The morning call., 1894-09-09
the nature of the productions of the lead
ing theater Of the period the cast is


Tue nature OF tue pIOuucLiOuS Oh LD6 leaO-
ing theater Of the period the cast is
printed:
Florence squires....... Miss Adah Isaacs Meuken
Lovely Nancy. an organ girl, with song Of
Bully Lager Beer" ".................Mi Miss Adah
Montague fitzherbert, fop. Miss Adah
Young Moses, fireman, With song, "On the
Cliff H ouse Road" "................... Miss Adah
Tom Howlin, a sailor. with hornpipe. .. Miss Adah
Harry Scarlet, sporting duck............M Miss Adah
HezeSiab Ai Lafkin dark green FranS MaTo
Walter Terry. with large expecta tions. but
raEher inclined TO deep green ....::......
/ orris Mortimer. small expectations and light
ush Wellington San francisco speduIa5or r'0"
2ncy Babstcca. a profession al bum with song
Jake 13 mlinso0 one Of the b'hoys B. Boofn
Jimmie Mccarthy, fresh Importation. .....-.
Gully Smith. Chief oi the ;.Kum iGulis', .'..
Black George inimortaized in the GiG criminal sI''"
calendar H MackIyn
Billy Browning. keeper of dancehouse.....
Jim Case Il ce ebrated ptI .............W. English
Rosina SQuiTes, rather fast.
nile. HorJense. some French Mr, Sonbfa To min
Bluebell rather musical. BIB oopnie Hu" VIII
Ned Spring, pretty boy.
Ne;tle Griffin, very fast. Mrs. H. A. Perry
Menken was the toast of the town in
1662-the queen of the unorganized Bohe-
mians of the day. with a frail-ooking
literary blonde named Ada Clare as her
lieutenant. Her subjects were such men
as J. H. Bowman, Joe Lawrence, Marx
Twain, Charley Sjoddar, Joe Goodman.
Daggett, FOaTd, Bret Harte, c. II. Webb,
and many more whose names cannot be
recalled. The headquarters were in the
editorial rooms Of the Golden Era, once a
most -four shing weekly, but al tnat time
beginning TO wane in popularity.
The names OF several of [ he people in
the cast given above are we'll known to
those of more recent date. and have been
conspicuous on the Eastern stage. The
temptation is, therefore, togive some early
recollecIiOns of them mat may prove in
teresiiRg TO THE CALL S READERS.
Beginning with Adahl Isaacs Menken,
about whose origin there is some hail
ness, she was, in the first place,
dancing girl IN New Orleans under
the name OF a da McCord, and is said to
nave been oor1 In Memphis. On the 1st
OF March, 1850, she appeared at the Ma
tlonal Iheatrr, New York, as the Widow
Cheerly and Emily STAPLES, hut attracted
no attention because sue displayed no his
trlonlc tfIent. 1t was reserved for the
wild and woolly West and ''Mazeppa" to
bring her INTO notice and make her the
talk OF the times. In San Francisco of
1862 this unconventional woman found
herself at home, and turned her no.
torlety to tue best account. But
if easily at home in the Bav City,
DIG 10 uUu utEStil uGEOiu6 I'D virginia
New, when she visited that place in
1864 here her quality as a thorough
Bohemienne tlckleu tie fancy OF the Com
stock miners, young and old. The con-
ventionalilies of society, if there were any
in Virginia City at that time, were quite
disTegarded by the Menken. She smoked
purOs and rode astride ber horse, and
gambled with the JACK Hamiins and John
Oakhursts of the place in a manner that
would have delighted Brey Harte's keen ap-
probation of the magnates of the green
cloth-the arist0crats who were constantly
in association with kings and queens and
who loved diamonds.
Menken's freedom was delightful to the
men in the silver region, who hailed her
arrival with joy, and they adopted her at
once as the queen of their TeveIs, alter
she had appeared as MaZeppa, with such
exposure Of her figure that would be called
daring in those days. but now that the
animated pictures have been revived In
our tbeaters, would be termed slightly
under dressed She was in ber element with
Chese men. She had the faculty OF adap-
tatlon to all kinds Of people Passing from
the stage and the eager eyes of admirlDg
miners she might be found with her ass0-
clates IN some saloon where the red and
whlle chips clicked merrily from hand 10
hanO. ana where she went because she
nad iound out they played sQuar game"
MeDken played nothing but MaZeppa
on the Comsioek. They would have her
in nothing else. She essayed the part of
Katherine hloper in musical trife called
Lola MOnteZ," but this was so feeble and
inconsequential compared to the strong
meat of "MaZeppa" and the exciting re.
suits of faro - DIoft or lOss-,hat she
folded up KlOper and laid her awav.
The career Of the MenKen was almost as
remarkable as that of her immediate ire
cursor, Lola Montez, but Menken was not
by any means up TO Lola's pitch. She
was a lower five as compared to the upper
ten OF the Bavariau Kings fascinator.
Men ken's first hus band was JOHN c. Hee-
nan, the pugilist, the 'Benicia boy" as he
was termed. She affected the athletic
bruisers of the period as the Roman ladies