Vissed ne Beat.

Otago Witness, Issue 2520, 2 July 1902, Page 85

Vissed ne Beat.

What is the most imposing object in a ! brass band? "The bass drummer, un- 1 doubtedly," will say nine persons out of | ten. See how he strides along, arrayed in full panoply, and hammering with might and main on the huge structure in front of him ! It is said of a certain bass drummer that he has never been known to be a fraction of a second out of time— except once ; that he never loses his dignity ; and that the whole band is proud of him. The. story of how he lost the beat in question runs as follows: — He was marching — an awe-inspiring and fear-compelling spectacle — at the head of a political procession, when a dog, belonging probably to some man of the opposite party, rushed out barking furiously, and singling out the man with the big drum as being the heavy villain, so to speak, made a dash for him. The drummer, without removing his eyes from the far-off depths of space into which he was gazing straight ahead, missed just one beat. With the heavy drumstick he hit the dog a blow that knocked it entirely out of action, and went ahead drumming as before. "•Yes, sir," said the trombone player to an interviewer afterwards, "it was magnificent ! He knocked that dog senseless and '■ame on in time for the next beat ! There n't another drummer in the world that >uld have done it !"