Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-02-25

PAPER lndt ne was lufmelly 4 pi1ck-
smith in San Francisco.
He INDUCED in a hearty laugh and
replied When | hear that | always
feel like knocking the man down who
says it. No, its not true that | was a
blacksmith in San Francisco. Not
that | would be ashamed of being a
blacksmith. All, no, but because |.
loyed-my business we'll enough to pay
a San Francisco blacksmith $3.50 to
teach me to turn out a shoe. | love
my business, and l wa willing to
do this in order to make the horse
shoing scene in the Kerry Cow
more realistic. l asked a mar who
said that once where he received the
idea hat / had been a blacksmith,
and he said it was because | shod a
horse so well on the stage. | have
played Kerry Cow a good many hun
dred nights, and what kind of brains
must a man have if he couldn't learn
to knock around with a hammer and a
few pieces of iron in that time. l
wanted to make that scene as near
perfect as l could, so | went into a
blacksmith shop and learned to shoe a
horse. | never worked an hour in a
blacksmith shop before that in my
life"
When did you make your first ap-
pearance on the stage?"
"Let me see. 1t was in California
in 1855 with Backus Il Burbank's
original San Francisco minstrels-
Billy Backus and Otto Burbank, who
used to be down here at the Theater
Comique. | played a bone solo, and
did other things in the interlude."
When did you commence with
Irish characters ~
About eight years ago. About
the time that Dan Bryant did. | had
played Irish characters before that,
but | began to do them exclusively
about eight years ago."
Kerry Cow was originally written
by you, was it not?'
Il furnished the plot for it, but |
never wrote a play. | have furnished
the plots for a number of plays and
Others have written them. | fur
nished the plot for Struck Oil, Viii
liamson's play. 1t was first written
for me bya MAI named Smith have
forgotten his first name. [ told him
that | would take it if he would make
some alterations in it for me. | did
not know as much then as l do now.
If | had it to do over again Smith
wouldn't sell it to anybody else"
How has this season so far com
pared with others in SUGGEST"
Very good. 1t has been as good
as previous ones. 1t has been rather
a hard season for some companies, but
/ have managed to pull through all
right and have a little over
st. Louis Times-Journal, 22d.l
MURPHY's STORY OF THE AUTHOR
SHIP OF THE FAMOUS BALLAD CON-
TRovERTED.
80 Joe Murphy claims that his
wrote Old Folks at Home? p
| call that robbing one dead man of.
his laurels to bestow them on an
1t wa an old newspaper man who
expressed this opinion as he laid down
the Times journal yesterday.
What do you know about it?"
lueried a reporter.
This much | heard Steve Foster
sing that song the first time it vas
ever sung in public. That was in 1S48.
two years before Murphy says his
wrote it. Foster sang it in
the parlor Of the MonOngahela house
in Pittsburg. 1t was during the Presi-
campaign Of 48, and | was
then a reporter on the Pittsburg Post.
| was present when Foster sang il.
at the piano and playing his
own accompaniment. After that
q" Swanee River became a favorite
song. Why, it was sang here in st.
in l849, aud Murphy says his
wrote it in 1850. Sher. Camp.
bell or Joe Murphy, | forget which,
sang it here. No, not this Murphy
but a noted tenor singer of the same
name. 1t was while the Campbell or
the Buckley Ministries we're here, |
forget which. As long as he lived
Stephen G. Foster got a royalty from
a Boston house for every copy of that
song that wassold. Murphy talksabout
No, Mary Blaine" There was a
very popular song in those days called
. Mary Blaine, and that was written
by Foster, too, / never heard of "No.
Mary Blaine 1t wouldn't do for
Murphy to go to Pittsburg and claim
there that his brother wrote =" Swsnee
River"