The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1889-12-19
TILLSON & SCHMIDT, Agents.
JOSEPH JEFFERSON'S YOUTH.
A Significant Incident At the Home OF
Lincoln at Springfield, Ill.

From the autobiography of Joseph
Jefferson in the Century we quote the
following: springfield being the cap
| ital of Illinois, it was deter
mined to devote the entire seaso Il
| to the entertainment of the members
of the legislature. Having made money
for several weeks previous to our ar
| rival here, the management resolved
/ to hire a lot and build theatre. This
sounds like large undertaking, and
perhaps with their limited means it
was rash step. | fancy that my
father rather shrunk from this bold
| enterprise, but the senior partner (Mc-
Kenzie) was made of sterner stuff, and
his energy being quite equal to his am
| bition, the ground was broken and the
temple erected.
The building of theater in those
days did not require the amount of
! capital that it does now Folding opera
| chairs were unknown. Gas was an
occult my stery, not yet acknowledged
as fact by the unscientific world in
| the West; a second-cIass quality of
sperm-oil was the height Of any mama
gers ambition. The footlight5 of the
best theaters in the Western country
were composed of lamps set in float
with the CONFERENCE.-The When a
| dark stage was required, or the lamps
needed trimming or refilling, this me-
chanical contrivance was made to sink
under the stage / believe if the thea
ter, or devils workshop, as it was
sometimes called, had suddenly been
| Illuminated with the same material
now in use, its enemies would have de-
clared that the light was furnished
from the Old Boys private gasome-
| ter.
| The new theater, when completed,
was about ninety feet deep and forty
| feet wide. No attempt was made at
| ornamentation; and as it was unpaint-
ed, the simple line of architecture upon
which it was constructed gave it the
| appearance of large dry-goods box
with a roof. | do not think my father,
or Mckenzie, ever owned anything
with roof until now, so they were
naturally proud of their possession.
'.In the midst of their rising fortunes
heavy blow fell upon them. A re-
ligious revival was in progress at the
| time, and the fathers of the church
not only launched forth against us in
| their sermons, but by some political
man9uver got the city to pass new
law enjoining a heavy license against
our unholy' calling: forget the
amount, but it was large enough to be
| prohibitory. Here was a terrible con-
| dition of affairs-all our available
funds invested the legislature in ses-
sion. the town full of people, and by a
heavy license denied the privilege of
| opening the new theater.
In the midst of their trouble Young
| lawyer called on the managers, He
| had heard of the injustice, and offered,
if they would place the matter in his
hands to have the license taken off,
declaring that he only desired to see
fair play, and he would accept no fee
| whether he failed or succeeded, The
case was brought up before the council.
| The Young man began his harangue.
| He handled the subject with tact, skill,
and humor tracing the history of the
| drama from the time when Thespis
acted in IA cart to the stage of to-day.
| He illustrated his speech with a num-
Der of anecdotes, and kept the council
in a roar of laughter: his good humor
| prevailed, and the exorbitant tax was
| taken off.
This young lawyer was very popu-
lar in Springfield, and was honored
and beloved by all who knew him, and.
after the time which | write, he held
rather an important position in the
Government of the United States. He
now lies buried near Springfield, under
| n monument commemorating his
greatness and his yirtues-and his
name was Abraham Linooln,'
Miss Inswim-'.Whe did YOU spend
the summer, dear2" Miss Nochink-
'At Cobble Stone Beach?n Miss In
swim-'.W What. Ae that god-forsaken
little place. How could YOU stand it?n
Mss Nochink-.'I could stand the god
for AIKEN very we'll only it was. also
nial-for-saken, unfortunately. - Time.
Doctor (after examining patient)-
n ou are in bad shape, man, and
must look out for consumption. Are
goltroubled with night sweats?n Pa
Might sweats? Well. | should
say so. Aud who in thunder wouldn't
De If he walked all over the house fifty
imes per hour with a squalling baby
langling over his left arm? ?''-kearisey
Enterprise.