The times., 1898-12-11
had really ended lunch was Served and
the Times man took his leave.


In the generality of theatrical organIza-
uons, there is constant trouble between
the stars as to who shall occupy the larg-
est and best fitted dressing room the
houses visited can afford. However
though small in body, the Liliputians are
evidently large spirited and when Times
man was guided through the door of the
stellar apartment yesterday afternoon at
the Columbia, he found three of the midg-
ets within engaged in making up. Frank
Epert by standing on high chair was
enabled to reach the level of mirror
reclining on nearby shelf, and little
Adoiph link, pre-eminent in his under
shirt and abbreviated trousers, was
scrambling into his feminine attire in or
| der to be ready for the next cue.
Hello dar. calculated Herr Ebert as
the form of the visitor blocked his door
You ist reborder or Something's like dot
amt it? dink We meet you in dis same
room last season. Is 1t nicht warh? va!
| l dink So How beest du?"
Nein, wir haben nicht vergoessen" in
terJected Adolph link. I've meet you here
iast Apr-ril. How do you like our show?
Pooty, good. I'm glad you belief So.
You have been married since your last
Trip TO Washington, have you not?" quer-
ied Inc Times man. with glance toward
The rapidly costuming Ebert
Yep" was the curt answer. received
whiie link yelled energeticaliy: Don't
You see he's looking tin and worried? He
| is loosing hair, too, and getting pale. Mar
| ried life is killing him.
Get out. you TANNED narr," interposed
Ebert. Il be all right. Eferyding dat der
matter with Adolph is dat he can't find
anyone little enough to lof i'm
Are you not married?" said the inter-
viewer to link
Not l., was the enthusiastic response.
1 know better. 1 am free as a bird and
as light in spirit. Wifes make a fellow
worry too much. Den you amt popular
NIT der ladies Ven you marry. 1 can't
lose my popularity for only Won womans"
Herman Ring, ''the sheriff of Kalama-
zoo" the third OCCUPANT of the room, now
entered, and still the place was not crowd
ed. i be not married, either. yet all but
me and Adolph are" quoth he. Waters
were growing too deep. and The Times
man changed the subject by remarking
to Ebert: Il presume you saw Mr.. Sousa
many times before you put on this im-
tation of him."
No, / nefer saw him, at all. / haf
learned all ! know about him from beo-
pies. Efery platZ / go some one tells
me different. At Harlem, lady tells
me about bringing my hands together
so'-and here was interposed a forceful
imitation of the March King-"and an
| other tells me about him Twisting his
mustache so. Another fellow tells me
about da side bow and efery where /
learn someding new. Won of desc dimes
l see Mr.. Sousa myself and den III gif
you great imitation. Dis Won takes
pooty goot here In Washington. / guess
you know Mr.. Sousa very veil, amt it?'
Ding, ding. ding, went a bell In the
hand of the stage manager and with
hurried apologies, Ebert was lifted off
his chair by dresser and ran on in
his comical way to delight the audience
by his clever mannerisms.
You see, Frantz and me are not jeaI-
Gus of each oder a bit ;" said link. He
Is a leetle older dan me and haf been on
the stage sixteen years. l haf been work
ing ten. He is thirty-von years old and
! am pooty much of bachelor my own
self. Vat, do you dink of our glove
fight? 1t ought to be TO a finish. If any
one Will put up n purse of five tousand
| tollars-four 10 the winner and Won to
the loser-ve will gif a go to a knock out
I'll challenge any Won in der welt to fight
| me at my weight-siXty-on pounds And
so will Frantz-at fifty. Oh, my piminy
| jenkins and dunder blixen, deres my
call. Come again sometime, ven We next
| come back" And in three seconds link
and Ebert were dividing their poker
chips in full view of the audience
In every city to which theatrical COM
panles are regular visitors there is class
of people who make their daily bread by
, appearing nightly in thinking parts of
the plays given-roles in which nothing
| is said and which are considered so un-
| important that few organizations carry
| them. Some of these supernumeraIies
are men and others are women. In either
case they are generally drawn from the
lowest strata of society: illiterate. coarse
and anything but intelligent. Something
| of an exception to this rule is Jennie
| Bursley, a girl who has earned the great
er part of her living since childhood by
appearing before a public that rarely
sees and never takes notice of that por-
| ton of the presenting companies to
which she belongs. A Times man was
introduced to Miss Bursley some few
| days ago and from her learned that there
are as many conventionalities and tech
nicalities to her work as in that of most
| other laborers.
In reply to a question put by the critic
| she said, "It is true that the folk one
| meets in this line are not what might al
| ways be wished. The super comes from
| every grade and walk of life, though gen.
| orally his origin is far from dignified and
seldom has he risen above the station to
which he was born. The Roman soldiers
| and ladies of the court you see from
! across the footlights are not unused TO
| driving delivery carts and washing
| clothes during the day. Some of them
cannot read, and it is only once in a
| life time that the explorer comes in con-
| tact with fellow-worker who can speak
| the queens English without homicidal
tendencies. Still, with all their ignorance
and stupidity, the great majority of the
boys and girls in the business are free
handed and free-hearted, while they often
possess a crude honesty that does not
seem to enter into the compositions Of
players of greater consequence.
In every trade and grade the world
includes, there are some folks above their
stations, and this one is no exception.
Most of these fellows have been unfor-
| tunate, by far the greater part of them
having been ruined by drink. Love of
| liquor is the prevailing vice among the
| 'supers'-if a desire to forget or to car
rouse may be called vice In people who
| have no other way of forgetting, and few
| other ways of enjoying themselves. The
lads work hard, too, and are abused fire.
quenuy IN tne MOST siiaHieIui HiaIlier L
know a man who lives not far from here
who puts in seventeen hours of solid Ia
| bor every day of his life. excepting Sun
day. when the absence of performance
gives him a hundred-and-eighty-m minute
holiday.
1.-The worst part of this work is that
| one never can depend upon having posi-
| ton when he most needs 1t. There may
be month of straight employment and
| then often another month without any at
all Finally an advertisement appears in