Evening star., 1929-09-04
Manager of Washington Boys
Unit Holds Announcement
Should Stand.
DEMANDS BARGAGNl
EXPLAIN IN DETAIL
Parade Marshal Says Error Was
Immediately Corrected by
Announcer.

OSESI. "A. y. 6arSaRul, chairman IN
charge Of the recent firemen's parade
events. against the award Of the prize
to the visiting Coatesville, Pa, Band.
The disappointment of the Washing
ton Boys Independent Band, according
to their manager, Maj. G. j. Brown,
Is only one cause for complaint against
their treatment at the hands of the
committee, despite the fact that the
boy musicians carried off first honors
as the band making the best appear
ance in the f1remen's parade. It was
to confer with the Musicians Protective
Union before the boys band was per-
mitted to take part In the official cere-
monies at all.
Demands Explanation.
From Sergt. Bargagni, the band man
ager explained, he had demanded a
full and complete explanation of all de-
tails in connection with the awarding
of the prize at the band contest dur
ing the evening at the Sylvan Theater.
Sergt. Bargagni had not received the
protest of the Washington Boys Inde-
pendent Band up to a late hour today,
but he explained in q statement to The
Star, which was advised of the protest,
that, unfortunate as the incident was,
the award Of the first prize to the
CoateSville Band must stand. The mis-
take in the announcement which had
aroused the hopes of the boys band was
due, he explained to an error in read
ing the wrong slip.
"It is indeed unfortunate that pro-
test should be made by the Washington
Boys Independent Band" the chairman
said, because the decision of the judges
was fairly and honestly made. Two Of
the three judges in the contest voted
for the Coatesville Band and one voted
for the boys band. Slips were
handed to the announcer and he made
the mistake of reading of the name of
the boys band as the winner from one
of the score sheets"
BY the same vote. 1t was explained.
the second prize was awarded to the
Westminster, Md, band.
The announcer of the band awards
! was Edwin Bolte. connected with local
music store. and the judges of the COM
petition were the leaders Of the Army,
Navy and Marine Bands.
Corrected Mistake.
The error in the announcement, Mr..
Bolte explained, was through no fault
on his part and the audience was noti-
fed Of the mistake the instant 1t was
discovered.
He was handed two slips, one sup
posed to bear the name of the winner
of the bugle and drum corps contest,
the other the winner of the band con-
test. The latter slip bore the name Of
the Boys Independent Band which he
announced as the winner. Immediate
ly, he said, the judges rushed up to him
and told him he had made mistake
and he explained the situation. He had
been handed an individual ballot in
stead nf the tallPV sheet
THE. judges told me to add up the
ballots" Mr.. Bolte explained, although
that was not supposed to be my duty"
He then asked the audience to be pa
tient as a mistake had been made. Upon
being handed the proper sheets. he said
he found that the decision had been
awarded to the Coatesville Band.
In two previous years, Maj. Brown
charged, the Musicians Protective Union
had barred the Washington Boys indie
pendent Band from participation In the
annual firemen'S parade. Sergt. Bar
gagni admitted today that he was aware
of this situation and also admitted that
he had referred the application OF the
band to the Musicians Union "as the
proper thing to do" :,
The fact that the union had passed
satisfactorily upon the application,
Sergt. Bargagni said, should settle that
phase Of the grievance. The action OF
the union, he pointed out, would indl-
cate that the boys band was again In
its good graces.
Had Trouble With Union.
The trouble between the boys band
and the union, Mai. Brown explained,
was due to the fact that the band
was not a member Of the Musicians
Union and could not belong because
of the age of some OF its youthful
bandsmen. He said 1t was necessary
tercede with Albert G. Hayden, preSi-
dent of Local No. 161, before permis-
sion could be obtained for his band to
enter the parade and be taken on the
unfair list"
Referring to the failure Of the boys
band to receive the coveted first
prize in the contest at the Sylvan
Theater, Mai Brown, in comniunica-
ton to The Evening Star, said: our
strongest point of protest Is that the
decision, once made, should have been
allowed to stand, regardless OF errors
Despite my endeavorS, have been un-
able to obtain a satisfactory explana-
ton of the incident.
"In the beginning 1t was announced
that the applause OF the audience would,
to a major extent, determine the win
ners. but this announcement was EVIL
IDENTIFY forgotten by those in charge,
who have stated to me that the decision
was made solely on the score of the
Judge. When our band finished its
number it was necessary for the boy
bandmaster to make three acknowledge
merts of the applause. We feel, re-
gardlesS Of errors that may have been
made by others, that after we were
announced. as winners the committee
was not within its rights in changing
the decision.
1.-TWO weeks prior to the staging of
the contest I. requested member of
the committee to follow the usual pro-
cedure and classify the bands parti-
cipating into three classes, viz: Boys
bands, amateur adult bands and pro-
feSsional bands. This request was not
granted, and despite the fact that it
was necessary for us to compete against
adult and professional bands, and
judging from our reception by the audi
ence, we feel that we were more than
unjustly treated.
Holds Boys Most Orderly.
"Our band, composed of SO boys, fully
uniformed and well disciplined, directed
by q 15-year-old boy member, took its
place on the bandstand, played its num-
Der and made its exit in more precise
and orderly manner than any other
band participating.