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Experiences of a Bandmaster by John Philip Sousa
page 9 of 10 (90%)

The Marine Band was once doing escort duty on Pennsylvania Avenue in
Washington to a body of citizen soldiery returning from camp. It
was at night and the parade was preceded by a wagon-load of
fireworks which were to be discharged at appropriate intervals
along the line of march.

By some accident or design the entire load of pyrotechnics was
simultaneously ignited, and the street immediately filled with a
perfect fusillade of rockets and Roman candles.

A stampede followed and the parade faded away. I stood my ground
until my eye-glasses were knocked off, and then I groped my way to
the sidewalk. When the confusion had subsided, all that could be
discovered of my band was the drum-major in front and the
bass-drummer in the rear rank. Their comrades had fled, but these
men were good soldiers, and having received no orders to disperse
had stood their ground manfully.



A Tale of the White House

One more story of the White House. At the time of the unveiling of
the statue of Admiral Farragut in Washington, it was suddenly
proposed to have a reception at the Executive Mansion in honor of
the many distinguished visitors. The informal invitations were
issued while I was participating in the parade that was part of the
ceremonies.

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