The sun., 1891-06-30
sx,r1xrscsxoEs OF Enrrx

Ava,e,ee,-H,s ERort 70 Capture an Ob'
s,suste spectator-Au Extraordinary Ad-
venture In Coiuusbus. Ohio-The ers"'
tude or the Owner OF n Copper Msno-
More euuets, hut Not Another FritS.
A1nASY. June A. Joseph X. Emmett has
been laid to rest near the home ne 80 iavisniy
furnished and decorated. The death OF no
man who has appeared uron tho American
etage has touched more tepdor chords IN tne
hearts Of the people. Poor Fritz" hundreds
exclaimed whom they heard that he had gone
from the world. The music OF his songs still
rings upon the ears and pictures OF his grace
full dances remained imprinted upon the'r
memories. He was quaint, original, ana lov-
able. both on and of the STAGE No one can
MI his place. He had q plateau ana person
ality Of his own. Casper. tho 1oder tries ~
MI the void but It s like theatrical landscape
"a compared with ono OF natures choicest pro-
ductions. Fritz himself is dead. HIS real
counterpart will never appear.
I first met Fritz Emmot many years ago. II
Was In Unclo Rufus Hatch's oDfce In Wall
street. Rufus was then millionaire for tho
second timo In his life and financial p'wer
in the land. There were manv similariries
between tho two men. Both were quaint.
energetic. and genial. Indeed. Rufus might
have been termel the Fritz Of Wall street.
Emmett had entered Rufus's ONCE with $4,000
in his pockets. He pulled out his wad. placed
IL in Rufuss hands. and told him that he
wanted him to buy Government bonds with It.
He had been there on many similar errand
before that. In his mind Rufus was the only
man In Wall street who could be intrusted
with commission to buy Government bon ls
While shaking hands with Emmct could
hardly renlize that he was Fritz. The mer y
eyes, the mobile mouth. the yellow halr. the
German complexion. the graceful movements
all were Eone The white. even teeth alono
remained. There is only one man who has
such teeth to-day and that man Is Jerry Dunn.
Indeed. Emmett was far more swarthy than
Dunn. His hair was black. and thoie was q
ramrcd stiffness in his walk. He seemed grin
and saturlne. All the brightness and geninl-
ity of the Fritz OF tho stage vera lacking. His
very voice seemed TO have changed. Once
drawn into conversation. however. tho whole
manner and expression Of the man freshencd.
He began to talk rs we'll as he could act His
sinewy hands were used in his gestures. his
eyes frightened. and his face became flexible.
I had witnessed his performance at the Grand
Opera House on the preceding night and
praised 1t. He seemed pleased. The house
had been packed and he told me that ho WINS
clearing 5000 week. The conversation
turned upon Incidents In his theatrical career.
II noticed" said I. that while on the stage
you recognized ne; sonal friends In the pnr
Quet. You did 1t 30 naturally and gracefully
that only those you saluted seemed to be
aware Of It. I fanced tha. the glare OF the
footliGhts would prevent an actor from idenii-
flying acquaintance In an audience"
"Oh. no." he replied. II could readily dis
cern RUFUS here. II be was tucked away in
the darkest nook of the upper tier. In small
theatres ! recognize the face Of nearly every
personal acquaintance. 1t becomes second
nature. salute them almost unintentionaliv.
The salutation seems to work itself into the
performance so deftly that 1t is never detected
by the audience. In n great theatre. like the
Grand Opera House. the faces OF the specta-
tors are sometimes blurrel by the strong
light. With rare exceptions recognize only
the faces o, those nearest the stage.
Rufus is an exception. Hc has strong
personality. you know. While playing m en-
gagement at the Standard two or three ye,rs
ago saw each friends face after the perform
ance began the instant he entered the door.
One gentleman. In particular. can never for
get. He attended the performance every
night up to the close Of my engagement. buy
ing his ticket regularly at the box ofTlce md
seating himself In the parIuet. He usually
came In after tho curtain was up never
knew his name. and never saw him outside Of
tho theatre. but I shall remember his face as
long as live. began to anticipate his coming.
Once as he was saunterinG down the aisle
bent my head. quito unconscously. and said:
"'Ahn
He smiled. returned the salute and sat
down. but no one In The audience observed it.
After that I greeted the stranger every
night. Sometimes 1t would be with such ex-
pressions as All. you do mo proud or vas
pleased to zee you again vonce more. right
away. quick
Everybody but my unknown friend inn
aEined that was speaking TO my little stage
'schwester.' Lena. He seemed wonderfully
pleased. and to mo 1t was the most charming
incident OF my engagement.
"At times the impulse OF an actor to address
n friend In the audience. although momentary.
is almost irresistible. Last night nv friend
Rufus. here. occupied a box on the right OF the
stage. was singing the Alpine song:
"Ciimb climb up.
Climb up the mountain high
and marching u? and down the stage beating
n drum. You've seen the character. As
faced about near Hatch's box. I looked him
full in the face. and shouted:
Fall in!
Hatch and mis- party laughed heartily. They
caught the point, but everybody else supposed
thnt tue words were part OF the play"
Here asked Fritz whether he ever found
any difficulty In capturing an audience.
Very rarely" he replied. Once. rcmem-
ber. was filling an engagement at London
theatre. The English, you know. nre not usu-
ally sympathetic. A gentleman with buttoned
kids and hair parted In the middle occupied a
private box. He sat down with great dignity.
adjusted his eyeglass, and cooy surveyed me.
was feeling tip-op and acting with more
freedom than usual. The audience roared
with laughter but he moved not muscle OF
his face. He was importurbabe. He stared at
me like GorRon. l was nettled. 1 deter.
mined 10 capture him. did my best, but he
remained as impassive as statue. There he
sat. partly turned toward me. In the easiest OF
positions and with the iclest OF faces. You
could fairly read on his features
Well npon wv Soul Expected Something
bda iou hnop. but hts he1tiy Is