The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-12-11
WHY ACTORS ARE DIsSIPkTED.
An Explanation Which Means. In short
That IL Is Because They Like Ia Drink

An explanation Whfcn moans' IN snort
That IL Is Because They Like tn Drink.
Now let the men / have selected do
as Mccullough has done for many
years. The hard mental, physical work
of the profession / have named is al
most beyond the belief of outsiders. So
let it be omitted. Mccullough would
have to be at the thoater at not much
later than7 o'clock in most plays. HIS
servant Cor dresser" a. he is called)
prepares the costumes and dresses him,
an elaborate affair in many plays -
"Richelieu" for example. There are
always Saturday matnees, and fire.
quently Wednesday ones. The tragedy
parts are most laborious and fat guing
NOT like driving horse, mailing box
or making a pair of shoes. There must
be brains and action. An old farmer, cele-
brated for his superior products, was
once asked what kind of manure he used
to produce such fine crops. He
answered in one word: Brains So
with the great actor, or lawyer, or
journalist. Very well. Tom Jones, Jim
Young, Ned Brooks and half a dozen
others, important characters and great
friends to Mccullough, go to his dress
ing room between acts. He is glad to
see them, for the dressing room is dirty
and the waits tedious. 1t is relief in
most cases to see his friends. What
follows? Why, few bottles of cham
payne, or bottle or two of brandy or
whisky. The dresser" fetches it from
the near saloon. The performance is
over. The great actor has been called
before the curtain again and again, and
the hearty greetings make him forget
his tawdry tinsel and imitation ermine
and Jewels He takes off the dress of
kings, he washes the paint from his
face, he puts on citizens raiment and
goes out with "the boys" or to work
the press" if his wife happens to be
with him. A big supper follows, with
lots of wine and cigars, and the small
hours come and go nearly every day be-
fore the actor finds his bed. He is not
feeling SO very well in the morning
thank you, but he pulls himself togeth,
er, crowds down an unwilling throat q
light breakfast, and goes round to the
theater and rehearsal. Woe to the
subordinate actor that forgets his lines
or takes the stage in the wrong place,
for the king in common attire Is very
bad-natured this day at noon. The re-
hearsal is over In an hour. Now, where
are "the boys?" A champagne cock
tail, drive, O call. more wine or bran
dy, and by dinner Richard is himself
again" Then to the theater again, and
the thing repeated
do not say all great actors do this,
but many, nay, most of them, do. Sal
vini, greatest of all, is an exception. I
knew him we'll, but have never dared
to go to his dressing-room. He neither
drinks nor smokes except at dinner,
and he eats heavily only once day. Is
it any wonder, then, that he Is almost
sixty years old, and looks as young as
Mccullough? Mr.. Irving Is a very
light drinker; so is Mr.. Barrett; but
they like to meet tho "old dogs" not
"the boys" at supper after the play.
BY the "old dogs" L mean the arlsto-
Gratis, the Presidents, the Cabinets, the
Senators. Raymond never takes a
drink at any time. Boucicault-yes.
heartily; but Boucicaultis nearly sixty
five years old. Sothern and Ned
Adams. both what are known as "glori-
Gus fellows" died from too much liv-
ing, but can't go over the list of bril-
liant intellects in any of the professions
l referred to that have gone the same
way Mr.. Mccullough is going. The
lives of certain distinguished lawyers,
doctors, newspaper men and other
actors are spent like MoCullough's. 1t
is fine for time, my masters, but look
out! Forrest, 1 believe, loved the
pleasure of the table, but he was moder-
ate and lived to be sixty-six. Too many
believe. or appear to believe, that
Our bodies are like shoes we wear and cast;
Physic their cobber Is and death at last.
Cor. Phildde lphia Press.