Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-12-26

uutil middle age and increasing gIrth and
Eoue compelled him 10 90 into the neavies,
ana at length into old men.
MS Wlle, Betsy, was a worthy helpmeet
h toi sucn worthy, self-respeoting man as
her husband. John was going on 81 wears
OF age at the date of my narrative. while
sue was about ten years his Junior. She
was stout, amiahle, little lady, almost
Ss ROUND as John, almost as rosy faced.
WIN more gray hair than he had, devot-
GUY alUacned TO him, very proud OF him
ana MS abilities. They had been married
ior thlrty-hve years. TBree children born
10 them In the early years of their we'd
Iock were left by them in their little
graves IN the rural town in England
where, connected with the same theatre,
tney nad met and married. Like him,
she mad gone on the boards in. early
youth. ooth coming from theatrical
parents; and, like him, she had played all
BUSINESS" from utility to leading lady,
until nnally her figure and age compelled
her TO go into the heavies; and at the time
OF my narrative she was playing the first
OLD woman in the - Theatre, and be-
tween times, while his duties required
MIN to be acting on the stage and gave
ner a wait, she would take ner place by
the prompter at bis desk. and so thor
ougnly did she keep herself en- rapport
with him and his work that she could
any time run the stage as well as he
could.
1t can be rightly concluded that they
were very happy couple, and they were
indeed; and their home, suite OF rooms
on second floor, over q store, few
/ blocks from the - Theatre the going
To and from which was generally the only
exercise out OF doors they obtained, ex-
ceptlng, perhaps, stroll on pleasant
! SUNDAY mOrnlnOa in No r1tra htlr he
was model, II miniature one.
would like to take the reader, who
mas followed me thus far, into this little
aome-abundantly large enough, though,
| tof HSsJWO sole occupants and their needs
1 for peep into blissful domesticity.
1nere were five rooms on the floor. A
front room with an Above across the
Hallway Tor the he'd was the couples
! cham Der, which, by closing the curtains
OF the bed. shutting il from view, could
! De easily made an annex for the parlor,
| which was the middle room. The rear
| room was dining room, while the kitchen
| was a little hall room attached. A serv-
/ ing woman. who did the cleaning and
cooking that was not done by the good
lazy herself, appeared every morning and
disappeared at night, sleeping in ner own
nome not far away. There was nothing
particularly fine about the furniture, but
1t had all been brought from the old coun-
try some five and thirty years ago when
they came over to fill seasons engage
ment IN the Old Bowery Theatre, in New
York, and it was all old-fashioned, but as
we'll preserved as care could keep it..
There were high-backed, broad-armed
| chairs; there was the high, four posted
| bedstead, with the tenter; there was
| tall. upright clock with the ships under
| full sail that never progressed, but year
! in and year out bobbed up and down on
the foam-crested waves Of the artists i'm
aglnatiOn; there was tue old-time carpet
OF small patterns, the curtains of past
| age, the dining table with its thin legs.
Indeed, there was nothing new about
| the rooms excepting some fanciful adver-
| Using designs in the way of fans or
plaques, used by the good lady in decora-
tion of her manCel or odd corners not &C.
cupied by the pictures.
the picturesl These were the most in
| teresting features Of the rooms. Every
where on. the walls of the three rooms
were pictures-some in the plain, black
frames OF past generation, some simply
tackled on the wall by thumb tacks; some
were steel prints, some Autographs, some
deguerreotypes, some photographs, but
all were OF actors and actresses, In cos
tune or in plain clothes; groups In plays
and scenes In plays.
The connection with the old-time furnl-
ture, carpets, china SYSTEMATICALLY dis
played on the brass bound sideboard In
the dining room) and those valuable an
ti1uies, John and Betsy, this collection
OF professional portraits and scenes was
peculiarly interesting. or course, in the
collection were numerous portraits Of
John and Betsy, from the period of their
youth. and through their varied careers
to the last, a year before, in The latest
styles, John pointed with pride to q por-
trait of himself i'll his twenty fifth year as
the dashing hero in "Wild Oats" Near
by was Betsy in her twentieth year as
Juliet.
John, who was carefully arrayed in his
best cloth suit for the occasion, used to
declare that factors, being Migrants on
the statute book, as they De, they should
only associate with themselves" and
few were privileged to see the couple in
their home, with it's pictures and furni-
ture, outside OF the profession, unless it
might be a newspaper critic, or dramatic
author, who, he declared, "were In the
same" with him.
John, whose years and patriarchal
ways caused him TO be generally called
by those in the theatres and his familiars
Pop" was always at home with his
wife on Sunday evenings, and he and she
always expected their friends to call on
them at least twice during the regular
season. Betsy gave the ladies tea and
thin slices OF buttered bread in the front
room, while John dispensed whisky and
Old Pom in the dining room, with pipes
N Il sl,on