The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-01-24
A Talk with Edwin Booth.

utica IN. u Observer.I
The visit of Edwin Booth to Utica,
and the unusual success which crowned
his efforts at the opera-house recently,
recall long and interesting converse
tion which was held with the great
tragedian in the month of January, 1864.
In answer to the question whether or
not he liked his calling, Mr.. Booth
answered, rather hesitatingly, Yes." "
Then he added, after a pause, ~ was
born to the stage, you know. l was
familiar with its traditions, its pleasures
and its hardships from my earliest boy
hood. / was relieved from all the pains
and disappointment of those who are
stage-struck.' But my familiarities
with the business, while it saved me
from the mistakes which novices make,
deprived me of the buoyancy and hope
fulness which, fancy, are experienced
by those who approach the profession
from the outside, strangers to its hard
ships, and filled only with an enthusias-
tic idea of its possible success"
After some talk of this sort Mr.. Booth
began to speak of his family.
any fatner," he said, "was charged
with good many excesses which ought
not to have been laid at his door, He
was the victim of double. l do not
mean to say that he was wholly free
from faults, or that he was not given to
occasional indulgence and some strange
eccentricities; but he was followed about
by man who bore striking personal
resemblance to him, and who was
worthless vagabond. This fellow crawled
out of good many scrapes by assuming
my fathers name. On one occasion my
father disappointed Baltimore mana
ger. On the evening that he was to ap-
pear the audience assembled, and the
manager, hoping against hope that Booth
would come, waited and waited. When
it was almost time for the curtain to go
up this vagabond came into the green
room. The manager jumped up and
greeted him as Mr.. Booth. am not
Booth he said, but / am perfectly fa-
miliar with his partp A hurried consul
tation was held, and it was decided to
let the stranger essay the role. He went
on the stage and played it through with
out break, and the people went away
saying, Booth was not at his best to-
night But of those who listened not
one in hundred had a suspicion of the
deception practiced upon them"
Chow did your father treat this
double?"
He didn't treat him at all. He very
seldom saw him. The fellow kept out
of his way. But while he was assuming
my fathers character he would stand on
the street corners half drunk and recite
long soliloquies from Shakespeare. Then
he would pass around the hat and take
up a collection, and the people, thinking
that Booth was indulging in some fool
ish pastime, would drop money into the
hat. One day my brother, Junius
Brutus, who was then a stout, lusty
young fellow, came along and found this
man personating Booth, and telling the
street-corner crowd that he was the actor.
My brothers anger outran his discre-
ton, and he knocked the vagabond
down. But the people, still believing
that the stroller was really Booth, took
sides with him and threatened to mob
Junius for striking his father. He came
to the conclusion that it was rather dam
gereus business to vindicate the family
name"
Recurring to the subject of his own
acting, Mr.. Booth said:
81 like to act, but I don't like to go
to the theater at night. If could do
my work in the day time and devote my
evenings to my books and my friends, it
would be very satisfactory"
He was asked if he learned to love the
characters which he impersonated, and
he answered:
eyes, if there'sanything lovable about
them; but some of them are repulsive.
Leok at this s"-and he pulled out from
his desk the manuscript of play. "The
FOOLS Revenge" "f don't like that
character at all. But am to make my
first appearance in it at Niblo's Garden
in a few weeks, and / hazard the sug-
gestion that it will be success. want
you to witness it and see if my acting
shows that the part is hateful to me-"
why do you play it if you dislike
itY
Well, there are several reasons. 1t
has made great Juror in Paris; it con-
tains many strong dramatic situations,
and it will probably test my capacity
better than more congenial play"
"What is your favorite character rT'
the writer asked, with slight feeling of
conjunction at subjecting Mr.. Booth
to the questions OF "mental photo
grapher."
Hamlet. The end and aim of my
ambition is to play Hamlet for a
hundred successive nights in the city of
New York. 1 don't suppose it can be
done, but if 1 could do it 1 should be
satisfied"