Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-13
THE CRISIS OVER.

A Jams ut the Opera House Last Night,
Bat no Civil flights ROw-Every Pos
slbIe Precaa tiOn Taken Against
TrOubIe-Hai'ry RObInsOn's Min
sfreIs Achieve a Magnificent Success.
There is no better safeguard against
Threatened dangT than serious appFehen-
sions. Last night was looked forward to
with some anxiety by the people Of Nash
vile for a whole week, because the first
performance at tue Opera House since the
passage Of the Civil Rights bill was
10 take place then. As the time drew on
the solicitude intensified, until yesterday
afternoon, when what was considered a
sort of approaching crisis was the main
topic of street talk. "Are you going down
tonight" was the interTogatory when
friend met frienl, and aDo you think the
negroes will demand seats among the
white people?" was the common query.
In short, no minstrel troupe was ever bet
ter advertised anywhere than Harry Rob
inson's.
By the time the last haze of twilight was
gone men beganto collect abOutthe entrance
of the Opera Hot sc, and before the perform
ance opened a mixed crowd blOckaded the
street. In the first place, there were
twenty-seven members of the police force,
including twelve of the day force and eleven
of the night force, with Capt. Yater and
two sargeants. They were stationed there
simply as a precautionary measure, by di-
rection of the Mayor. Then there was the
general crowd Of both races, the whites Oc-
cupying the sidewalks on either side Of the
street, and the blacks grouped mainly in
the street between. Mingling in the crowd
were a number of the ssbOys in blue" from
The Barracks, WHO had come thither simply
as spectators, of course. There were also a
few citizens of influence, of both cOlors,
present with the view of preventing a dis
turbance.
A character" in the crowd was darkey
with his cigar, which he pulled with q care
less swagger, as he stood with his hat on
one side and his weight thrown upon one
foot, the other being tossed across and rest
inc on the toe. This class evidently prided
themselves on representing the true man
hood of the race.
But, after all, the only motive that &C
tuated the throng in foeking there was
sheer curiosity. There was no excitement
beyond curiosity. A colored man remark
ed. 81 come here to see Charley 60 in"
Charley was a negro, and had probably
promised a many blow for Civil Rights.
An unusually large number Of tickets for
the gallery were purchased by negroes.
Only one negro got a ticket for the par
ouette or dress circle. He went to the door
and applied for admission, but, by friend
" remonstrance was dissuaded and in
duced 10 exchange his ticket for piece Of
pOsteboard to the gallery, where the rest Of
the colOred people, numbering probably 20,
were going.
Two or three ladies went in but did not
remain long. They left, perhaps, because
they thought there would be uncOmfOrtably
few of their sex in attendance.
At the beginning of the performance
sensation was clused by cries Of ''Put him
Out!' '.Put him outr coming from the gal
leries. 1t turned out that a white man
had gone over a1d taken a seat in the col
ored folks section.
The whole performance passed of with
out the semblance Of a disturbance. Our
negro population deserve credit for waiv-
ing the opportunity to precipitate a row
and make bad blood. No col
ored man could have used his
newly confe ned privilege without
impudence, insClence and malice, and his
yery act would have been proof unmistak-
able of a bad heart. Good manners are
virtue that will adOrn the blacks as well as
the whites. Now let us hope that the
whole Civil Rights crisis is passed so far as
Nashville is concerned. Any negro OF
common sense lnOws that the white people
will Weld him more respect and cOnsidera-
ton, if he treats the new law as dead let
ter, than be can ever gain for himself by
taking advantage Of it.
THE PERFORMANCE.
The performance was given to a very
large and appre,iative audience Of mascu-
lines. The parIuette and dress circle were
filed chock-full of men and youths who
could behave themselves as well in the a5-
sence of ladies as in their presence. II is
not too much tc say that a more satisfactO-
N minstrelsy performance was never gwen
In Nashville. Even the deficiency in point
of vocal music which was the only one
diScoyerable in the troupe), was
not generally felt by the audience,
so excellent and so many were the
other features. Everything was cOmpli-
mented with rounds of applause and
many were the encOres. But
the things which pleased above
everything else were the "Silver Statue
clog" by Thomas and Heeney, "Hannah
on a Lark by j. c. Murphy, 'songs and
dances" by the Nashville boys Green and
Sadler, s'Musical Melange" by Harry
Robinson, "Run Niger Run" by Murphy,
Bassett, SadleT and Green, "songs and
dances" BY Thomas and Heene, ''kOmlkali-
tiesr'' by Harry Robinson, ''bOne solo" by
Murphy and "Dutch Specialties" by
Charlie Adams. All these were spec
ialties of a very creditable char
acter. It is impossible to imagine any
thing in its way more nearly perfect than
Murphy's bone performance, or anything
more laughable than RObinson's burlesque
Tiger de- main and trepeze acting. Green
and Sadler, both Nashville boys, sustained
themselves admirably in their specialties.
Another performance will be given to-
night and a matinee for ladies and children
Of > u n TO-DAY A mission to the matt