Bob Lampoon Would Back His Piccolo Against Mellie's Fiddle in Bout to Gain "Gay Nineties" Dance-Music Crown

With every fiddler in New England clamoring for a chance to wrest the crown from champion Mellie Dunham, Bob Lampoon, honorary editor of the Lampoon, veteran piccolo player, has signified his willingness to match tunes with the Maine player. Bob claims to have over one hundred different pieces, where Mellie has only three or four, but the piccolo player declares that with a little practice he can become profficient in "Turkey in the Straw" and "Old Zip Coon" as well.

Bob recalls several important occasions in his 50 years of piccolo playing when he has played before celebrities, and in contests of various kinds. Forty eight years ago, as a boy of 17, Bob rendered several of his tunes at the home of Benjamin Butler, at one time governor of Massachusetts, and famous lawyer. In commenting on this memorable occasion Bob was full of praise for the "poor man's lawyer" as he termed the late governor."

One of the most interesting incidents in his many years of playing the piccolo, was his contest with a "fancy dancing girl", long before the advent of the "marathon dancers."

"The young lady offered to dance for the audience as long as I could play" said Bob in relating the story, "and for a solid hour I played without once stopping. Incidentally the dancing continued after I was forced to stop to catch my breath."

The record of one hour's continuous playing is a considerable feat in spite of the fact that Bob lost the contest in his many years of playing the delicate little six-note instrument. Bob has taken part in innumerable parades and has been a member of several orchestras. The most important parade to the veteran player was the Hayes-Wheeler parade which took place after the election of Hayes.