The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-29
A SHOW BY PRAIRIE GIRLS.
THE ENT,rAINMENT sITEN mr. THE
CHERRY SISTERS q WESr.

A wire screen Necessary TO Protect the
Performers from wash Boilers, Cab.
bnEes. ERrs. mud other Mis-iio--The
show Given with thc Utmost simplicity
aud Growing In Fnvor-As Ingenious
Opinion OF T-iiby and Col. InEersoiI.
CEDAR Rapids. la. March 20. Readers OF
TIM SvN have heard Of tho Cherry Sisters, but
they certainly have never seen them. and what
II more have never seen anything like them. The
Sisters. rs they are known out here, claim that
thcy are absolutely without an equal in their
particular line. and you wouldn't find anybody
in Iowa that would contradict that claim.
The Cherries another familiar fashion OF re-
fcrring to the young ladies' are in the show bus.
mess. TO spei,k In their own language, they
give an "ent'tninmGnt." II would take columns
OF space to give an adequate idea of the nature
OF this ent'tainment and even then one would
have to close with the assurance that the Cher
rlcs must be seen to he appreciated. They have,
however, introduced n new feature Into the
ent'tainment business which places them several
rounds higher on famc's ladder. The Dubuque
Timcs thus describes the new arrangements:
1T is very likely that the advent OF the
famous Cherry sisters to Dubuque two or three
years ago IL still remembered bv our citizens.
AT that time they were new women In the
show business, and had n great many things to
learn among them the proper method of pro-
tectinC themselves from wash boilers. cannon
balls. stove wood, cabbages, and unsavory hen
fruit. But necessity Is the mother of invention,
and they have at last succeeded In %efecting a
way to protect themselves from everything ex-
ccpt pistol bullets.
They carry with them n wire screen, such rs
is put up in front Of baseball grand stands. only
that the wire is about ms large AS that used for
telegraphic purposes. This screen is made In
sections and can be made to accommodate a
stage of almost any size. and 1t is about twenty
feet in height. This is put up Immediately
back Of the footlights and is securely held in
place with guy ropes. Mr.. s. q. Arnold of this
city, who was at Usage Saturday evening. says
that the sisters gave an entertainment there
that evening which was largely attended. The
boys had come prepared to give the girls a warm
reception, but when the curtain went up and
they saw tho heavy wire screen their
chagrin was deep and lasting. and to
make matters all the more aggravating a
card reading. cabbages solicited, was hung on
the screen. A few of the desperate fellows tried
to throw some heads Of cabbage over the wire,
but they fell down on the musicians, and tho
latter registered such a loud protest that no
further attempts in that direction were made.
The show went along without any further
trouble. the girls looking like people giving a
~ " Ath'ANc 80 =" NeHSs a'N' s.'tt
the would be tormentors."
This will need some explanation to render II
Ineligible to the New York reader. or in fact
to any reader outside OF Iowa and Illinois.
The Cherry sisters are five in number. Until
n few years ago they lived a quiet life on a farm
near Cedar Rapids. unknown to fame and for
tune, but familiar with the arts of agriculture,
such as ploughing. reaping, and so on. This life
of active cultivation of the soil was not without
IL "a 1880 .l-,x -ln-.,, 80 L-a. n~I
muscle and sinew. as.well as a capacity for en-
DURANGO which has since been worth hundreds
Of dollars to them.
Their father and mother were dead, and their
only brother had mystcriously disappeared.
Gradually the girls wearied of agriculture.
They wanted to lay down the shovel and the
hoe. They felt within them the STRINGS Of
genius, and they sat up winter nights over the
fire and dreamed dreams and saw visions. These
dreams and visions eliminated in IA determine
ton to give an ent'tainment at Marion, II small
town near the farm.
'Thnt was where we made the mistake of our
lives" says Addie. the middle sister, In recount
ing her experience. III we'd only begun with
the y. VI. &. A. we'd a been all right. tell you.
it's the religious people you must get hold of IL
Ike ours.
Them Marion people said that If we give an
Well. we give the cnJ'tainnent Just the same,
an we took In 5000. but there was "A lot OF roughs
that Drought CnDDnHcN ana tUrfllrN ana All tllitt
sort OF thing to throw on the stage. and they
made such a racket that we could scarcely hear
OursclNe s talk"
But the girls were not discouraged. They had
the self-rontidence Of all geniuses. They Were
convinced that, II people would only keep still
long enough to hear their songs and "reeCyta-
lions and would stop throwing things long
enough for the sisters to be able to do Justice To
their tableau. '"Clinging TO tho Cross" every.
thingwould be different. Furthermore. that $500
made up for a good deal Of lodging cabbages
and other missiles.
So they tried a second ent'tainment, this
time at Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids is only a
few miles from Marion, and the roughs from
the latter place came down in "A body. The ex-
perience OF the first night was repeated in spite
OF the somewhat lukewarm interference of the
since then life has been one round of cab
bsQes and catcalls for the unhappy Cherries.
some time convince people that their enttain-
ment wns worth Listening to, and they nave
travelled around through Iowa and Illinois f.
existence. They are. simple. honest, ingenious
country. girls, who have never seen anything
extraordinary about their dramatic, attempts.
and have not understood, the attitude OF other
people. OF course, all the. respectable people
who have been in their audiences have deprc-
Gated the rowdyism of the gallery. They went
10 hear and see the girls, and they were almost
when tile curtain would finally be rung down in
despair and the lights turned out.
These audiences have been queer mixtures OF
the worst and the best elements Of the towns
visited. Fashionable people, in their continual
search for something new, go 10 hear the Cher
Nv ~ Wv phiii' i'hN. '''ht NA'J '""'
straw rides and 20 bobhing and wear sun
bonnets., OF late they have even taken To on
gaging the sisters for entertainments in their
own houses. These cabbagelnss occasions ARE
bright Gases in the life OF the girls. business
men, lawyers. Judges, travelling men. all Of
them turn out to u Cherry entertainment and
unbcnd their dignity and give free rein to their
hllarity 10 "A degree that they have not done
since they wero boys.
A : explained before, no one can appreciate the
sisters without seeing them. When thcy began
their dramatic career they had no idea how 10
dress UP for the stage. They wore muslin
gowns, white stockings, and carpet slippers!
They sang their own songs to the accompani-
ment OF n mouth-organ. They were ~fearfully
and wonderfully unlike anything which had
ever before been seon over the fOotlighJs. II IL
had been intended rs n Joke IL would not have
been very funny, hut when 1t was all done in
dead seriousness IL became n tremendous joke.
Since then the girls have made great strides
their strides are both literal and lgurattre,
but principally LITERAL on the stage. They wear
cashmere dresses now and satin slippers, but
nothing can ever destroy the virgin freshness OF
thor ignorance. NJ the world and their comb
denCo in themselves.
Tho reference to wash boilers in the Times
article Is not exaggerated. Tho girls went 10
Dubuque during their tlrst season and were
$50. -aIa HAA