The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1875-04-15
TRAGEDIES OF THE HELEN D'EsTE
- TROUPE. -

3AOOH6s
The DEste Dramatic Combination
has been stirring mems blood at the
South, and particularly in Mississippi
This theatrical troupe in making a tour
of interior towns, have left trail ol
blood and death neither do; the mem
bers of it appear to have been to blame
for any ct the blight and desolatien
Whether they played tragedies or not
they were the indirect cause Of them.
Helen E'Este, the manageress of the
troupe, is represented as a beautiful
woman, and that she is so is her only
fault. She can not be held RESPONSE
BILE for the admiration and curiosity
which she inspires, or the acts of mad
men, who draw swords and pistols on
her account. An Aberdeen editor,
named Scullen praised her and ridi-
culed the company in order to give his
praise OF Helen the more point. In
retaliation, an actor named Beverly
the next night introduced some ''gag'
in the play about scuilion, the name
being suggestive. The next day Soul
len went for the actor, pistol in hand.
Scullen met Beverly on the street and
fired at him. The actor lodged the
ball, and, drawing his own pistol shot
Scullen tarou9h the head. Dying, he
confessed that he was in the wrong,
and he made last request that his
slayer should not be punished. The
law let Beverly off accordingly. This
incident made a lively dramatic sensa-
ton for Aberdeen. At West Point
the D'Este troupe stepped and played.
There were two papers in the place
and their editors were not friends.
Two editors catering for the public
enlightenment of a country town
meyer are. They took different sides
ON the D,Este troupe question: At
length Mr.. Louis A. Middleton print
ed in his paper the folio owing para
graph: IA (:
"How much was the editor of the
Citizen gratified when he climbed that
pole at the Courthouse the other
night SO as to leok into the dressing
room of the ladies of the D'Este troupe
while they were making their toilets
Was it fit place for man pretend
ing to represent the White Color
Line and all the decency of Colfax
County, to be found in? We leave it
to the people whom the Citizen pre-
tends to represent toanswer the ques-
tion."
Now, Mr.. Love was the other ed
itor. He did not tell his readers
whether he climbed that pole or not
or how theatricals looked 10 a man up
a tree, but when he read the printed
paragraph he felt wrath rising in his
bosom. He met Middleton, and the
two editors forthwith drew murder.
GUS weapons, forgetting for the mo-
ment the superior might of the pen.
The upshOt of it was that Love shot
Middleton in the throat and broke his
neck. That settled the fortunes of
the rival paper and its editor, and
made business for the D'Este Dramatic
Combination in West Point. The two
papers could not have advertised the
troupe in more effective style, So the
stream of blood flows on after the
company, and times with il are good,
A new crop of editors will be raised
by next season, and Miss D'Este in
tends going back over the same track
to gather it. But this troupe of beau
ties ought 10 carry curtains 10 blind
their dressing-room windows, and not
let their charms leak out for the bene-
fit of a lot of "dead- -heads.p All that
sort OF thing should be kept for proper
presentation on the stage, under the
auspices of ticket.-.St. Louis Re
publicaa.