Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-06-16

world Of his early struggles In ms
charming way;' ,,,,,o 90
o public appearance comes Deiore me
as a startled child In a wnile tuh,S
beautifully striped with gold banus,
and in the grasp and on the shoulders
of an Infatuated trngedian CROSSING u
ahaky bridge amid the deateninB report
OF guns and pistols ana In pihHe ul
fire and smoke. To me the SITUATION
seemed perllous. and Ia order TO rem
der my position more secure ! seized
Rolla by the hair OF his head Let
GO" he cried, but l was obeylng the
FIRST law Of nature, not Rolla, so
frightened my grasp upon ms tfasle
top-knot. The battle was short but
decisive, for in the next moment 1 had
pulled Off his feather buster head
dress, wig and all, thereby uninten-
tionally. scalping the enemy; and, as
he was past the prime OF NE the nobie
Peruvian stood hald-headed In the mid
die OF the bridge before an admiring |
audience. This story has the flavor of |
an old Rnecdnte, but 1 am credihly IN |
formed that | WAS the original scalper |
About this time--f was three |
years old-there dawned upon the pub
lie new entertainment In the shape !
OF the Living Statues by Mr..
Fletcher. / was much taken with
these novel tahlcauX. and became so
statue-struck that | could do nothing
bur strike attitudes, now posing be-
fore the green-room glass as Ajax
Defylng the Lightning or falling down
in dark corners as the Dying Gladia-
tor These pastures appear to have
been so successful with the family,
that they were, as usual, tried before
the public.
81 am in the dark as to whether this
entertainment was the talk OF the town
or not, but / fancy not. An attcntu-
ated child representing Hercules strug-
Cling with lion could scarcely excite
terror; 80 | presume did no harm II
did no good. To go from white
70 black. Jim Grow. In the person OF 4.
ID. Rice, now burst upon the town. The
legitimate drama has ut all times been
subject to startling Innovations. and
surely here was a great blow, The
success OF this. the first and certainly
the best knight of the burnt cork, was
quite marvellous; he drew more money
than any star OF the season. 1t IL re-
ported that his first hit IN Washington
was repeated In all the great cities OF
even surpassed his career here In
London he acted In two theatres
nightly. the same people In many IN
stances following him from one theatre
To the other. OF course, this fantastic
figure had "A great influence upon me
and / danced Jim Crow from the gar.
ret to the cellar. The comedian saw
my imitation of him. and insisted that
should appear for his benefit; 10 on
that occasion l was duly blacked VI
and dressed as a complete miniature
likeness OF the original Ho put me II
q bag which almost smothered me. nn(
carried me upon the stage on his shout
ders. No word Of this proceeding ha,
been mentioned on the bills. 30 that
fguratively speaking, the public wer
us much In the dark as | was. Ate
dancing and singing the first stanz
he began the second. the following be
ing the two lines which introduced me
'oh. ladies and gentlemen. I'd have 20
That I've got a li,tie darlsey here tina
Jumps Jim Crow
And turning the bag upside down h
empticd me out head first before III
eyes OF the astonished audience. I'll
picture must have been n curious on
it ia as yividly before mo now as an
recollection OF my past life. Rice wa
considerably over six feet high, l WI
but four years old. and as we stoc
there, dressed exactly alike, the aud
ence roared with laughter. Rice an
now sang alternate stanzas. and Il
excitement increased. showers OF pc
MES, alxpences aud shillinRs we
tossed from the pit and thrown fro
the galleries upon the stage. took
notice of this, but suddenly the clea
ringing sound of a dollar caught II
ear, and as the bright prize was 70
ing from the stage into the orchestra
darled forward and secured the pris
Holding 1t triumphantly between n
finger and thumb. 1 grlnned az 1
leader OF the orchestra. as much as
say, "No you don't" This not on
brought down the house, but ma
half-doiiars and dollars besides.
The fall OF the curtain twenty-four d
lars were picked up and given IN
my delighted hands. For years AFT,
wards l was made TO understand III
this money we,s placed In bank 10 I
credit, and fear that i often b,
rowed small sums ON the strength
my prospective wealth"
Regarding his debut. Inc Nyell kno'
burlesque comedian ID Welf Hopp
writes: II made my first appearai
IN New Haven. CT, In tho Criteri