The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-30

remotest chance of getting past the cen
 sor, for things were told me there that but hush Methought the old place just
 a bit disdainful of Armageddon. Its ven erable walls and battlements seemed to ones fancy to shrug their shoulders ever so slightly as who should say, Yes, 1 yes, but we have seen many such, and here we stand today" Nor is thls through lack of thrilling experiences in the present struggle for the tower, bursting with seasoned troops and others in active training. has been far from es- caping wars alarms. Every Zeppelin that visited London has flown close to 1t, and on Tower bridge, near by. there is mounted the biggest anti-aircratt gun in the country; at least it was the biggest when Sir Percy Scott took over the air defense of the metropils On the night of the last Zeppelin raid that gun was fred I'm told till it was almost red hot and it is practically certain that it at least winged one of the hostile air craft" as the official statements call them What things l heard about the towers part in that last raid! But even now the censor may be poising his blue pencil so it must be continued in our next'-when the war is ,over, Goodness knows how many illustrious folk have been imprisoned at the tower
 
 rumor It would be hard, even now, to convince some folk that Prince Louis | of Battenberg. who, when the war start 1
 ed was first sea lord. is not state pris oner there and others who have reput- | e6ly been undergoing confinement within |
 the towers walls include the Duke of Connaught Graham White, the British aviator (who was obliged to deny pub | lcy that he had been killed while leading |
 the last Zeppelin attack and a lot of other well known folk including one or two American actresses, supposedly | guilty of espionage,
 But it is no fiction that spies to the number of dozen or more have been shot at the tower, and it is possible to give one or two interesting details as to how such executions are carried out. They | always take place in the early morning, | and the shooting parties, it appears in- | variaby are composed of men who have been to the front and ben wounded, and l who, therefore, may be expected to have no compunctions against letting daylight | through a f Hun" There are always two | shooting parties in readiness, each num- | bering 12 men, and contrary to what | used to be the invarable rule, every rifle | is loaded. The condemned spy is seated | in a chair, is blindfolded and has his ears and nostris filled with cotton wool He is allowed to smoke up to the next to the l last moment, when his cigarette is taken | from his lips, and his mouth, too, is filled | with cotton wool to prevent him from crying out. Meanwhile an ordinary paper | target is affixed ust over his heart, the | firing party take aim. and the command | to fire is given. A soldier who had seen l one of these targets after it had been | used told me that it contained only one | large hole, straight through the center. | Death must be practically instantaneous. |
 From this not too cheerful subject l
 however, let us return to the band. At the close of it's afternoon performance, I l had a chat with the $1O,Oo0 drum major, |
 who probably is one of the best authori l ties on band music to be found in Eng | land. I had noticed that, throughout he l
 beat the time for his musicians and asked if it was customary for a British | army drum major to be a musician him l self? You see I couldn't get out of my 1 head the recollection of the drum ma jor | of the brass band in the little American city that had the privilege of producing l
 me- and, though he was an awe-inspiring
 parsonage, especially on the Fourth of July and Decoration Day. it is improbable |
 that he knew one musical note from an- other
 The leader of the band of the Artists"
 replied that it Is rare in the British army for drum major not to be skilled
 musician, though in some few British
 regiments this functionary is still chosen for his inches. Then he explained that he himself is not drum major, really, 1! and that his musicians are not band" There aren't any military drum majors in Great Britain. it seems, and havent been since 1881. As for the band, since the instruments it uses consist only of flies. drums and bugles, it is officially the drums" of the regiment-a military
 band in England being a "band' only when it consists of brass instruments. It n vi lI ,oh I had heard; it was drumming at least technically! As for the erstwhile drum major of
 King Georges forces, he is now officially
 the sergeant drummer The change in
 title, it appears is all the result of a l
 bit of jealousy Every British regi- l
 ment,' my sergeant drummer explained, |
 has, of course. sergeant major, who | is the real boss of the men, with more | real authority than the colonel himself. 1 and there wasn't room in the mess room, 1 it proved, for two majors.' Accordingly, i in 1SSl all the military drum majors be- | came sergeant drummers but this new 1
 title has never really been adopted Nine l
 out of 10 men here, I expect, would look 1 at you blankly if you asked at the gate
 for the sergeant drummer of the Art l ists,' though they would direct you to
 me quickly enough if you asked for our drum major" hio NouSisaleu. loo tHo interesting H- formation that the fife originally came to England from Germany, though so far back in the past that the date has been lost track of. Prior to that time the music in the British army had been con- fined entirely to that which was obtained from drums then mere wooden shells) and trumpets. Also in explaining about the different calls sounded in the Brit l ish army, he expounded the derivation of the word tattoo" as used in connection with drumming. We have four principal calls in the British army" said the sergeant drum mer. <" 'the raVeilla' sratraat, tho