Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-12-01
Anmuruns department.
THE PIONEER THEATRE.

understand to-day, as they walk the paved
streets of the west under the cold glitter of
the electric light, surrounded by all that
can 60 to make life sweet and desirable,
that not many years ago on the same ground
their fathers fought the untutored savage
BY night and chased the bounding buffalo
by day.
All, all is changed. Time in his restless
and resistless fight has filed away those
early years in the county clerks Office, and
these times are not the old times. With
the march of civilization 1 notice that it is
safer for man to attend theatre than in
the early days of the wild and woody west.
Time has made it easier for one to 20 to the
opera and bring his daylights home with
him than it used to be.
1t seems but few short years since my
roommate came home one night with a
long red furrow plowed along the top of his
head, where some gentleman at the theatre
had shot him by mistake. My roommate
said that tall man had objected to the
pi anist, and suggested that he was playing
pianissimo when he should have played
fortissimo, and trouble grew out of this,
which had ended in the death of the pian-
ist and the injury of several disinterested
spectators.
And get the excitement of knowing that
you might be killed at any moment made
soaring men away 1t rather induced patron
age. Of course it prevented the attendance
of ladies who were at all timid, but it did
not cause any falling off in the receipts.
Some thought 1t aided good deal, especial
ly where the show, itself didn't have much
blood in it.
The Bella Union was pretty fair sample
of the theatre in those days. It was low
wooden structure, with perpetual band on
the outside, that played gay and festive
circus tunes early and often. Inside you
could poison your soul at the bar and see
the show at one and the same price of ad-
mission. In an adjoining room silent men
Joined the hosts of faro and the timid ten
derfoot gamboled DER the green.
I visited this place of amusement one
evening in the capacity of q reporter for the
paper. I would not admit this, even at this
late day, only that it has been overlooked in
Mr.. Talmage since; and If he could 60
through such an ordeal in the interests of
humanity, might be forgiven for going
there professionally, to write up the show
for our amusement column.
The programme was quite varied. Negro
minstrelsy, sleight of hand, opera bouf1e,
high tragedy, and that oriental style of
auadrille called the khan khan, if my slug
gish memory be not at fault, formed the
principal attractions of the evening.
At about 1890 or IL o'clock the khan khan
was produced upon the stage. In the midst
Of tia tall man rose up at the back of the
hall and came firmly down the aisle with
large, earnest revolver in his right hand.
He was powerfully built man, with dyed
mustache and wicked eye On each side of
his thin, red nose. He threw up the revOlv-
ser with little click that sounded very loud
to me; for he had stopped right behind me
and rested his left hand on my shoulder as
he gazed over the stage. could distinctly
hear his breath come and 60, for it was
very loud breath, with the odor of onions
and emigrant whisky upon it.
The orchestra paused in the middle of a
snort, and the man whose duty it was to
! swallow the clarionet pulled seven or eight
inches of the instrument out of his face and
looked wildly around. The gentleman who
had been agitating the feelings of the bass
viol laid it down on the side, craWled in
behind it and spread sheet of music over
his head. The stage manager came Tor
ward to the foot lights and inquired what
was wanted. The tall man with the self
cooking credentials aswered simply:
"By dashety blank to blank blank and
back again, want my wife J"
The manager stepped back into the wings
he also had large musical instrument such
as Mr.. Remington used to make before he
went into the type writing business. can
still remember how large the hole in the
barrel looked to me, and how wished that
had gone to the meeting of the literary
club that evening, as I had at first intend
ed to do.
Literature was really more in my line
than the drama. I still thought that it
went out quietly 50 as not to disturb any
one, and as 1 went down the aisle the tall
man and the stage manager exchanged re-
grets.
looked back in time to see the tall man
fall in the aisle with his face in the saw
dust and his hand over his breast. Then
I went out of the theatre in an aimless sort
of way, taking a north easterly direction
as the crow flies. do not think ran over
a mile or two in this way before I discover
ed that was going directly away from
home. rested while and then returned
On the street met the stage manager
and the tall, dark man. They said that
they were very sorry that got up and
came away at point in the programme
where they had introduced what they re-
garded as the best feature of the show.
This incident had a great deal to do with
turning my attention in the direction of
literature instead of tpe drama.
But I am glad to notice that many of
CQ6 HOEIOIS VI lllO dTc ucltS STdu.
ually eliminated as the country gets more
thickly settled, and the CORY tragedy of a
few years ago is gradually giving place to
the refining influences of the ''Tin Soldier"
and IA Rag Baby."-BW Nye in Chicago
Ne,cs.
CoURTsHIP IN GEoRGIA.-When Geor-
gia farmer found out that his son John was
sparkling certain farmers daughter for q
year or more without settling any question,
he called him out behind the stack and said {:
"John, do you love Susan Tucker?"
II guess do, dad"
"And does she love you"'
''That's what / dunno, dad, and Pm
afraid to ask her."
"Welf, you'd better throw out few hints
tonight and and fndo It's no use wear
ing out boot leather unless you are going to
marry her."
That night at 10 O'Clock John came home
wreck. His face was all scratched up and
his ear was bleeding, his hat gone and his
back covered with mud.
'sJohn, John what on earth is the matter
with you ?" exclaimed the old man, laying
down his paper.
"Bin over to Tucker's," was the reply.
"And-and- threw out few hints to
Susan"
"What kind o. hints?"
"Why, told her I'd been hoofng it two