Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1885-11-07

and they're just aching to black up

uuy soSy iC yOos uSAIbS " bbaSA W
and GO on"
Horter was right. "Uncle Tom.
Cabin" was the dramatic medicine for
WHICH Grand Rapids was suffering.
Ths iheater was packed when the cur
tain was rung up, and there was quite
@ c36wd in the general dressing room
fifteen Or twenty young gentlemen
WHO were smearing their faces with
burnt cork. exchanging their nobby
SUITS for hickory shirts and gunny-sack
br6ech and thrusting their No. 6 feet
iptc No. 13 old cow-hide shoes. These
wee Porter's nice young men who
knef how to dance q step or two.
.s. this blacking-up process is
sOinsthing, l take it, that the general
public ~ not familiar with; one of the
secrets Of the toilet, so to speak Now
adaTs minstrcis. am told. purchase ii
rea'ty prepared, over the same counter
where ladies get their face coloring. but
in those times il was prepared for the
occasion ~ the property man,
that never seen, never heard
individual to whose persuasive
borrowing and begging is due many o!
those fine scenic effects known as stage
settings. ~ .MheneEsr. there was any
blarsing-up to be done in those day.
this functionary used to procure lot
Of cdFks from the nearest saloon. place
them in an old iron pot, kettle, skillet,
or anything that could do duty as
crIcible. pour alcohol over them and
set them on fire. While burning they
werspccasionallys sprinkled with water.
The -esiduum was black paste, in
appearance closely resembling shoe
blacking.
In this instance small portions OF THE
were placed in cups and sent TO the
dressing-rooms of Uncle Tom.
Aunt Chloe and Classy" while tbs
mann portion of the crucible was placed
in the general dressing-room for the
"supers.H
The performance was an immense
success. Porter was great local
fav, rite. and Uncle Tom was never
bss~ re nor since so much applauded.
Mo, cover. the spectators saw through
the hin disguise of the darkeys. anG
| applauded their ..step or two vocIfer'
ously.
| The finale was reached at last
Uncle Tom was dying to slow tid
dlinl,, and behind the lat everything
WIS ready for the apotheos,s- "Eva.
| by means of belt around; her wais
| anda strong cord. had been hauied VI
! into de lace clouds: st. Clair.
! litllylawer down. was standing upon
xi-sT=S 4 and M yhtg sll2ky ne,ie-tsi: ~
! red IRE in the wings was awaiting IN
torch. and it only remained for ''Unct
Tom" to utter his last groan and tn
( scene in - to be hauled of. whei
| some sort of a missile hit me in tn
back. and / only saved myself from
| falling by catching hold of cloud :
| little more momentum TO that missl!
would have caused me to have pulled
down the whole heavens.
Quit that" calculated ''S.. Clair II
IA stage whisper that, bat for the hd
oilers, could have been heard IN front
Say. Gully" came voice from IN
darkness in the rear, cut out OF hcf
As soon a. the curtain goes down /"
there's going TO be trouble. Meet IL
over at Jake ;,
This | could not do, for it was neces
sarY for me TO make some changes II
INV clothing and wash the powder o.
my face. and the scene in the genera
dressing room as ! entered shall neVe
forget. Nearly score OF nobbv Nouhj
men were rubbing and scrubbIng thci
faces. with and without soap, alterna'
ing Lnis pleasant occupat on with trip
! 10 Itfs' l-lllf III IIOt bllt'i bt' ~ =
see # they had resumed their natura
color. They hadn't. And that WASH
the worst of it-they couldn t. an
didn't for nearly week. Many bus
nc>, man had to do his own cler1ca
work during that period. Howltt an
Kruger had mixed lampblack with tn
super's burnt cork.
Their clerks could not have bee
found by a search warrant. They wer
in their rooms with the doors locke
and their meals were handed IN throuT
the transom. Their time was passe
in reading Darwin : works, and swea1
ing with a profusion of No Nevers III;
thcir minstrel days were over. Instead
they desired TO become lightning chang
artists. The period OF transition wa
however, the most rapid on record. II
bleaching gamut of negro, mu latt'
, sambo, quadroon and octOroon beln
run in about the same number OF day
: but it was the longest and most pc
picking week in their experience.
Frd,lk Wright. in Detroit Free Press.
Well Supplied With Post-oftices.
Until within few months ago the