The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1881-07-05
Live and Let Live.

E3lCoT DuJtS b1lNEh'
In an article appearing in the Inter Noun
tain OF June 18th, under the heading
"Amusements," occurs some of the following
words !: "Butte will not be glad to welcome
them the histrlonic bull whackers these
putatlve actors spread their blankets on cheap
back lots and carry away what falls into their
till theatrical cattle some civet TO sweeten
our imaginations," etc., even dragging up the
venerated dead as a cat's-pav' to say "they
initiated humanity so abominably." Hard
words, that do an injustice to the courtesy
and taste Of the citizens Of Butte,
and are grossly insulting to the actors
and their patrons throughout the territory
Helena shows herself not afraid to expose
her well-flled jewel case. Montana is too
roomy, and Butte, the Dominique of the
Rocky mountains, sits too secure Oh her huge
nest OF silver eggs to fright or peck at
strangers. but will give a good-natured cluck
to all honest visitors. Vivian must have sup
posed happily when he left the whole United
States trying to mimic his inimitables. An
imagination that could not thrill to'the de-
lineation of Leah, by Miss Irvine, nor appre-
ciate her rega! carriage in Thu Danichefis,
would certainly prefer the ~"civet" rather
than to feed with his higher-bred namesake
in the clover patch. Such ~"cattle'' as Mel
lie Boyd must have a peculiar witchery
about them when they can fill a hall twelve
nights at the present prices of admission just
to see them portray the sad, wild and weird.
Then it remains for the vivacious and pathet-
ic 'scCne shifter'' Katie Putnam, with her
pleasant and caretul"supernumeraries''to carry
the town only to see her "imitate humanity
so ~abominabIy.' And, to those shistrionic
bullwhackers'-I seem to remember the lat
ter term as occurring in previous issues, as a
sort of handle to the huge club called :'the
survival of the titteSt" so often shook over the
head of the doomed Butte MINER)-among
whom is Sawtelle with his - disposition but
undisputed dramatic talent, and "Old Boz
as the ~dignlfied old man, Learock in tragedy
and the king of mushroom lords. Emery, as
a perfect a0dlking gentleman. "Putative"
were they? Who ever heard Hall assert that
he was a real Irishman, Lepetre or Thompson
a Dutchman or the little obscure genius,
JOHNNY Nutsen, a yeritable woman? Did
they "spread their blankets on cheap back
lots?" in Helena! Perhaps that was a little
trick of the actors limiting that Butte ne eded
attractive hotel room at less than Aston prices.
Truly their tills must be burdensome after
camping so cheaply on fry-pan grub and pay
ing $40 per night for a hall which is ventilated
to the verge of suffocation, and the fire escape
would be discounted by a crooked
rat hole. Why, the ungrateful Arabs
ought to be forced to purchase that
cheap back lot at about $500 pc
foot front and erect thereon an opera house
that would compare with Ming's, and then in
vest the balance in a raft on which our mon
led men could float those school house bonds.
The writer of the article also init
mates that we might invest large
ly in cigars or poker chips" Now,
personally, l protest. You are crOwding my
claim. Having used enough of the first to
gorge a lively hay-press and handled enough
of the latter to make a necklace for Mother
Earth, l leave you to guess over which shout
der the amusements" appear. Surely
there is nothing 'sputative" in the character
it leaves me to represent-see large bills by
Mitchell.
Again, in the issue Of the 23d, comes this
"nailer": " Prince bismarck is said never
to go to the opera, the theatre, or an art exhibit
Maggie! with your sisters and
Your cousins and your aunts Stand in
with US! "Scene = shifters, supernu-
meraries, putative actors and doughty
I" bull-whackers" or the flank. Now let us
at least say, The ID he dont!!' Oh,that
we were the Gar, so that we could enjoy life!
Soon the erudite will be addressing us igno-
rant Doors of Montana, who have " hunger
ed for exhibitions" as " Gee, Brigham, and
haw, Roan.' But Won we hold our heads
high when he shall consider us as advanced
from our chrysalis bovinity aud calls US
:" %Straighten up, Broncho; pick it up, Jenny"
Hope dies within lis, though, when We see
the shadow of that awful club, " the survival
of the ~tittest." When all the actors and their
patrons shall go to Helena won't there be
a jolly crowd ? and the Bismarck Of the Inter
Mountain looms up alone, left in the
Soviet"
SQUARE DEAL.
BUTTE, June "A, 1881.