Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-01-20

Brooklyn girls, and they at once began to
hunt around for something equally unique.
That they succeeded in their quest is now
pretty generally conceded.
The whole idea, with its promise of I'M
limited innocent fun was received with en-
thusiasm, and rehearsals were begun six
weeks ago. After several days work, how
ever, CONSERVATION suddenly seized the
band of warblers. Somebody had whis-
pered to somebody else that the brother of
one of the girls had said that they couldn't
wash the black off and that they would all
have to stay in the house and let it wear off.
That was horrible! A number of the
prettiest fair faced girls Immediately de-
clared it too much of q sacrifice, even for
charity, while others signified their deter
nination to go on to the black end.
A burnt cork ''artist" from New York
was at once engaged to make the young
women's faces up for the evenings per-
formance, and then the clouds rolled by.
The eventful night came in due course OF
time. The curtain rose less than half an
hour late and disclosed bank of black
tulips growing out of draperies of orange
and scarlet checsecloth. The background
was made up of two parallel and slightly
curving rows of black beauties whose rib
bonS and slipper roSettcs were yellow.
There We're 20 girls in each of these rows.
orange. These minstrels wore hats with
turned up brimS and carried fans, which
they ilirted coquettishly, and finally near
est the fOOtlichtS was a last beWilderng
circle of dusky beauties who stared at the
audience with Il GOODNESS they would never
have exhibited had their faces been the
color that nature gave them.
The lady MINISTRIES began their opening
chorus at Il signal, swaying their bodies in
unison and exhibiting their pretty little
feet and delicate ankles in II way that set
the audience wild with enthusiasm.
Then the scarlet and yellow girls, who
were the artists of the tambourines and
bones, advanced to the front and began a
song and fan dance to the air of my Pref
ty Little Yellow Girl" and it had to be
repeated.
After this the ladies settled down to give
the regulation minstrel show. The five tam
bourinists occupied the right of the stage
and the five bone oscillators the left They
fourished their instruments of torture with
an abandon that called forth delighted
screams from the Four Hundred ofBrook-
Ign.
The interlocutor, who appeared on the
programme as Miss Mariah Anderson, but
whose society name is Miss Denslow, occu-
pied a chair upon a dais in the center of the
group. She was differentiated from her
woolly headed sisters, by a white wig. She
was simply fetching. Lew Dockstader new
er saw tho day he could approach her per-
feet self possession.
miss Rosy" said she, addressing the
young lady who masqueraded under the
namo Of Hiss Rosy Coewheel, "yo' looks
solemn tonight. What's the matter o yo'r
my chile?"
'1'ze studyin, Miss Mariah."
"What so studyin bout, Miss Eosy?"
81 like to ask yo, Miss Marah, ef yo'
kin tell me why young ladies is bad gram
marians?"
"Yo' want to know why young ladies is
bad grammarians, Miss Rosy?"
"Yes'm."
"Well, I'm shore l don't know, Miss
Rosy. Does yo'?" d.
why, bless yo', Miss Mariah, l seldom
finds one what can decline matrimony."
This joke will at once be recognized as
the identical one with which Mrs. Noah re-
called her husband on the. day after their
abandonment of the ark. 1t then applied
with double force-a sort of grim satire
for the only women in the world at that
time were all married and members of the
Noah household. Nevertheless the Brook
Ign audience howled with delight, and it is
barely possible that this gag had not
reached "Trolleyville'' until then. The
| lady who perpetrated it laughed longer and
louder than any one else, and the other
burnt cork artists were not far behind her
in their admiration of archaic humor.
Miss Mariah," observed Miss Sorry
Bernhardt after the applause had died
| away, kin yo' tell me why Tze like a
young and charmin widow"
II kin understand, Miss Sorry, that you'se
young and that you'se charming, but why
| you'se like widow don't see."
"I'll tell you, Miss Mariah," said Miss
Bernhardt, giggiing Its because won't
be in black long"
| This particular joke was found in the
hands of man in Pompeii. The individ-
ual's face wore q happy smile, but the coun-
tenances of those who stood near by bore
| panied expressions, which would seem to
| indicate that the humor was considered to
| have q somewhat chestnutty flavor even at
that time. 1t is, however, highly priced in
| these degenerate days because of it's musty
! suggestions of the time when people were
| not SO good as they are now, and it COM
! manded the veneration of the audience be
| cause OF its ripe old age. Sycophantic adj
mirers Of royalty felt that they were obliged
to smile because the joke is said to have
been one of NSro's favorites. He was wont
| to relate it to his victims just before they
| were led away to the torture. And, strange
to say. they generally went without a n'ur-
muir, for it is asserted by tho best historians
| that Nero did not sell it at all well.
But the Brooklyn girls showed great
| pluck in engineering tne.T unique enter
tainment to o successful issue, and the hun
dreds Of dollars which it yielded will help
to alleviate the suffering Of many an un
fortunate fellow creature in one of the best
known hospitals in the City of Churches.
|
sieiiIans @iving Up Their Arms.