The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-02-06
AN UNLUoKY NIGHTS EPISODE
The Trouble Began with the Mistakes
OfIhe Property Man aud only Ended
when the Curtain FELL on the Last
Act of 0NI etamOrn.D

which will be issued February 1. Fonr
portraits of the famous trsgedisn ac-
company the article-two representing
him IN costume and two as he appeare1
Z, II the stage.
Mr.. Jefferson describes Forrest as n
handsome fellow, with the form of an
Apollo and strength of Hercules; HE
deep musical voice under perfect con
troll, and, IN pathetic scenes, full OF
tears.
During my long professional life
met hIm frequently" added Mr.. j. fir
son, land | should say that much of hit
unhappiness-for he was a very un-
happy man-came from his irritable
temper, under little CONTROL"
From advance sheets of this article We
quote the tOllowIng-an amusing illus
tration of Forests ungovernable tenn.
per:
"At the conclusion of the Richmond
engagement" writes Mr.. jeff -rson, 18th,
company went to Washington, wher,
we we're to with Forrest as Metamura-f
character that he detested, and one thn
the public admired. Forrest was always
IN state of intense irritation during the
rehearsal and performance of thu.
drama. Irregularities that he wou' ID
have overlooked under ordinary circum-
stances were now magnlfied 10 an enor-
nous size. so that when he donned tn,
buckskIn shirt and stuck the huntinl
knife of the American savage in his
wampum belt he was ready to scalp any
ffendIng actor who dared to cross his
path. The copper colored liquid will
which he stained his cheeks might liter
ally have been called war paint
AT the rehearsal the poor property
man, old Jake Search, get into a dread-
ful state of nervousness and everything
went wrong, The tragedian ma urallN
held me, rs stage manager. responsible,
Tor these accidents, particularly as tn,
uniucky Jake would cunceal himself b
mind set pieces, or mysteriously disappea
through The traps as each mishap oc.
Gnrred. In the midst of this dreadful
confusion, principally brought about b,
his own i'll humOr, Forrest turned on M
aging that he would not act that nigh
and strode out of theatre. / hurriet
through the front of the house. ant
leading him off through the alley ad
lressed him. az nearly as can remem
Der, the following words:
Mr.. Forrest, befIre you decide upOT
his step let me state an important facl
hat perhaps has not crossed your mind
He saw was IN earnest and stopped I,
rsten, as | resumed: Mr., Ford, tn.
nanafer, Is absent, so | must take hlr
e-ponsibility to the public on myself
The blunders on the stage this morning
have been unfortunate, perhaps culpable
nut YOU must pardon me for saying tina
our excited manner and somewhat un.
reasonable demands have contributed
not little to confuse the company an,
ring about this disorder. But be tina
= it may. there is another and stil
more important matter to consider
Every seat in the house ia taken for t.
mght; the audience viii! crowd tn
ouse IN expectation OF great dramati'
eat, 10 which they have been looking
onward for some time.
"'If you decline to act. and 30 breal
our contract with the public, whs
course is left for me? Why, only this
| must wait for the vast concourse o
,eople TO assemble, and then go befor
hem and explain the reason of you
,on-appearance shall haue to make
clear statement of the case, and say tha
lou have refused to act because ther
we're some slight discrt pencies and ir
egul trities in the rehearsal. The pub
are, you know. quite uureasonabI
hen their diversion is checked, and !
= likely that they will be indignant q
he disappointment, failing to see tn
'rason as clearly as you may have don,
Now, consider for a moment. UndP
these circumstances will it not be NOR
nagnanimous IN you to overlook tn
hortcomings and go on with the re
,earsal !?
He paused for moment and said: :
vii not go back to the rehearsal. ] at
10 muJh excited. and my presence o.
ne stage now will only make matter
,orse; but if you will see that detail
r" attended to, l will act tonight
II promised to do so. and we parted
| was only too glad to get rid of him o
hose terms, IN his then intempprat
'atr of mnd went back 10 the stay
and dismissed the rehearsal, cautionin
the actors to do what they could t
render the nights performance credit
able now began to hunt up he de
llnquent and frightened property man
Jake Search-an appropriate name fn
Il fellow who needed SO much lookin
alter-and discovered him hiding undp
II pile of old scenery. Is he gomez sal
Search. Yes answered, but he wi
return tonight; so see that your proI
cries are n good condition, or he wi
be the death of you
THE nigh came and matters pre-
gressed favorably until the counc
scene. One of the characters here, bt
ing overcome with nervousness. rt
versed his questions to Metamora, civ
ing the wrong lines, and of course rt
ceiving an absurd answer. The aud
rnce recognizing the confusion of tn
dialogue, began to laugh, aud of cours
his made matter worse The act tel
: nina es with the Indians great speecl
From The east to the we t, from I'll
north to the south the loud cry of ver
geance shall be heard. and here h
hurls his kl ife into the centre of tn
stage, where it quivers defiance as th
curtain falls. In his anger and excit,
ment the blade failed to stick in tn
Stage and ounded into the orchestri
the handle hitting the double bass playt
on q top of his head, which was as il
nucent of hair as billiard ball so as th
curtain came down the fellow wG
stamping about and rubbing his pate /
he delight of the audience.
Il rea lied now that the storm ha
burst in earnest. ami that total wrec
would soon follow. Knowing that
could not avert the catastrophe, an
having no desire to face the tragedian
wrath. like polite ut disloyal Cal
tain l deserted the ship and went
front to see it 60 down. Byron says {
Il battle, oh. what a sight to him wh
has no friend or brother there and |
which Prentice adds, and is not ther
himself The latter was now my cas-,
| was not there myself, and | did NJ
intend to be, so from the secure corne
Of an upper private box watched tr
progress Ofthe most disastrous perform
ance had ever seen.
"As the curtain rises on the last a,
the tribe of Metamora should rus
through the woods as their leader cal
them; but by this ime the braves wei
3 So righlened that they had become d,
moralized. and as the foremost rushe
through the opening in the woods h
long bow got crosswise between tw
tees. This not only precipitated n
b redskin over it, but the entire tribe TO
lowed, tumbling head over heels int
the middle of the stage. l tremble
no" lest the big Injun' would refuse |
put in an appearance. At last to m
relief, the audience quieted down an
Forrest strobe upon the stage. If n
member the story. at this point Met,
mo 5 wife and children had bee
stolen away and murdered. His pathC
was fine, and by his magnificent actin
he reduced his audience to attentio
and en- husiasm. All was now goin
well. and looked forward to a happ
termination of the play. which | wa
thankful to know had nearly reached il
climax.