The morning call., 1894-05-20

in the midst OF a group talking gayly. but
booking much. the reverse: Close by was
John w. Mackay with "a party. He
caught the tones of Adams voice: and
turned in his direction. >: = -..:r:
T.. 'eyVhO is that gentleman" be asked.uf a
neighbor, "talkipe. SO. well, and YET who
looks so ill.,? Poor fellow, he. seems hover
: ing on the verge OF the grave."
Is itrpOssihle Yeu do not know Edwin
Adams, one of our best actors?": the
p: reply. - He has just. returned from Aus
trala, very. Sick: and I'm. afraid very
! poor. Mares the ply that he is In such a
condition.. - -: -
: Good heavens returned Msckay 4;
:'you dQ-not tell me that poor fellow is the
famous Edwin AdaRls," -. -.
= Nothing further was said. :Mackay soon
left his company and. the hotel. By soma
means, known only to. tie donor, be found
out that the anniversary of Mr.. Adams
birthday was af0rtnigbtotf fr0mfhe time
he SAW him, and on that day an fnclosuTe
reached: the invalid with. $4,000 and a few
= nicely expressed words: c9pgratplattng him
ON bis re turn, with hpBes of; speedy. re Sto-
ration to health. Nor was this ali. Mr.
Maekay's own. anniversary birthday &C.
CURED little later on, and he made this
the occasion to send a s HilaT ineIosuFe,
with felieitations that both the dunes and
thednnOr were yet in tlTa laudof the living.
Following his muniGcent :Tec0gp ftDp of
"
given TO. Mr.. A ADAMS at the old California,
promoted by the late Alexander Austin
and manV other warm friends, which
Melted S52S@0. Thus, landing OF QurshOres
from ain ep terpTIse in q foreign Land that
left him compa ratFyely impoverished, ME-,
Adams found himself, witbin month or
two, IN: DeSs essfOn of nearly $4,000. -
MARY" said he TO his wife one evening
after This Danaen:s shower Z don't under-
$taud IT, ] am comparatively nnknQwn IN
this c5tt and State, and 10 be treated iu
this way daZes me a little. l haye,not long
to live, ard may die.in this blessed Cali
forna, If i do bury me alongside Harry
Perry: ont in that cemetery. by the SEE"
:: Adams did not die n San Francisco. He
pulled fisTemaining siren th-together one
hne morning. and Wltb:hLS wife started for
the East, whefe, on .0cl eber 28. 1877, he
died in her arms at her uucle's house in
Philadelph Ia, "a victim TO friendly
aSSaSs ms TO use: a. remark he poor fell
low used TO make in regard to himself
when he felt his life rapidly drawing to its
close. -. 49,. .: 49,.
"A grand benefit given while he was on
his dPathhed Melted ST5r 900; McVickar
and Edwin Booth raised m ortgages on
y cottage or+tWO he hadat long Branch,
NJ j., and So, his. good and faithful wife
was left comfortably well of during her
lifetime. She soon joined her husband,
however. in the beyond. A close friend
ship existed between. Adams and McCul-
" Tough. 1t was. Mccullough who selected
the Shakespearean lines that are inscribed
on his tomhstOne in .PhTladelphia:
Bis fife was gentle and the element
so mlXed1n him that attire B1gbt stand up
=, And say 10 all the world, This was a man"
. Harry Edwards was born in Bristol.
England, September So 1924, and died
few years ago in New York. His widow
Is living. in this city. Mr.. Edwards COM
mepced life as lad IN a dry-goods store
In Dover, England, 1t is said he and the
late Walter Mon tgomery were in the same
estab llshment.; When be was q years of
age he made his first appearance on the
stage IN Australia, and subsequently ap-
Eeared as colleague of the Inflated Gus
tavns Vaughn Brooke. the great Dublin
actor, doing general utility business with
pnRarying. success. His general line was
dign fed Old man, but his performance of
Mare Antony and Sir Peter Teazle was
highly praised. He acted Antony on one
occaste 10 the Cassius Of Barrett, the
Caesar Of Edwin Adams and the Brutus of
Mccullough.
Edwards. came TO California by the
Roundabout way Of Valparaiso, Chile.
about 1864. Harry Jackson, the low come
dian, was with him, and he also brought
two young ladies' from the col0nies-Mary
snd julia COrcOran They we're his prO-
teges. and he prepared them for the stage.
The elder, Mary. is the wife of Z. J.
buckley, aud is treasure to poor Nei il
his present misfOTtunPs. Julia married
well oul RI the profession. The father of
these young ladies' was killed by an acci-
dent in a Melbourne theater where Mr.
Edw ards happened To be playing and as a
part compensation for their loss he adopt
ed and gave them career in life. Edwards
was eFoad-gauge man in every respect.
u take him Up from the time of his ar
rival in san Francisco. He was with Tom
Mcguire for season or TWO at the opera
house on Washington street, aud occa-
sto2aily made spirits on his own account
In. 1867, with I. NJ. Bates (whose widow is
YET Oh the stage, Occasionally, in this city,
and jim Vincent, he managed the Metro
pOlltan on Montgomery street, but the
enterprise was like a short horse, soon
curried. Edwards was a fue looking fell
low in those days. Tall and well formed.
with Tree movement and an English
heartiness of manner. There was a cheeri-
ness in.his voice calculated to raise a man
from the depths of the deepest blues
When Lady Capulet ana the venal old
Nurse Joined N commencing Paris to the
notice Of that fair italian bud. Juliet, the
terms Of praise they used might have been
with equal proptlety applied to this young
English actor.
a few. years after be had abandoned the
Metropolitan for a bad job, he settled
down as member of the old California
Ihea{er stock company, under the man
.agement Of Lawrence Barrett and John
Mccullough. He seemed, like all the rest
OF that celebrated stock company. to talk
as II he had a life interest in the tbeater.
j hese were the Ted-Ietter days OF the
drama in what may be called the middle
period of San Francsco's histOry-from
-69 well up INTO the seventies-the Raj
stonian dfspensation, that for a time
frightened and fruct fed every hing within
Its influence, the drama Included. He
remained here but five or six years, how
eyer, and left for New York when the
old theater passed under the management
OF, General Barton and Frank Lawl0r.
Then he became mem Der of the Wallack
stock company and SO continued till that
organization was disruDted by the death
OF James Lester Wsllack.
MIR. Edwards, while under engagement
at the old California, took leave of absence
once and made a trip down the coast to
GQaymas, MaZatlan and other Mexican
ports, seeking relief from a sudden attack
OF acute rheumatism so all-peryading and
Sharply painful that he might have said
with. the sailor in 1.-THE Tempest" who
had incurred PrOspero's displeasure, ION,
touch me not l am not Stephano but a
cramp." lie left this ailment behind him
In the sunny chimes he visited and came
back renewed in youth. bringing with him
pleasant and Intelligent reco Elections Of the
places he had visited, which he conveyed
20 the public in most interesting lecture.
Edwards had considerable literary abil-
ity, and could do good deal independent
of playbook when be mounted the ros-
frufn inSteaii of taking the Stapa In fant