Los Angeles herald., 1892-07-17
PLAYS AND PLAYERS.

Uncle Dick Hooley is in ireland.
John Stetson is backing Dixey in his
Adonis III venture.
Francis Wilson will not go Japan this
summer, but to Paris.
Ralph Delmore's broken leg is so
mended that he is able to move about.
Nellie McHenry cleared about $4,000
on the first day of the Long Branch
races.
Twenty-eighth street, between Broad.
way and Sixth avenue, is now called
Actors alley.
Young J. K. Emmett has gone to. Null
doon's farm at Belfast, N. Y, to have
his muscles put in order.
Yale college has conferred upon
Joseph Jefferson the honorary degree of
master of arts.
The little plaster of paris emperor at
Berlin has refused permission to the
military bands visiting the Chicago fair.
He thinks they would remain if once
out of his clutches.
VIM. r. Hayden is resting at his pref
ty villa at Navesink highlands, and does
not propose touching the dust OF Goth
am with his patent feathers before the
arrival of Mr.. and Mrs. Stuart Robson,
From far across the ocean comes the
news-it is comparatively fresh, and
needs pinch of salt to make it 90 down
easily-that Mrs. James Brown Potter
does not like acting, and would retire if
she could. On this side the ocean we
know she could if che would.
The Oberammergau Passion Plav is
to be transferred to the Chicago fair by
a western corporation which announces
that it has a capital of $S0O,0CO. 1t will
need that much money, for Joseph
Mayer, who is to play the Saviour, in
sists upon having 0,000 in cash being
deposited in a European bank before he
budges an inch.
Hugh Fay was married to Grace
Decker at Stamford. Ct., last Thursday,
and Bill Dunlevy and Bill Barry stood
up with them. Mr.. and Mrs. Fay 90 to
Europe. Carver B. Cline and Mildred
Gale were made one in New York last
Wednesday. They will not go to Eu-
rope, because Mr.. Cline does the press
work for Roster & Bial, and has to at
tend to biz.
William Gillette is enjoying himself
at MISUNDERSTANDING, in France. Dan
Sully started from New York last week
next Monday. Margaret Mather has
Haberkorn. John Russell and his wife
are again on the deep blue sea bound
straight for New York.
George W. Lederer distinguished him
self last week by telegraphing from Chi
cago to John W. Hamilton that James
A. Bailey was insane and had been shut
up in an asylum. Mr.. Bailey is so far
| from being crazy that he has instructed
| his lawyers to sue the author of the false
report, and Mr.. Bailey will see it done
for 'all he is WORTH" As that amounts
to about 81 100000, Mr.. Lederer may be
said to be in "a hole"
| Clara Morris will probably not thank
elocutionist f. F. Mackay for little
story he told of her the other day. Says
Mr.. Mackay: II was playing with her
in Camille once. 1t was the scene that
Camille has with Armand's father. Miss
! Morris was apparently overcome with
! emotion. looked out over the audi
ence and could see many people respond
ing to her show of emotion and wiping
their eyes with their handkerchiefs.
Miss Morris said to me from under her
/ handkerchief: Look at them, Gully,
They're gettin' out their wipes.'"
| The stories about the origin of clara
ra boom-de-ay" are getting quito ANUS
ing, and 30 many have laid claim to
being the discovefer or composer of it,
that the mystery is almost as deep as
the authorship of Beautiful Snow.1 In
the long, long ago saw the original
| poem of Beautiful Snow" in poor Mr..
Watson's handwriting and read it in
Harpera' Weekly, and before that time
| even heard ''Ta.ra boom-de-ay."
have watched the paragraphs floating
on the crest waves of journalism, and
for six months waited for one of
many that could tell, to come
forward. Not being myself as old
as to remember the advent of the
Gong in America, can only tell what l
heard about its importation, which was
neither from France nor England, but
from Africa, for the song is negro" in
every detail. There lives upon the west
coast of Africa tribe of hardy seafaring
black men. known all over the South,
West Indies and South America as Kru
men. They were unlike the other slaves
captured and brought over in many par
ticulars. Their noses were not fat, no
"nigger driver" ever drove them to any
SiOdt CAtCAb, bHCy ul0 AlOU dS u Tul0 UllA
with the other slaves, and could be i'm
plicitly trusted both ON land and at sea.
They were magnificent sailors,
and as sailors were "worth
moxe," hence they were mostly
employed on the water-one of their
conditions being, if free, that they
should be allowed to see their home
once year, and they kept tally of the
time to day. When pulling at rope,
hoisting sail or an anchor, one Kru-
man would shout 'Ta-ra-ra-boom-
deay," and with the boom all would give
a mighty pull, just as any other sailor
today pulls when singing. The negroes
at the docks in New Orleans caught the
refrain. and fifty years ago it had
reached far into Louisiana, where a ia
ra-ra-boom-de-ay was shouted when
anything was to be hoisted at the sugar
mills. People that knew New Orleans
even twenty years ago and 'looked
over" Mahogany hall, on Basin street,
must remember the cong, and many
thousand people must have heard it, at
least dozen years ago, as sung by
negrees in st. Louis. "Ta-ra-ra- boom
decay" means, EASY, easy, up she
y III