, 1884-02-24
A THEATRE AFLOAT.
A Mississippi Flatboat Fitted Up
With Scenery and Properties
A -Gypsy Family" of Theatrical Folk
---Remarkabie Ingenuity In
Stage ExpedIents--Cateh-
ing Cat-Fish-

SThe project now being mooted Of a float
ing theatre" said Mr.. George Browne In The
New York Sun. reminds me of the only one
that was ever a success 1t was that built by
William Chapman, the eldest Of the wonder
full Chapman family. not one member of
which but was an artist, and hardly one but
was a musician. They were so many that II
would tako a long time to give a separate
history Of each. Caroline Chapman was for
a long time in Burton's company. Harry
Chapman, a nephew of W. B., married julia
Drake, and was the father OF the Chapman
sisters, Blanche and Ella The Chapmans
were English. and dated from Drury Lane,
London, very far back-two centuries ago
the name was on old English playbills-
THE GYPSY" MIL
"The family were called the gypsy family,
because they spoke a gibbsrish among them
selves that none but themselves could under
stand. 1t was neither a dead nor a living
language, unless, perhaps, that OF some
gypsy tribe. 1t used to make those acting
with them nervous to hear them jabbering
this jargon. The name Of the gypsy family
was afterward fastened upon them by their
travelling In their floating theatre. 1t was In
reality only a Mississippi hatboat, but was
exceedingly large, as 1t could seat 400 people,
and contained tho scenery. properties, etc,
and living accommodations for the entire
family.
81 cannot tell you exactly how many years
they ran the 6atboat, bnt you may judge that
1t was no uncomfortable period from the fact
that a large family,of children was born to
William Hamilton on that floating theatre.
Hamilton married one of old Chapman's
daughters, and what with the original fam
lily, the marriages and intermarriagos, they
had sufficient people to cast even the fullest
of Shakespeare's tragedies OF course, some
of the parts had to be doubled occasionally,
and a man who was killed In one scene would
appear in the next, aliv and well, as some
plays as demanded very large casts. Like
Hamlet
INGENIOUS MAKEsHIFTs.
"Orchestra they had none-that L., not in
the front of their theatre-but they played
all the necessary music behind the scenes
That was in the day of music in plays No
actor or actress could come on then without 4
chord. The brentwood robber,' dressed in
top boots and buried in inky whiskers and
wig, delivered himself Of his villainous schemes
confidentially to the audience to pizzieLto
music. In one piece Harry Chapman, who
was first violin, was on the stage, and so was
every one else. Harry received a fatal sword
thrust, and fell with his head and shoulders
of the stage, and spoke his last speech, and
played slow music for himself to die by. The
Chapman family wero even more ingenious
In stage expedients than the rest of the
s~trollers Of that time.
"They hardly ever bought anything to eat
on the boat, but subsisted mainly on the fish
thoy caught. The lines wero always out
trolling during the performances. and any
one of them would rush OF even in the middle
Of a speech to pull in a fish.
STOPPING TO FISH.
HOno night the elder Chapman was playing
the Stranger. He had just exclaimed:
"tOh, Godl oh, Godi what are the chains Of
death" when some one behind cried out:
"A bite, a bite, Bill"
"He few off, pulled up his line, returned
and continued his speech
~atCompaTed to misery like miner
AN the ssns play ths Stranger calls
francis twice, but Francis does not appear
Until the second time OF calling. The Stranger
then impatiently demands: Where were
| you when l calledF
zone night the Stranger called four times
before Francis made his appearance, and in
reply to the Strangers question, the Chapman
who played Francis answered, with q smile
OF great satisfaction:
AZ was hauling in the finest n~ine-pound
catfish you ever laid your eyes ou.h
I ~ Nus JohlnBlJ sAAu I'm u ShhpIuhHs
always smelt fishy, even years after they had
given up the iat-boat. used to fancy So"
"Did they eat nothing but fshF'
"Oh, yes, they had plenty Of provisions
They would take chickens, eggs, hams, meat,
aour, butter, corn, and anything Of that
kind as admittance fees, and as the farmers
were very liberal with such commodities, you
may be sure the floating actors bad a variety
Of food and plenty Of it.
THE SCALE OF PRICES.
"of course they charged an admittance fee
and US 1t was in the old slavery times, the
southerners were not stingy. They would
inquire: How much TO see the shown and be-
ing told-I forget the scale Of prices, but
think IL was high-they would fling down a
$40 or SO gold piece and never wait for
change. Then, too, there prevailed a custom
OF throwing money to the performers instead
Of flowers, and if anything pleased the fancy
OF the audience, like a dance or a song, they
would shower down the yellow boys /
fancy that custom would even now be &C
| ceptable TO some of our performers.
lido not think the floating gypsies had any
bills-certainly not any programmes. They
drew up to a wharf, moored. and put out a
canvas announcing their Entertainment
This was sufficient The nows that the
players had come soon spread among the
country IOK ana long before tne doors were
opened the farmers and planters, with their
families, were on hand, in every style OF
conveyance, and loaded down with the best
products Of that rich and fertile country.
at took the Chapman family pretty much
a whole season to travel down the Mississippi
and Ohio. The men did the navigating, the
women the cooking. They finally broke up
the show, becoming weary OF the life, but
not because it was not profitable, for the
small places they usually played In never
saw any theatre but theirs. They never
played in the large cities, like Cincinnati,
although they often laid up there for a
while. They drifted apart, going various
ways, each winning more or less renown-@
On the Use OF English
THE Academy
Lord Coleridge, speaking recently In
America, said that every educated speaker
of English uses at least three different Lam
guages. When he talks no uses c~olloquial
| English: when no writes he uses literary