The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-10-05
CHARLOTTE CHAMPION.
DOM PlATT's REcOLLEcTIONs OF
THAT GIFTED ACTRESS.
Her W onderful Work In q Play Meant to
Be a BurIesque. but Which She Turned
Last
Especial Correspondence.l

/
achieved fame and fortune as a fasci-
mating story teller. found himself strand
ed on the hard bar Of poverty, and took
refuge in the old homestead at Mack o.
chez. He had tried acting and failed,
soldering in Mexico, and came out rec
! ognized as the bravest of the brave, with
a decoration in the shape of an ugly
wound given him by the foe at Chapul-
tepec, but with an empty pocket; then
he wrote plays and poetry, to find the
one unread and the other damned He
had, however, an Irishman's buoyancy
of spirit. and hope smiled eternal through
his hours of gloom.
He had one play, "Lou's Sacrifice"
that had failed TO win popularity, al
though the character Of the hero was
rendered by himself, and he was grieved
at its failure. 1t was beautiful pro-
duction, full Of poetic expression, but
lacked the dramatic quality SO necessary
to success. The characters were shad-
owy and stilted, and the action without
that pivotal turn which excites and
gratihes interest, and from necessity di
vides play into three or five acts. He
was reading it to me when said:
Reid, you don't understand this
thing. Your play lacks action. In a
comedy man in shoes must kick fell
low in top boots all over the stage. In
tragedy Almira, the oppressed maiden,
must stab the count, deep dyed vii
lain, after she has been pulled through a
canebrake of direful distress. Here, let
US get up a tragedy"
About that time poor, half crazed
woman, deserted by her husband and
robbed of her children. had murdered
the mistress Of her liege lord, and popu-
lar sympathy ran so high at Cincinnati
that the fair assassin was acquitted
amid roars of appreciation, and the hus-
band narrowly escaped lynching at the
hands of a mob.
There" continued. sis lovely sub
ject. Let us try it on"
Reid entered into the spirit Of the
thing, and in ashOrt time we had melo-
drama Of the bloodiest sort that we
meant in fact to be burlesque. One
of the stage directions, for example,
read, dip Lovettin a barrel of red paint
and pitch him, with rope about his
neck, upon the stage" When the work
was done we called it 'Retribution" and
mailed it to Charley Barrass, subse-
quently the author of the BLACK Crook"
~ A..
drama over to little Hebrew then man
aging Woods theatre, and the guileless
child of Israel put it solemnly upon the
stage. Reid and l were amazed to learn
from the press that our burlesque was
great success as a serious piece of work.
We slipped down to Cincinnati to find
out if possible what was the matter with
our parody on such plays. We thought
to have it greeted nth roars Of laughter
instead of tears. Hid in box we had a
revelation.
The leading character, that of the
murderous wife, was done by an actress
then billed as Charlotte Wilkinson, and
who was afterward called Charlotte
Champion. She was little creature of
about %, of exquisite form and a mar
vel of a beautiful head. The clear cut
features came ont from a perfect oval of
a face that had not only delicacy but
strength. Her large lustrous eyes seemed
to illumine the stage. while her voice, of
rare sweetness, had a compass as wide as
it was thrilling. She was crude, it is
true sand had the sing-song information so
common to uncultured actors. But
these defects were lost sight of in her
full conception OF her part and the
strange power she exhibited in her rem
dition.
Mayne Reid told me years after, when
we last parted at New York, that the
one thing that chung to him as vivid
fash OF memory was the murder scene
in that. abominable play of ''Retribu-
ton" Il is so with me. | feel in its
memory as if were recalling an actual
assassination. The little genius had
worked the interest up through her
scenes of fearful pleadings with her
beastly husband for her children, he
helding these children TO force the mother
TO give up their little patnmony. Then
she sought the mistress TO appeal TO her.
The scene was of a gorgeously furnished
apartment, for Lovett was gay villain
of course, and opened with the two sin
ners at breakfast. After short dia
logue, in which the hard nature Of these I.
characters was shown, LOvett left, and /.
the wife entered. She began in a low,
clear voice. that had in 1t an appeal to
tears the house could not resist. The /
woman, unmoved, responded in sneers I
and ridicule.
AS the moJner proceeded shs spoke Of /.
her little ones. who were hungering for +.
her love, and fixed her eyes upon a door I
as if believing it shut them from her. ,
She looked so wistfully a. that door, and +.
started twice as if TO force 1t open. And /
then. with a fixed stare Of one insane, /
she gazed as if she saw neul, and the /
look followed along the wall. around 4
the room. until IL encountered the mis- 4
tress: then with a wild shrek she rushed .
ike a tigress at the wretch. SEEING the I
woman by the throat she hurled her 4
down. then dragged her 70 the table. /
Holding 70 the throat with the left hand 1
while gazing firmly down upon her VIC /
tim. she felt over the table for weapon. /
Securing the carving knife at last she /
plunged Il again and again into the /
breast Of the struggling creature.
That feeling over the table was the /
most horrible piece Of business ever done /
upon the stage Men half rose from /
their seatsani women tainted Ii would I
have been simply horrible but for the 1
exquisite scenes in which the little genius /
Lei ", ?, " rhrn-1-h nIaa2irgs u The /