The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-12-08
EDWIN BOOTHS DEBUT.
IExeAanxr.

ExeAsage.l
 Ed~in Booth made his first apscar- ancc on the stage at the Boston Museum on September to. rs44 The company oeing short he was induced ,o take tho part At short notice. oa the eventual ntght the elder Booth sast to play Richard LII. The old man wss dressed fot :he part. with hts feet upon the table tn h.s dressing room before going on the stage he commenced .ntesrog ating ln that hard. laconlc style as he could 90 seriously assume.
 "Who is TFessel ,"
 "A messengss from the bas,le-keld.
 .WAat was hts mission,
 To bear the news of the defeat of the
 How did he make the tourney :"
 On horsehack."
 Where arc your spaus- Edwin glanced down and said he had 10, though, of them.
 = Here. take mine" Ed~ia unbuekled his father, xpan and fastened them on his own boots, H,s part being ende. on the stage. he t,und h,s father stfii tn h's dressing room. apparently en4rosscd ln thought.
 Have you done we'll 7" he asked
 "l think have" replied Edw,n.
 Give me my spuS." scle,ned his father and immediately young Ttessel replaced the spun upon Glcstets feet,
 In 1881, his father being announced as Richard III. led indirectly to Edwin al. tempting that character One particular night. as he and hs son were pteparinl ,o go to the thcatef. he suddenly changed his mood and refused to start, saving he WAS Ill and unable to perform. Ed~in suggested that he should rouse himself Ia the effort al ieas, present himself a, the tAeaiet. thinking when within the building he would toteao his strange rc, soive. He reminded hls father haw ~el he had sehcatsed. and how seli in health he had been all day. ba, ne argument could move hlm
 What sill they do without you. father - the ,an sad. in despair "WhA, can they substitnte at the last m ement r
 Co on and act n yourself was The cutt reply.
 After some iuuheI aiteit ttioa h.s lathe, insisted ,ha, h,s son should assume and act the haraetet of Richard on that ntgh,. There was gtea, disnay a, the old mans sudden freak
 tNA - can do t =
 That |. ~hat my lathe, saya. he la a, the hotel. and has sent me here ,o a,t in hts place
 So he dressed htmselt n his fathers clothes anu, greatly eseited. he ven, en Inc costume VAS ]" would too ~,dc foi his sligh, dgutc. All ~as con tas,on behind the seenes. and the an. willing substitute hurried to the i,fs, en trance. The theatef was crowded. Al has appearance the applsuar rang GU, in a sild bntst, but II suddenly ,eaaed. So apology had been made, and the aston ished spe' tatots allowed the play ,e pte cccd. tic. who had absorbed iato hts own being every word, look and tone ot hts father soon ~rung from the audience grat.hcd appiaase lohn K. seot sho~ed gteat concern throughout the play. tearing the breaking down of hla young Richard. bat ,n au.~s, l., the tii,s. ianged call al the dose. hr led him proudly before the curtain and inttar duecd hln as the worthy stion of a noble side <, adding ,n sotto .oee. wager they do not knos what tha, means
 on tdwins return to the hotel he ~aa questioned eoidly by his father as to hia sutcess. The elder booth vas found apparently exactly A he had let, him. unchanged in mood or pos,,,on bat Il is believed now by td~in that he witnessed he whole performance ot Richard as ~ell as that si Itessei on previous oc. asion, and waa not disaa,,sned with the result