The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-03-10
Members of Gilbert-BrOwn Boys
Band are Held SnOwbOund
and Spend Night in
FarmhOuses
10 CARS COMPLETE TRIP

The dream of broadcasting over
KDKA, Pittsburgh, although realized
on Sunday afternoon by the so mem
bers of the Gilbert Brown Boys BanC
of Oakland, turned into a nightmare
for the entire party of thirteen auto.
mobiles and almost the entire popu.
lace of Oakland before all returned
safely to their homes.
Leaving Oakland at 9 o'clock Sun.
day morning at the beginning Of
what appeared to be just another
snow furry, the majority of the boys
and their drivers didn't return tc
Oakland until Monday evening, an6
two carloads arrived by train at 1:3C
Tuesday morning.
The storm which grew steadily
worse instead of better, turned into
the worst blizzard of the season and
blocked the highways early Sunday
evening so that the returning auto
mobiles piled into snowdrifts and
stuck there-that is, all but two.
Many narrowing experiences are
being related by the boys and other
members of the party, who spent the
night at farmhouses after being near
ly frozen by the cold wind and biting
snow which swept across the open
fields mercilessly.
Fifteen cars began the trip to Pitts
burgh early Sunday morning driven
by the following: DR.. N. I. Broad
water, Robert Hoffman, Mayor Gro
yer C.. Stemple, E. R. Jones, Fred
Landon in Harry Miller's truck car
rying the band instruments, Russell
Brown in Stuart Hamills car, Earl
Shartzer, George Hanst, Cheston
Browning, Jr., Donald R. Sincell,
Ralph Weber, James CAVITY in car of
James P. Treacy, Carl McIntire,
George Kerins, and Arthur Naylor.
Near Accident the car driven by
Mr.. Kerins struck a culvert, and men,
bers of the band in the car were
transferred to other automobiles. Fiji
teen miles east of Uniontown Arthur
Naylor turned back, but the other
thirteen cars struggled on through
the cold, ice, snow and wind and
reached Pittsburgh from 1:15 until
10 minutes before time to broadcast.
r. R. Gilbert, former director, met
the band at Pittsburgh, having driven
with his family from Buckhannon.
On the return journey four cars,
those of Ray Jones, Donald Sincell,
James Canty and George Hanst, be-
gan their homeward trek via Wash
ington and Waynesburg, Pa, Nor
gantown and Kingwood, West Va. The
others elected to return the way they
had gone, route 81 to Uniontown,
route 40 to Keyser's ridge, route 81
to Oakland.
Evans hill, near Terra Alta, be-
came an insurmountable barrier for
Sincell and Jones, while on the other
route the cars piled up at Sebold's
curve, north of McHenry, and Ac-
cident. One car remained in Union
town.
Stories of the good times spent at
the farmhouses of Garrett county,
along the Accident highway, wherein
buckwheat cakes and sausage were
served to parties of 10 and 20, have
been on the lips of those who ex-
perienced the good fortune, while on
Evans hill, the stories are not so
favorable. The boys who were in
Mr.. Jones' car didn't get bite to eat
until noon on Monday when they
stopped a bread truck and got some
pies and buns, while Mr.. Jones didn't
have anything to eat until a o'clock
Monday afternoon. And the people
in the farmhouse in which they stayed
sat down to their usual breakfast of
buckwheat cakes, and wouldn't even
sell a glass of milk to the Jones party.
No serious after effects have been
noted, although many are nursing
"nipped" ears, hands, feet, etc., re-
ceived Sunday night.
Broadcast from William Penn
The Boys Band broadcast from the
21st floor of the William Penn hotel
for one-half hour, under the direction
of Russell H. Brown. A large stack
of kilograms and many telephone
messages were received at the studio
but the time limit of the program did
not permit reading them or permit
Mayor Stemple to say few words in
behalf of Oakland.
Following the broadcast the mem.
bers were served dinner in the Car
dinal room of the William Penn no.