The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-03-21
MODERN nINsTRELsY.
The Burnt Cork business Reviewed anA
Discussed.
lSt. l. 'uis Globe Democrat

The Burnt Cork Business Reviewed ana
Discussed.
[St. l. luis Globe Democrat
The lack of familiarity of the people Of
the north with the manners, customs and
habits of the slaves of the south II ade, many
years ago. negro minstrelsy' a populaf
form of amusement The eccentricities and
native humOr of the race, as understood by
people who had never seen them as they ex-
listed, gave pretext for an exhibition of var
lesQue, terpsichore and melody viewed In
the mirror rs held by Christy's or Eph
Horn's MINISTRIES. The life of the slave was
principally monopolizsd by indulgence
in vocal efforts descriptive of the
glories OF ham fat, the remainder Of the
time being devoted to the highly eccentric
and muscular terpsichorean monstrosity
known as the essence of old Virginia" The
performers, arrayed in garments of uncouth
cut, gave only simple ballads commem0r-
alive OF "yaller gals and the old planta-
ton. The spread of intelligence and the
general exhibition OF the inwardness OF
slave life may have been the direct means Of
making the revolutions that obtained in this
branch of the amusement world.
The change was gradual, but effective, and
the uncouth garments, the simple choruses,
the primitive Jim Jump Crow" and the
amusing essence" were displaced by the
sable semi circle in full evening dress, the
artistic rendition of operate selections by
trained and high-salaried vocalsts, the mod
ern nuisance of pathetic ballad. and, hor-
ror of horrors, the 'song and dance man."
| 1t is fact that the day of minstrelsy has
gone, With the amalgamation, so to speak,
OF the two races, a familiarity is bred with
the habits of the colored man, and the charm
| of novely is withdrawn from the production.
| The plantation darkey who sung about ham
| fat and danced the essence, is thing of the
past and "Old Black Joe" travelling back to
Dixie is an absurdity and an anomaly in The
present day.
| 1t was only by a peculiar combination of
circumstances that negro minstrelsy ever OBJ
tanned a foot-hold, and with the disappear
ance from the exhibitions of the last hint OF
nature, its demise is something not to be de-
| plored, if not actually hoped for. -r
The modern juvenile, or variety show.
4 now leads the van, and will strut its hour
| before being succeeded by something newer
| and brighter. This form of entertainment.
once considered disreputable, now has
place in the popular heart, and in some
cities attracts fashionable audiences.
| But there is a dash of bitterness in this
emp of sweet The fiddle" may be hung
/ up with the banjo, the essence" shall mil
dew in forgetfulDess, the bones crumble In
neglect, and the tambourine remain silent
and mute, but the fip-fiap artists will re-
/ main with the public like Adams heritage.
He is to-day a feature of the variety show,
nightly in thousand halls in this broad
land, a CHORD" is given by the orchestra.
and the GLUE Brothers" prance to the
front 81.
In a nasal 'bare-of-tone' they MARBLE
| "We have come out to sing song Is D.
Three steps to the right e--
| About girl we love,
Return to place of beginntngl
| She Is the fairest one In town;
both handspring
| She Is my turtle dove"
General agitation OF the feet and abuse Of
the stage and exit
Encore.
Enter one brother alone. .eH
Ladies' and gentlemen: | will now sing
one of my favorite ballads
He begins
"Harki hear the angels sing
Enter other brother, who slaps the singer
upon the head. Both fall and continue to
tumble in ridiculous and muscular manner
that speaks well for their endurance. The
bass drummer keeps a close eye on their
movements, and adds ocLdt to the occasion
by the introduction of vigorous notes In
time with the falls.
Then the audience yells and applauds.
and these two young men come out and
earn their salary by additional falls and
kicking of each other.
Now, of course, there are exceptions.
There are very few gentlemen who give an
agreeable and admirable performance, but
ten will cover the entire number 1t is the
gang" that is here spoken of. 1t is nu-
merous gang" There are certainly 5000
of them. They are, as rule, young men
too lazy to work and too ignorant to hold
position If they were bulldozed into accept
ing some kind of honest employment.
A sample conversation with q brace OF
them: a-nst
The Glue brothers are standing in front Of
a saloon. You approach and remark, How
are you, Glue brothers2'
1--WE are blooming, Gull"
| where are you playing nowY
up at the sweat-box; engaged for de sea-
SOC, Gull; we paralyzed 'em the first night
What act are you doing now2'' t.
THE finest in the land-Little Sue, Gull
we do the funniest falls of any ones in de
business Come down and see us. Bill
1.-THE other brother) is falling out of three
story fahl. and am doing it from the Hy
with bass drum in my hands, 90 j,
by the way, what's become of Andy
Mckee Tor some other notable performerl?'
"Why, thei'ham' is playing in New York
Do you know, Gull, that put that Teller in
de business. Learned him his first step.
Now he's too toney to notice me. I'll get
even with him, though, you bet"
And so on. You will find that the ''Glue
Brothers were the godfathers of all the per-
formers of note in the country. They will
concede that they themselves do the FINEST
act in the country" They will tell you that
they get 500 week, when they get in reali-
ty SIS. f. r.,ll sfr
The song and dance man has high regard
| for his ability as "masher," and leads you
| to infer that in matters of the heart hes no
1 sloucb." AS before mentioned he is very
numerous. aud draws salaries running In
some instances into the hundreds for his
| nightly fandango. This is sad. :, he; should r
be gtlpr,ressed. T. '''''"''''-' .''f''"t '''-