The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1879-04-23
AAL IN wv EYE.
Aa Exeruciatingly Funny Incident.


engaged IN fervcnt prayer, g. bill
arious worS!iipl'er named Marvel
took u qnid OF tobacco in his band,
and, watching tor Il favorable op-
: portuI:lty when tie clergy,nan's
head was thrown back in earnest
devotion, let fly The moist weed,
which struck fair il; the face Of
the human mark. The prayer
suddenly stopped aud a scene en-
sued, and Marvel was taken be-
fore q resident magistrate and
fined S5 costs. This reminds one
that prominent Southern preach
er has SAID that the only time be
ever felt like laughing in the pull
pit was when hc saw man in the
gallery drop quid Of tobacco in
the face Of Il sleeping man in a
pew on the ground floor Of the
church.
Yes" said u venerable Bri,on,
Cockney ofthe Cockneyest, TO the
writer who had shown him the
item above, sit is getting we'll on
to fifty years since [ saw some
thing like that, and quite as fun
ny, in a London theatre. The
play was Richard, and the Rich
ard was Edmund Kean. The
theater was packed, and every one
in it was under the spell Of the &C.
tors magic. The play was al
most over-in fact they had come
to the tent scene in the fifth act,
where Richard bids Ratclitf leave
him, and everybody is preparing
for the rising of the ghosts. Well,
in the front row Of the gallery [
could see one admirer Of the
drama, fairly wrought up by the
players passion and expectation,
clenching the front Of the gallery
with his hands, and leaning away
out over ii, staring downward,
with his eyes protrading and his
mouth opening. Right beneath
him, il the pit was another ad,
mirer Of the drama and the actor,
as intensely wrought upon by the
mimic scene, who, with his mouth
and eyes wide open, was staring
upward as intentiy. And, just at
this instant, from the unheeding
jaws of the man in the gallery fell
q tremendous quid. l traced its
flight through the air, and-ker-
slap !-down it comes fat in the
eye of the man in the pit. He in
the gallery started back, awaken
ed from his trance, and his victim,
awakened from his, jumped up,
and, turning to the gallery, yelled,
iii give &5 to any one who will
show me the son Of a sea-cook
that dropped his tobacco-quid in
to my eye.' This incident and ex-
clamation, as you may naturally
imagine, coming right in the mid
die Of the extreme tension to
which the audience had been
wrought up, had a tremendous
effect, and every one in the house
fairly shricked and doubled up
with laughter-even the actors on
the stage could not control them
selves-and the curtain had to |
come down. Finally, when every
ones sides were sore, and the au-
dience was too exhausted to laugh |
any more, it was rung up again
and the play proceeded peri|ously
but decorously till Richard, Gates
by, Ratcliff, and the others came
on. Then there was gurgling |
giggle heard in one or two quar-
ters, choked off by a desperate
effort, till the precise passage was
reached at which, a little while
before, the fatal guild had fallen,
when simultaneously every soul
present, remembering the ex-
quisitely absurd incident, made
one conyulsive attempt to restrain
himself and bSrst out in O. roaring
gufaw. The fountains ofthe great
deep of merriment were broken
up, and people bowled, hugged
es, lay backin their seats
and grew apoplectic. Down came
the curtain again, and, when at
last the audience was worn out, it
was once more raised, and the
play went on. This time ali went
nicely, the fatal line was passed,
and there was not @ snicker, when
one staid old gentleman in box,
who had never smiled through the
whole ordeal, but had sat in deep
disgust, having been communing