The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1891-07-09
BONG All SUES VOICE..
It Dropped to n Bnsso Profuudo and to
Two Thousand Dollars Ter Year.

II Dropped to n Bnsso Profundo and to
Two Thousand Dollars Ter Year.
Bong All Sue has lost his voice, and
Chinatown Is stricken with disnay,
says the san francisco Examiner. Tic
has been tho greatest soubrette On the
Chinese stage for .hftaen years, and was
brought I'd this city ten years ago at
great expense and on a contract guar
antecing him six thousand dollars q
year.
If n man were Edwin Booth or Sarah
Bernhardt on the Chinese stage he
could only command n small salary in
his own country, but Just as Tamagno
or Scalchi might work for n pittance In
their native Italy and receive q princely
Income In New forlt SO would the IA
vorite but starving ACTOR in Canton or
Foochow receive q fortune In San Fran
cisco.
The tragedian Of the jackson Street
thcatcr receives eight thousand dollars
q year, ever in these dull times, and
the leading lady gets seven thousand
five hundred dollars, although she is
only a man with a ~falsetto voice.
But while these stars appeal to the
staid and ancient merchants of jackson
Ind Washington streets, the great
soubrcttc, Bong All Sue, is beloved of
the masses.
To be sure Bong All Sue has played in
the roles of chamhermaid and wnllting
lady mud ltute cook. etc, but then he
was the Lolita, and Minnie Palmer, the
Fay Tcnipleton, the Flora Walsh, the
May Irwin and many others of the
Chinese stage. When Bong All Sue
stepped on the stage of the jackson
Street thcater, with his soft, womanly
scrcach, there was always n tempest of
delight, laughter and applause.
With his large salary long All Sue
was invincible with the ladies. He
simply had to glance toward the upper
boxes, sacred precincts of the great
mercantile families, and he would win
d dozen eyes fraught with admiration.
He is also n great stage manager, and
as such is as Invaluable as the late Dion
Boucicault or the later Lawrence BAR
ret In staging n mclodrama or nCnaG-
ing n difficult tragedy.
His salary enabled him to dress as
Gorgeously in his way as Billy Emerson
or Maurice barrymore. But now he
has had to lend his diamonds to a
greedy broker in order to maintain his
erstwhile style, and to leave his cnam.
cled watch with an uncle on his cousins
side to preserve his prestige with China
town society.
Bong All Sue lost his voice rs sudden.
ly as did the famous Italian tenor Ron.
conf, who split his vocal chords III
twain at c alt. 1t was only last Mon,
day that this dramatic tragedy hap
pened. The role was difficult and re,
quired n succession of monologucs from
the soubrctte that would tax the effortA
OF the greatest artists.
Suddenly, in the middle of the third
act, Bong All Sues delicate f~alsctto
went stale. With a hidcous grating it
fell to a coarse basso profundo.
The audience shouted with glee at
first and thought it simply n merry Jest.
With n grimace of pain Bong All Sue
strove to throw his register back TO
place-bu' only a dreadful Shrek came
out. Then the people knew hat their
idol was fallen, they ceased their APP
plausc and let the play drag itself to its
mournful end.
hong All Sue noundcred manfully
through low notes and high notes to the
end, and walked off the stage to his
rooms n broken man.
His salary falls from six thousand to
two thousand a year, and to live he will
have to cschcw the world, the flesh and
the devil, and settle down to the grim
necessities OF minor roles.