Saxophone players can be pretty undesirable characters, and we don’t want them wandering around the streets willy-nilly making noise. Do we?
Well that was certainly the thinking of Marshall A.H. McClellan of Vinton, Iowa. Saxophonist R.R. Hromketko had just finished performing at a dance, and then went outside and continued playing. To silence the noisy horn player, the good Marshal dropped a tear gas bomb at his feet. Needless to say, the music stopped.
In the current climate of police action against the Occupy Wall Street protesters, and seemingly endless excess force complaints against police officers, the Marshall’s choice to silence the saxophonist is not surprising… Until you find out that this incident occurred in 1934.
According to the September 19, 1934 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Marshall had had an aha moment:
Aha! A Saxophone ‘Curb’
Vinton, IA., Sept. 15—Found: An effective way of curbing unruly saxophone players…
Of course the taser hadn’t been invented yet, otherwise the good old Marshall would likely have used it instead. 😉
So the next time you want to grab your horn and just go outside and play, think about poor R.R. Hromketko’s experience. Police action against you might have some precedent. Mmm, looking at the sax player’s name, I wonder if he wasn’t also the victim of some early racial profiling? 
Just what every player needs A music critic with an attitude 😯
A gas bomb is a little extreme it did get rid of everybody in the area :scratch:
Yes, well I guess we would have to been there to know for sure, but it does seem rather extreme. But then I’m not sure how bright one had to be to get into law enforcement in the 1930s. 💡