Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-11-15
THE OIL WELL DRAMA.
"reminiscences of Tragedian Keene Amope
the Pennsylvania Miners

"Reminiscences of Tragedian Keene Among
the Pennsylvania Miners.
When an actor gets to be as old as
l am he forgets many things" OBJ
served Thomas W. Keene, the TRACE
dian, as lie sat in the corridor of the
Hotel Anderson, but if should live
to be as old as the traditions of Mem
non | could never come to Pittsburo
without recalling the days of 1867 and
1868, when | played in the stock com
pany with 10 Seton in the BUILDING
which stood where Harris theatre now
stands. There were 10 Seton and his
wife, Annie Seton, and Mrs. LIE For
rest and Oliver Doud Byron and the
y Nell girls IN the company, but Seton
himself was the central figure.
After the regular season Seton
would send me out in the oil regions
starring. was playing Hamlet, Mac
beth and Richard III then for the
prlncely salary of SIG week and fur
nlshlng my own wardrobe. remem-
Der well the first town we struck after
leaving Pittsburg. 1t was Pleasant
vile. By the way, there was a Pitts.
burg boy along with us named Harri-
son, now in the glass business, l nh.
derstand. But more CT him anon.
We'll, we reached Pleasantvi1re,
Allghtlng from the train | walked
around and could discern only two
buildings, one evidently a hotel, the
other a store.
Where is the theatre?' | asked of
a man who seemed to comprise the
population of PleasantviIle.
1t will be here all right bv the
time you are ready to play this even
ing, replied the population, coolly.
Well, but where are the people to
play to?'
oh, they'll be here all right.
Il took his word for it. Indeed, that
seemed to be the only thing in the vi
entity to take, and had to be satisfied
with 1t. My confidence was not misplac,
ed, either, for along in the afternoon
came a number of diggers from Rouse
vile, where the wells had played out.
bringing the theatre with them, along
with their tools and other baggage. 1t
took them less than an hour to rap up
the light board shell which constitut-
ed their Temple of Thespis. So, there
was my theatre. But | was still at a
loss to know where my audience was
coming from with only two houses in
view.
Night came on, however, and a
sight was presented to one poor and
hungry actor that he will never forget.
Out from behind the derricks. along
the little hills twinkled an apparently
mnumerab!e number of lanterns
From places where one would never
dream of human habitation thronged
the hardy miners, and long before |
was ready to step upon the stage there
were 600 or 700 people in the theatre.
''Well, we gave them Richard, and
a more enthusiastic audience you
never saw. had sent to tinshop in
Titusville for some sheets of tin from
which we cut little circular pieces and
fashioned our armors, and | tell you
Richmond and the crookback showed
up as glittering warriors. That night
was all right. But the next we es
Sayed Hamlet and that was a mistake.
The miners had pitched our thea
ire over little brook. Heavy rains
during the forenoon had swollen the
stream, and in the scene where Laertes
jumps into the grave of Ophelia we
had catastrophe Young Harrison,
of Pittsburg, whom mentioned, was
Laertes. The trapdoor in the floor
was open for the grave. Laertes took
his desperate jump. There was a
splash, cry and a scream from the
audience. Laertes had immersed him
self in the swollen stream, and it took
the efforts of half the audience to res
cue him from his watery grave before
he could go on with the performance.
There We're a number of little mis-
haps like this, but, Notwithstanding
them, we played to good business in
the oil settlement for forty-three weeks
and when we came back to Pittsburg
10 Seton made me present of 5000 in
addition to my salary, which was more
money than | had ever seen together
before Pittsburg Dispatch.