Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-01-29

| the Shah of Persia had been II England,
he might have obliged me by taking a
private box and exhibiting himself in
state apparel to SlushtOn And II the
Shah Of Persia why not an Indian prince
Yes. above all things an Indian prince
a most brilliant idea registered VOW
as / stood on that bridge in the twilight.
| would have an Indian prince to play for
my benefit.
/ am not of a Emphatic temperament.
| I believe, indeed, | come rather under the
head Of the sanguine-nervous, but leave
that question in physiology to the decision
of the intelligent reader, when L inform
him that the next morning every patch Of
mailing. every plank wall, every house in
Chancery. every stray shutter of every
shop to let was pasted with staring red
and-hIue announcement of the first and
only annearance of his highness Prince
| Ramii RowdedOw, from the kingdom Of
| Observation-Disclosures between the Ganges
and the Himaayas, for the benefit OF Mr..
| John Miffs; while in the principal win
| dOws of the town were exhibited we'll
engraved full-length portraits OF an impO-
sing Individual of the mulattO race in a
gorgeous costume Of the character usually
worn by that interesting black gentleman
who is familiar to all students Of the
| Shakesperian drama.
Depressed as was the aspect of trade in
! Siushton, nv notion took. There was,
| from the first issuing of the bills, con
siderable excitement in the town on the
| subject of the Indian prince. The very
printer who set up the bills offered to do
| so at a lower rate on condition Of being
| one Of the favored few who were to form
a little deputation to meet the prince at
the railway station. OF course there were
many inquiries as to why the royal per-
| sonage had left his native land; and his
popularity rose tremendously, especially
among the fairer portion of the commu-
nity, when ! explained that he had been
| depOsed from the royal musnud by a
| benighted people on account of the
advancement and enlightenment of his
opinions, especially with reference to
polygamy and widOW-burning. He was
| announced to appear in the character Of
Obi; and the fact of native prince from
the distant land of Bramah and JuggeT-
naut coming down to SlushtOn-On-the-
SlOshy to enact that hero Of romance did
not appear to the intelligent tOwnsmen Of
SlushtOn at all u strange occurrence. a
foreign prince, a talking fish, or Mr.
Charles MatheWs-what are any such
| INSTITUTIONS
to the amusement, crafty the admiring
| gaze and stimulate the organ of wonder
of the inhabitants of SlushtOn? For these
good people, I think, had a very limited
belief in the actual existence of any
world beyond the rising neighborh0od
which bounded their own town.
Wednesday, the 18th instant, arrived,
and the whole theatergOing pOpulace
4 no IL: 10
question as to how and when his highness
from the principally of Rumcullidufin-
stan would enter the town was freely
discussed Be it understood, these good
people were quite assured that the prince
was coming all the way from the shores
of the Ganges for their amusement. Had
they thought for moment that his eXiled
highness might be a lOdgerin MarylebOne,
or a rate-payer Of st. Pancras, the whole
z,st of the thing would have been gone.
Even at the theater, among my COM
paniOn vOtaries of Thespis, there was not
a little curiosity; and | was compelled,
! with that beautiful Candor which distin-
! cuisines me, to admit to one or two of my
intimates that my friend RoWdedow was
| not, in sober earnest, actually a prince,
| being in point of fact the kitmutghur of a
rich indigo planter, who had accompanied
/ his master to England, and who had been
| dismissed from that service on account of
a suspected leaning toward the worship
OF the goddess Kali, the tutelary divinity
of the thugs, or strangers, sometimes
called Noosers. The damask cheek of
my friend Percy Deloraine, jeat11e premier,
blanChed somewhat at this revelation, and
he expressed a strong objection against
acting in the same piece with his high
ness; but on my assuring him that if
treated with a cold and distant respect,
| Ramji was the best fellow breathing, he
consented to Oblige me.
The prince, 1 informed my manager
and brother actors, would not arrive IN
til an hour or two before the commence
ment of the performance, an important
business-no less, in fact, than an inter
| view with the chief of the English Gov
eminent concerning his restoration to
that vast territory which extends from the
western arm of the Ganges to the distant
source Of the OxuS, as | added, somewhat
recklessly, with a view to local coloring
would detain him in London. I there
| fore read his part at rehearsal, arranged
| his entrances and exits, and went through
all his stage business. / also planned the
| construction and adOrnment of temper
| airy dreSSlng-rOOm, to be erected by the
/ property-man for my royal friends con-
yenienCe, and made all arrangements
| necessary for the honorable reception of
| the royal parsonage. AS [ left the thea
| ter, after that mornings rehearsal,
| crowd of dirty little boys, and one re-
/ spectacle maid-servant with a baby and
! a perambulator, did me the honor to &C
! company me in a little impromptu
procession to my residence Wheth-
er they imagined [ might keep
the prince in my pocket, or in a sealed
bottle, like the genie in the Ara6iGn
| Nights, l know not; but they evidently
| thought their best chance of beholding
| the Oriental potentate lay in not losing
| sight OF me. Now this persistent atten-
| ton on the part of the public, honorable
as it was to all concerned, was also some
what embarrassing to me, as had good
deal of work 10 accomplish (of kind that
must remain secret TO the British pub
lic) before his royal highness Ramji Row
dedow could possibly blaze like the sun
in his Oriental splendor before the daz-
lied eyes of SlushtOn. For this | had
need of friend-a friend on whom [
could rely-in whose hand | could lay
my own, and say, Here is the soul inca
pable of treachery, here is the tongue
never known to betray," or in the more
fgurative language of Seven Dials, "This
'ere's the cove wot never rounded on his
pal"
Such friend [ could boast in the per
! son of Mr.. Richard Wilmington, eccentric
comedian; and to him | went. What
passed between us [ do not intend to re-