The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1870-11-19

Atihtt iVut SIT iuft ulunt ~ Uftt, uut
being together constant 80, sort Of amclio.
faied them together. It's curious, sir. hut
Knights hair. which was almost stmlght
at trst, took 10 curling like Charley's.
Partly this may have BEEN due 10 The brush.
ing, but partly II was owing to the associa-
tion. Well, as they went on, they began
TO do double songs mixed into their dances,
which Is now very common; hui they was
about the first one vt II, SIR. You may
have heard 'em in "Courting meath the
Moon perhaps, sir. Knight would come
dancing In and sing
why am | always singing.
I'm such a happy coon;
My love, Tin always bringing
To court beneath the moon.
My heart Is Just now swelling,"-.
Then he gave two OF three steps TO the
right
"since I expect her SOON
Then the same to the left, you see, SIR
"swcet things to her I'm telling,
When counting meath the moon"
Then Cottle would come in, and they'd
dance the interlude together then Cottle
would have his verse and then they'd
have a verse together as a duet, winding
up with
And when we both arc married,
Wen court beneath the moon.n
Ii you never saw il, sir, 1t don't sound
like much, perhaps; but if you were to
see 'em with every step they took, coming
in, click, click, In just such time, you see,
and the one a finishing out the others
IDEAS in steps, you'd have acknowledged,
sir, that it was just sublime and that's
the only word for it.
Well, sir, after a time they left me, and
went away through the West and East and
became acknowledged star performers. |
had opened a place in New Orleans, where
| did well, considering the shortness of the
season, and the general toughness of the
place, which is about as bad as all the
other places on the river put together.
Well, one day | found I'd laid up about
enough to retire on and | suggested to
Mrs. Briggs the propriety Of going North
to locate, who looked at me approving,
and so we went. Well, I'd just about got
settled, when some one sent me word that
Knight and Cottle had separated. 1t made
me uneasy, though | couldn't believe 1t at
all so | went on to New York to see EN-.
| saw them dance; and 1t kind of seemed
IN mo thot tbnv was each a trying for IN
beat tba other instead If coing and hehav.
;ng l;ke ] mil n laws ono Nv Wcn I
went round beh;nd 70 see ,em aftor the
nerfo,manoa and Ieavs m them Wpovo y
saws athere,s someth;ng wrong between
you and, If you don't look out, your pros
poets will be ruined. Your are a pair Of
scissors together, you are; bullock out not
We'll tIev ,a,,obed and said Il was all
im%arination I'M II that identical moment.
inst % If n bad been In 4 NAV j woman
went nv and I knew what the matter was
II was Tie old story. as remarked before.
Sir: and / was not abiding % drink. but to
love, which | considers much worse.
The woman's stage-nome was Bertha
Middleton and all i know is. that her
fathers name was Cooney; and a misera-
bier old beast, late at night, you never did
see. He kept sober until his daughter had
finished her songs, so as to 90 in and lead
off the applause and then he'd walk away
to his beer when he'd sec that her encore
was all right. He was o low pill, that's
what he was and she took after him. |
dare say | was preiudiced; but then, the
moment | saw her, knew she was the
cause Of mischief to my boys, and | felt
that. If she should 90 and interfere with
their artistic prospects, | wouldn't get over
it in one while. She was the vocalista at 1913
Broadway, where Knight and Cottle was
then engaged. Negro minstrelsy was
a-wavering in Its hold on the. public, and
SO managers was taking to the variety
business. They had a very good company,
sir. where Knight and Cottle was. There
was d few good pantomimists, and a small
ballet, and this here Middleton girl, as she
called herself, and three or four others who
was miscellaneous. A trapeze performer,
so Bob Coggins, the manager, told me, was
soon to appear.
Well, I was around that establishment a
| good deal. Me and Coggins was old
friends, and he wanted me to open there ];
| but / says, "No, Bob Coggins," | says, |
have retired from the arena, and have done
with them things forever" But | hung
around there, to keep an eye on to Knight
and Cottle's proceedings. Well, sir, that
girl was as sharp as an AK, she was. She
led Knight on, and she led Cottle on, as
far as taking Of presents from them was
concerned but her general behavior, sir,
may be described as guarded. She never
let neither Of them come to the main ques-
ton, sir: but she kept a playing with their
hearts, and d bleeding of their pockets, as
DAYS rolled on.
After I'd been in New York about .
| IA WI down on the bilIs as aSignor Eric
ths A~ernvoIont who will ind.flge in tht
exhilaratinr pastimes Of his native cline
an 4 traneze suspended from the dome O
Inc theatre Y but his real name was Hobbs
and If ever there was a low-Iiyed, littl
English cockney, that 'Obbs, as he .callet
himself, with i gross ignorance Of pronun