The times., 1898-10-16
TINY TALKS.

when Times dramatic man enterea ihe
stellar dressing room OF the Nauonai
"Wednesday night. The elongated come
dian had as yet had no chance to remove
his costume and sat back in 4 compara-
lively easy chair with the air of a maa
who is glad he is alive. a negro valet was
passing around bottle of something tEat
locked to have more co,or than the hthia
water to which Mr.. Hopper had alluded
IN his regular speech. Come in the
player called cheerily upon catching
sight of his would-be interviewer. You
see I'm in the hands of my friends. have
a glass of old Canadian pepper? NO!
Wei. I'm much obliged TO YOU Was
diving for that drink myself but my r-an-
ners were worth more to me thah per-
soual comfort and so-have trunk
should say seat, but my
Mr.. Hopper" said the newspaper man.
won and Chauncey Depew are sald 10 ne
the greatest after-dinner speakers In the
worid-although your talks are seneiaiiy
longer after dinner than those oil your
supposed rival.
Indeed" quoth the comedian IL peo-
pie said that / was longer at dinner IN
SledQ Oh dlltI llls sLE7-rN'-N 'SN''N
ly gained-Pm a bigger man than MT
Depew. 1t is n funny thing, though, now
my curtain speeches have come TO De
50 in demand that | have found IL I'M
possible to get away from them lheS
are called for everywhere and even wheh
/ was interlocutor with the Lambs Min
strels-and l never enjoyed the center OIL
the stage less than while on that tour
there was frequently no getting away
from them and mine old time friend, Ca
sey at the Bat That gentleman, by the
way. has done as much TO help me into
popularity as any one factor in my work
Through his sprishtliness / have been
ena bIed TO put myself on a friendly foot
ing with audiences l could never have
approached familiarly in any other way.
And now people call for him everywhere
in such a manner that l am forced TO
forget the harm l am doing my vocal
chords by introducing him after an even
ings work and respond with all the grace
] can muster.
CASEY at the Bat is not. as many
think. a mere comic poem. On the con-
trary. its chief beauty lies in the fact
that it is simply a wonderful paraphrase
ON 'Horatio at the Bridge Col Mccall,
an old chum of mine, handed ii TO me
some years ago, having received 1t from
Archibald Clavering Gunter. / searched
for its author for a long time without
avail and had about given up when / was
introduced to him one night at some club
or other. He proved TO be young fel-
low named Earnest T. Thayer and is the
son of a wealthy mill owner-which fact
has alone kept him from making d repu-
tation. Casey is distinctly a classic in
its way and to the benign influence ii
has eXerted over audiences l owe much
of my own success. Won't you have a
glass of something before you so?''
The interviewer declined, and had got
ten well down the hall when he heard Mr.
Hoppers voice following him. Hey.
called the comedian. Il don't believe
you're newspaper man at air.
There is nothing more interesting tC
me" said Bert Williams, the darky come.
dian, last week. than the rapid strides
being made by the coiored entertainer
Not many years have passed since ht
was practically unknown to the theater-
going public. and row he occupies a posi-
tion that will continue to exist as long as
he is able to produce laughter. There was
a time when the very idea of Negro
getting into stage matters would have ap
peared revolving, and even when he die
break down that barrier the field was lin
tied. ColOred women were not seen at al
until very recently. when Sam T Jack
put on a female minstrel first part with
his Creole show. This was received as
a great innovation. and the attraction
drew tremendous houses. Manager Jack
made over sl00Oe0 with 1t In less than
three years. Then John Isham opened
mp as a competitor and introduced his
Forty Minutes Around the Operas which
has proven very popular. The Black Pat
ii. Cole and johnson and others followed
suit. while my partner and myself are
trying hard to carry negro entertainment
before the better class OF people. W.
seem to have been remarkably successful
so far. and I confidently expect that oui
efforts will result in great expansion o
the field for the race to which we be
long"
Fred Bond was strolling down III,
street last Thursday when he was greet
ed by a Times man, who stopped him Il
inquire how the actor liked his summer
I'm vaudeville. Incidentally the converse
tion turned to the scarcity of good play!
on the market and Mr.. Bond said: 9TH,
necessity for men of brains and expe
rience who can write promising piece
IS dire one and the day when the loca
field will have been entirely exhausted Il
far nearer than that imaginary tim.
when the coal and wheat supplies vii
have been finished. There has been yer,
little new material injected into tn
American drama during the last ten o.
twenty years and meanwhile the ol,
standbys are either dying out or demon
stratiEg their inability to furnish furthe
successes. Many of our best known au
thors have turned out their last abI
matter. and meanwhile the younger mel
seem to find no opportunity for enterin,
the work Managers have grown s
tired of reading wretched attempts n
play writing that an aspirant must ilav
already achieved 10 claim their attention
Some of the best comedies in the theater
today were refused scores of times be
fore they were finally produced. My pla
for the all&iation of this state of AZ
fairs is collaboration. If the older me
can be brought to write jointly with thei
new competitors the national drama ma
be benefited by the stage craft of tn
one and the ideas of the other. OF course
there is a question as to whether tn
first class In accepting this would no
be merely schooling apprentices VIII
would afterward crowd them out of tn
field, but the scheme has been made t
work In other trades, and there seem
no reason why 1t should not in this. Ne'
plays and good plays are getting scarce
and more desirable constantly, and some
Ahs~~ n,ust ba done or the theater Wi