Hi everybody.  I was going to submit this under the heading "Saul on
the Road to Damascus" or "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring" but
I knew Robbie would only change it to something comprehensible, so
I didn't.

A street market is held every Saturday in Salamanca Place in Hobart,
almost in the centre of town.  It is hugely popular and is much
frequented by the locals and is not just a tourist trap.  I have had
one or two well-travelled visitors from overseas who say they have
never encountered a more exciting market.  (Hint to intending visitors
to Australia: you're mad if you miss Tasmania).

Anyway, I happened to hear on the radio last Friday, while moodily
scraping at my foam-covered chin, that a Dutch street organ would be
performing at the market the next day.  Now, as a classical piano roll
enthusiast, I have always felt that street organs would be rather
beneath my dignity, and that the oompah-oompah music they were certain
to produce would be grating to my refined ears.  Of course I had
decided all this without ever actually hearing one.

It turned out that my wife Beryl and I had briefly to go into town on
Saturday morning, so I suggested to her that "if we could get a parking
space, we might just go and look at the market for ten minutes".
Miraculously, I found a space only about 300 metres from the market so
off we went, me in search of the organ and Beryl in search of bargains.
Yes, suggesting we stop at the market was a risky manoeuvre.
("manouver" in the U.S.?)

 [ "Manouvre"?  Maybe French for "man overboard"?    ;)  -- Robbie

Well, I soon found the organ and was captivated immediately.  It is a
73-key (I forget to ask the operator what that meant) John Verbeeck
Grand Concert Street Organ with 442 pipes, glockenspiel and percussion.
I was astounded at how good it sounded and was impressed by how well
the cardboard book music was arranged.  It was really zippy.  I pur-
chased one of the several CDs that the operator was selling and have
been playing ever since.  Beryl had to drag me away in the end, by
reminding me that we had left our grandson at home unsupervised.  So
here's another convert to street organ music.

Beryl and I will be visiting the Netherlands later this year and
I'll certainly have Hans van Oost's list of Dance Hall organs with me.

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania.

 [ Try to visit Belgium and the Flanders districts, too.  Johnny
 [ Verbeeck's firm is in the region of Antwerp and Brussels, and
 [ I think that he would be delighted to meet a genuine Tasmanian
 [ manoeuvree and manoeuvreer !   ;)  -- Robbie