With all due respect to Hi Henry and his troupe of performers, the best minstrel troupe ever seen in the Myers Opera House (Defiance Ohio) was that of Dupreze and Benedict. They carried about fifty people and every performer was a star. A comical episode marked the magnificent parade of this troupe at Defiance. The whole outfit was strutting down Clinton Street shortly after the noon hour. The band was filling the air with a tune that made your very toes tingle. The base drummer, bowlegged well knit fellow, attracted especially urchins. They followed him in droves and finally annoyed him beyond human endurance. Stepping out of line, Mr. Bass Drummer let go a vicious kick at the nearest boy, striking him a midships from the rear and landing him in the ditch. The boy's father hung on the court house fence, watching the parade, and was an eyewitness to the assault on his offspring. Up welled the fighting blood of Canada, and the outraged father made a rush for the bass drummer, bellowing like an infuriated bull. The bowlegged drummer saw him coming, quietly handed his drum over to the snare drummer and proceeded to polish up the road with his much larger assailant. And he did the job so expeditiously that he was able to rejoin the parade, before it had reached the Russell House.
No comments:
Post a Comment