Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-12-20

lcW Ia..ars Dy giving a performance.
We were told that the king-kan,-
hameha, | think his royal name was
was an enlightened monarch, who
had visited Europe and cornc bacs
with a great admiration for the drama,
and that lie would graciously patrol
lie orr performance,
We determined TO give Richard
IL, and / was elected manager. Now,
The fall strength of the company was
exactly nyc, and thcro are about
twenty-five parts in the tragedy, us
yuu SNOW. To say nothing of the lords
aud ladies OF the courts, citizens, muir
dcrCrs, messengers and tAo tTo arulie4
of Glostcr and Richmond. So you can
understand that the manager had no
easy task OF it. | was 10 play Richard,
and by an ingenious scheme of doub
ling up, by which each of the Others
was 10 playgt least two parts, we man.
aged 10 arrange for some sort Of n per
fownance until | suddenly discoverec
that ! had no Lady Anne. Mrs. An
dorson was the only lady in our com
pany, and she had 10 do two parts
the Duchess of York and Elizabeth.
Il was almost in despair until 4
learned that there was u white man in
the town who, as | wa told, had once
been an actor in a humble way and
would be glad TO help us out, and that
as lie was IN under sized man hcmight
do 20 dress up as u woman. So | sent
for him.
Meantime / had another trouble
We had some bills printed with q
brush and marking ink, and | sem
some natives out To bill the town. But
flour was entirely too scarce and high
priced in the Sandwich islands 10 make
paste of, and as a substitute | was ad
vised to buy some stuff called poi poi
the sticky juice of some tropical plant
of which it appears the natives mako
an intoxicating drink. / ~innoccntly
gave this stuff TO the bill stickers.
But the rascally natives, instead Of
usingthe stuifas | had intended, drank
up all the paste, got drunk, and didn't
post a bill AT the last moment | had
To take a pail and brush and a bundle
of bills and go through the town pyst.
ing the bills myself.
The new member of the compan.
who was TO DO Lady Anne almost gave
me a spasm when / saw him. He was
about four feet high, a stumpy fellow
with handy legs, Gross eyed, and with
all his front tech gone. He chewed
tobacco furiously, and he spoke with
a German accent. His only know
ledge Of the stage proved to have come
from once working as a grip behind
the scene Of some theatre in the
States
But there was no help for il, and ]
had TO engage him, after exacting his
solemn promise that he would never
forget that lie was a royal princess Of
England, and not squirt tobacco juice
over the stage during the play.
Il shall never forget that perform
ance Of Richard Ill Its like wa,
eve seen before nor since. The two
English armies were made upof native
Sandwich islanders, and TO see the fol
lowers Of Richard and of Richmond
fighting the battle of Bosworth Field
in Iurnt cork vas something never
before attempted on any stage
But the Lady Annel / regret L.
say that her appearance when made
up Was something worse than gro
tesque. Ii Sic had been homely III
mans attire she WAS hiGeous in skirts,
and when | Lad made ardent love TO
her as
"'Swc-t saiutr-'divine perfection
OF IA woman fairer than tongue can
name th.''aud tell her Of her beauty
which Gil haunt me in my slcep,'i
thought sAUull burst with moilidca,
ton, for her handy legged wuddle.
her eros, eyed lecr, hcr toothlcs,
mouth ana German accent were some
thing igEg riba5le. And, horror o.
horrogsi while she stood mourning at
her dead Au bands bier, her ladyship
had broken her solemn pledge and was
actually chewing tobaccol
'Uh, there never was such a per
fofElaUCc rs that! We shortened the
play a great deal and left a good deal
20 the Imagination of the audience.
but ] was in u cold perspiration untn
it wa over. But our audience vas
good natured and by no means crit.
cal. We had a big house and they
seemed well pleased"
But there was q curious sequel TO
the performance" added Mr.. Booth
"After the play, while ! was dressing,
King kamehameha was ushered into
my room He proved TO be a Tery
pleasant, wellinformed gentleman. He
had been educated in Europe and had
travelled extensively. He spoke kind.
ly of our Richard, and he surprised me
greatly by exclaimmg, as he patted
me familiar.y on the back:
'sMr. Booth, | saw your father play
Richard in New York twenty years
900 = NJ. N..l- II...1I