The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-04-07

SOOil IOOAS VI SOO0
humor she would travel in her own parlor
car, but as it is not, she has never yet seen
her stage name-which may be Magoffin
in private life, for aught any one knows to
the contrary-in even conspicuous type on
the house bills.
On the 3lst of last March she and two or
three of her mischievous intimate friends,
she being the leader, concocted variety
of schemes to render the coming morrow
for various persons a day of surprise and
evaporation. she wrote a letter to the
agent of the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children, demanding inter
ference with the illegal employment in
the ballet of tender child, Daphne Yer
milia, and drew much anticipatory en-
joyment from the prospect of an interview
between the agent and the giddy Daphne,
who was forty-flve years old, if day, and
sensitive about it. They stole pad of the
managers letter heads from his Office and
upon them wrote a score of letters to as
piring and "crank" dramatists, taking in
all the utterly hopeless ones who adver-
tise themselves in the dramatic papers,
urging each of them TO send manuscript.
They put in German newspaper, over
the name of the orchestra leader an adver-
tisement calling for ''instrumentalists, not
members of the Musicians union" which
they rightly judged would put that i'll
starred Teuton in hot water for at least a
month. They utilized some more of the
managers letter heads, writing to the
human freaks" in the dime museums,
Offering to them all profitable engagements
in his new spectacle and asking them to
call on him at once To the manager him
self they sent letter signed Friends of
Ireland" denouncing him and threatening
personal vengeance for some testing allu-
Sions to the Fenians in a topical song then
sung nightly on his stage. In two news
papers they advertised for pet cats and
parrots, TO be brought between and
O'Clock the next morning to the room of
the 'old man" of the company, whose tenn
per was known to be shorter than any pie
crust and whose hatred for pets was pro-
verbal They ordered a barrel of red paint
to be left at the stage door the next day for
the leading man, and the bill therefor pre-
sented at the box Office, using the last let
ter head for that purpose.
OF course, when she sailed forth on the
1st of April, she was on her guard against
being herself made the victim of even the
smallest trick. Pocketbooks and coins on
the sidewalk had no interest for her, no
gamin's cry Of You've dropped you ham
ke'cher, LADY," beguiled her; the intelli-
gence that a sealed package awaited her
in the box Office did lot cheat her into a
moments confidence. Her vigilance was
almost preternatural, and she had much
fun
The ''old man." who had been broken of
his rest by an irruption of bird and beast
fanciers, was incoherent in his enraged de-
nunciations of the unknown monumental
riiot" who had brought the trouble upon
him, and lively fight was reported as oc-
curing between the treasurer and an
irascible cartInan who demanded pay for
barrel of red paint left at the back door.
How the manager had worried through
the morning she could not yet ascertain,
and Miss Daphnes trouble would not
eventuate until evening, but from the two
samples afforded the programme seemed
to be going off all right.
While she was at luncheon messenger
boy brought to her note. Both the adj
dress on the envelope and the Enclosure
were typewriter. She read:
MY demr Sylvia. Come home as toon as
you can from the performance tonight.
shall be at yodr robins awaiting you with
a pair of earrirgt | think yod will find
wbrthy Of even yodr pretty ears"