The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-11-30
THEY .BLACkED UP.
And After the Show Was over They Dis
covered Something.


The little village Of Clyde in Wayne
county is as pretty as you will meet in
a weeks travel in this state of pretty
/ villages, and into the bargain it has a
/ great number of beautiful young won.
en- Awhile ago somebody organized a
show to be given for the benefit Of some
! local church or charitable organiza-
tion, and lot Of the pretty girls, led by
the female members of the choir OF the
church which was to be benefited got
together-to discuss what part they would
take in the entertainment. Somebody
had been reading of minstrel show
given by young women in Brooklyn
. and suggested that Clydefollow Brook
lyn's lead The idea took The girls
decided that it would be perfectly love
ly, and the details We're arranged.
To make the show realistic, the girls
thought they ought to Black up. There
were some protests against going so far,
| but the backing up idea proved popular
with a majority Of the proposed per-
formers, and it was adopted The per-
formance was given one night last week.
The hall was crowded, and things went
off nicely. There was singing and the
end men (who were men, by the way)
worked off their gags, and the whole
affair wound up with song in concert.
The Clyde orchestra was present and
did wonders with its varied assortment
of Instruments and the village folks de-
cidcd unanimously that they had had
their moneys worth and were perfectly
satisfied
When the curtain went down, the
girls went back to wash the black off
their faces. The first one to reach
wash basin took sponge and began
rubbing her cheeks. To the intense hor-
ror of the entire company the black
would not bulge. 1t was there to stay.
The other girls seized pals, basins, any
thing that would hold water got water
and began to scrub. The black remain
ed. They might just as well have been
negroes of the darkest hue for all the
impression they made on the color
There were Mysteries and all that sort
of thing but the black never budged.
The girls scrubbed and cried and
cried and scrubbed with the effect of
getting off some small patches of black
and heightening their grotesque appear
ance After hours of work they man.
aged to whiten their cheeks enough to
enable them to go out, and then they
all skipped through back streets to theiI
homes. Meanwhile the men were hav-
ing n similar experience They couldn't
get the black off either. The end men
and the principal comedian worked for
an hour and then strolled out to the
Clyde hotel with their faces all shades
from light drab to a coal black. The
leading comedian got some Of the black
off his nose and chin, little off his
checks, but had been able to make nc
impression on his ears, and he was a
very spectacular young man when he
walked into the billiard room of the
hotel and huskily asked for something
to drink.
There was theatrical man in town,
and late that night he was awakened
by heavy knock at his door, Say, ~
said an excited voice, "are you thea
ter man?''
He said he was.
- We'll, heard you were. What do
you do to get burnt cork Off when you
black up for nigger minstrels?'
Wash it Off "
Yes, know, but how?"
why, take sponge 1t ought to
wash right off. "
There was a long silence. Finally the
voice said again, "Say, mister, how do
you mix burnt cork when you use it to
black up for nigger minstrels?'
Mix it with water"
Great heavens, said the voice, 1--WE
mixed ours with vaselinel''
In the course of week or two it is
expected that the young women who so
successfully participated in the minstrel
show will be around to receive the con-
gratulations of their friends. In the
meantime the ears of the leading come
dian are still of a beautiful, glossy
black. Buffalo Express.