The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-04-17

| were on duty.
 All these adiuncts to the scene in.
 flame consumedly the cost ofproducin,
 pieces, Michael Strogoff in par;:
 cost no less than flS,0O0, and the vsrT backing of the faces in an Indian ,ieos
 cost f5 night, Mir Irving is sail "a
 have given $500 for peal of bells to ba l rung in his new piece. What wonGar
 full salaries the poor despised player nov ] gets and has got; one lady receives s;n
 a week, and a favorite comedian fSo
 while the average competent player will
 take less-f25 or f30
 | The truth is, the more show and snlan.
 dor is cultivated, the more acting, which some foolish, old-fashioned people think
 to be the real entertainment of the stag4 decays. It is overpowered by the lights scenery, rich dressing, and shows Ali this besides spells bankruptcy Lett 1 hope for speedy return to the pure unalloyed delights of simple ac,ino
 with well-painted cloth at the back and handsome but not unobtru>;ya dresses. As good wine needs no bush so good play needs none of these adornments
 Of late days there has grown up this eagerness to secure free admission and see for nothing what is really one of tho most expensive forms of entertainment This craving has spread enormously. and all sorts and conditions of men amt wo men, too, seem to devote a portion of their lives to order-hunting l'ntor,nn. ately, too many managers who have been saddled with bad piece cannot afford to have empty stalls. On such occasions they welcome such visitors, but the an. petite of the latter grows by what jt feeds on, and the person who has once tasted of an order becomes like the dip- somaniac and habitual thinker to pay money becomes intolerable Mir Dick. ems, in one of his happiest speeches. hu. morously describes this extraordinary mania. was once" he said "prcsent at social discussion which originated hv chance. The subject was, What was the most absorbing and longest-lived passion so powerful that it would almost induce the generous to be mean, the careless to be cautious, the guileless to be deeply designing. and the dove to emulate the serpent?' A daily editor of vast experience and great acuteness, who was one of the company, considcra- bly, surprised us by saying with the greatest confidence that the passion in question was the passion of getting or dcrs for the play
 There had recently been a terrible shipwrcck, and very few of the surviv. ing sailors had escaped in an open boat One of these on making land came straight to London, and straight to the newspaper office, with his story of how he had seen the ship go down before his eyes. That young man had witnessed the most terrible contention between the powers of fire and water for the de struction of that ship and of every one on board. He had rowed away among the floating dying, and the sinking dead He had tloated by day, and he had fro zen by night, with no shelter and no food, and as he told this dismal tale, he rolled his haggard eyes about the room When he had finished and the tale had been noted down from his lips, he was cheered, and refreshed, and soothed, and asked if anything could be done for him. Even within him that master passion was so strong that he immedi ately replied he should like an order for the play"
 One of the best anecdotes connected with orders is connected with the man. agement of Charles Mathews During the disastrous period no one had so much need of them, but he sometimes capriciously took no notice of the appli- cations for stalls A friend who had thus applied reproached him Per haps, said Mathews, you did not en- close a stamp with your envelope?" "I did, said the other, "I always do. Well" said the dfJonnatre Charles, go on doing it, for they are often use full This was quite in the best vein of comedy.
 Many no doubt have been surprised at the clockwork regularity which att tends the entrance of every player. Dozens of times through the course of long night each appears at his proper moment, and this, too, often for hun dreds of nights. All this is in the hands of a single man. The prompter-the person, as Sheridan remarked at an am ateur play, that he liked the best be- cause least seen and most heard. His slave is little familiar call boy The players are all laughing and talking in the green-room, and do not give thought to the stage. A minute or two before the leading lady is wanted the prompter's eye falls on warning note in his book; he gives the name to his little familiar, who at the next moment is at the green-room door proclaiming shrilly, Miss Four Stars" with the place of entrance, "O P, or " P. S" or "C." Neither has the performer to bur den his mind with the thought of the various little articles wanted for the scene-the letters, bag, basket, ring, snuff box, etc, are all handed to him as he goes on. There are often amusing mistakes owing to carelessness when the actor finds he has forgotten to pro vide himself with the genuine will, to confound the villain who has just pro duced the forged one. The clever actor cultvates this readiness of resource so as to carry off any little contretcmps or