Omaha daily bee., 1883-01-04
SIC TRANSIT
The People who Figured l n the
Famous 'Blsck Crook

NV York Lister - the Phi delphia Times.
| was thinking just now that the
timely topic was hard 10 find when
grand, gloomy and peculiar MIR.
| Richard Frank White doomed no be.
fore me. / have known Mr.. White
since l was young and cherubic. As
he looked then, looks he now. Then
he was a valued contributor to the
Courier and Enquirer and magazines.
Now he con6ne, himself to magazines.
He was always tall, thin and dis.
tiuguished, and grayer and older and
softer and sweeter. He is a mild
edition of George Willism Curtis,
Esq l have always read White with
pleasure. To be sure he is psdantic,
but everybody is something. l am
told there are people who don't alp.
prove my ~siylt--So you see. Mr..
White was u trenchsut political odi.
torial screeder when l ate bread aud
milk. He and James Wa : IN Webb,
the elder Bennett, Greeley and little
Raymond (best of them alb we're
lunohers together. White prided
himself on his admiration of lovely
women and his is, of pure Eng
lish. The former led him into the
society of Pauline Markham, the tall
English blonde, whose hair loated
behind her like a trial, whose legs
were long and shspely, and who had q
~"velvet voice." About that time
White had q discussion about pure
English, and was quite indignant be.
cause 1t was said he was misinformed,
and that the fair Pauline knew more
than he. And, by the way, 1 saw
Markham a few weeks ago. She was
fat and pale-ob, so pale. She seemed
a wreck of her old time self. l re.
member when men fought for her
hand, rsfaed for her company, bid
high for the pleasure of driving her
home. At n time she was 80 popu-
lar that donkeys took the horses from
her carriage and pulled her home
themselves. As Stalacta in "The
Black Crook" she was superb. OF
late years Nellie Larkelle makes a
more magnificent creature of the
queen of the waters, but Markham, as
a spirituelle spirite, with grace and
long hair, statuesqueness and superb
carriage, gold bracelets and pearls all
over her, and nothing to speak in the
way Of clothes, was the knee plus
ultra of stage divinities. / ought to
know, for l used to "drop in" to Gee
the Amazon ballet nearly every night,
and always aat with the Bald Headed
club.
How all that "Black Crook" crowd
have gone The firm was William
Wheatly, Harry Palmer, and Harry
Jarrett. Mr.. Barras, who wrote the
play, was disguised because the ballet
made such a hit that nothing but a
shred of the lines and a skeleton of
the plot were left. Barras made $75,-
600 out of it, fell through a t~restle
bridge, and other people got his
money. Wheatley .was an actor of
the old school. He had a beautiful
wife. When she died he went to the
tomb every week and looked at her
embalmed remains. He's dead too.
He made about $500, 600 and 1t Is
divided among his families. Harry
Palmer was gay and festive and
pusher. He made 5000, 600 and left
about 800, 900 to his pretty widow
and handsome son.. Harry Jarrett
made 5000, 900, gave half to his wife,
who put 1t in a New York house and
IL now in Europe with "Fun on the
Bristol" Markham is all broken up.
Betty Rieli and Emily Rigli were
dancers then. Markham was not.
Betty married a nice fellow in
pAiladelphla, and Emily has blos-
somed into a first. rate actress
of the saturnine school. Sangalli
was one Of the premieres. She had a
famous ~back.action trick which made
her look as though, when she was en-
ttrely twisted inside out, she'd fall to
pieces, but she didn't. She and the
king of Bavaria are in Europe. Bon
fanti was another premier. She was
a great favorite with the late and as
yet unburied A. 7. Ste wart, and the
inside of his stage box was always at
her disposal. He was kind and gem
erous to her and helped her along
wonderfully, until she ran away and
married young Hoffman and then
came back and settled down to dane.
ing. / saw her In the Alcazar the
other evening, capering about with a
silvered fig leaf, fat and mstronly.
Heigho, how we go! But to return to
Mr.. Richard Grant White. Many of
our readers, will be glad to know that
he still lives-as polite, as grs ciousand
as suave as ever. l don't know
whether he is married. or not.