The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-01-24
For the Farmer and Mechaais-
The Theatre.
BY A LAWYER.

ii. NV old friend. whose soul is witt
the saints, l trust, DR.. Higgins. o
MARYLAND. who was a great theatre
goer. took me t o see Bontanti dance
The Doctor declared repeatedly durin.
the evening that she did not compar,
| with Ellsler. whose carriage he hat
helped 10 drag from the "Old Front Il
Barnums when younger and more I'M
presslhle. | thought she was the very
poetry of motion. and he's beauty con
Iribnted nothing to IA opinion. tor she
had none OF that. Active. young, anC
graceful. every motion. every curve o
the body was an actual expression o.
the music 10 which she kept time. 30
cially, and with the craft, Fechter was
a failure, but he was n great artist fol-
all that. ANY II who has seen him
play Ruv Bias or Claude Melnotte, will
admit that. The point at which he
shows Pauline to her sleeping apart
ments in his mothers cottage has never
been surpassed on any stage.
Salvini was to me a liberal education:
yes. n revelation. l never knew what
| an a tor was until | saw him play
Othello. He is head and shoulders
| above them all. There is a wide differ
ence between A great reader and 4 great
actor. Those vino have seen Edwin
Booth as Hamlet and as Iago Will re-
, alne the distinction at once. When L
| Sa Forest he was old feeble, and
his voice was cracked. But | would
shut my eyes TO keep from seeing him,
and listen. Occasionally he would do
liver a sentence in a voice such ds be-
longed to no other human being. Bar
Tett is both a finished actor and reader.
good in all he undertakes, and he I'M
dertakes a great deal, but he is great in
none. Salvini is truly great in Othello.
He appears to be ii splendid animal
upon which has been ~engrafted a hu-
MAJ soul i'll process OF development.
(That idea is taken from Beechcr's last
sermon III which he gives i'll his adhe-
sion to the Darwinlan theOry.) He
spoke Italian. Any detects in prouun-
CATION wera hid from my ears. To VIII
ness Salvinl play Uthello, to hear Mil
son sing. to behold the Falls Of Niagara,
these are vents i'll ones lite which stay
with hnm unaldcd hy memory.
Dr.. Higgins used to say that no one
could sing like Jenny Lind, dance Ike
Etlsler, play tragedy like the elder
Booth, or comedy Ike Powers. Thai is
the way with the old folks. There is
something iisayrecalle u them about
the new.
john Randolph preferred ] ear to any
OF oilaksp. are ) plays. | confess | had
M conception 81 tie character until |
saw McGuliougi'> matches DupersoiIa-
ton oi it. 1t is worth ii trip to New
York To see. Mine y0u | do not set up
y,. =, S,,l.r. -, I-..- 80, NJ. r.
though long in trouble, has been short
III years.
Old 10 Sweeny and his banjo is 40 far
back as | c..n remember. Matt Manly
knows more about these things than
any man | know. tOser a dish of
steamed oysters ut "Sliaws' after a
first night" lie is Il charming cOmpan-
ion. (Or any othei time, but especially
then. He acted as our host and escort
to the fam us old Holiday Street thea
ire. one night III 1873. AS we sat at
supper AFTER the play, the theatre
was burned 10 the ground.-ED. T. &
NJ l was pretty green the first con-
cert | ever attended. | knew nothing
about full dress aud all that sort Of a
thing, so | went IN regular country cos
tune. wearing. | distinctly remembers
paper collar Alich melted of during the
performance. Kellogg sang. 1t was
the first time ] ever heard a first class
artist, and it was a Ion. time before |
could realize that the performance was
notrreal. When a u onth afterwards
heard Mrs. Scott SiddoRs read / was
as swell as the best. She cannot
read very we'll. but it is wor. il the price
to look at her pretty face and handsome
dress. A year or so ago l saw an APP
peal tor money to raise a monument, or
something OF the kind. over Dan Bry-
ant. ! sent a dollar. | felt like owed
it. After all. | have gotten more good
fun out Of that man than out of any
body in this world, except myself. lie
could act and talk exactly ike an old
fa-hione! darkcy. He did not have a
bit of the "colored' man in him.
payed one dollar to heal Ole Bull plav
the fiddle. Although the interest ON
that dollar would have amounted tn
considerable by this time, | don't re-
greet spending it. l hol,e never to hear
Jefferson is nearly perfect in Rip Van
Wnkle. yet III other characters he does
not equal John 5. Clarke, whose Major
ellington De Boots leaves nothing TO
be wished Tor. Owens is not to e
named the same year. Theodore
Thomas used to live i'll Warrenton.
North Carolina, when a lad. He was
poor. and was the recipient of some acts !
OF Indne from Senator Ransom. then
a young lawyer who lived there. Sew
eral years ago Thomas PLAYED i'm WASH
lngtOn. Gen. Ransom recognized him
at once. and sent IA card containing the
names of Representatives, Yeates and |
Ellis, his own anHsthe writer's. After
the performance was over an usher cs-
corted Us back OF the stage where
Thomas stood in all his glory surround
ed by at least so of his performers.
Senator Ransom. after introducing us.
said-''Is this the Theodore Thomas 7
used to know in Warrenton. n. G. .,
Thomas replied evasively, Il have been
there" The Senator said: s.Do Won,
not remember Matt Ransom. a yoi1ng
lawyer, who knew you we'll there p;
Thomas said Il do not remember -
1t was evident that surrounded as he
was by his performers he did not wish
to recall the days of his poverty and oh
security. After a few compliments unon
the evenings entertainment paid as only
Senator Ransom an. we retired.
There are a good many men like
Thomas in this world.
Barnum's cir us tent, we'll lighted m
with fifteen thousand spectators. The
bands playing, and the performance 90
N is a fine sight.
Nilsson, Kellogg, and Parepa Rosa
differed greatly in their styles. Parena
an immense woman, and her voice
mad tremendous volume. The notes
came from her throat like the flow of q