The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1881-04-08
Stage Stories.

Mr.. Edward Compton, the 'leading
support of Adelaide Nelson during her
last engagement in the United States,
tells the following stories:
A celebrated actress, being imbued
with compassion for the sufferers in the
disastrous "Cotton Famine" kindly
volunteered her valuable services, and
played two night Cat Liverpool, think
| for their benefit. Of course, the house
was crowded, and many were the ex-
pTessions of admiration, both for the
actress and for the woman, bestowed on
the fair performer. At the conclusion of
the second nights entertainment, there
were loud calls for the gifted artist, and,
in response to the applause which
greeted her appearance before the cur
/ tain, she spoke in accents not unmoved
/ by emotion the following words, which,
/. if few in number, were at least thor
oughly to the point: "Lad es and gentle
men, Heaven bless you for coming for
| ward in such Plumbers to aid the good
work have done my best to promote.
| Believe me, assistance is much needed
for the poor sufferers. Heaven bless
| you! / am here in good cause, the
cause of charity! Ladies and gentle
men, good-by. Next year hope to be
with you again, and do little on my
own account! Heaven bless you'll"
Exit
I was playing Romeo" one night at
Birmingham, and we had arrived at that
scene which finishes with the killing of
"Tybalt' by the sword of Romeo. "
As this scene is usually "closed in" well
up to the stage to allow Outlets" cham
Der to succeed it Immediately, the rep
resentative of the fiery 'Tybalt' is al
| ways asked to die in the third or fourth
entSance-j. e., at the back of the
stage-and lie close until the flats are
run on and he is hidden from view.
"Tybalt' received my sword in the
usual effective fashion, and, treating the
audience to tremendous ''backfan,
dropped down stiff. and stark, and deadl
The prompter at once gave the signal for
the flats to be pulled on, but alas! the
scene shutters were pulling at something
else, and did not respond, the only move
ment being the shutting of feet, caused
by the employees rushing "next door" to
fetch the delinquents. Having heard
the whistle, and listened to the conse-
quent shutting of feet, our friend ely
bait" concluded that all was right, and,
calmly sitting up, he very methodically
put his collar to rights, fidgeted with q
button at his neck, decently pulled down
| his Shakespearean shirt, and, shaking
| the dust off his wig, turned round to get
up, when to his establishment and dis
may, he encountered the amused gaze OF
/ the large audience fixed intently on himl
|. With Mortified "My G-T' he rapidly
measured his length second time, and
the scene shutters having returned, the
flats were rapidly run on, amid the up
roarious laughter of every spectator be-
fore and behind the scenes!
! It's all very well to be ''true sub
| ject," but some persons are apt to be SO
carried away by their respect for the
throne that they can never let slip an OPP
| portunity of making public their very
! loyal feelings. One of this kind was a
j capital actor Qet us call him Harry Co.
burn) who happened to be playing
"Capt. Thornton" in Rob Roy, and was,
therefore, required to give ont she fol-
! lowing sentence: eff have been de-
| celved by those artful savages, know
how to die for my error, without dis
gracing the King I serve or the country
that gave me birthp' Just as he was
going on it suddenly occurred to him
that, as Victoria was then the reigning
sovereign, it would be more becoming
to him to substitute the word Queen for
the word King, and wind up with the
speech right royalty with 'the Queen I
serve, instead of with ''the country that
gave me birth. Whether, however,
his strong notions of royalty made him
careless of all else, or whether he got
"muddled" by so hastily attempting a
transportation in SO familiar speech, no
one could ever tell, but he certainly pro-
duced marked impression by the fol-
lowing new reading, which he delivered
most emphatically and impressively:
eff I have been deceived by these artful
savages, know how to die for my error,
without disgracing the country l serve.
or the Queen that gave me BIRTH" I
believe he was dubbed Prince Harry af-
ter this.