Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-01-26

Some OF his Ridiculous Freaks,

Some OF his Ridiculous Freaks.
The late actor Sothern's peculiar tenn
| perament led him into numerous practical
jokes. Many queer stories are told of him
that had no foundation in fact, but there
were enough based on truth to satisfy the
most exacting lover OF the farcical. Per-
haps one OF the chief of these was perpe-
trated i'll New York some years ago, when
the ''sacred spire ~ of Trinity church was
selected as the scene of his caper and the
good people Of New York in general and
Wall street in particular were the chosen
victims. he inserted a card in the papers
and issued a circular also to the following
effect:
'.Prof. Cantell A. Big.ie, of the scien-
tiiic school of Wisconsin university. has
the honor to inform the public that he will
give ah exhibition OF his completed appar-
atus for navigating the air on Wednesday
afternoon, the 9th inst, at 3 o'clock, pre-
cisely, i'll the vicinity Of Trinity church.
The professor proposes to fly from house
to house across Bro adway, at angles. then
from Trinity to Bowling Green and return.
and will ascend as high as the summit of
Trinity steeple and hover few hours in
that vicinity. An opportunity will be
| given after the exhibition to examine the
apparatus. The people are respectfully
invited
I Such, in brief, was the bait offered, and
was greedily swallowed. At half.past IL
on the day in question little knot of
people had gathered close to the church
yard ratings; at l o'clock the pavement
was iii measure Obstructcd At 9 the
tide overtlowed into the street, and by :,
p. M, the advertised hour for the exhibi-
tion, the whole breadth of Broadway was
occupied by a densely packed and strug-
Cling mass Of humanity. The hubbub
continued for some time, but. like all
things, ended, after which SOthern and two
confedcratcs crept quietly from behind the
Lawrence tomb and demurely walked up
town. Sothern enlcavOred to persuade
the public that he knew nothing of it, and
sent the following card to the Herald:
| GRAMERCy PARK HOTEL-To the cdi-
tor Of the Herald: Will you kindly state
that am not responsible for tho flying
hoax at Trinity church on Wednesday
last. Believing with Washington that it is
wrong to tell story, [ will simply state
| that Florence did it. Yours, etc.
f. A. SOTHERN.
One OF the most extraordinary bits o.;
pleasantly" he ever connived had a most
natural origin. Mr.. A. NJ. Palmer, of the
Union Square theatre, Mr. Sothern, and
Mr.. Lee, the husband of Adelaide Nelson,
were lunching in Mr.. Browns restaurant,
| when Mr. Lee, incidentally commenting on
| the American habit of carrying pistol,
aired his knowledge of what an English
swell would do if Il ruffian assaulted him
raise his hand quietly and knock him
down. Sothern invited party to dine
with him on the following Sunday. They
did. Mr.. Sothern presided, the guest Of
the evening, MIR. Lee, sitting on the
right, Nele Seymour at the foot
of the table, and Dan Bryant
at the left. The guests were all in even
ing dress. The dinner was a sumptuous
one, and well served; the wines were of
rich and rare vintages. Hardly smile
ripplcd over the face Of any one present.
although, indeed some remark was made,
! when Mr.. GaylOr took from under his coat
| paper battle axe-tlc broad blade being
covered with tin foil-such as is used to kill
tyrants on the stage. While as the soup
was being served Mr.. Neil Bryant drew
from beneath the back collar of his coat q
dirk knife, the blade of which was over q
foot long, which he solemnly unclasped
and placed beside his plate. Mr.. Chris
Conner took :. six-shooter from his coat
tail pocket, and laid it down carelessiy on
the toble. Mr.. Lee looked around i'm a
hewildcrcd way. Nelse Seymour drew
scythe from under the table. and then
polieSman's clab, and laid them in the
middle of the board. At this Mr.. Lee be-
gan to move very uncasily, and whispered
to this fr:eld Mr.. Sothern -
"Old friend, what does this meau?"
Keep quiet" replied Sothcrn, sit is as
| have feared. These gentlemen have been
drinking and they have quarreled about
friend Of theirs, 4 Mr.. Wcymyss Jobson.
quite al eminent scholar. and very es-
timabc gentleman but | hope, for our
sakes that they will not attempt to settle
their quarrel here. 1t is dreadful. but
hope, dear boy, that they will go away
quietly and have no row. It is Il fashion
they have here to settle their disputes at 4
table OF wherever they meet. All we can
do now is to await events.''
"But there will be murder here. Can
We not notify the police OF their nten-
tiOns:''
"impossiblc. my dear fellow answer
ed Sothern, in u distressing whisper,
"Were you even to be suspected by these |
men of attempting to leave the room you |
would be shot like dog and no satisfac-
ton would be given to your relatives in a
court Of JUSTICE BY this time Mr.. Lee
was thoroughly aroused, and in no mood |
for tasting even the first course. "What
an internal country" he said, in q
whisper. For few moments the regular
banquet business went on, when suddenly
a row arose at the lower end of the table,
and Mr. Neil Bryant, sprinsing to his feet
tiercely exclaimed whoever says that
tho History cfthe French Recoluion. writ
ten by my friend, David Weymyss J Tyoson
is not as good a book in every respect as
that written by Tom Carlyle on the sam,
subject, is a liar, thief anl if there
is any fool present who desires to take
it up l am his man. All the guests
rose suddenly, and every one grasp
ed his weapon. Chris. Connor roared as
he seized his pistol, "You are another.
Bryant, and by my haiidome l will prove
it Oh Your treacherOus bcdy." Then shots
were fired and the room was filled with
smoke and uproar. Several of the guests
cliNhcd and struggled, and Nclse Seymour
while struggling across the table thrust
his foot into the eight-quart soap turcen, :
made wild plunge, but was knocked ,,
lown, and then found it impossible to re- j..
ease his foot from the vessel. Mr.. Lee
an to the door, but the conspirators had /
Ocked it. Billy Florence thrust q Ion o
Snife in Lees hands and cried out ODE
end yourself! This is butchery-sheer :.
'utchery! Sothern kept saying cont;n- t
tally to him, keep cool and don't get S
hot! This is awful-a thousand paitlons G
Il am stranger in the country, and I G
lad no expectation Of -.ieeting these de- q
mons at Il dinner given to my friend ~
The hotel in the meantime had been P
larmed, and the guests and walters out d