Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-24
"Places!" and the re-

a
With the last sentence, delivered at M
with great expression. the ship keels over
little further than usual and Broderick lose
his balance on the rail and brings up in tn,
lap of Miss Fairbairn in the corner. Ami(
the general shout of the assembled company
those who have no extra hold on some sta
tionary article follow suit and scrambl,
over each other in heap.
Screaming fun from chorus, from prim,
donna, from musicians, from ships officers
from lookers-on all round.
Iweep tears ofgenuine Joy at Broderick',
half voluntary mishap. and swear by Fats
nitza that will faithfully betray his move
ments He declares on the honor of Genera
Kantchac9of that if do he will interpolat,
nv name in the lines of the opera on the
opening night
Meanwhile the gallant Iroquois rolls on
The stage manager rolls on with her, and
the prima donna and the handsome tenor
and the jolly basso and the good-natured
contralto and the pretty chorus and first
violin and the rest roll on with him. The
rehearsal is finished. There is no thought
of sea sickness now. The fun has driven
the idea out of every pretty head. The
musical director takes the male chorus in
hand at one of the saloon tables between
decks and is going over the drill, while !
escape to the deck.
Lots of Fun on the Deck.
The sky is cloudless Its blue gives Q
glorious Mediterranean color to the water
The heaving sea bears not single curling
wave. She lifts us in gentle rythmic sighs
upon her placid bosom and bids us sigh in
turn that we might go on forever Ger a sea
and under sky like that. The young
man-mashed-on-a-chorusgirl is on her
track. Half dozen gentlemen with briar-
wood pipes are pitching pennies at knife
stuck in the deck. One is very fat and is
going South to get leaner; another is very
lean and is going South to pick up flesh.
An aged paralytic and his pretty daughter
watch the game.
The fat man pulls out small curious
rule every now and then and gets down on
Que knee to measure the relative distance of
competing pennies from the goal and
breathes very hard when he gets up again.
He has rule such as shoemakers use to
take foot measures The pretty daughter of
the aged paralytic smiles and whispers in
her fathers ear. The premiere danseuse
lies crumpled up in big coil of rope en-
yeloped in a heavy check ulster and the sun
is warming her Italian soul into homesick-
ness. 1t is hot enough for flannel shirt
and blazer, and several pairs of red shoes
have come out from somewhere.
A Fat Man Sits on the Dsnseuse.
Pretty soon the fat man gets tired of
pitching pennies, and, measuring and
wiping his bald head, sits down on the
check ulster on the coil of rope under the
that it is nothing but an ulster.
He is scared worse than the daaseuse when
he finds it is alive. We think it is funny,
but she does not. 'I was dreaming-not
eb r
on my way to Italy. That big, fat idiot!'
We 60 and look over the stern of the
ship at the porpoises, and the italian
woman goes to her stateroom and brings out
an umbrella, and deliberately throws it
overheard. 'It will bring me good luck"
said she, and curled up again in her ropy
nest in the sun. A good umbrella, too, that
somebody might have borrowed. 1t is too
painful, and we 90 back and look at the por-
poise again. But they have gone, and so
has S. hat of one of the spectators. The
did it. 1 wonder where that
is now?
We eat again. The dark-eyed Pittsburg
chorus girl whispers to me confdentially
that the young man mashed is fool. "He
wanted to hold my hand" said she. "He
makes me sick"
Chunks of Philosophy at the Table.
Dear, dearl What a world this is! But
is it best to change it and make youth wise
and only old age foolish? The contralto on
nv left thinks not. Then whv do these peo-
pie change their names to go on the stage?
Are they ashamed of their parentage, OF of
their Professionalism? One of the girls
I have known by two names already-and
she is but 20.
'1've changed my stage name," said she:
81 don't think it was pretty."
A woman with strong Irish face and
brogue likes French name. But why not
plain Miss Molly McGlynn or Miss Ann
Maria Smith? And why not Mrs. Eliza
beth Jones? Is married woman more at
tractive billed as Miss? There are pos
sibly good reasons why a woman who has
gained a reputation as an actress or singer
while single should not change it by mar
riage, for she may marry SO frequently that
the public mind couldn't keep up with the
business But to begin the
theatrical profession by dropping an honest
name, and keeping it if made scandalous,
has no sound reason behind it. In man it
is ridiculous. So 1 think as look up and
down the tables in the saloon.
A Glimpse of Historic Sumter
eff you want to see Sumter, you better
hurry up" calls q passenger from the head
of the stairs.
''Now, who's SUMTER" asks a blue-eyed
New York girl, innocently.
The Charleston girl looks at her with scorn-
full contempt, but those of US who remember
Sumter can afford to smile at the shower of
that follows Rounding up
in the historic harbor of Charleston at sun
down the members of the opera company
gather together their effects and cluster
along the forward rails. The Charleston
girls sharp eyes discover friends waiting
in the little crowd on the pier, and hand
kerchiefs are flying in the air. The chorus
girls and lesser people are specializing as to
where they shall stop. The principals are
provided for-they know every city in the
Union. But the other people must shift
for themselves. They are strangers and their
salaries will not admit of carriages and big
hotels.
But they are not strangers to such a situ-
alton. 1t is interesting to hear their busi-
ness-like views of living-of small hotels, of
rooms and meals sent in, of boarding houses
and mine host and hostess. They have quite
practical turn of mind when it comes to
his. They walk uptown in a struggling
body, while the prima donna and other prin-
cipals are whirled away to the Charleston
Hotel in carriages. They leave their i'm
pedimenta somewhere and rush around in
pairs and quartets. They call at the the
ater for letters and the local attaches ad-
wise them as to accommodations
Within half an hour after their arrival
hey are more or less satisfactorily housed
about town and are ready for their baggage
Ind the beginning of the summer operatic
season.
Two weeks ago they were strangers to
Zach other in New York, Boston, Philadel-
ohia, Pittsburg, Chicago and other cities
ust laid off for the summer; they are now In
Charleston, comic opera company, play
ng to an appreciative Southern public.