The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-08-16
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ec5nlg s. sHI aaa g ~ Il RcIS1saRt
The origiiil Of ttliss common and 6ex-
pfsssive phrase Isl tl:ss.==s a.escribed in
one of oillS changes
Some years since, at one of the
hiltdel lphia theatres, pageant was
ii, rehearsal iii Whicht was necessary
10 have an elephant. No elephant was
ssgtos he had. The s'wild beasts. were
"a III Il tfayeliing, and the property man,
/ stage director, and manager, almost
had fits when they thought of it,.
lays passed. in the hopeless task of
Sssana aeaYofing to secure one, but at
\ last Yankee ingenuity triumphed, as,
Indeed railways does, and an elephant
was duly made to order, of wood,
skins, paint and varnish. Thus far the
s mater was all well, but as yet they
had found no means to make the said
scombination travel. Here, again, the
genius of the manager, stage director
end property man "stuck out" and
two ofthe "supes" were duly installed
as legs.
Ned c. one Of the true and
& genuine "bhoys," held the responsible
station of .tore-legs. and for several
nights he played that heavy part to
81 the entire satisfaction of the manager.
and the delight of the audience. The
part, however, was q very tedious one,
las the elephant was obliged to be on
the etage for, about an hour, and Ned
was rather3too fond of the bottle to
remain SO long without "wetting his
whistle, SO he sets his wits to work to
linda way to carry "wec drop" with
him. The eyes of the elephant be-
Sfing made of two porter bottles with
& the necks in, Ned conceived the bril-
liant sidca Of filling them with "good
ssstuff.." This he fully carried out, and
elated with his success, willingly un-
$dertook to play the .toreleys again.
nj ut came, the theatre was crowd
Fded with the denizens Of the Qua
q ker city, the music played lis sweetest
strains, the whistle sounded, the cur
stain rose and the play began. Ned and
1.-THE hina-iegs marched upon the stage.
The elephant was greeted with
round upon round Of applause. The
decorations, the trappings were gor-
= geous---the Prince seated on his
back. the elephant-al were loudly
9cheered. The play proceeded, the
elephant was marched round and
round the stage. The .tore,lcgs got
dry and withdrew one of tho corks,
{ sifeated the hind.icgs, and drank the
health of the audience in bumper Of
genuine elephant eye whiskcy, a brand,
Sby the way, till then unknown. On
went the play, and on went Ned,
drinking The concluded march was
Ito be made-the signal was given,
sand the tore-legs staggered towards
@the front of the stage. The con-
Sductor pulled the ear of the elephant
ito the right-the .tore-legs staggered to
Athe lett--the foot,lights obstructcd his
sSWay-he raised his feet and stepped
zplump into tho orchestral Down
Went The fore-legs on the leaders, fd-
sdle--oVer Of course turned the
elephant, sending the prince, closely
followed by the hina-legs, into the
middle of the pit. The manager stood
horror. struck-the Prince and hind
legs lay confounded-t boxes in
convulsions, the actors choking with
laughter. And poor Ned casting one
look, strange blending of dunk
s5enness, grief and laughter. at the
scene. fled hastily out Of the Theatre,
closely followed by the leader. with
the wreck Of his fiddle, performing va
8!rious cut and thrust motions in
the air. Imagine the scene, paint it
afor me, some one, If you can.
The result, reader, can you not
s}Picture it? The curtain dropped on
"a "scene behind the scenes" No more
spageant-no more fore legs, but every
body holding their sides; music, ac-
tors, pit, gallery and boxes, rushed
from the Theatre, shrieking ev-
sery breath, ''Haue you seen the Ell
Sephante
=