The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-28

hair was disheleved, and the COMPANY
promptly "sloped."
The men went to the Dodo club al
the House of Lords, on the corner. O.
houston and Crosby streets, to wait
for the clouds to roll by. After the
wreck, when the manageress haG
Gained down somewhat, she wished to
know what had become of the com
pahy. she sent me to raid them" as
she put it. When I appeared, they
gTeeted me with For She's a Jolly
GOOD Fellow" and other ditties. Soth-
efn as usual was the leader of the
crowd, and he suggested that c. w.
Couldock go back to the theater ~
gather up the pieces" When I sIvI},
inquired why they had left, George
Jordan replied that they had adio11rne,7
10 nave a rehearsal of High Life Be
low stairs" Lutz, the business man
aSer, VINO afterWard became the hl1s-
pahu OF MISS Keene, got the truants
started, and Mark Smith Sr, who had
magnificent voice, marshaled them
at the stage door. All then struck 10
oh, Dear What Can the Matter Be?''
and marched on. Miss Keene had en-.
tlrely recovered from her fit of temper.
ana rather seemed to enjoy the ludf-
crOu5 situation.
When Dion Boucicault left the Win
Ter garden to come to us to produce
Inc Colleen BaWn,' Miss Keene was
cast for Anne Chute, the part OF the
Gciien BaWn being given to Agnes
robertson, the authors wife. Laura
had never liked Dion, and found fault
with everything. Each morning at the
playWrlghts residence | reported the
most recent objections He tore NJ
enough manuscript to make a whole
play, ana wrote new matter in it's place
IN order to fatten the part of Ammo
Chute: He was finally almost beside
himself and threatened to abandon the
whole thing. And right here it might
not De amiss to state that this PLAY
made more money than any upon which
royalty was ever collected. The scene
in the piece in which Anne Chute an
pears in 8 riding habit was written to
aFpease Laura Keene
THE "AMERICAN COUSIN"
The wonderful success of the "Ameri
can Cousin which Laura Keene prO
duced has often been commented upon
Sothern attained real greatness almost
solely through the medium of this play
for which no one expected more than
the most ordinary success. His famous
hep, skip and Jump entrance, and the
accidental manner in which he literally
stumbled into it, are too familiar to
require reorganization here. The part
of Lord Dundreary was one Of the
shortest in the piece, and SOthern was
very much Disguised with it at the
start 1t was originally about three
lengths Gao lines to the lengthy, but he
built this trifte up into about 40 lengths
In the cast Of the American Cousin
at the time SOthern made his big hit
were some Of the best actors in the
country, including Joseph Jefferson
Laura Keene and c. w. CoudOck
jefferson gave a magnificent imper-
of Asa Trenchard, and COul-
oil "a T.,
sned-in fact, it was exceptionally
good, as was also that Of Laura-but
the Dundreary role gained such a firm
held upon the public that the other
players and characters were, compare
lively speaking, forgotten, and it soOr
became almost q One-part piece, with
S0thern the practical though not the
nominal star.
The inception Of this famous play was al
ways shrouded in mystery. Laura Keene
received the manuscript from Tom Taylor
whose part in the transaction has neve-
been cleared up. From the best data az
hand, however, it would appear that the
play was inspired by Silsbee, the Yankee
comedian, and that the part of Asa was in
tended to be the principal one At any
rate, the piece was not regarded as original
for in 1865, when Miss Keene sought to 0b
tain an injunction to restrain John Sieape
Clarke from producing it the courts decide
against her.
Laura Keene,s recognition of John Wilkea
Booth on the fateful night Of April Is, 1876,
has often been commented upon. 1t
in tho least remarkable to those vino knew
her. for it at time currently repOrte-
that they were engaged to be married. Ev
erybedy is familiar with the fact that Mis-
Keane's dress, which was, by remarkable,
coincidence, enbellished with Embossed pas
sion flowers, was stained with the blood O.
the dying President Lincoln whose hea-
she supported after the dreadful catastroph
which threw a nation into mourning. TIL
episode was recalled snort time ago by tn.
doIngs Of the notorious RawsOn twins in Nel
Jersey. Laura had two daughters who passe
as her nieces. They were Clara, exper
harpist who married RawsOn, and anOthe;
who became an Indifferent actress. Clara wa
the mother Of tie twins. L. John Vincent