CONDUCTOR BUSCH IN SAD PREDICAMENT.
Symphony Leader Forgot to Change Cream Colored "Pants" for Black.
When Carl Busch, conductor of the Symphony orchestra, arrived in the dressing room section of Convention hall last night preparatory to the big concert of the orchestra and the symphony chorus, his musician associates looked at their leader in absolute bewilderment.
Conductor Busch, as far as the top section of his anatomy was concerned, appeared to be dressed in a manner befitting that of the conductor of a symphony orchestra. He had on his spike-tail coat, his evening waistcoat, and his boiled shirt, but there the symphonic nature of Mr. Busch's martorial decorations ended.
A glance at Mr. Busch's lower extremities revealed the horrifying fact that the symphony conductor had forgotten to put on his full-dress trousers. He had on, instead, a pair of cream-colored "pants" that evidenced the artistic atmosphere of a brass band or a minstrel show.
"For the love of Mike," H. O. Wheeler, violinist, said, "what is the big idea?"
Mr. Busch looked down and beheld the cream-colored "pants." His anatomical frame shook with feverish emotion. Within fifteen minutes the concert should begin. With the concert beginning Mr. Busch should be on the conductor's pedestal, ready to do business with his trusty baton. But with cream-colored trousers on! Horrors, no! It couldn't be done!
There was a hurried inspection of the various members of the orchestra. The conductor was looking for someone with whom he might trade trousers. But Mr. Busch has a waistband that measures 50 inches and there were no fits in the ranks of the orchestra.
"I believe Frank Hudson wears my size," Mr. Busch said: "If I could find Hudson I could trade with him.
There was a hurried call for Franklin D. Hudson, but Mr. Hudson could not be found. The minutes went on and Mr. Busch's cream-colored "pants" were still the central figure in a great tragedy.
Could Mr. Busch make it to his home, 6017 Main street, and change trousers and get back in time? No, that seemed impossible. Without conductor Busch there would be no symphony convert. As leave say Hamlet without Hamlet or a burlesque show without an Irish comedian, wearing red whiskers.
The situation, at all times desperate, becoming annoyingly vexing. The time for the concert was fast approaching. And Mr. Busch was still walking about in his cream-colored trousers. He hated those trousers, but he had to wear them for the time being, anyway. Cream-colored "pants" are better than no "pants," this was agreed.
Finally a friend came to the rescue and agreed to rush to Mr. Busch's home and there get the so-called conventional or strictly orchestra black trousers and return with them. Mr. Busch could make the change when the automobile returned. It meant a wait, but there was no chance in the world or Mr. Busch showing those minstrel trousers to a symphony audience.
The automobile made a hurricane trip of it and returned in due time with the highly essential black trousers. The concert was saved. It began a trifle late, but Conductor Busch was wearing his black trousers when it did begin. That much is certain
Mr. Busch dressed in a hurry last evening and the failure to change his trousers from cream-color to black was due to the well known lapsis memory. Mr. Busch thinks there is no singer in all the world like Alice Nielsen and her return last night under symphony auspices upset him a bit.
As a rule, most everyone forgets his watch when he puts on a dress suit and frequently gentlemen leave their bank roll in the working clothes, but the incident relative to Mr. Busch is believed to be the first case where a man has forgotten to change trousers in his preparations for a evening's soiree.
