The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-05-03

I
| appreciate them. Elsie always arrives at
| the theater an hour before the curtain rises,
| and walks around experimenting things.
| She loves the stage, and is ambitious to con-
| tinue upon IL. She says, in her unassuming
way, that she means to be a great actress
| some day.
Harrigan's Great HIT.
Ned Harrigan is making big money out
of his new theater He has field of
| amusement all to himself The phases Of
| life on the east side are full Of interest.
| Harrigan has studied them and portrays
them in lis rlays He is hi>tr;onic Meis-
sonnier. He draws to the life. and not a
| shade or line is omitted. Sometimes in his
! plays there Is mOmentary lula time
| wnen the audience, or part of 1t, is not al
| together Interested. But after the play is
| over run your mind back over what you
/ have seen; there was nothing in it irrele-
| want or suneTlUnus.
| / saw Mr. Harrigan in his dressing-ro0m
the other evening just before the curtain
! arose. Down passageway we went,
| through an imprOvised door of waterproof
material up some stairs to the stage, and
! down more stairs to the greenrOUm. There
| all is clean and neat. A large room. with
! sink running along one side and tables on
| another, is parttioned off at one end from Mr..
| Harrigan's little room. Other rooms for the
| ladies of the company are near by. Harri-
| gan sat on bench facing a mirror, which
rested on long and broad shelf against the
wall. On this shelf reposed all the para
| phernalia of the actors trade, the time
| hOnOred rabbits foot, cosmetics, etc. Har-
| rigan was about half made up as l entered,
| and Represented cOmical appearance as he
| graSped me by the hand and asked me to be
| seated. A touch here, touch there, little
| penciling on this side, little rouge on that
| a slight ad justment of the hair and presto !!
| ha Nilu RaillU with hition fo
! place his son among the 400" Around
were "SuDes" rehearSing their parts, some
| turning SomersaultS, some going through a
| dance, some adjusting their dress and laces,
! and some ioiling around waiting for the
| summons from the stage above. And even
| while was talking to the genial actor the
| shrlll summons came, and there was hur-
ried seamper away. Mr.. Harrigan lesurely
surveyed himself in the glass, and slowly
| accompanied me upstairs to the stage, where
| / left him. In another moment was out on
| the street, and he was in front of large au-
| dience which he, as Willy Reilly, the pawn
broker, kept in constant laughter.
Billy Birch Off the Stage.
How time .fiesl Here's Billy BirchI Not
the jolly endman of the minstrel stage, but
a well-preserved, kindly faced man of mid
| die age, whose hair and mustache are silvery
gray. He is seldom seen on the stage now,
and more's the pity! He drifted out of the
| business some years ago. Jack Haverly.
suppose, was the principal cause of this.
Birch took him into partnership, and the
Z" fell in two" He. lives in a
| modest house on the west side,
near Twenty third street. Though at
times in his career he has made as much
| as S25, 900 year, he is practically dead
| broke" He appears on the stage now and
IafrI ,,o oIo1
of Fifth avenue and Sixty-third street, in
the presentation of an Entertainment
gotten up by himself; In his parlor is
parrot. which he prizes very highly
| and for which hehas been offered $500. He
will not part with it, though. He considers
it one of the cleverest parrots ever introduced
| into this country. 1t has quite an ex-
tensive vocabulary. 1t will shake hands
with its friends, and every morning when
the cover is taken of. the cage. it cries
out Good morning. / saw Birch
reminiscent the contrast between the days
when money was plentiful, and now, when
| money with him if anything but Plentiful
drew from him heavy sigh. Billy has
given his services often for the benefit of
brother professionals, and there is talk
among members of the profession of tender
ing to him benefit.
Two Navy-Yards. -.
There are two navy-yards near New
York, one known and one. unknown to
tame. In both, gigantic hulks lie at anchor
or aground; in both the Changing of ham,
mers on iron is heard, and workmen hurry
to and fro with tools and timber. Here the
parallel ceases, for in the one ease the work
is OF construction. In the other of deStTuc-
ton. In one navy-yard long, low vessels of
sturdy appearance lie deep IN the water and
rakiSh torpedo boats now and then come to
anchor to be gazed at by passengers on the
ferry-boats that ply on the East River. In
the other lie the useless bulls of vessels of
which the country was once proud, now the
spoil of the iunkmen.
Port Washington, on Manhasset Bay, is
the scene of the melancholy ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF many of the condemned vessels of the
fleets which are sold at auction for old
wood and iron. Here where land is cheap
and labor is plenty fine old battered wrecks
are towed and slowly disappear into heaps
OF rubblshy looking materials. Seldom
are there less than four or i've war-ships
and merchant vessels at the yard at once, in
various stages of ACKNOWLEDGMENT, and a
rarely interesting place it is for the country
lads to come of Sunday mornings to gossip
about the old days when AdmiralStrod those
sagging decks and the smoke of booming
guns blew about them.
Visitors From the Land of the Gar.
An unpretehtous house on Irving place
contains within its walls two notable
women. the. Princess Engalitcheff, well
known as lecturer ON Russian affairs, and
Nine. dOffressimoff, former. lady of honor
to the Czarina. Nine d'Offrossirnoff is here
10 see what America and Americans are
like. She is. exceedingly pretty and we'll
proportioned and; of course, as BELTS one
who was formerly lady of honor to- an
Empress, cultured and accomplished. She
is not seeking not0riety in any shape. or
form, and but rarely appears in public
Wherever she has gone, however, she has
become very popular. owing to her charm of
manner and ease of conversation. Her huS-
band is an official in the Russian Govern
! ment wealthy and accomplished, and aman
of liberal ideas; but thoroughly loyal TO
Russia and Gar. Nine d'0ffrossimoff will
soon return to st. Petersburg
Poor StockhoIdersi
One of the funniest features of New York
politics is the complicated ownership of the
New York Times. The paper is the most
decided of free-trade Cleveland organs, but
large amount of its stock-as high as 40 or
45 per cent, l believe - is held by the
stanchest kind of Republican stockholders,
who date back TO the time when the paper
voiced their views exactly. They cannot
sell except at a sacrifice; IL they stay In
their feelings are daily laeerated by the
Times editorial blasts against their party,
and they have the doubtful consolation of
rejecting that their property does not pay
them as good returns as in the old days
when the Times had purity behind it, At
nraSpnt IL is hated ahOut as mnch by Dam