The morning call., 1894-06-03

and Shields Opera-house. opposite; also
the Eureka Theater, arranged for him by
Henry b. Platt, on the east side of Mont
gomery street, now used by a board OF
brokers. In the spring of 1876 he opened
the Baldwin with Barry Sullivan. This
he chung to for several years. like limpet
to rock; but be had to abandon it fin a lily.
He had to quit the fight against an all-con-
quering fate, and like an Anteus in the
classic fable, fall TO MS mother earth again
in the hope of getting bis strength re-
newed. Maguire's Bona Dea was New
York City, but be never regained the kind
of strength he sought.
The theaters mentioned. with some
connections in the interior of the
State and Nevada when the Com
stock developed. may be called the
cards in the game of his dramatic
managerial life on this coast. After all.
the only trump in the deck was the old
Opera-house on Washington street. When
he quit that house at the time the running
of Montgomery avenue cut through its
rear and also the rear Of the Metropolitan,
he had several hundred thousand dollars
to his credit. Building new theaters and
importing expensive opera companies gave
the wings of the morning to this capital.
1t was in the Washirgton-street Opera
house. with such humble agents as the
sons of burnt cork and the Diana saloon
as an adjunct, that the Napoleon" made
tributed to it may be listed as follows:
Sam Wells, ben Cotton. Neil and Jerry
Bryant, Eph Horn. Billy Bernard. Dave
Wan bold, w. ID. COrrister, j. L. Taylor,
Billy Birch. Charley Backus. Sher G..
Campbell, c. S. Shattuck, Frank Converse.
Frank Hussey. and in later days Billy
Emerson. The latter as money winner
was. as the miners say, tub-mill for NJ a
guire. Around the old Opera-hOuse the
EmersOnian period brought halcyon days.
But. as before mentioned, what Mcguire
gained by the sable tOns of harmony, be
lost with more pretentiOus members of the
lyric stage. Caroline Richlngs, Sconcia,
Stella Bonheur. Limperti, Milleri, Morelli,
Adelaide Phillips, John Gregg. and more
than a score of others, helped him away
with the pile that Wells, Birch, Backus,
Emerson and their fellows of the carbon
! fraternity helped to accrete for him. Ma
CURES losses in opera were continuous,
with the exception of the LISTER English
| Company, especially when Henry SquireS
and Lucy EScOtt were members of 1t. He
might also be said TO have been mO6er-
alely successful with Sig. Enrico BIanchi
and his wife when those artists arrived
here from Mexico.
In the early part Of his managerial
| career. and up 10 the time of the death of
| Broderick in 1859. Mcguire took an active
part in politics. He was an earnest par
| tisan of the "mudsill' Senator, as the
Chivs used to call Broderlck, and his par
| tisanshp took the form of financial aid
occasionally. The Napoleon had plenty
| of ready cash in those days. and politi-
| clans, most of them, were then, and are
now. generally impecunious. Broderick
resided with the Mcguire family in their
| living apartments over the old opers-house
on Washington street. The politics Of the
! time were rough. and they suited the
"boys" of the period better than they did
the Committee of 1856, who reformed them
! In a measure.
Mcguire generally held himself we'll to-
| gether under circumstances that were
! calculated TO irritate and break up most.
| men. He had not the true fnesse of
| di plOmacy. but he came very near appre-
| bending the principles on which that de-
vious science proceeds and is governed.
If he had known anything about Shake
speare one might think. from his manner,
he had read Macbeth" and carried him
self according to the advice the am bilious
wife of the Thane gave her husband on
one occasion:
To begule the time
Look like the time bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: LOOK like the innocent
flower
But be the serpent under't.
He did not read Shakespeare, however,
nor any other book for that matter. The
Napoleon was not literary. When Forrest
was playing at the Washington-stree
Opera-house Mcguire hailed a friend pass
ing the theater's portals one day.
SAY; coming to see the old man to-
night?"
II don't know. What's the plsy?"
"Corrylanus. It's first rate. One Of his
own"
"Do you mean TO say Forrest wrote it?"
"Of course he did. He kin do nything.
that man kim"
But although Mcguire was not blessed
with much book-learning he had natural
faculty that stood him fairly in place of II.
He was a good judge of individuals. "He
was great observer. and he looked quite
through the deeds of men,; but some
times, it must be confessed, he did not
look far enough and was egregiously
taken In. He admitted himself in this
plight once. 1t was the time of the OPEN
ing of New Montgomery street through TO
Howard by the Harpending party. One
of Maguire's adjutants-a trusted one
saw his opportunity in this move, and he
availed himself OF it by piece of sharp
practice. He went to the parties who
were putting the project through-not