The Press., 1896-09-24
MAYO AT REuEA RSAL
HOW THE FAMOUS ACTOR TRAINED
 THE MEMBERS OF HlG COMPANY.

Failed-His Bescttinls l'4..!C!..nt For Ar
 guing Was His Worst Emit.
 "The latc Frank Mayo, hose sudden death on train near Omaha vaa such painful shock to the whole dramatic profession, was ono of the most sC we're and at the same time most just man- agcrs that it has ever been my pleasure to act under" saiu Henry Davenport, son of E. l.. Davenport, to tr:t"Ctlan, and ono of the managers uf t.c C4r;IrA Avenue theatcr of this city. ''IIo Antw how part should be played and i:l- sisted on tho actor playing it ill that way if it took 50 rohc,,rea,s to perfect the role according to MT. MayO's ideas.
 MT. Davenport created tho role Cf Judge Driscoll ill ''Puddnho& Will son." Mayo's last success, and played it during the New York run of tho pro duction. During the rehoar 'als prcvi- ous to the first production of 'Pudl'n- head Wilson,'' continued MT. Daven- port, "Mr. Mayo acted every role i'll the play for the purpose of showing the members of the company how he wanted it played. He took infinite pains to see that every line was perfectly read. every accent properly placed and every bit of business brought out clearly, ef- fectively and naturally. I would not have it understood that in this matter Mr. Mayo was martinct or ono who assumed to know it all. No ono admired originality more than he. He liked to see an actor give his own conception of part, but when this was done he de- manded a reason for everything.
 ''This was ono of his p ,culiar traits. If 8 member of the company made gesture or a pause or emphasized word in a new or original manner, MT. Mayo would say, Now, why do you do that?' He would get to the bottom of the idea, ard, if Q good reason was Nd vanced for it. it found ready acceptance. He was this way in everything re- member that he taught mo fencing when was mere boy, and ill return I taught him what I knew about box ing. usually boxed about one minute and explained 15. I woulG make a lead or counter or guard, and MT. Mayo would say: Stop, now. Why do you do thatP' And when he was teaching me fencing he would make 8 thrust or a parry and then stop to say, Now, you see, do this because, etc.
 "But to come back to 'Pudd 'nhead Wilson, MT. Mayo loved that play as he loved his children. remember some time before the play was produced he became convinced that it needed prun ing. Something had to be cut out, but he hadn't the heart to do it. So he went to my brother-in-law and said: Here is this play of mine. I know 1t needs cutting down, but l can't do it. It is almost as much to me as one of my children. l have gone over line aft CT line and said: I can't cut this out, nor this, nor this. can't cut anything out. So want some disinterested per son to do it for me. And when the play was produced, though he alone was re- spOnsible for the dramatizatiOn, he gave all the credit for the success to Mark Twain in an address he made before the curtain the first night. That was his nature.
 Its great success was very gratify- ing to MT. Mayo, and he deserved it. He wasted several fortunes in the effort to give the public first class produc- tions of the classical drama, which they would not receive. Mayo's famous Forty was one of the best equipped companies for the production of Shakes peare and other standard plays that ever left New York. We carried every thing, even suppers, but the people would have none of us. Tho same treat ment was accorded Mr. Mayo's Nor deck,' his adaptation of The Three Guardsmen' and several other classical efforts. But he rose superior to all these setbacks. It was hard that his life should end just as he was once more on the road to fortune.
 "Mr. Mayo's county seat at Canton, Pa, adjoined that of my father. It was at his home that the noble man was seen at his best-and his worst His worst consisted of penchant for argu ing. MT. Mayo loved to argue, and he would never let up until you acknowl- edged yourself convinced or fell into si- lence in admiration of his earnestness, his sincerity and his marvellous con- mand of language and voice. MT. Mayo had on the grounds of his estate little French chalet, which he bought at the Centennial exposition in this city. He used it for study, and there he would sit until g o'clock at night, when he would suddenly remember that he ought to have suprcr and proceed slowly to the house. Most always he would find Mrs. Mayo, my mother, his daughter, now Mrs. Elverson, and myself engaged in game of whist. MT. Mayo would enter the room slowly and take posi- tion behind his daughters chair. Final ly she would make a play which her father didn't think was good, ard he would break ill with, Now, Nellie, why did you play that card?' The game would end soon after that, for Mir. Mayo would insist upon arguing the point with Nellie and kill tho interest in the game at Oncc-
 "Mr. Mayo once told me that he had discovered the secret Of true clOcutiOn. You must emphasize only those words which could be left out of sentence without destroying thesense, he ;.rgued. Thus, ill the sentence, Get thee behind me, satan,' he maintained that 'thee' and 'me' were the words that stress should be laid upon. Manifestly that was wrong, though up to 0 certain point his theory was correct ButI didn't Rt- tempt to argue the point with him. When acting, he was always trying new readings of lines, and we never knew when he was going to spring a new en- l phasis upon us. He was lovable friend, an efficient manager and brilliant ! Tr xxy0qsEr xxyifh him xvac a no1oao.