St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-24

contractors, recruiting officers and those
who suddenly found their pockets
bullying with greenbacl,s through the
fact that that circulating medium was
so plentiful as to be readily secured.
literally swarmed in the Northern cities
and were ever ready and eager to spend
much money for what they had or could
secure in the way of amusements.
Comic opera with its ..'Lion Tamers,"
"Panjandrums" and "Wangs," as we
have come to regard i nowadays, Is
really but little more than vaudeville.
This can also be said of the average
performance of farce comedy. In
neither of these is there scarcely ever
any plot. but are used as vehicles
merely to introduce tumble of special
ties, songs and dances.
One potent reason why high-ciasS
vaudeville performances have come into
such favor recently is because they aD-
peal to those who witness them by Offer
ing an entertainment that amuses
without taxing. The more select of the
social set OF New York have formed
their vaudeville club. and at stated in
tervals engage vaudeville performers
them. When these artists do this
they are paid by the nabobs of
Gotham unusually large salaries. 1t
has only been, however. within the last
few seasons that the representative
vaudeville organizations have been
given dates at the leading theaters
The variety theater of thirty years
ago gave usually performance in
which there was much minstrelsy, with
this appeared club-swinging perform
ers, trapeze acts. serio-comic singers
and other exhibitions of acrobatS,
magicians and dancers. This perform
OF farce, in which American patriot
ism was proclaimed as frequently as
convenient to please the soldier audi
ences. At the close of the rebellion of
'61-5. nearly three-fourths Of the vaude-
Vile theaters of America closed. 1t
was soma time after this, how
ever, that American theaters were
willing to take the risk of inn
porting from the music halls of London
and Europe vaudeville artists, the nov
city and extreme difficulty in the per-
Torrance of whose acts entitled them to
what might be considered eXOrbltant
salaries. Vaudeville in America has
steadily beep Oh the increase of popu-
larity since 1866. One reason why there
are at present but two vaudeville Or
carnations of the best class travelling
IN America is because of the difficulty
managers find in securing at reasonable
prices acts that will be novel and at the
same time interesting and entertaining
to their patrons. Manager John b.
Hopkins, the proprietor of the Hopkins
Trans-Oceanic Star Specially COM
pany. may perhaps be credit
ed with being the most success
full organizer of high-class vaudeville
companies in this country. Each
summer Mr.. Hopkins personally visits
as many important music halls of
Europe as Is consistent to secure per-
formers. He has agents in nearly
every country In Europe ana frequently
is obliged to engage his artists several
years In advance of the time set for
their appearance III America. The
manner in which he secures some of his
performers is almost accidental and
somewhat curious; for instance. while
i'll company with Trewey, the shadow
graphist in Paris, summer before last,
the two visited a certain studio for the
purpose of securing a plaster of Paris