Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1868-02-04
THE STATE THEATRE.


rapinc" is turned into a theatre, and upon
her boards are playing the stars, the stock
actors and the supes of radicalism. Our JOE
is there, and before the vast audience of the
State he takes the character of the widow of
Fat, Fair and Forty;" and with his pecu-
liar Establishments he leads the silly and un-
drilled subordinates through the intricate
mazes of the grand drama, GLOW to Rob
State, or An Easy Way to Raise the Wind
by False Checking" In this role, the vast
limits of the model Republic, do not furnish
a rival to him, and the unparalleled success
that has crowned his performances in the
past, is a sure guarantee that his future ca
reer will be marked by even greater brillan
cy, if his wings are not clipped by Conser-
vative asccndancy; in which event, it is not
at all improbable that he will remove his
headquarters to Moundsville, and spend tie
remnant of life in counting the cross-bars
which checker the windows Of. his prison cell.
This would be a fitting finale to a career that
has shed such lustre upon the Legislative
pages of the new State.
Next to "Bully Joe," is that other JOE,
who holds the position of 'colleagueto Jeffer-
sons favorite son, and who does the barking
when his prompter and master growls. With
great disrespect to the original character he
is assigned the position of ''Sneak," in Wild
Western Scenes. The original thought it
not murder or robbery to scalp an Indian to
afford an opportunity to steal his musk-rats
skins; whilst his delineator entertains the no.
tion-or processes to do so-that it is no harm
to rob the white man of his rights to confer
them upon the negro. His part of tho play
is botch, and the skill of his trainer will
fail to make him more than heavy stock
actor This is because of mental deficiency
and intellectual paucity. A silk-purse could
as easily be manufactured of a sows ear-and
the material would be more appropriate Tor
the purposes a good performer could be
made out of the material furnished in the
second Senator from this district The
knavery is there, aud tolerably we'll develop
ed, but for some wise purpose Providence has
withheld the sense. And here he presents
pitiable spectacle, and one which would en-
title him to commiseration, if it were not for
the fact that his aspirations lead him to seek
notoriety even in doubtful channels. Added
to his want of intellectual capacity, there is
a strong out>cropping of cowardicc, which
was not a characteristic Of the original
Sneak" and the two combined, must ever
keep him in the back ground.
The other performers from this immediate
section, are the two delegates from berkeley,
and two from this county. They are all I'M
familiar with the characters assigned them,
and are too wooden-headed and have too much
mueality in their compositions to become pro-
minent Billmyer is filling his second en-
gagement, yet he has not risen above the me-
NAL position of curtain holster to his more
adroit companions. Chambers is on the boards
for the first time, and we will do him the JUS
tice to say that we have every confidence that
he will not depart from the strict line of hon
esty in filing his role, though his Judgment
may be considerably warped. The Berkeley
actors or supcs are unknown to US. They
bslong to the mushroom growth of politicians
which radicalism has caused to be as prolific
as the celebrated stink>weed. We have no
idea that they will take rank With many OF the
more experienced and better trained thieves
of some of the western counties, but as they
are types of their party, they may soon get
the run of the ropes, particularly if they are
apt scholars.
In future numbers it shall be our aim to
keep our readers posted with the progress of
the play which has only fairly opened, and
which has not more than reached the middle
of the first act