The times., 1897-04-11

dry goods clerk feels that he should have
been soldier bold, and the daring sea
captain fancies he would have been happy
as tiller of the soil The ordinary man,
however, jogs along in the rut In which
circumstances have thrown him, and is
satisfied with boring his friends and fam
lily with occasional recitals OF what he
ought to have been.
In the dramatic profession instances are
numerous of men and women who feel that
they are called to accomplish different
class OF work from that in which they
made their reputation, and with great per-
sistency and often at great financial loss
they seek to force themselves into parts
for which they are totally untitled and
| in which they are seldom accepted.
1t is matter of history that In his
early days Edwin Booth wished TO be
come comedian, and it is said THAT his
highest ambition at one time @as 70 be
the bones in mnstre, organization.
But that Booths inclination ~ assume
comedy parts was prom )sed by ttle capacity
for SO doing must be admitted by ali who
have seen his Petruchio or his Bencdict.
The long struggle of poor George =. Knight
to rise above the rubbish OF over the
Garden Wall and obtain -ecognition for
his Baron Rudolph viii be recollected,
and his final poverty, insanity apl death
are sadly remembered by his many friends.
Beaumont Smith. sterling actor. who
was long associated with Booth, barrett.
Nine. ModJcska aad other prominent legiti
mate stars, always had a nan kering after
position in comic opera. He obtained one
after awhile, and il cannot be said he
was success in it. During his engage
ment with Lawrence Barrett in New York
MIR. Smith played a small part in which
he did not appear until the iist act. His
idle time in the early part 3f 5h.. evening
was usuallyspent at another theater, where
Francis Wilson was winning t4ne aha for
tune with his comic opera, The Merry
Monarch One evening Smith .old VIII
son that he would like to get cut of tfe
legitimate and go into comic opera or bur
lesque Wilson answered:
my boy. if 1 could change places with
you, l would gladly DO IT. 1 would give
1.-The Merry Monarch" and all l have
made out of it for part III a Shakes
pearean play and a salary Of 500 per
week.
Louise Montague, the $4,000 beauty,
renounced burlesque forever two years ago,
and is now studying preparatory to ap-
pearing in such characters as Julia, Par
thenia and the like. Charles Hopper spent
the first years of his stage life playing
Shakespearean parts; then he drifted into
minstrelsy. and subsequently starred in a
lurid meiudrama called, The Wolves OF
New York" Then he became a come
dian in comic opera, and played the Duke
Of Milan III the Marie Tempest production
of 1.-The Fencing Master" Again he was
seen as a ballad singer in the Rich &
Harris production of Africa" In all of
these he was fairly good. but his ambi-
tion all the time was to be an Irish come
dian OF the Seaman type He bought a
play last year called THE Vale Of 4 voca, ="
and went out in il on a starring tour. He
lost lot OF money. and came home dis
gusted 1t was then that Augustus Thorn
as suggested that he was cut out for
such n part as .'ChimnIe Fadden-" Hop
| per didn't see it at first, but after study
ing the character he concluded that he
could give good performance OF IT. The
result has been that he has made the hit
| OF his life. and is steadily accumnlating
| a very healthy bank account