The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-11-10
THE NEW ORLEANS DEMOCRAT, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER TO-

outfor his benefit an old burlesque play which
Foote had introduced there. called " The
The satire Of the piece offended the craft, and
some Of them wrote urgently to Dowton, re-
questing him to substitute another play and
promising him 81 full house II he would! He
gave them no attention, and menacing letters
would attend and hoot him down. He laughed
at these threats, and persisted in his pro-
gramme. But when the night came ne
soon discovered they we're e not s4 j idle l.n,
to monopoIize not only every seat in the
gallery, save two, but to fill every
other part OF the house. Dowton's appear
anoe was the signal for the uproar to begin;
offered twenty pounds to any person, who
would point out the man who threw them.
His offer was received with q yell and q
shower Of other missiles. Not word would
offer to change the piece to "The village
Lawyer" they would accept no compromise,
and The uproar within was echoed by O. crowd
without who could not gain admittance. The
riot now became SO violent that 1T was neGes-
sary to send for magistrate and force Of
constables; these were powerless against the
| immense number Of the rioters. This victory
over the law rendered them more daring and
| furious than ever; fears began to be enter
| tained for the safety Of the building and the
IL
was sent for; this quickly settled the matter;
| there was general STAN pede, but not before
sixteen had been captured in their flight
| The claims OF rival actors and actresses
have often been the cause OF serious disturb
anees OF such were the Giroux riots, which
broke out OF the Surrey in 1910, when that
| theatre was under the management Of Ellis
| ton. Miss Giroux, D. favOrite dancer, cOnsid-
| cred herself aggrieved by the engagement Of
Miss Taylor, o rival terpsiehore. The two
ladies, ventilating their real or imaginary
| wrongs abroad, soon secured to themselves
bodies of partisans, and the appearance Of
gled cheers, groans, applause and howls from
enemies and supporters. When Ellisttn at
| tempted to address the audience he was
hissed and pelted off the stage. Night after
night the disturbances were carried on. Two
public houses in the neighborhood altered
their sign to tThe Giroux' and "The Taylor"
and became the rendezvous of the two fac
| tIons, between which desperate battles were
frequently fought: crowds waited nightly at
the stage door to hiss and cheer the ladies rs
| fered.
| JOHN KEMBLBg BATTLE.
The. famous 60 P" riots, in which the
play-goers contended against the raising of
charges for seats In the Covent Garden The
atre, when it was rebuilt after the ire Of 1903,
demanding the ''old prices" eclypse all other
theatrical Disturbances. Here John Kemble
eontended with the audiences for sixty-one
nights They ended by his surrender on
nearly all the points contended for, and it
seemed as II all law, order and administra-
tion of justice had been suspended to bring
about this result. The rioters wore the let
ter o. 2, on their hats and waistcoats, rang
dustmen's bells, sprung watchmen's rattles,
blew coachmens horns, and got up g. kind OF
| Carmagnole dance-an alternate stamp and
cry OF 0. ?. Ladies' Wore 0. 2. medals
Constables armed with bludgeons were
brought from Bow street; bruisers
were sent into the pit; free fights and
broken heads were INDUCED in nightly, but
they could not even check the rioters. A large
sum OF money, upwards Of four hundred
pOuuti5, wtt5 aatteeted tee support them- Sol
diers had to guard Kembles house in Great
Russell street afterwards pulled down fo1
the enlargement Of the British Museum) from
the mob who nightly sang derisive songs un
der his windows. A Mr.. Clifford, who had
been apprehended by Brandon, thebox-keeper
as a rioter, commenced All action against the
latter, and OF course won 1t. Crowds outside
that could not gain admission to the court
| waited for the verdict and received it witt
| tremendous cheers. A diuner was given at the
"Crown and Anchor" tavern to about thref
hundred people, Mr.. Clifford being in tbs
chair and a committee was formed to raise
subscriptions to defend all persons nndel
prosecution for rioting. Kemble, after two
months OF struggle, gave way.