Wichita eagle., 1888-11-15
TIE SHOW AT RED DOG.
A LETTER FROM THE BREEZY
SLOPE OF THE PACIFIC.

SLOPE OF THE PACIFIC.
Wherein Is Set Forth the Interesting Ad-
ventures of q Company Of Player Folk
| in Mining Town and tho Interesting
| Sequel to the Same.
Especial Correspondence
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct SIN the spring Of
1856 got together small theatrical troupe
| in Sacramento, and with two horse wagon
| for a conveyance started up to ''do" the
! mining camps in the mountains Of Placer
4 county. In those early days no advance
agent was needed and no printing ever
! decorated the walls; the simple announce
( nent, ''Show tonight" painted on piece of
canvas and hung up at the nall, being suf-
: fcient to notify every one in the camp Of the
coming afaiction.
/ Ny company consisted OF six people, three
male and two female performers and one
/ eyed fiddler, the latter acting as cook and
/ teamster for we carried a supply of grub"
/ for use when we could not strike a camp at
meal time.
Our repertoire consisted of half dozen
/ roaring faroes," some of them venerable
chestnuts which had long since fallen from
the dramatic tree, and others fun provoking
mohstrosities thrown together by myself
with fiendish reckiessness, my sole aim being
to cater to the somewhat unvarniShed tastes
of the rough miners, whose yellow dust |
coveted with true managerial eagerness.
We played to good business at several
camps, and one forenoon rolled into settle
ment which bore the euphonious name Red
Dog" and which we had been told was one
of the liveliest camps in the ''diggins." Our
one eyed engineer halted us in front of the
+ only hotel in the place, and we were soon
discussing the merits Of a genuine mountain
meal-bacon, corn bread, molasses and coffee
After battling manfully with the crude re-
past, and succeeding after hard struggle in
downing it, the male members of the troupe
started out to find place in which to give
the entertainment. There was not hall in
the camp, and as the hotel dining room was
used during the night for gambling pur-
poses, our every effort to secure it proved
futile
In the upper end of the one long street of
the town we discovered a log building which
had once been used as a general store but
which was then vacant, in the rear of which,
raised about four feet higher than the main
store room, was a smaller room which had
evidently been built for sleeping room for
the proprietor of the store. We saw at a
glance that If the log partition was cut out
the smaller room would serve excellently for
q stage, and by close figuring we concluded
that 200 persons could be crowded into the
auditorium. Hunting up the owner Of the
building explained the matter to him, and
asked him what he would charge for his grand
opera house for one evening, giving us the
privilege of cutting away the partition. He
was big, rough fellow, clad in blue wooden
shirt and corduroy breeches, the latter
tucked in a pair of rawhide boots, while
around his Falstaftian waist was belt in
which an ugly looking six shooter quietly re-
posed. Eyeing the obstructing partition
moment he said:
''As fur as charges is concarned, you hain't
got no dust in yer flank as | banker arter an
as fur as the wall is concaT,2ed, eff it's in yer
way yak 1T down, hang it, yaak it down.
Anything to 'comInodate. Jest lope ahead,
gents, an fix things you want 'eIn, an
you won't hear no roar from men
Procuring saw, we soon cut out stage
opening, and framed in the rude proscenium
with calico of the brightest anarchistic hue
procurable. Then, with logs and borrowed
''Show Here To-night" flung to the breeze,
and all was ready.
When darkness set in twenty tallow
candles cast light and melted grease over the
hall, and l stood at the door awaiting the
rush. Half-past came, and not a soul
had put In an appearance. The people were
dressed and were grouped on the stage dis
cusoing the situation in language brstlinG
with adjectives which Webster had over
looked in the rush and confusion which at
tended the throwing together of his diction-
ary, while peered out into the darkness and
listened for coming footsteps and wished al
sorts OF i'll luck on the unappreciauve people
AT last / heard voices away down the
street, accompanied by heavy footsteps, and
s0on IN the darkness saw a crowd of men
headed straight for the house
They are coming, boys get OF the stage"
l cried, for we did not indulge i'll the luxury
OF drop curtain with our great caravan ag-
gregation. The fiddler seized his time beaten
instrument and began on the popular tune,
THE Days Of Forty nine," and a moment
later fifteen men marched up, each paid his
dollar and passed inside. Ten minutes later
and no one else came Going back TO the
stage | explained the situation to the COM
pany. Our auditors were rough burly, de-
termined looking men, with scowling faces
faces that seemed to oppress me with 4
strange uneasinesS the fellows sat there
silent and glum waiting for the show to
begin.
Give them the best you've got, boys
said, ''for it's a tough crowd, that won't
stand any foolishness. And, you know, we
may want to stop here on our way back, and
good show now may help US then"
Two farces were played, and never saw
better playing in Frisco theatre, but the
audience sat unmoved Not smile, not a
'hand, not the shuttle of a foot Our efforts
seemed TO have totally failed to catch them.
When the last farce was concluded they sat
there, still motionless, evincing no disposition
to leave the house. The ladies of the COM
pany became greatly frightened, and the men
felt anything but comfortable Thinking the
audience might not know that We had reached
the end OF our programme stepped On the
stage and said:
THAI is all, gentlemen The show is
over
Il reckon we know that came in gruf
tones from one of the party.
Very wall,' l continued, ''you can SO
now"
Il reckon we Kin go an l reckon we kin (
stay. Its our opinion that We kin do Jest as
we d-n pieisa When you git yer show to
go of we want ter see you-see you ca par
tic-u-lar business"
AT these words they arose and marched in
body up onto the stage. We were now
thoroughly alarmed What did their strange I