Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-05-29
HIS START TO FAME.
COL. JOHN A. M'cAuLL PUT De WOLF
HOPPER ON THE OPERA LADDER.
Fou Making Capacity OF the Ls"A
Dods .-Mccaulf's FavsrIss Horne
A Great Man from Brook'yn'


----
Correspondence OF tho Richmond Dispatcn.I
Nrw YORK, May 2s.-Coloncl John A. Nc
Caull has recently sent from his BESIDE IN
Baltimore message Of cordial thanks lot
the kindly remembrance IN when some
of his former friends here stu hoio thi'
good fellow. genial gentleman, and power
full factor for years IN those ata'rs which
touch the fancies OF the public. ohe 10
particular of McCaull's former pro'e9es' tne
one who now by popular consent seems 10
have climbed highest on the lighl opera
ladder. De Wolf Hopper, has been sincere
Is grateful for the start he got under TUG
biz. hearted Virginian. ANYTHING that COIL
Germs the start Of q successful Man me-
rests the public And this. believe
will be news 20 Hopper's nearest Irieuos.
He was, not so vcrv many years
ago. a New York boz with more money
than experience. and Of least as ihucu
good clothes as good sense; lie gov us
chance as comedian IN Mcrauii S1 ~
nsnv, after having surlandered most OF his
own possessions without striking, MS
gait" as the saving is, BIZ On accideI,.
Such accidents like the sauce served py
hazard 10 NAPOLEON with hrs Marengo
chicken. retain their favor long after tue
circumstances had brought them into
existence have passed into the lumber
loom of history. william Henry DE
Wolf Hopper the boy was cnfis,
tened. in the old Hopper nome on
Bowery. He is Bowery boy after NJ !,
seems. and yet it is not beyond the recoi-
lection of living New Iorl e:s that ,ne
trees which gave its name 10 that wonder-
full decentralization OF the most cosino-
politau IN this cOun ry-really snadeu
promenade IN which wealth aud fasnloh
deligh,ed to disport themselves. Inc De
NoiIs from whose Oh | family MISS Elsie DE
Wolf came to tire stage year or TWO ago,
were the comedians klnspeople on oio
side. and the famous old Quaker falniiv
of Hoppers were responsible Tor him
on the other. His father has for years oeen
connected with the Mutual Lie Insurance
Company. and the stout-tluaker stock
whose name he carried openly WIN MN 20
the boards forgaye him. believe, with
som difficulty for his prediction Tor the
footlights. When the young man, VINO IS
already rich, as actors go. from the savings
of his three years as star, nrst starteu
out tor himself he invested his substance
i'm an enterprise called The Hundred
Wives" and lost it. Anybody almost could
have predicted the result.
NO sUPEEIogs.
The McCaull Opera Company. the very
name Of which has now disappeared from
the boards. against the protest and 70 the
serious pccunary loss OF the Colonel ana
his family, was then IN its heyday. IL had
no superiors, and few, If any. equals.
John McCaull. who had been. a power ID
southern politics and on the race-course,
had already become greater power on
the sta4e. Ii his expenses were great, MS
income from his various companies was
greater. The only comic-opera COM
names. by the wav. now before the
public, surround and depend on the
men and women who were then IN
McCauli's companies. And are they
duly grateful for the training they got,
and the chances they had. and the per-
sonal kindness he showed them? That de-
ponds on what we call gratitude. Hopper,
at all events. seems to be. IL was the
opera of "Desiree" that McCaull was to
present when he engaged Hopper. Ia his
search for American talent, of which he
has always been 50 faithful friend. he
spared neither the Quaker meeting house.
the country church choir, nor the min
strel stage. Hon ard Marion Manola
came from the choir. Wilson from the
minstrels, and Hopper from the Quakers.
Nobody had then discovered the iun-
making capacity of the lank dude" as
McCaull's stage manager called Hopper
The young man had fairly good voice. a
straight figure. and good features. lie
was cast as an experiment for the tenor
part in "Deslree." and was expected to
| look solemn and make love-not fun.
Before the date of the production Colo
mel McCaull got hold of Mark Smith.
whose standing in the profession was
already assured, and who was considered
quite card. Hopper's part was IN;
| continently taken away from him and
given TO Smith, and the tall neophyte
was told that he would be permitted
| to try his hand in secondary role. lie
| made the hit of the piece and sprung into
| immediate favor as q grotesque come
dian.
THE ROMANCE OF HORSE.
The net of the Jouge ,mpressario then
was a magnificent stallion named, think,
| Manueli.o. The horse was known all
over the country. Its beauty justified the
| admiration in which its master held 1t.
1 Like all pungers who speculate IN big en-
| terprises, NcCaull at times ran short OF
| money. Ono Saturday the telegraph
| wires astonished the country by an
| nouncing the sale Of Manuelito. The
salary lists were heavy, and the money not
being otherwise forthcoming. McCaull had
| disposed of his favorite horse TO raise IT,
When. soon afterward, Colonel McCaull
was able easily enough TO buy his horse
| back Hopper, who was with him. says he
shed tears of Joy. and was as happy as 8
boy with new pair of skates. Poor Ma
nuelito has been sold again, however, thi:
time not to be bought back. The money
went TO supply the necessities OF his mas
ter and his family. They say that, Vaga
bond, the sire of judge Morrow. the now
famous winner of the great Brooklyn
handicap of 1892. was until recently plough
inc for his keep on a farm down IN Oldham
county, Ny. Let ali lovers of good horse:
and good fellows hope that Nanuelito''
old age approaches in some degree to wha
il might have been with his old master i
fortune had been kinder. Besides playing
| benefit performance with bis own com
pany, II Topper sent his personal check fo
5000 in pay ment for seats at the McCaul
benefit here last winter, which were ther
sold over again.
ONE OF BRooELYN' BIG MEN.
The hckleness of fashion. which ordaini
the profits of railroads and seaside hotels
"a well as those of milliners and florists
has had peculiar demonstration neal
| Manhattan Island. Every body remember
| when Long Branch was the mldsummel
rage. Then there came demand for bis
hotel with city conveniences within ar
hours ride, and the Brighton Beach Hote
was butt. Then the BROOKLYN anC
Brighton Beach railroad was built to feet
the hotel. Presently the Manhattan
Beach and Oriental hotels were bull
on the same STRIP OF sand, and the tId'
fuc,uated and the railroad went into
receivers hands, dragged down b,
the hotel. and the two present to-day
Que of the SINGULAR failures which might
have been successes but for a freak o.
fancy. General James Jourdan. one OF the
wbeel-horses of the Republican party il
these parts and man OF much force o
character. il in charge now of the tasl
of caring for these side-tracked pro-
perties. Jourdan is an interesting charac
ter and me keeps himself out O
the newspapers with praisewort by Zeal
He is really an important facto
in national politics. which must never
DO considered now apart from King
county. in which he lives and moves anC
ENGINEERS corporations and politics. AZ
eye should be kent on Jourdan. He is
bigger man than Tracy was before Harrl
| SCH put HIM into the Cabinet. "A tail