The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-03-25
N egrO Minstrelisn.
Its Beauties and Deformities.
WhimSicalitieS Of the Neuca
Business End-Men Il ii
Middle-Men.

POooSSo
some explicit information in regard to the lives
and habits of its members? They are en- |
trancing throng from the corpulent and cute
darkey (and he is generally both) who occupies |
the position of "middle-man" to the versatile |
creature known as end-man, whose principal |
duties seem to be to twlrl his tambourine around
on the end of his thumb, and to make panto- |
mimic contortlons meant to be picturesquely |
reflective upon the conduct of the other mem |
bers of the troupe.
1t is now nearly thirty years since negro min
strelism began to be practised as distinct pro-
fession. Its history as a separate and special
business begins as far back as the year 1942.
Between then and the present time it has drawn
into its embrace some of the most successful
comedians, members of the legitimate drama,
and has been the means of presenting to the
public some of the finest burlesque and finest
specimens of bSllad-singing with which cul-
tured audiences have become familiar. Perhaps
this is the reason why negro minstrelism is so
greatly affected by that class of people which
will not patronize the theatre, and who believe
the opera to be the favorite gateway of Avernus.
Such people must find some excuse for
their inconsistency, and they discover 1t in the
great and genuine fun aud the extremely simple,
unaffected melodies thai are almost always to be
enjoyed at burnt-oork entertainments.
Let 1t not be thought that these entertainments
are lightly provided, or that they but little
toll and care on the part of those who furnish
them. Because the fronts of minstrel halls are
frequently seen ornsmented with knots of men
remarkable for sickly compilations. bold eyes,
and diamonds, the settings of which are clogged
with dirt, it is too often ina agined that the burnt
cork artist leads lazy life, and that his most
important morning task consists in visiting the
treasurer and drawing his salary for the proced-
A. Al-g.
as IN any other field is only attained by hard
work, and the clog-danoer who enchants you
with his reverberating pas and the TRANSLATOR of
the wench-business who delights you with his
falsetto cavatna, have to keep at their work all
the time just as surely circus rider
pianist does in order not to lose the knack of
jumping through the hoops or harmonizing the
proper chords. The burnt corkist who makes
mark in his profession is obliged to have a very
fair degree of energy and perseverance. There
are enough rivals in all the departments of the
business to render devoted attention to it alb
solutely necessary. The man who is not an en-
thusiast in the work never rises out of the me-
diocre position in which he commenced the life,
and just in proportion as that enthusiasm wanes
so does the estimation in which the burnt-corkist
is held by the public.
Perhaps one of the most singular features
connected with the profession is the department
known as the "wench business This is COM
paratively late outcropping of burntcorkism,
not having been in existence longer than the
last ten years The business is totally distinct
one from the mere representation of a "nigger
girl" The artist who. excels in the Wench
business is presumed TO initiate all the airs and
graces of O fashionable and popular prtnaG
donna. He must divest himself as much as
possible of any visible attribute of mssculinity.
I;a hot inadin tn nf an
plished falsetto and the more he is gifted with
burlesque humor the reater are his chances of
success. And yet, however much we may
admire the art with which the transformation is
effected, the character Is always one which
evokes some degree of contempt, for one can
never see a man entirely lose all vestiges of
manhood-even In a play-without visiting him
with something very like a sneer. No art,
indeed, on the part of the wench-delineator
can supply the absence of that natural femini-
nifty which Is usually found in those who
attempt that line Of parts. They are generally
nminy-piminy hybrid-looking creatures off the
stage, haloed with an Ella Zoyara sort of repu-
tation, and remarkable in private life for those
mincing ways which come in so aptly behind
the footlghts. Indeed, many of them carry
into private life those womanish peculiarities
which are fostered by their professional employ
ment and are the result OF what might be
called the business habits of many years. There
is more than one instance on recorC
of burAt-cork male prinaa donna, whose make
up on the stage converted him into the life-like
ness of genuine woman, transacting in private
life those duties which generally fall to the lo
of the feminine mind and hand--such as keeping
set of rooms in order, making the beds, doinl
the cooking, sewing, and marketing, and at
tending to all the details of feminine house
keeping. In this manner two or moro member
of minstrel troupe occasionally live together il
modest set of rooms, each contributing hi
proportion to the general expense. and, strang
as it may seem, the one who enacts the wenc
business upon the stage transacting those dutie
which custom usually assigns to the feminin
head of every household. His life off the stag
becomes merely a continuation of his life upo
1t. When he appears behind the footlights tn
public merely behold glorifed exaggeration G
what he really is in private life. He can max
bonnets like milner and dresses like
modiste. He can make dishes as good as thos
described in Miss Leslie's cookery-book, and tn
room or set of rooms in which he lives are
neat as though he were in reality an old mai
with no other aim in life than to prevent du
enough to settle to be picked up on the poiu
of pin 1t not unfrequently happens that IL
dresses of the entire troupe particularly on IL
getting up of a spectacular" piece where ne
ones are required, are made up by him, and tn
to his taste in costume and deft thread ar
needle the gorgeousness Of the principal toie
fad