The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-06-17

The number of people in the United
States who have not been tortured with
tina diab0lical inluisitiOn known as the
cantata Of ''Queen Esther" IL about
equal to those who have drawn capital
prizes la the Louisiana lottery.
The plot Of the play, or cantataas It II
called, Is founded ON the book Of Esther
in the Bible. and is fully as sacrtlegiOus.
II not more 50 than the ''passiOn Play"
whose performance was forbidden III
Chicago several ycars ago, when James
O'Neill was sO anxious to assume the
character Of Jesus and be crucitted be-
tween two Chicago thieves. The cam
tata Of Esther il sacrilegiOus because 1t
burlesQlles one Of the most beautiful
female characters in the Bible. Vet in
the face Of all this We have known some
Of the strictc~t ministerial divines tO as
sune parts in ii. particularly that ct
.Ahasuerns, the King, which requires u
gNNl physique and u bass voice. The
play is usually put on the lnmr,ls for the
purpose Of raising funds for some ft,an-
cially embarrassed country church. and
this il he reason why ~ many ministers
come to be mixed up in it in the cl'arac
ter Of Ahasllert,s. which, by the way, II
the star part. Of course, 1t Is never ex-
pectcd that good singing and good act
ing can be mixed up in u musical bur
les.lue, 20 about all the performers IN
Esther have to do is to stand up like Il
row Of tree cOxes, open their months
and howl.
As We said before, Allasllcrils must
have ln,ss voice. or else lle don't count
much in the game. One Of the Cotton
wood, Nebraska, churches concluded to-
get up the play of Esther. tut found out
that they would be Obliged 10 call Oh
Joe COnnOr for help, as he had the best
and most pOrtly form in town. a. we'll is
the deepest, dOwn-in-the-welI bass voice
north Of the Platte river. COnnOr was
not u church member. by the way, and
more given to trading horses and sllak-
ing dice than to spiritual matters, But
he had the bass voice, and aS long :ls he
was in the habit Of straying into church
about once In six months. the cOnlnlittcc
put him down tO sing .\l,asucr,ls, with
the ultcriOr motive that he would also
draw hig crowd Ni the worlds people
tO the ecclesiastical how. THE eventual
night arrived. and when Joe Common III
Il long blue drc~sing-g4Wn and tin
cOrOnct on his head marched on l0 the
stage, accom-, panied by nlMut Twenty-Five
young girl. as chorus singers, one vi
.JN'S ci.un,> in the audience sail" out:
Now, Joe, cut il tat and hold your cnd
~ with the rest Ot 'rn."
For u moment Joe was conn plctcly par
alyZesl. lie hal just emerged from u
rather dark little .lrt~sing-rs",ni. ami
coming suddenly int" the brilliant
clare Of the f'mtliyhts. i,r didn't know
ior awhile but that hc hml got some
oi his kin" tO:.ycry on wrong sidc up,
ar inside ",t. 50 Il. stopped and made :.
minute examination Of his gorgeous :'l'-
r,rcl. Seeing nothing ~! "f the way
with his clothes lIc turned "n the audi
cIce AMI said sonnet hing cntir'l v irrelev'
ant to the performance and not found ~
the text of the play.
'.Now, lwt;,rc W. go any farther with
this little affair. ! wish /" say IL Pete
Davis. over there in the S,N,l iIe:.@! rornct
Of the room, that while I'm uP here ! m
Kin. .Al,aS,lcril>, but when the circus i
over, a,,d ". 'vc got IIan.ar hun. I" Il
telegraph, pole. and M"rl'":li 'Sa''rt to
purple robes amd II boiled shirt. that I'm
plain joe C.Hln"r aud will proceed IT,
/" jam Mr.. Davis head down IN ":l"n:
his shoulder blades IL i,c inj"iS Il"
many Of his ambiguous aud Sir."~ti" rt-
marks into the ln"ly of this play as now
written l,y the original au:hOr. Th''>.
side bets will also apply I" amy either
jim Grow sl''"%rr vii" wants I" FAX" =
i,p and make Il s!"S'iai,r "f the matte"
The st,.n> will now roll in IL" "ih'< :.
throne and then tho chorus can =" ".i
and help Queen Esther an up hcr o'''1
hair while I sin" Il solo.