, 1889-04-24
OLD TIME M"INSTRELSY.
THE MIDDLE MANS" STORY OF
HIS BURNT CORK CAREER.


Tour to cuba-Living Several Days on
Five Cracken-BeatIng n Ride.
A genuine old timer In the minstrel bust
ness Is Joseph NJ N~orcros, the jovial inter
locutor Of the Hnverly-Cl Cleveland minstrelS.
Mr.. Norcross Is not very old In years, only
about As but there are few whose term of
service In the ranks of minstrelsy approaches
his. It was just about thirty-two years ago
that he blacked himself up and earned his
first dollar Us a maker of laughs. It tool a
good many laughs to make a dollar in those
days, and backing up was not then the simple
operation It Is today.
Now, carefully prepared burnt cork can be
purchased ready for use by the barrel, but
the dark faced artists of a third of q century
ago thought burned wood good enough for
them He had an excellent alto voice ind q
taste for instrumental music, and had made
something Of a reputation from perform
nnces with amateurs. Assuming the name
OF Joe Norrie and purchasing a ~violoncello,
he organized a minstrel company. The or
ganization was known as Sharply and Nor
rieis minstrels, and included seven perform
ers. Tho instruments of the orchestra con-
sisted Of a violin, banjo, violoncello and jaw
bone.
So encouraged was Mr.. Norcross with bis
success that in 1859 he Joined the company
cOnIrOued by Imam and Byram Chr1st1e,
sons OF the original Christie.
THAT TRIP TO CUBA AND BACK
= He next Joined the Eolian minstrels and
made a tour to Cuba and Mexico. The per-
formances were given under canvas, and the
company, meeting with financial reverses,
reduced expenses by d~ischarging all the can
vas men and making the stage stars perform
their duties. His contract called for a salary
of $50 a week, something really enormous for
those days. He was with the company six
months, during which time he received ex-
actly two weeks salary, paid in numerous
installments.
They had many adventures during their
Mexican tour. 1t was at the time of the re-
bellion, and while playing at Bagdad and
Matamoras a pass was obtained from tho
Confederacy allowing them to cross the river
and show In Brownsville. Mr.. Norcross has
that pass in his possession today. When the
company desired to return to the United
States a vessel was chartered to take them to
New Orleans. 1t was expected that the voy-
ago would DO accomplished in less than five
days, 50 only provisions enough for that
length Of time were aiken. Contrary winds
and dead Gains heightened the voyage to
nearly two weeks, and they would certainly
have starved had they not fallen In with n
small schooner, from which a barrel of crack
ers was obtained. Thu crackers were of
Mexican make, half a foot square, nearly as
thick through and hard as a brick. They
were equally divided among all on board,
each receiving five.
When Mr.. Norcross and his company
reached New Orleans they Yere dead broke.
Without q dollar between them, four OK
member Of tho bankrupt minstrel company
set out from New Orleans for home. 1t was
a remarkable Journey, and can best be told in
the words of Mr.. Norcross. Said he:
I'VE went aboard the steamer Ruth, which
was bound up the Mississippi to Cairo, where
we hoped to find another boat which would
carry us to Cincinnati from where we could
take the cars to Philadelphia / explained to
the captain our state of finances, and he agreed
to give us our passage II we would help put
the cargo on board. Having served as can
vasmen, we did not mind hard work, and
hustled the bales Of cotton about with such
good will that the captain soon called us upon
deck and said we had done enough. We gave
a concert that night and pleased the captain
SO much that we were given staterooms. We
continued TO entertain the passengers, and
when we reached Cairo were presented with
n purse of $50.
"1learned from the steward that the steamer
Darling, which was then about to leave for
Cincinnati, was run by splendid sort of peo-
pie, SO l d determined to try and get passage
"lehoub paying ioT H. 1 Wenb 10 inc captain
with the recommendation of the steward, and
asked him If ho would not give us our pas
sage in exchange for musical entertainments.
1t turned out that the steward was thorough
ly hated by our captain, who, in great rage,
refused my request.
"Ho said that the steward tried to pass of
on him all the dead beats he could rake up.
Ono of my companions was a clever piano
player, and Just before the boat was to start
he began a performance upon the steam cal
Hope, an instrument with which all Missis-
sippi river boats were then provided. So
merrily did he play that the captains heart
was softened and he informed us that we
need not go ashore.