St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-19
THEATaICAL TRAVELLERS.
Hardships Undergone by Joe def
fcrsOn's Company In Going
Across the Prairies OF Illinois.

fhCEOS5 tuC IAtEHCb Va AhtbhOtSs
Joseph Jefferson IN the Century.
In going to Galena my fathers COM
pany travelled across the prairie in open
wagons. Our seats were the trunka
that contained the wardrobe-thOse old
fashioned hair trunks male from the
notified skins of defunct circus horses:
ITO what base uses we may returiI"
These trunks, with geometrical prob
lens In brass tacks Ornamenting their
surface, would have made slippery seats
on a macedamlzed road, SO one may
imagine the difficulty we had in holding
on while jolting over the rough prairie.
Nothing short of severe pressure on the
brass tacks and q cOnyulsive grip of the
handles kept us in position; and when
ever handle gave way our company
was for the time being one member
short.
AS we were not an express train we
were allowed more than twenty minutes
for refreshments; the only difficulty
was the refreshment. We stopped at
farm houses on the wap for this uncer-
tain necessity, and they were far apart:
III roads were heavy and horses laded
those actors who had tender hearts
and tough limbs jumped out and walked
to ease the poor bruteS.
Often | have seen my father trudglng
ahead of the wagon, smoking his pipe,
and L have no doubt, thinking OF the
fortune he was going to make in the
next town, now and then looking back
with his light blue eyes, giving my
mother cheerful nod which plainly
said: ppm all right. This is splendid !;
nothing could be finer" If it rained he
was glad it was not showing; II 1t
showed he was thankful it was not rain
ing. This contented nature was his
only inheritance; but 1t was better than
fortune, for nothing could rob him
of it.
We travelled from Galena to Dubuq ne
on the frozen river in sleighs-sm Oother
work than the rough roads of the prai-
RE; but it was a perilOus journey. for a
warm spell had set in and made the ice
sloppy and unsafe. We would some
times hear 1t crack and see it bend I'M
der our horses feet: now long breath
OF relief as we passed some dangerous
nearest companion as the ice groaned
and shook beneath US. Well, the pas
sepgers arrived safe, but, horror to re-
late, the sleigh containing the baggage,
private and public. with scenery and
properties, green curtain and drop,
broke through the ice and tumbled into
the Mississippi. My poor mother was
in tears, but my father was in high
spirits at his good luck, as he called 1t,
because there way sandbar where the
sleigh went in, so the things were saved
at least, though IN forlorn condition.
The opening had to- be delayed i'll Or
der to dry the wardrobe and smooth the
scenery. The halls of the hotel were
strung with clotheslines and costumes
of all nations festooned the doors OF
bed rooms, so that when an unsus-
picious boarder came out suddenly into
the entry he was likely to run his head
into damp Roman shirt. or perhaps
have the legs of soaking pair OF red
tights dangling around his neck. Mil
board helmets Jared the worst. They
had succumbed to the softening intlu-
enceS of the Mississippi, and were as
battered and out of shape as il they had
gone through the pass of Their
mopyl@. Limp leggins of scale
arm0r hung wet and detected
from the lines, low spirited
cooked hats piled up in corner, rough
dried court coats stretched their arms as
if in the agony of drowning, as If they
would say, Help me Cassius, or l
sink" Theatrical scenery at best looks
pale and shabby in daytime. but worn
set. after a six hours bath in river,
presents the most woebegone appear
ance; the sky and water OF the marine
had so mingled that the horizon line
had disappeared. My father had painted
the scenery, and he was not a little
crestfallen as he looked on the ruins; a
wood scene had amalgamated with a
Roman street painted on the back of 1T,
and had SO run into stains and streaks
that he said it looked like a-map of
South America, and, pointing out the
Andes with his cane, he humorously
traced to its source.