Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-03-15

TFnom a painting by william Inman IN the
possassion OF Joseph JefferSonl
English tragedian, who died April q, 1873,
and by unanimous consent the somewhat
Gmless gathering was turned into an in
formal memorial meeting in the dead act
or's honor. Said an old man with smooth
face and Jolly eyes:
'Macready va n man Of strange disposi-
Hoa. He forever seemed unhappy, with
an often p~etnlaBt and unenviable temper,
and vet, with all his faults, be was pos
ns..sd Of . good heart and honesty Of pur-
poss.
His UNPLEASANT ~peculiarities were evi-
dsnesd more, perhaps, in his exactiOns at
rsAeazAb than anything else, and during
hi visit 20 this country the actors with
whom be came in contact almost invAri
ably disliked him, and made IL a point 70
annoy him
AT one time while rebearing his great
character Of Ricbelieu in Boston he at
tempted unsuecessfully TO correct the read
ing Of certain lines in the early part Of the
play by the actor cast for the king. But
when the time came for ~rehearsing the last
scene Macready was most particular in his
direction. telling the actor especially 70
keep a certain document, which be wa 70
hADd % Macready unfolded. in such a posi-
lion LnAL u MUulA nnN olEElFt Tue hu-
dienoe's view. and not in any circumstances
70 touch Richelieu. But when the scene
came on, the actor. instead Of doing A. di-
rected, rushed at the great actor and held
before him the large parchment. thereby
~concealing from the audience the TRACE
dams face and the whole Of the upper part
Of his body. Macready literally groaned
After much paving Richelieu was en-
abled 90 grasp the document, when the re-
belliOus actor, not satisfied with the mis-
chief he had wrought, seized the unfortu-
nate Rchelieu by the arm and commenced
pumping IL up aud down and shaking him
with great violence. Let me 90. groaned
Macready. Let 20 my arm, sir and by
a succession Of jerks he finally released
himself, amid great laughter from the
audience. Il is needless 70 say that the
actor vas never Per9itted 20 act with Ma
cready again
This anecdote recalled another incident
which occurred during a rehearsal Of the
same piece at the Astor Place Opera house
In New York An actor Of the name Of
Keller, who was cast for the part Of
HuguL, appeared at rehearsal with a
large bowie knife stuck in MS waistband,
and when he came OF the stage 70 go
through his scene with Macready. without
saying a word be pulled II out. and. keeping
his eyes fixed h~ercely on the tragedian,
picked his teeth with IL. At this Macready
became very nervous, and asked Mr. Ryder,
who accompanied him, 20 ind out from
the manager why the young gentleman
carried 50 dangerous a weapon. Keller,
on being asked, said, ITO cut in pieces any
Englishman who dares % afront me"
Macready, on being told this, ~nervOusly
replied, II shall be careful not TO ahront
the young gentleman"
This same actor. having been cast for the
king in Hamlet" was directed. when
Hamlet killed him in the last scene, 20 fall
well up the stage, Hamlet reserving the
front Of the stage for his own death throes.
When night came and the action took
place Keller, instead Of doing A. he was di
rected, fell aud expired 10 the exact spot
Macready had reserved for his own death
scene. and the Prince Of Denmark was com
PEELED 70 die on the side Of the stage. A
the curtain fell the enraged tragedian rosS
20 his feet and roundly rated the dereliel