The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-25
From the Washington Post.

NN UR very interesting contributor V the Marquis de rontenoy' who
 enjoys the most marvellous fa- mliarity with European affairs. especial ly those relating to or connected with the royal and noble families, court gos- sip, inside political history, and all the rest of it, is not invariably well inform ed touching matters more or less strict ly American. It Is the case of the rare exception in a very long list of most en- tertaining accuracy and exceptionally val uable comment and suggestion
 A year or two ago, for example. Mme Ia Marquise, in the course of most ad- mirable account of the European career of that remarkable Frenchman, Pierre Soule, made mention of supposed in cident after he had attained prominence in Louisiana as an American citizen and was serving his adopted country as Uni ted States minister at Madrid This who'll ly imaginary affair was a duel between
 
 and M. Pierre Soule. in the course of which the latter was fatally wounded. The facts in the case were that a Span ish nobleman, taking umbrage at some fancied indignity, challenged Soule, who had imperative orders from Washington to avoid personal encounters of every kind. There was a duel, as 1t happened for Pierre Soule's son-or it may have been his nephew-could not endure the idea of disappointing gallant and grac- ious Spanish gentleman bent on blood shed. so he accepted the cartel as a proxy, took the grandee out, and shot him quite pleasantly and courteously at the first fire. Pierre Soule survived the episode for many years. His was a fa- miliar figure in New Orleans for nearly ten years after the close of the civil war, and he died peacefully at green old age. without the aid of lethal weapons or violence of any kind.
 
 most indescribabie splendor of the enter tainments which have been showered on the Longworths in London, tells us that Baron Alfred de Rothschild loaned his private band to the American ambassa- dor to discourse sweet music during the dinner at Dorchester House in honor of King Edward" To which is added the vaAo fl.,f 4~ srn F<rx,. .f Inv ury which, so far as l am aware. has not yet crossed the Atlantic and is un- known until now in America" It is true, | however, that great many Americans have at various times in the past, though, ] we confess, not frequently of late, main 1 tained bands, orchestras, etc, of their own. The most recent instance, perhaps. l was illustrated at Chicago, ten years l ago, when one of the finest brass bands | it has ever been our privile~e to hear marched into the great lobby of the Au- | ditorium Annex cnd proceeded to dis | course music capable equally of charm l ing an anxious hen to leave her nest or | of making a graven image get his gun
 and plunge into the red vortex of the pdttie HIS Ddnu was dt tNS tlnne mdin-
 tained by Mir. William A. Clark. who | has since been made a senator by his | democratic fellow citizens of Montana. | Moreover. 1t was a musical organization which would have delighted even the l highly cultivated taste of this favored community
 | But. to go further back-much further | 1t was by no means a phenomenal ar | rangement in ante-bellum times for great | landed proprietors and shareholders to educate such of their servants as might disclose talent in that line. and eventual | ly combine them in orchestras of ex- | cellent ability. Music at banquets and | for dancing was by no means rare ac- | compartment of the great plantation houses of the south. And 1t was mighty | fine music too The survivors of Van 1 Dorn's ill-fated army, who, aNer the | dreadful winter of 18si-G in the Ozark mountains and the sanguinary battles of Pea Ridge. retreated south. will no doubt recall the splendid entertainment given at Little Rock by Mfr Chester Ashley. great planter of that neishborhood. and l the wonderful dance music of his negro orchestra. Such things, however, were anything but rare in the rich planting
 districts of the south. Especially were they of common knowledge and experi-
 ence in Louis ana. The truth is, we fancy.