The morning call., 1895-01-02
Mephistopheles and His
Stockton Experience.
GOLD THAT PEOPLE KEPT.
Marguerite Gould Not Play at
Cheap Rates.
HER ADMIRERS DISAPPOINTED
HER ADMIRERS DISAPPOINTED.
A Little Story That Is Quite an
Ordinary but Expensive Expe-
rience With Players.

The Hunting Thropp aggregation has
returned to town. Miss Thropp and
Percy Hunting. who were the initial pe0-
pie and leading lights of that organization,
are at the William Tell Hotel and are in
cined to be jocularly reminiscent of their
outing in the provinces.
Miss Thropp was doing Cad the Tomboy
al Stockwell's with popularity in full cry
in pursuit of her when a tempter came
along in the guiSe of Mephisropheles in
his red suit and leer and pointed north to-
ward Stockton. where he said not glory
alone but great riches awaited their coming:
SO Miss ThropD turned away little re-
luctantly from Cad. the rOmping tomboy.
for whom she had quite a tenderness of
feeling, and took down from her closet the
gray garb of Marguerite and put it on and
went down with the winged and horned
and cloven-hoofed Mephistopheles into
Stockton, her ewes fixed not so much on
the red spirit of evil as the yellow bags OF
gold which it was said awaited her there.
But she found only i'll luck, which any
sad-eyed Marguerite, as Well as the average
man or woman, can find without paying
carfare to go out for it anywhere in these
democratic times. When Marguerite and
is the story of their trOuble-they found
themselves advertised by one Manager.
Mackay of the Yosemite Theater TO play:
TWO weeks engagement at popular;
prices, which is TO say, 10. 20 and 80 cents.
one week presenting Faust and the sec
ond the Black Crook.
Now, popular prices" is a comparative
term. What was popular with the mass
of Stockton theater-goers was altogether
unpopular with minority of the directors
of the theater. who. led by one Mr.. Peters,
declared that the Yosemite should never
stoop to such rates. And it didn't, despite
the announcements which covered the
dead walls. He said that hs would rather
see the theatsr turned into hay barn
than drop Its dignity to that extent; that
he would 60 into court for a restraining
order if it was insisted upon, ana al
together made such fuss that the majority
of the directors who had signed the con-
tract decided it best to arrange a cOmpro-
mise.
So when the people came to buy their
10, 20 and 80 cent tickets they were charged
%, 80 and 70 cents for them, and the result
was hoodoo and very bad business with
preliminary symptoms OF long walk back
TO San Francisco.
Peters. the interfering director, did 90
so far as TO ask Hudson, the manager of
the company. realizing that he was layin I
a heavy handicap on innocent people
however artfully they might wear the red
clothes of the deviD how much he would
take to call the whole Thing off.
But there had been a whole lot of back
Gaping on the part of other theatrical
combina atoms, managers and actors anx-
ious to secure the dates of the Hunting
ThropD company, and so they decided to
see it through at any cost and played their
dates-the first week of them-and are
now back in town, as stated, full of jocu-
lar Renaissance, and that only. The bags
of gold the Stockton people have retained,
divided uD among the populace in 10. 20
aud 80 cent pieces. AS for the company
and the play, they were both very well
spoken of by the critics.
Miss Thropp was readily engaged to
take the leading part in 'In IDAHO" 10 be
put on at StockwelP, but could not agree
with Stage Manager Osbourne as 10 theg n
depreciation of the part, and so is enter
tanning negotiations from another theater,
ard Osbourne is looking for another lady to
fill the part.