New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-10-20
From the Detroit Advertiser, Oct 10.
D0esticks Eees the American Trapedian.

Doesticks sees the American Tragedian.
I have always had d passion for theatricals
and was at one time of my variegated existenc,
much more intimately connected with the stag,
than at present, and on reaching this city !
felt, Of course, its brilliant fascinations-th,
light, the music, the varied scenery, comprising
gardens, chambers, cottages, mountains, g cloud
capped towers and gorgeous palaces bar-rooms
churches, hnts and hoyels--to look again upor
the glass JEWELS, the tinseled robes of mimic
royalty, the pasteboard banquets and molasses
cumstance," and humbug, which ! once knew 81
well, ct quorum magma pare fui
d So, with my trusty friends, DRmphool and
Bull Dogge, wendell my way to the Metropol-
itan Theatre No 1, to see and hear the distin-
guished Mr. Rantanrave Hellitisplit, the notori-
GUS American tragedian, in his great, original,
unapproachable, uncomfortable, inexplicable, in
comprehensive part Of What o bore 0, the
last Of the Vollypogs'' ,--
p The house was full, and--what spectacle
for O modest young man the front rows Of
the dress circle being occupied almost exclu-
sively by ladies undressed in the latest fashion,
appeared perfect sea Of bosom tl& =fea T
AS the modesty of the third-tier ladies did
not permit them to vie in this respect with their
more fashionable sisters, they had stayed away,
to entertain some audience, not so refined, whose
less cultivated taste would not require SO COM
plete ON exposure of them fact, as Micawber
would remark, Sc the maternal fount'' There
were several babies in the crowd, who, evil
IDENTIFY hungry. kept up constant wailing--
poor things! / really pitied thenl--but I pre-
sumo they were ignorant of the sin of coyetous.
ness, and only wanted what they thought they
had right to--they had not yet learned, as we
had, that, although they might see, they must
" touch not, taste not, handle not" 1t was bad
enough to starve them, but to tantalize them in
this manner was really barbaric.- 5. - /
And opera glasses, too, were continually lew
eied at them by people who, impelled by o laud-
able curiosity, were anxious to see all that
could be seen. (Damphool says, that when you
see woman with one of these implements, you
may be sure she wants to be looked at--and
called my attention to the confrmatory fact,
that all the ladies with the finest busts and best
developed forms wore their dresses the lowest id
the neck, and sported the biggest opera glasses.
Dull Dogge asserts that they were invented by
the author Of g Staring Made Easy and g A
Treatise on the Use Of Globes.') sa ( 4
By and by, after q season Of tramping by the
intelligent audience, which seemed, by its mea-
sured regularity, to intimate that they had
learned the motion in the treadmill, the bell
jingled, and the members of the orchestra en- !
tered, one by one. After the audience had en-
dured the prolonged tuning Of the instruments,
conducted in mastery manner by the leader
of the band, the music got 'sgood ready for a
fair start, and at the word 'sgo" they went.
could not critically analyze the uproar, but it
seemed to be composed of these elements: a
predominance Of drums and cymbals--a liberal
allowance of flute and horn-a spasmodic sprink-
ling of trombone-a small quantity of oboe,
and great deal of fiddle. The tumult was d.
rected by the leader, who waved the fiddle over
his head, jumped upland down upon his seat,
kicked up his heels, disarranged his shirt col
lar, threw his arms wildly about, stamped,
made faces, and conducted himself as if he was
dancing frantic hornpipe for the qualification
Of the crazy whims of an audience Of Bedlam-
ties. s-@ .55-s+4sass
AT length the curtain went up-two men came
on and said something, then two others came
on and did something the scene changed
and some others came on and listened to q
shabby looking general, who seemed to be their
!" Magnus Apollo, and who certainly was very
long-winded. i,e1' e---' re "a fgl
Nothing decisive, however, came to pass until
the long expected entrance of the great Helliti
split himself eyentuated I must confess that |
was awed by the terrific yet serene majesty, oi
his appearance, When I saw the tragic, cod
ishy expression of his eyes, l was surprised
when | observed the fexibility of his eapacious
mouth, opening and shutting, like dying mud.
sucker. was amazed. When my eyes turned
to his fingers, which worked and clutched, as il
feeling for coppers in a dark closet, was won
der stricken-but when my attention was called
70 the magnitude of his legs. I was fairly cleo
trifed with admiration, and could not forbeal
asking Bull Dogge if those calves were capable
Of locomotion. s-} -Y-
The admiring audience, who had kicked up {
perfect young earthquake when he came on, only
ceased when he squared himself, put out his arm
and prepared to speak. That voice! Ye Gods
that voice! IT went through gradations tina
human voice never before attempted, initiating
by turns the horn of the City Hall, Gabriel, the
shrek Of the locomotive, the soft and gentle tones
of forty horse power steam saw mill, the
loving accents of the scissor grinders wheel, the
amorous tones Of the charcoal-man, the rumble
of the omnibus, the cry Of the driver appertain-
ing thereto-risiag from the entrancing notes Of
the infuriated house-dog to the terrific cry Of
the oyster vender - causing the sssupesp to
tremble in their boots, making the fiddler look
around for some place of safety, and moving the
assembled multitude to echo back the roar
feebly, it is true, but still with all their puny
strength. Dull Dogge says he got that awful
voice by eating pebble-stone lunches, like the
man in the book. 5,s=.,.5
Several times during the piece was much az
fected--when he wound his arms round his
wife, stuck his head over her shoulder, and
kissed the back of her neck-when he made a
grand exit, with three stamps, hop, a run, and
two long straddles-when he talked grand about
the thunder, shook his fist at the man in the
fies--when he killed the soldiers in the council
room, shouted for them to come one and all, p
and then ran away for fear they would-when he
swore at the man who did not give him his cue
when The knelt down and said grace over his
dead boy, and then got up and stuck his wife
with the butcher knife; but in no part of the
whole piece was SO impressed with his pathetic
power, his transeendent genius, as when he laid
his hand solemnly ON his stomach and said
"NWhat o bore, o cannot lie!' IDamphool
asked, in whisper, if 0thello's occupation was
gone J And at the death scene, when he was
shot, was again touched to the heart first he
wabblea about like q top-heavy liberty pole in
high wind; then he stuck out one leg and
wiggled it, after the manner of 9 galyanic bull.
frogs then sat down on the floor, opened his
eyes and looked around; then grappled an In
dian on one side, clutched soldier on the other,
struggled to his feet, staggered about like a
drunken Dutchman, made d rush forwards, then
leap Sideways, stiftened out like frozen pig,
collapsed like O wet dish cloth, exerted himself
till his face was the color Of an underdone beef.
setak, then sunk back into the arms Of the In.
dians, whispered to let him down easy, rolled
up the whites Of his eyes, settled himself to die
concluded to have o parting curse at the sur
rounding people, took q I6Ig swear, laid down
and with q noise in his throat like castinets
d couple Of vigorous kicks and D.. feeble grunt
gave up theghost. ait
n y..1I ~