Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-28
LETTER FROM BERLIN.
Mr.. Booth and His Great Success
Abroad-His Family sorrows.

Aoroad-His Family Sorrows.
Special Correspondence OF the Globe.D. mocrat.
BERLIN, February 4, 1883.-If / am
TO make the acquaintance Of my
oouatrymen who read the great relig.
ious daily, l can not please them bet.
tee, perhaps than to say something of
our famous bother, Erwin Booth, be.
1 re whom I'll e:lln bows itself. l
have seen liza several times on the
atage here, and recently my pride Ia
him was Increased by making his
acquaintance at a dinner party given
In his honor by one of the American
colony. There were no Germans
present except Herr Giusbsrg, WHO
has married o beautiful young Ameri.
a lady, a Mise Blsok, formerly of
Detroit. She Ia = famous beauty here,
ard dresses with exqu!site taste.
As l had never before seen the trag
edian off the stage he was a new Great.
ure in social life, and an elegant man
nered, polished gentleman. His lot
bla,k hair is plentifully sprinkled with
gray, and those big black eyes look
just the same as In Hamlet. He Is a
fine conversstionalist, and proved es.
pecially entertaining at the after din
ner smoke, He is much pleased with
his success here. as he has every reas-
on to be. Mr.. Booth said. "When I
60 to stab the king In Hamlet I am &C.
customed to fight my way to him
through the drawn swords of the at.
tendantu, but while playing in Great
Britsin l received o painful wound In
this way. One of tho swords struck
me 10 the arm near the elbow, infc..
ng a painful wound, and l was obliged
to have 1t bsndaged with a~rnica, and
the arm became very stiff and swollen.
1t seemed q sort of blood poisoning,
for the other arm 81 mpathiz,d with 1t
and also troubled me. It was very
difficult, with both arms bandagsd and
swollen, to 60 through the play, and
1t gave me terrible pain. 1t Is all
right now, but l an afraid to try 1t
here, and so go through without It,"
In reply to a remark by one of the
party h, said:
"Well, there is enc kind of mon I
don't like to mes.. Itis those great
Shakespearesu scholars who ask me
II / think Hamlet was really mad
They get clear beyond me, and
I don't care to 60 Into abstruse
facts"
"Oh," laughed agentlemsn, "imag.
Inc anyone getting beyond MIR. Booth
In Shakespeare!'
W. soon returned to the othe,
room, where, the conversation moi
being 80 general, we missed the fur
Their pleasure of his society. On the
next evening he gave his King Lea,
for the first time here. The house
was crowded and he made another
great triumph; the applause was
stormy and he was recalled repeated.
ly. The papers seem to think more
favorably of his Leer than of his
Hamlet. One journal said it was 6
piece Of acting that all the German
actors should witness and prof
by, for they could all learn from
him.
There always seems to be
A SHADOW OF soME SORT
over Booths life, and the matter
which is now troubling him Is all the
worze because his daughter Is the chile
sufferer. She is hetrothed to o youne
American, who, three or four months
ago, was almost asphyxiated by in,
haling coal gas. As his recovery hal
been very slow, Mr.. Booth wrote tt
the young mans father to send tn,
invalid to them while they were IL
England, as he supposed . change O
surroundings and the zeavoysge woul,
hasten his return to health, and tn
pleasure which the lovers would ex
perience in being together would be
great factor in the case. The father o
the lover consented, and the youn;
mans sister accompanied him. The,
have been with the Booths now sew
eral weeks, but the invalid
health hiss not improved. HI
blood seems to be poisoned, an,
1t has affected his brain in a peculia
way. He is not insane, but he ca
not remember as formerly, and has t
be directed and watched. BE has los
all interest In his profession and ia hi
contemplated marriage. Isn't tina
unfortunate Miss Booth Is plunged
In melancholy by the sad circum
stance, and can seldom be coaxed on
of her hotel. This doctors say tn
young man may recover inside of tw,
years, but they think 1t doubtful. ]
is probable that he and his sister vii
return home in a few weeks, or 6
least they will not travel with tn
Booths, az there Is nothing to b
gained by making two people wretch
ed. He adores Miss Booth, but know
that something has made it tempol
arily impossible for him to show h
affection and regard. The hopeless,
mesa of the Gaze is It's saddest feature
And, of course, Miss Booth realize
that there is nothing sho q do
restore him.
AN EPISODE OF THE WAR.