Democratic messenger., 1893-01-07
A JUVENILE HORDE.
NEW YORK YOUNGSTERS SEE 4
THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE.

Six Thousand street Urciiins swarm Into
metropolitan Playhouse and Make
Away with Ever. thing Portable within
Eeach-A rIndcmonium.
Fully 5000 shouting. screaming, chat
tering, cheering Youngsters attended the
( performance of The Scout" given for
poor children at Niblo's. and outdid the
Indians as regards noise and drowned
the reports Of the pistols with their en-
thusiasiic yells.
Such an audience has never before
been inside the walls Of a playhouse.
There were boys there with dirty faces.
and bows whose natural color did net
give one an opportunity 10 see if they
were dirty or not. Little girls Were
there. too. some white and few black.
and they took as much delight in the
/ performance and made rs much noise
as the boys.
The doors of thetheater were besiegcd
~ early rs : 80 o'clock, and by $50 there
was a tremendous jam about the Broad
way and Crosby street entrances. Once
| tho doors We're opened there was no use
trying to collect tickets The boys sim
ply swept everything before them. In
| an incredibly short time every seat con
tanned at least two occupants. and every
available place from which the stage
could be seen was occupied.
The boys hung on the posts like mon
keys. occupied the stairs, stood ON the
radiators. and if it wasn't for the ten
| big policemen who were there T. preserve
order there is no knowing what they
would have done. The Youngsters talked
to each other fromall parts of the house
"Hay. Yailcr.' shouted one urchin
across the CELERY did you see me
brudder:" Nav" came the answer
"Hrlly Mo-" shouted back the frs
speaker. me mu,!der will slaughter
me" Iii, Red. shonted another young.
ster, where's Mii,e:" "Oh. he's down
in the parkay eating oats. came the an
swer.
|, was 10 o'clock when Congressman
Timothy j. Campbell came before the
curtain and addressed the boys. Al
least he tried 10 tell the boys 10 be good
citizens. but they heard him not. and he
concluded in pantomime.
One little girl wearing big red hat
occupied a chair all by herself in the or.
chestra. Take of your hat. Mag
shouted the little one behind her. but
she paid no attention, and in an instant
that hat was sailing down the aisle
When she got it back it was in ribbons
and to quiet her cries Il policeman lifted
her into il box. where she spent most oi
her time sticking her tongue ont at the
other girls.
How the boys cheered when the chr.
tain Went up. They applauded DR.
Carver like mad. and when he threv.
the villain in the biz tank they yelled
fuiously The comic lrismnan and the
darky pleased them immensely. and they
marveled at DIR. Caryer's aim when he
broke all the bottles in the saloon with
rife balls
The actors soon discovered that il WAS
useless 10 talk, as they couldn't he heard
and thcy went on great part Of the
time in pantoinime. No villain was ever
more heartily disliked than Cherokee
Jake. played by Mr.. Sommerfield. One
boy in the gallery threw a half eaten ap-
pie AT him. and an Indian picked it NJ
and finished it, In the fourth act erie,
came from all parts Of the house t.
throw Jake into the river There was
tumultuous applause when the horse fell
through the bridge. and there was more
when the play Was over. 1t took just
seven minutes for the house to empty
and it seemed miracle that no one
was hurt. Had one boy stumbled whil,
coming down the gallery staircase the
result would have been appalling.
After the house was emptied Manager
Comstock Went in and viewed the wreck
Every other row had a broken seat, and
in one place an entire row was demol
ished. The urchins broke open the opera
glass machines and carted off the glasses
and in some cases took the machine.
and all.
Well" said Mr. Comstock, ''they
had a good time, and don't care as long
as they left the four walls and didn't ger
hurt. New York Herald.