St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-28
DRAMATIC DOGS.
GOurlay's Dog in Skipped By the
Light Of the Moon"
Maud Granger,s Black and Tan--The
Dog and the Dude.

1 learn that John Gourlay's dog that used
to play such an important part i'll Harrison
& Gourlays Skipped by the Light OF the
Moon," has been discharged from the cast.
and is rapidly going into decline in conse-
Quence of the depreciation of his value as
stage auxiliary. Reference to this sagacious
old canine, whom Gourlay brought over
from England some years ago, calls to mind
his exceptional precociousneSS and has set
my memory stirring over some OF the re-
markable specimens of dogdom which L
have CHANGED to meet and become on DARK
ing if not biting terms with, during my con-
nection with the amusement profession.
Gourlay's dog was called Skipped" lie
was fine, strong fellow, and reveled in a
voice which for penetration and robustness
would pale the best efforts of fog whistle.
When John first brought him over, Skipped
would sit quietly in the wings while the
property man produced an artificial bark
for the amusement of the audience and ter
ror of the two comedians, as the latter bal
anced themselves on the garden wall and
waited for their angry spouses to pass by:
But the property mans bark was to Skipped
hollow mockery, and one night he demon
Stldl6u uluclCICO UCbNCCil UllO
and the real with such force and conviction
that Harrison hesitated several moments
before he took his customary tumble into
the foliage. From this time on the property
man took rest Skipped doing splendid
service every time the comedians made
themselves visible over the wallis edge, I'M
til one night at Chicago Grand opera house,
the quadruped actor, evidently overcome
by his emotional role, treated Harrison to
as genuine a piece of skirmishing as
the excellence of previous performances
had seemed to the audience, for when the
young actor once more gained the top OF the
wall Gourlay discovered with astonishment
that Skipped was walking off in the wings
with mOuthful of overalls and taking as
much of the applause to himself as Minnie
Palmer does when her support makes hit.
The audience that night wondered why
Gourlay was so badly broken up, and those
who had witnessed the performance before
were surprised to see Harrison carefully
slide down the wall with his lace to the
audience, instead of doing his customary
rough and tumble act.
The next night Skipped was muzzled and
all went well until lately, when, it is alleged,
he got what is commonly known to the pro-
fession as dose of swell-head He wanted
his part enlarged and persisted in
putting in a good many hair
splitting lines before his cue was
announced, and so it has come to pass that
Skipped has been retired and the property
mans bass voice is again utilized, while the
Inundated canine grieveS in solitude over
his faded glorieS.
But Skipped is not the only dog who has
allowed the character he assumed to over
come his respect for his masters pantalOOns.
w. J. Ferguson, who used to play the title
role in 1.-The Dude" had fine dog which
showed great intelligence as a guardian Of
the piece and a preventive OF tramps and
dudes, but one night in Des Moines, Ia, in
his evident zeal to throw his soul into his
part he threw his teeth into Ferguson's calf
and the curtain had to be lowered to give
the property man chance to kill the dog,
and Ferguson an opportunity to swear.
Maude Granger has little black and tan
called Folly Farine. (Maude reads Ouida).
Folly is one of the most intelligent fellows
l have ever seen. was passing an after
noon with Miss Granger at the fremont,
Chicago, last winter and Folly's extraOrdi-
nary sagacity first became known to me.
The little fellow understood everything
said of or to him and would obey his mis-
tress implicitly in every request she would
make. I remember her saying to him:
'sFolly, know little dog who will take
cold On the slightest prOvocation."
Instantly the little rascal set up a sneez-
ing and coughing that indicated hay fever
in the most malignant form. Again, she
said to me in casual way.
my little dog adds S25 to his value
every time he rolls over"
Imagine my surprise to see Folly imme
diately fall On the floor and roll about like
a football.
When Miss Granger was playing the
heroine in ohm A. Stevens Second Love, )"
play which is on plane with the most
excitable productions of that prolific blood
and thunder writer, Folly had moment of
terror during every performance. The first
evening the play was put ON Folly was not
prepared for the loud report of musketry, oc-
casioned by the shooting of the Nihilist
count and villain, and for some moments
the stage hands had a serious time of it try
ing to keep the terrified animal from run
ming to the stage front and springing into
the arms Of his mistress; but, after one or
two performances, Folly committed the cue
for the shooting to memory, and during the
balance of the engagement he would sit
through the last act waiting for the words,
81 shall not be taken alive, [ defy you"
and when they were uttered Folly would
conceal himself beneath the skirts of Miss
Changers waiting maid until the critical
moment had passed. Folly knew that line
as well as did the count himself, and was
as quick to recognize the cue as were the
musketeers who did the work.
| asked Draper of ''Uncle Toms Cabin
fame once upon time, if the bloodhoundS
he used were vicious. He seemed surprised
at my question and told me that the lives of
the colored plantation singers, who formed
a part of his combination, would be worth
less if the hounds were not kept muzzled.
s'These dogs" said he, ''were brought up
to hate niger blood, and the ferocity which
they exhibit on the stage is not trained; it
is perfectly natural, and the audience would
be treated to more than they bargained for
if one of my hounds should chance to slip
his muzZle."
suppose Joe Emmett had the most ex-
pensive dog ever used in the business. He
claimed its value to be $1,000, but
1 presume one of the ciphers
could have been spared and then
the sum have been too round. Emmett
starred his dog one season, but the press
ridiculed him so badly for it that he took
him off the bills and has never mentioned
the canine feature of his show since
c. d. Hess, of operate repute, now the
business manager of Hamlin's Grand opera
house, Chicago, has beautiful setter named
Nep. The dog is Hess only confidant and
lives with him in luxurious bachelor quar-
tiers on Clark street. AS an errand runner,
Nep puts the average boy to shame. She
delivers notes for her master in any part of
the city, receives and delivers packages in
return, and, in fact, is far more service
able than the average messenger boy. When
Mr.. Hess goes on the stage at night Nep
follows at his heels, and takes as great
pride in watching her masters stage di-
rections as the war horse does in witnessing
compliance to his riders orders.
One day I went with Hess to the Office of
the Mexican consul situated in the Chicago