep EN- moving forward till they drop;
So play EN- up to water and to bed
Thus it speaks through hlpllng.-
New York Sun.