Marathon

In Baltimore, an aged pianist whose eyes looked out of caverns that fatigue had carved in his sombre face, struck up "Maryland, My Maryland." The chords strode across a half-empty Armory, coming faintly to the ears of a far younger musician, who sat in a chair thickly padded with blankets and thumped dully at another keyboard. These two--Professor Camillo Baucia, "champion marathon pianist of Europe," and B. G. Burt of Jamestown, N. Y., U. S. champion--had been playing continuously for over 52 hours. They had played all the tunes they knew; the pianos were going flat; only 500 people remained in the hall; still they played on. But a doctor had just taken Professor Camillo's temperature, felt his pulse and counseled him to stop. "Maryland" was his last spurt, the gesture of a man who had been beaten by age rather than by any such putty-faced whippersnapper as his opponent. His hands slipped from the keyboard; stiffly he rose to hear Pianist Burt, winner of the championship and a purse of $2000, crash into his finale, "America."