Morning journal and courier., 1890-03-06
HE INTERVIEWED HER.
And ssPapa', Griffin Knocked Hin Down For lt.

Down For lt.
 From the New York Times.1 Among the we'll known men about town in
 Brooklyn just at present is Frank Cooper,
 who at one time promised to be Bartley l Campbell's right bower.s The sudden mental
 Arrangement of MT. Campbell put an end to
 all plans however. MT Cooper was former
 ly a Chicago newspaper reporter, and it was
 while acting in that capacity that he had a ! very singular adventure, through which
 he subsequently met Campbell. At the
 time Mir. Cooper was very young and very
 ambitious to shine in his profession, and
 when Mary Anderson, who was then the | craze of the theatrical world, reached town,
 he thought he saw his chance to ascend
 the first few rungs of the ladder of fame He would interview the noted actress.
 This decision was reached in an instant,
 but many days passed before the project was put into execution. Miss Anderson's
 stepfather, Dr. Hamilton Griffin, was keeping ing precious charge far from the interviewer l in those days. Mfr. Cooper finally decided to ] apply for the honorable position of bell boy l in the hotel in which the Anderson party l stopped. His youthful appearance helped him and he soon donned the appropriate
 uniform. Then he lay in wait for ring 1 from Miss Anderson's room. For over l twelve hours he dashed about on errands l and carried pitchers of ice water and glasses filled with something stronger before Miss Anderson made up her mind that she
 wanted anything. Then the little flap cov- ering the number of her room dropped with l a click. Cooper had his eye on it and almost l before the clerk could cry "Frontl" he was 1 at the desk.
 "Number so-and-so" said the clerk,
 ''quick."
 The messenger needed no urging but flew up the stairs. His magnet wanted a scuttle
 of coal, and down Cooper rushed. The next
 minute he was knocking at Miss Anderson's l door with one hand and holding the bucket | with the other. Once inside he made for the open gate, but in his nervousness he spilled
 most of coal on the carpet. Then he sat l down in the midst of the ruin he had 1 wrought and looking up found the sorceress
 standing over him.
 'What do you think of the future of the
 stagea" burst from his lips.
 l Miss Anderson was impressed with the humorous side of the situation at. onoe and began laughing. This treasured the dis
 guised ereporter, and in few minutes, he l was carrying on a discussion with the actress | on matters pertaining to her art. This
 lasted for some time, Miss Anderson ex- 1 pressing great surprise at the knowledge dis | played by a bellboy, and Cooper got an in- terview that all the old hands in town had despaired of being able to procure. How 1 he got out of the room, he says, he never
 knew, but when he reached the office he | threw up his job and rushed for his desk in the city department of local paper. The l next day his interview and @ description of 1 the scene appeared. It was the talk of tho | hour. It was copied far and wide, and tho l author was assured that his future would be ! 8 bright one.
 1 The next day he paid for his temerity. His chief, the late Samuel Medill, brother of the present owner of the paper in ques- l tion, was 30 tickled at the "beat" he had ob- l tained that he insisted that Cooper should l meet Dr. Griffin. So that night he took tho youthful imposter down to the hotel, and, | sending for Dr. Griffin formally presented | him. For a full minute Dr. Griffin looked the reporter straight in the eye, and then, drawing back his hand. struck him in the face. Ths blow was hard one, and Cooper ! reeled and would have fallen to the floor had not MT. Medill caught him. Before anything | could be done Dr. Griffin had turned and l left tho room and MT. Cooper never saw him l again.
 I. was several years later that his incident
 benefited Mr. Cooper in a very unexpected manner. He had then drifted into theatrical affairs and had managed several companies before he reached this city and walked the Rialto in search of something good. Bartley l Campbell, then on the top wave of success, was preparing to open with a company in l "Clio," but he had no manager, although dozens stood ready to assist him in over coming this trouble. Young Cooper de- cided that he would manage that troupe, and, armed with letters of introduction, he pre-
 sented himself at Campbell's office. But he could not get past the numerous funkies on
 guard, and after struggling in vain for over two weeks he was about to abandon his idea.
 But he found he was in great luck, for he
 met Campbell late one night and introduced himself. Before he could say 8 word more
 the author blurtsd out: "why, you're the
 young fellow who interviewed Mary Ander-
 son; you are just the one to manage my
 "Clio' troupe" Here was luck, indeed, and Cooper followed it up go closely that in three
 weeks from that night he opened with" Clio"
 to big business.