The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-14
FUNNY FACTS ABOUT FREGOLI.
HunchbacI1 and Horseshoe Are His
MascOts.
From the New York Press


Fregolrs battalion of 300 and odd cos
tunes. if all were filed at once with Hv-
ing figures, would make the dogs bark.
1t would be a queer little army, of all
kinds Of clothes for man and woman, and
enough wigs to give each member of the
regiment a different style. Yet one quick.
nervous italian, in the twinkling of an
eye, creates himself in succession each
individual of this make-believe troupe.
He lives each part so closely but briefly
that his brain might be expected to be a
human merry-go-round. One can credit
the statement that after an hour of Ere
golian hustling the actor leaves the stage
in a dripping sweat
Yes, this can be believed much more
readily than the fact that Fregoh did not
study for the stage. He was born to it,
evidently, and developed his talents while
a private in the army in Abyssinia The
soldiers near Massowah were to be enter
tanned by an opera company which did
not turn up. FregOli offered to play each
part in turn. He was allowed to try
after ample assurance that il would go
hard with him if he should fail. He did
as he said he would, and thencefOrth
was detailed to furnish amusement to the
men who were soldering in strange
land.
Stage superstitions are many and Gu
rious but for the most part they follow
beaten lines But Fregoli is fastidious
and original in his superstitions. He holds
Friday an unucky day, of course But
Tuesday, with him, is just as bad. He
leave town on Tuesday nor on a Friday
Spill salt on the table at which he sits
and ne VIII become morose It's a bad
sign. Spill oil and he becomes belligerent
He jumps up and will stay there no long
er, for oil IS particularly evil, and smells
of the devil.
But spill wine and Fregolrs a charming
companion. Wine, with him, has other
uses than signs, for he enjoys conviviality
and is having the best of times in New
York He stays at an Italian boarding
house with his wife. Sonora, aided by
sgnOr's manager, Reclus, have got the
maestro into habits Of thrift so he doesn't
elbow i'm his 81, 100 a week.
These, however, are minor superstitions.
There are others one is a hunchback,
the other a horseshoe. Both he picked
up about the same time while playing to
hard luck i'm Italy. Luigi Molinari older
by three years than his master did small
jobs in a theater in Italy, where FregOli
could draw only quarter filled houses
Fregoi had noticed the deformed man,
and one night Luigi came in early to
see the stage mimic. Tt seemed as if his
presence were a magnet, which drew uncil
the house was jammed to the doors. AZ
ter the curtain went down F'regoli, by ma
ture fun of strange beliefs patted the
little mans hump and engaged him as
travelling mascot
Much the same way did Fregoli get the
horseshoe, which, though of ordinary size
is fastened to the rear of his belt, and
worn constantly when not sleeping or
acting. 1t was in Genoa, and before Ere
goli made fame and money Feeling par
ticularly depressed, he was walking the
streets when on the sidewalk ne saw a
horshOe. Now, horses being few in Genoa,
horseshOes are rarely found, and their
value IN superstition is CORES ondingly
high He carried it to his lodgings and
fastened il in his belt. AT night it hangs
above his bed, an Inconvenience to no one
But imagine a big curved iron nesting
in the small of your back. Yet Fregol
believes so firmly in its virtue that Sam
Bill Is to pay when it's lost. Once, in
Madrid, after taking a bath in a hotel
ne missed it. Search revealed nothing,
and he went to the theater in the after
noon declaring he wouldn't play. En-
treaties We're useless. The hotel was ex-
amined from high to low. Finally, at
7:30 o'clock, a hotel servant brought the
bit Of iron TO its owner, and the band
played on.