The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-18
CITY NEWS.
TUNES At 80 PAGES
Daily Hand Organ Duel at Corner
of First Avenue and Fifth
Street South.
Hymns and Worldly Airs Exchanged
at Close Range With Fright
full Effect.

| udSS OF spring Neither OF the rivals mas
yet been injured. but many an innocent
stranger has fled with wounded ears.
Both Of the grinding knights are blind.
One occupies the northwest corner; one
the northeast corner. The first exhibits
| a placard urging all corners to a broad
! benevolence-"Help the Blind A sup
Elementary notice, in small type. pro-
| claims that the sufferer 'lost his sight
during the war This organist is COM
paratively young. He is cheerful of
countenance, even merry.
Across the street his rival. venerable
and melancholy, solicits contributions
with more fetching phrases Help a
Poor Blind Man his sign board cries.
who Lost His Sight by q Mill Explo-
sion" that Is to say, inferentially, Here's
an unlucky Minneapolis miller, one of
your own neighbors; don't forget him!
| The old mans music is as serious as
himself. Hymns are his favorite wea-
| pon-hymns or harmcnies more lugub-
rious. Only in his lighter moments does
he descend to the pathetic. That his
squeaky instrument, begging pitifully for
oil, should ever sound cheerful note is
| audibly impossible.
But this Christian of the grinders
progress, has fitting foe across the street.
| Appolyon, then, the foe over the way,
rejects the sacred music. No truckdriver
could be more worldly; no operate show
| girl more given to pomps and vanities.
He knows all the latest tunes, the mad
dest merriest airs, and he's not afraid
| to play them. He boasts that the adj
Unstable drums Of his hand organ are pro-
vided with more up-to date melody than
those of any other organ west of Greater
New York. And his reprehensibe delight
it is to exploit these sacreligeous dtties
in shocking contrast with the solemn
chants of Christian.
The efforts Of both contestants are
literally rewarded-not always, however,
by persons that one would naturally align
upon the side of the respective players.
Staid members of the Minneapolis club
on their way to the adjacent clubhouse,
have been seen to fee Apollyon. He also
receives the pennies of most little girls
below the age of 10. The musician Of
melancholy, on the other side, has reg
ular customers among ladies that we do
not talk about. The policeman says, un-
charitably, "They blows in their nickels
| for luck" But Christian also accepts
cash from retired gamblers, from fruit
vendors that have enjoyed a good days
| business, and from frayed, bedraggled
| wanderers trifle more lucky than
| tramps.
The rivalry Of these mendicant aes-
thetes has diverted a certain board of
| trade man who chastises the piano in his
bachelor apartments, and who buys more
popular music than any three high school
maidens.
II often hang around that corner" he
says, ito hear how my friends exchange
compliments. They have regular sys-
tenn. They never play at the same time,
but each gives the other a fair show.
And the way that they get back at each
other makes me think they must plan
out their campaign in advance. Or else
! the jolly boy is mighty clever; he GER
tainly looks it. The burden of the de-
bate, as they would say over at the "U,"
is carried by him The good old guy
can select anything he pleases, so long as
it is sort o solemn choly and hope-to-
die. But the glad chuna must then be
Johnny on the-spot with something to
offset the other fellows argument.
Last week, for instance, was going
up First avenue and L. heard Rip Van
Wrinkle tearing off, with the shakiest,
long-drawn notes, There Is a Happy
Land, Far, Far Away! Fine old tune; he
always chooses those tender, mother
knee sort O. things that everybody can
remember away back long before they
were born. But the bad boy across the
| street was ready. The last Away was
still shiVering in the air when Johnny
comes in with Under the Bamboo Tree!'
That's happy enough land for him.
Then, thinks I, Til just perch here
dWAlle anu Idhe uOISS. DO pretty soon the
Ancient Mariner up anchor and set sail
with that dear little kid tune, I Want
to Be an Angel!' Well, what did our
fossy friend do across the way? He
| hadn't heard Frank Daniels for nothing
not he; so he expresses his choice prompt
! ly for The Grille With the Baby Stare!
She could sit on his cloud, all right
enough!
This seemed to shock .Methus elah. He
takes a fall out of the sinner with that
really splendid, swinging hymn, From
| Greenlands Icy Mountains, to India S
Coral Strand Then the opposition went
off half-cocked with How'd You Like to
Be the Ice Man?' But after bar or two
| he seemed to realize that this was beg
ging the question. He halted about
three seconds and then came out fat
footed against the old mans geography
with Paul Dresser'sS declaration. There
Amt No North or South day
! "All one to grandpa. He didn't worry.
Ten minutes later he was up and at 'em
with Father Dear Father, Come Home
With Me Now'-great old temperance tune
sort O. tear-y, y know. But Johnnie
had his answer fixed. You'd swore
that father was accepting his kids in
Things Amt the Same, Babe, I'm
| Coming Home And then No. played
a mean trick on the old gent; rubbed ii
in rather by grinding out quick, without
any notice, Bill Bailey, Won't You Please
Come Home
II guess this aggravated Rip Van. Any
how, he laid low and refused to start the
pace. After a while the handle across
the way began to twist out the college
boys latest, Down Where the Wurz-
burger Flows Now, Santa Claus tried
to come back. He wasn't quite as clever
as the younger chap. But expect the
crowd caught on all right-everybody was
out shopping that afternoon-when the
machine on my side began with its pas.
toral reproof, There's a Land That Is
Fairer Than This
"They clinched in the next round, but
you could have guessed it. Papa came
to the scratch as fresh as foam. He lei
fly with everybody's favorite, In the
4 Sweet By-and-by. Say 1t just rainee
j nickles into his tin collection box
Well, the other Teller? Why what
dye s'pose? What could he play after
that? What would anybody play? They
bring it in with the, soups you hear II
in the next fat-why, he'd been lynchet
if he come back with anything else. Ever
the newsies were crying for it before hi
|jollyed out a note Says they, Now you've
got him, mister. Les have In De Coco
Old Summer Time
OLD MANS PREDIcAMENT
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