The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-02-09
A PROFESSIONAL MERRY AN
 DREW.
London World

! ms was aprobiem propounded by Dick. ems h his !" Life of Grimaldi." One ;hise IS certain. that NIT. Harry Payne, ,bs last of the clowns" as he has aptly beer
 called, was born harlequin, aithougb
 his father, !" Old Billy" or as he used ,o
 De styled on the programmes Mir. N. +
 Payne, was a clown before him. Haux
 is very proud of his father. who died live years ago. He played clown both a,
 Druy Lane and Covert Garden. and
 much of the business still retained in the
 comic scenes" was of his invention. I, IS no, only on the stage that Harry Payne
 IS popular among children. Though
 singie man, a nursery is to him aa
 earthly paradise" He is never 50
 happy as when romping with a party Q;
 boys and girls, and it would be diffieul,
 to ind his equal as a tranqu;lizer 0, babies. Every morning he is besieee3
 at Camden-town by children on their way
 to school, who know that somewhere
 mixed up in his clothes are stores oi sweetmeats, or surprises in the shape Of toys. When he distributes the crackers from the stage each evening he always
 saves two. and carries them home for little girl and boy who are special favor. ties. In consequence of continually play. ing to children he has acquired sym pathy with ehild-nature. Children are his only audience. When arranging h.. business their amusement is his oRiy thought. What matter if the jokes be old! They are new to the childrsn He plays to them, and not to the old blase playgoers and dile,tante critics. He takes hiS line riAa.,
 thews, and these two have much in com- mon. II you watch Harry payne's clownlng you will remark the absence @, mere senseless horse play. His clown is mirthful buffoon, not a vulgar s,ree
 rough. All his pranks have some mean ing. every piece of business is carefully thought out and rehearsed beforehand
 Harry Payne arranges all his harlequin. ades while lying in bed. On the walls of the room hang a number of pictures by Charles Lyall, representing scenes n the pantomimes produced at Coven: Garden by the Payne and Harrison com. pany. There IS also an excellent likeness of Grimaldi, and several "reminiscences ot plays and players. By the bedside he keeps notebook and pencil. When A new idea strikes him he immediately makes note Of it. and he works out the details of scene before he attempts |: on the stage. The arrangement of the whole harlequinade is left to the clown
 He has to teach his associates their busl- ness, drill the boys. and put the police man through his facings. In the DruTy Lane Annual. las, year, Mir. Payne tod a most characteristic story concerning one ot the little fellows whom he trained for some business in one of his panto- mines. No prettier tale appeared las, Christmas than that which related how young Joe Packer fell down a trap a week before boxing night and broke a limb
 and how his little sister dressed in his clothes begged to play his part. Harry found she knew all about 1t, for the pair had rehearsed il together at home. Le, us finish the story Tn his own words
 = She was a great success the first nigh;
 Although the audience called for her after her song she did not come back
 but sat in the wings crying. She won complete triumph for her brother, whose name was printed ID the programme ani in all the papers, although he did no, ap- pear once in the run of the pantomime On the strength of those notices dare say he got his foot on the ladder of fame
 up which he has climbed pretty high by this time. for he is now popular actor and favorite with the public As for his sister. her first and last appearance upon the stage, believe, is chronicled in this s,ory-not very wonderful story, perhaps. but as true as am a sinner.
 He has hold fund of such recollections. and to t11,etx.s> tA ~r |. mind, they are mostly pathetic Once a, the Surrey theatre the harlequin slipped as he leapt through clock-face, and his leg stuck in the scene. Harry, who was clown, thinking to cover the bad retrea, by laugh, took hold of the leg and cried to the audience as he shook it, 1" o there's a clumsy man" The harlequin was pulled through, and the scene proceeded; but as he did not put in an appearance again. the clown inquired the cause of the prompter. !" He has broken his leg.
 was the reply. 1t was the leg he had shaken. When he heard it Harry Payne tainted on the stage. Away from the toot-hghss no one would suspect him oi being clown. He looks more like ] thriving s,ookbroker shan a professional Merry Andrew. He is we'll known, too, in the neiehborhood of Capel-court. where he frequently seeks the advice of old city friends on the subject of safe in ves;ments, for unlike too many members of his profession, he is of a providen, disposition, and prefers preparing for the proverbial rainy day to morgaging an uncertain future for a reckless present, Formerly, when not playing in panto- mines, he used to travel in the provinces with the opera companies he was also stock Charles the Wrestler in As You Like It. Heis an invetera,e sportsman. With the rod Tn hand he loves 10 wander among the Welsh mountains and throw tor trout in shady streams. On moor and over s,ubble his gun has often helped to fill many bag but fishing is his favorite occupation. His friends have come upon him in all manner of places on pierhead in Cumberland, in a punt on a midland county pond, on the bank of some quiet reach of the Thames