The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-29
A MINSTREL AT HOME.
AN HOUR WITH PONY MOORE. 4
LONDON HERO.

Z
I Plenty OF Diamonds - Plotting
Americans Through the Slums of
the Big City.
(Copyriqht 1887
| LONDON, J Ily IS.-Ths person who has
been figuring prominently in tbs the Amer
lean ne 1spapsrs of late as Pony Moore is a
| well-known LondOner. He is none other
| than the IA minstrel of Moore and
/ Burgess fame and besides being a burnt
/ cork artist he is also patron Of all sorts OF
| sport His son-iu-aw is Cha ley Mitchell,
the prizs-fizh,er. For many years Moo g
has bee a ointment figure in London life.
Every American who COOS to London visits
| ST. Jame,' hall where Moore and his artists
give nightly performances. He is known
ia the American quarters in London as a
man always willing to help file ID and
| always ready to pilot tourists through
Whitechapel, Petticoat lane, the Seven
Dals and other quarters Of London town
that have become famous. He knows
every man Of prominence the big city.
He il o familiar terms with the scotland
Hard detective, the sprigs of no lllty and
the crooks of tne slIms, as well as the Dig
men of parliament. He has accumulated
large fortune and has a score of fads. One OF
these is the collec ion Of unset dlano1dt
He carries them loose in his pocket, an
often pulls out a handful and gIoats over
them liks a miser with his gold.
He has peculiaritiss as well as fads. One
| night, not long since. a gentlemen and two
ladies entered ST. James Hall The per-
for nance was in progress aud the ushers
had some difficulty in finding the proper
seats Moore was end mar. tie ned his
bones in his hands, a d looked on nervousy.
Massive diamonds spark ri in his shirt
front and on his fingers. Finally he became
nervous and jumping from his seat yelled to
the USHER:
"Wha S der matterf
Then turning to the interlocutor and
with a majestic wave of his hand to the
leader of tue band ne shouted: stop de
showl Stop everything. Here, you fool,
usher, seat the party IN these seats. WHAT
| sort OF crazy man are youF
| the ladies' blushed, the usher nearly
| tainted, and the whole show was il con-
| fusion. When the purity was seated Moore
| turned TO the sage and said: Now 60 on
wild de show. l know how to run this
! house"
The usher sneaked out, the band played
and Moore sat down contentedly.
Moore has many peculiaritles but he is
| withall a good employer. He has three
men in his band who have been with him
for twenty-five years. Mi strelsy, how
ever, is not very far advanced in E Y and.
| Moore is still singh x "Oh, dem, Col ten
! Slippers He has been singing it nightly
for twelve years. He also goe, through a
| little gymnastic perform nee on a chair,
| the same as be has done every night for a
! quarter of a century. L0ndolers do not
seem to tire Of it either, for the appliances
is always hearty and the theater crowded.
| ! called on him a ew days before he
| sailed for America. He calls his charming
residence at the St. Johns Wood end Of
! Fine ley rad, Moore House, but the
| boys Of the minstrel and theatrical p.ofes-
sion knew it only as Liberty Hail. Il is
| a Approached by gate leading into a pretty
avenue with glrdens on either side, aud in
| front of the house to whiJh this avenue
brings you, large fountain plays merrily,
| cooling the atmosphere III its vicinity.
! Dogs of all sorts raise their voices as one
approaches, from the huge boarhound
| !ea ly as big as mule and massive champ
| ion s.. Bernard to the ii lest little toy spaniel
| ever bora, which Ms. Moore plavfully
calls her watch dog. This canine reg ment
passed in safety and the house reached
| there is enough be seen to interest one for
| hours. The aouse was formerl occupie 1
by Bio din, the great and oily, and Mr..
Moore has colec ed curios on so enormous a
scale that his residence, or part of it, is
pr ctlcally museum. There are statues
| wuiCh used to stand in various theatsrs
water colors by Fred Vokes among others,
the harm Jnium on whica Bl )ndin played
while strollirg across Niagara, the trick
tables on which MIR. Moore used to perform
his conjuring feats, q genuine Reubens
which he bought from Lady Murray, tam
bourinos with gold jingles presen cd by
Dan Bryant and Charley Backus, the
glorious American minstrels; the ponder
hal bad 80 ri, MI
wuen he fought his drawn battle with Snlli,
van; a couple of pictures which Mr. Moore
brought from Spai |, and got arrested over
for bestlng the customs people, a cup or two
won by Pohy's horses when ne used to &c
racing, and testimonials from brother pr D.
fessionals to the number of over thousand
as Mr.. Moore himself assured me- One OF
the most curious of these is cork usec
professionally by the troupe which has beer
, mounted in the form Of a medal vita mas
sive gold settings and adornme 1t and In
scrlbed vita the names of the five mos
successful songs which the trou who ar,
the donors OF the gift avesnng-' rapioca,
ada With The Golden Hair" "dulligar
Z, Guards, "Oh, George, DO Let Me Be,
: and Unlimited Repertoire"
Mr.. Moore, alt iOuyh living In Londo
for many years, is A nerican to the back
bone. he sleeps underne til q portrait Of
. George Washington, and talks with the en-
hus-asm of young man speaking Of his Is
> girl, when no shows YOU his fine engravl {
OF Henry Clay speaking in the UniteC
States Senate. Then he has an American
bar IN his bill lard room, and on the hand
me table which occupies 10 room, he has
a PLAYED nearly all the American champions
) aud certainly all the famous English wizard
= OF the cue. He has his house p lotographed
every year or two, and all over the h us,
one comes across countefeit presentment.
of his sNarthy colleagues. Evety song I
troupe has ever sung has been preserve
> and the whole collection, many thousand
in Number, are stacked il handsome wal
nut cabinet. Where his hobbi-s end one
! cannot say, but TO enulner ate a few others
he Las over a hundred canariss, severa
cockatoos (one of which | interviewed lin
parenthesis," but its language was wholly
! unfit for publication), hive of bees, a
+ COW, four horses Including a cob which
Charley Mitchell has taken. dowa tc
| Brighton and back, considerably over lO(
, mi es, IN a y and night ID, some cap
ltal game cocks. TO conclude the list, he ha.
eve,y imaginable gambling game in ex
: istence, but never allows play higher than
Ior penny points.
, do y May years have you been in the
Professionp I asked MIN as | strolled
! 70 S his picturesque lawn. upon which a
gardener who has been with him for a QUAR-
ter of century was operating with a
roller
A '5ince I was nine years of age, he re-
piled. Il started in the c rcus business in
Dnl~ IN