The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-29

Ridge got a. piece Of advice from the
front I said. to the villain: You lef'
the colonel's baby up thar an you
brung We. own down hea.h,' and his
lines follow: You lie.' Instantly.
made a. movement as If to strike him,
but. remembering that ladies are pres
ent, my arm drops to my side. A man
IN front was so Infatuated with the
heartless villain that he called out to
me: Soak him, Jack. Hit him a good
one for hunk, and then he Kissed like
mad gandef.
When I was playing with Mr.. Crane in the
Governor of Kentucky crowd of fellows
worked regular bunco game on me every
night. They were all good fellows, and they
USED to meet me at one of the big hotels and
ask some chum who hadn't seen the play to
go with them. They always took box. There
was a scene where l came down from the
mountains to the governors mansion and ne
handed me glass of whisky with the remark,
l think you Will like that. It's been in my
house ten years. After tasting it and then
throwing it all down my throat, I gasp:
YOU'RE mistook. No governor Of Kaintuck
could keep Ticker laik that in his house ten
years. At this one of the fellows In the
box would turn to the guest and say:
I'll bet you $40 that that was real whisky
Mcintosh drank
q" Nonsense he'd always answer. It's cold
tea. They always use cold tea on the stage
Then some other fellow would raise it to
$50, and the 1rst-nighter always took it up.
L
drank, for I argue that man speak
such lines over cold tea. He can't throw the
proper spirit into them and whenever / have
lines like those | insist on having real whisky.
Mr.. Crane and used to get convulsed over
this little drama that was carried on in the
box every night and as soon as the act was
over one of the fellows would bring the first
n1ghter to my dressing room to prove that l
had drunk whisky. After the play they al
ways blew the money in on a good supper,
and came in for that.
hard oica +r0J
when funny things happen on the stage.
When 1 played Called Back with Kate Clax-
ton we used to pick up girl wherever we
happened to go, to play the part Of a boy,
who appeared in only one scene, and had to
read only enc line Sometimes we struck
long lank maid and maybe in the next town
we'd get hold of short, dumpy 2GO-pounder.
No matter what the size, shape or age hap
pened to be, they all had to wear the same
boys suit. The line that this boy had to say
was, Father, father, 1 cannot enter here.
We used to have great fun hearing Clay
Greene teach the girls to say this line prop
erly. One night one would shrek it if a
mouse were after her, and the next night
another would jerk it up in deep voice from
the depths of her stomach. Finally we struck
Brooklyn, and the girl obtained for the part
was tall, and weighed at least 10 pounds.
When Mr.. Greene attempted to give her
lesson she tossed her head and said, I'm
an old actress; you can't teach me anything
about reading lines He was quite relieved,
because we never let up on guying him. I'M
the middle Of the stage and shouted in the
most tragic tones I ever heard: Father,
father, 1 cannot enter them DOORS. We all
collapsed.
1.-The nearest ever came to going to pieces
was in Springfield eight years ago. I was
playing with Helen Barry and Frank Nor
daunt. My character was that of man with
a good deal Of ear In his makeup, and when
Mordaunt. who was the project Of police, said
that he would arrest me, | shrank back on
the sofa. That was in the game, but the
devil of it all was l went straight through.
| would have eXtricated myself without up
back to the front and began making faces
at me. 1 laughed so l Thought I'd never get
out. Experience teaches one self-control,
and l can't imagine any situation on the
stage or in the audience now that would
throw me off my guard"
Virginia liarHed is nervous and high
strung. She says she hates the things that
happen IN fFsn:.
''They are never funny to me at the time.
for they completely upset me" she said,
''but / can laugh az them after they are
bygones. l don't remember ever being abe
to enjoy anything unusual in front at the
Mrs. ErlyUne in Lady Windermera's Fan
at the National theater in Washington. Eve
lyn K1rltall was playing Lady Windermere.
One night the Chinese legation occupied a
box next to the stage, and a Chinese baby
was present. In very serious scene be-
tween Lady Windermere and me that Chi
nese kid began to talk. l never heard such
a funny little voice and such jabber in my
life. 'Iz-ki, ca-ca, kc-ko, kibi, caci XII
was the way it sounded well as 1 can re-
member, all like a blue streak, without the
chIld's changing muscle in its little round
face or taking its eyes off me. If it had been
an American child l would have been an
noyed, but that little Chinaman was 50 conf
cal. Everyone in the house was tittertng,
but the Chinese folks in the box sat there,
watching Nell and me, as stolid as sphirxes.