The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1883-07-21

influence of my counterfeit of pas snore
the night Waterman was broke of his rest
by it, and he bought it of me to give it
to the son of an enemy Of his. Well, l
have quit jerking soda
mo, you don't tell me-" said the
groceryman, as he moved the box of raj
sins out of reach. "You never will
amount to anything unless you stick to
one trade or profession. A rolling hen
never catches the early angleworm.
"Oh, but am all right now. In the
soda business there is no chance for gen.
ius to rise, unless the soda fountain ex-
plodes. IL is all wind, and one gets tired
of constant fizz. He feels that he is a
fraud, and when he puts little syrup in
tumbler and fires a little sweetened
wind and water IN it, until the soapsuds
fill the tumbler, and charges ten cents
for that which only costs a cent, sensi-
tive soda jerker, who has reformed, feels
that it is worse than three card monte.
could't stand the wear Oh my conscience,
! so have got permanent job as super
and shall open the first of September.
Say, what's a super? 1t isn't one of
those free lunch places, that the mayor
closes at midnight, is it? and the
groceryman looked sorry.
sob, thunder, you want salt on you.
A super is an adjunct to the stage. A
supe is a fellow that assists the stars and
things, carrying chairs and taking up
carpets, and sweeping the sand off the
stage after dancer has danced jig, and
he brings beer for the actors, and does
anything that he can to add to the effect
of the play. Privately, now, have been
acting as supe for a long time, on the
| sly, and my folks didn't know anything
about it, but since reformed and decid
ed to be good, felt it my duty to tell
ma and pa all about it. The news broke
ma all up at first, but pa said some of
the best actors in this country were
supes once, and some of them were now,
and he thought suping would be the
making of me. Ma thought going on
the stage would be my ruination. She
said the theatre was the hotbed of sin,
and brought more ruin than the church
could head off. But when told her that
they always gave supe two or three ex
ira tickets for his family, she said the
theatre had some redeemng features, and
when said my entrance upon the stage
would give me splendid opportunity to
get the recipe for face powder from the
actresses, for ma, and could find out
how the actresses managed to get num-
Der four feet into number one shoes, ma
said she wished wonld commence sup
ing right oft. Ma says there are some
things about the theatre that are not SO
alfred bad, and she wants me to get seats
for the first comic opera that comes along.
Pa wants it understood with the mana
ger that supe's father has right to go
behind the scenes to see that no harm
befalls him, but | know what pa wants.
lie may seem pious, and all that, but he
likes to look at ballet girls better than
any meek and lowly follower I ever see,
and some day you will hear music
i'll the air. Pa thinks theatres are very
bad, when he has to pay dollar for
reserved seat, but when he can get in for
flesh, the theatre has many redeemng
qualities. Pa ard ma thinks am going
into the business fresh and green, but l
know all about it. When played with
Mccullough here once
"Oh, what are you giving u.s." said the
groceryman in disgust, "when you play
ed with Mccullough! What did you do?"
What did | do' Why, you old seed
cucumber, the whole centered around
me. Do you remember the scene in the
Roman forum, where Mccullough ad
dressed the populace of Rome. l was
the populace. Don't you remember
small Teller stand in front of the Roman
orator taking it in; with night shirt on,
with bare legs and arms? That was me,
and everything depended on ME. Sup
pose | had gone off the stage at the crit
cal moment, or laughed when should
have looked fierce at the inspired words
of the Roman Senator, it would have
been dead give away on Mccullough.
AS the populSce of Rome | consider N.Y.
self a glittering success and Nc took me
by the hand when they carried C;esar's
dead body out, and he said, us three did
ourselves proud Such praise from Nc
Cullough is seldom accorded to supe.
But l don't consider the populace of the
imperial city of Rome my masterpiece.
Where l excel is in coming out before
the curtain, between the acts and I'M
hooking the carpet. Some supes go out
and turn their backs to the audience,
showing patches on their pants, and rip
up the carpet with no style about them.
and, She dust flies, and the boys yell
'supe,' and the supe gets nervous and
forgets his cue, and goes off tumbling
over the carpet, and the orchestra leader
is afraid the supe will fall on him. But
| go out with quiet dignity that is only
gained by experience, and | take hold of
the carpet the way Hamlet takes up the
t skull of Iorick, and the audience is par
alyZed. | kneel down on the carpet, to
unlock it, in devotional sort of a way
that makes the audience bow their heads
as though they were in church, and be-
| fore they realize that am only supe. l
: have the carpet unlocked and march
out. They never guy me, cause act
well my part.
Well, I'd like to go behind the scenes
with you some night" said the grocery
. man, Offering the bad boy an orange to
, get solid with him, in view of future
1 complimentary tickets. "No danger, is
there -
"No danger if you keep off the grass.
Some time next fall you put on a clean
shirt and a pair of sheet iron pants, with
/ stove legs on the inside, and l will take
3 you behind the scenes to see some good
moral show. In the meantime, if you
have occasion to talk with pa, tell him
that Booth and Barrett, and keene COM
: menced on the stage as supes, and Sal.
Q vini roasted peanuts in the lobby Of some
+ theatre. | want our folks to feel that
f am taking the right course to become a
I 1,n T