Norman Douglas:
"The soprano begins with the stirring words 'Send her victorious,' and the muscular strain involved in producing these high notes may have led to the disaster. A fit of coughing, or even laughter, has been known to result in a similar cataclysm – a distressing state of affairs, if you happen to be in society at the moment.
"The talent of this young Marine, though rare, is not unique. Visitors to the Paris exhibition of 1889, if they frequented certain low haunts, will remember a performer called 'l'homme pétard,' who achieved wonderful effects on the same organ. His vocal range was amazing, and the soprano notes worthy of Tetrazzini. It has since occurred to me that he may have concealed about his person the musical instrument called 'pétophone', a specimen of which I bought in Naples many years ago. It is carried in a trousers' pocket and, when squeezed, imitates that particular vox humana so beautifully that, after a hush of general consternation, it becomes a great success at dinner parties, diplomatic receptions, Royal levées, etc.
"I should have liked to add a few words on the guano deposits of Peru and of Saint Paul's Rocks, but this note is already too long."
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