, 1875-04-04

Tho Interior Of Mr. Lew johnson s
Establishment.
/ Wearisome and Unprofltable Show
The Wine Room.

/ Wearisome and Improbable Show~--
The Wine Room.
| South Clark street, below Van Buren,, Is =
| quarter whose population is of heterogeneous
composition and diverse pursuits. fits greatest
development Of Life aud activity is nfter night
fall Children swarm from doorways, and troop
along the sidewalks; Ioungers throng the drink
| ing saloons +; the family OF "my uncle " sit OF
the dooratep under the symboicai golden
balls muaic-ha1ls emit Strains Of manglse
and disjointed harmones; dtmsels whose
tasse in dress seems to to startling contrastt
Of color, and whose complexions vary from the
most brilliant white and red, through Ill ahadet
Of tan color and bfown to opaqucst black. past
blithely along scattering alluring elances abon1
them, or, standing At doorways, salute the passer
| by with words OF coa1ing invitation; co1oree
bucks swagaor along or hang gbout tho do$2rwayl
Of billiards a}oone and what with noise, glare
and bustIo tho street loses ts daylight look o1
| dirty unthrift, and assumes gala appearance
It is in tLis locality that
LEW JoHEsos's PLANTATION 1uSsrnELs,
composed entirely Of negroes, hayo their place
Of entertainment. At No. 328 thera is saloon
and billinrd-hatl, with the nane '' II. Smith on
the sign. This is great resort for colored
bucks OF sporting tastes, and is thronged night
"; Above the stairway leading to the cellar be-
! meath this establishment is q Transparency an
| nouucug that the location Of the famous min
/ 6tfol5 ID below.
| Last Wednesday evening a reporter OF The
TRIBUNE, CHANGING to plss through that Local
ity. bothought himself OF takmg close view Of
~ aunaen3on.s nf our negro population and so
made l,;s dascent into the surterranoan theatre
Of tho plantat;op aIinstrals. He found himself
in a dr;nlipr-saloop. in which ha1f-a-dozen Nc
0roas wero ioun.;nr Tho room was IN or
t;narv cal;ar Win I Boarded floor
ruE 1,ns1aur11SEss OF THE WALLS
was 1elleycd bv huge theatrical postels pasted
1,non them Sam Deva,c. a star OF tie variety
.ss at tes "esstsss from das Ms @ Vaa
Snieticbouns Il @ = oud 90 exhibited the cayernous OPEN
;n, tn his 'digest1yo apparatus in another full
lencth pict1re OF hin character Of .Josephus
Or5nae-6lossona, Trapeze-performers, ballad
s;,'neJs cIor-dancers, and other luminariag of
II .rrac, n? onsiine and wealth of color that one
sess q harcno on Tia outer walls in Going Though
thn rovn There uero sIso some small-sEod
velow postera stuck about. giving The roll of
toiant cnn,nris1n0 tho Plantation Minstrals. but
;nsn;rv foT a nrn1ra,nme Of the nights perform
snco discovered the fact that the pstrona of the
Winstra|s wore 80 appreciatiyo md generous Is
tn mako such .dycntit1ous helps auita uQnec-
ore.rr
r1r Law Johnson WAS. at the timo Of the re
nortors risit feh1nd tha s:enes. hut his brnther.
~. /. o,,a ~ t1,a narforrprs did
@' rus noyons OF TIE PLACE
tn T,,x Tn1n17NE renresentatiye. From his stste-
n,enta Il anneors tbat lew johnson neran tla
hns;noss shant The close Of the War. md has
hean in Il evor since. 1Ia made h1s start in
T,n;c,1o n1sv;ng IN a n1,ca m sherman stroat
hat,yasn vpn Rn9.n md T Hnrr;aon' The nresert
eonna1v uaa ootten tnrether Lat naearnber
n;ght m vi,;ct occasion go worth Of tickets
were sold. As tho whole cellar ia not over 60 Ly
o. feat' and tho nortinn nart,tionod off for a
ss,oon lnaves on1v about Is feet remainipg for
IN anijtorino, the aasanahlape mnst hayA been
hoxpod he several deeo and slowed down into
yiscid mass. The charge for admission
il oniv Is cents to nll pnrts of
the hnuse 70 that oven with crowded
houses tho salaries of the performers can hardly
bo on 9 1nunifcent SCALE although in these par
t,crlars tha renorter's Informant VAS reticens
He aduitted. however, that avery considerable
portion Of the profits Of the place was derived
from tho sale Of liQuors
Entering tho portion partitioued OF for
THE AUDITORIUM,
the 1oportor found himself iu place with
ra:he, dump door, and with decorations Of the
same p,ctoriaI character as in the saloon. About
two dozen wooden chairs ard five rows OF beuches
afforded seating capacity for about eighty per-
sons, but not half that number were present.
Although Wednesday evening had been an
uounced as grand farewell performance pro-
rara:ory to provincial tour, the audience nas
much below the usual number. Some red
breecned negro soldiers we're holding military
reception Of some sort in the hall ADORE, aud
the couuter attraction diminished the attendance
on tho minstrel show. Tho ticket agent gas Of
the opinion, however, that they would drop IL
before "eleben"
Tho performances began little before o'clock
with about three dozen III the audience 'all ne
~,