The times., 1898-12-25
THE PASSING SHOW.

Christmas comes but once year" and
there are few regrets at this on the part
of those in the dramatic profession For
whatever else the Yuletide may bring It
has little that can appeal to the actor
Gagged in the solitary hotel of some one
night stand town or confined within the
limits of hall bedroom in a larger city.
the day of gladne5s is alike barren to the
stroller. AT best it can only recall to him
scenes and incidents for the repetition of
which he would give much. Generally the
period means only an extra performance
without extra wages. but rarely anything
more out of the ordinary.
AS the three hundred and sixty-fve DAYS
with which the world begins its every
pulsation dwindles into six, and absent
minded men start tying knots in their
handkerchiefs for the sake of remember
ing that the century has advanced a num-
Der, custom has ruled it that the wealthy
and the comfortable shall think of and
help to provide for those less fortunate.
The members of families that have suf-
fered and starved for months are given
the means with which to overload their
stomachs: children whose only ideas of
enjoyment have been occasional fights be-
fore the parental novels are supplied with
breakabe toys on which to vent them
selves, and numberless walters are hand
ed money with which to drink the
health of their masters prior to being
discharged for intemperance. But few OF
these opulently generous ones think of
the woes of the actor.
The average disciple of Thespis begins
his simple celebration by getting very
drunk on Christmas eve. Sometimes this
process is facilitated by the nearness of
pay day and some times the poor fellow
is obliged to write home for the where
withal. Now and again the jag" is at
tained as matter of habit or then
the subject may bethink himself of all
his sorrows and may note that they are
without means of protection before at
tempting to drown them. Having a
great many friends he generally. man
ages to keep out of nearly all the trouble
laying in wait for him and to get into bed
after having sampled a bit of the day
light of rare Christmas morning.
From pure, rural simplicity and per-
haps with an eye to passing as much of
his time as possible in oblivion, the play
er seldom rises until very late. Then he
has a forceful seance with the bell boy
regarding ice water and finally creeps
down to breakfast slightly past noon.
The joyful meal in question may consist
of cheerless beefsteak or of trapped
buckwheat cakes. or even of both. Dur
ing the progress of this repast the actor
either sits staring vacantly ahead of him
or finds the hotel proprietor and tells
that worthy how he once scored a tre-
mendous hit at matinee in Kankakee
or made his star Jealous by his delinea-
ton of thinking part in 1.-The Poisoned
Sandwich. After staring Indignantly
at the eypectant waiter he goes over to
the theater and faces an audience of can
dy-chewing girls and weeping babies at
an afternoon performance.
The entertainers Christmas dinner is
most hapless. Frequently it is preceded
by whispered interview with that COM
bined hearth and refrigerator Of the av-
erage apartment building-the steam ra-
diator. If his humor permits he talks
of several things while hugging this un-
responsive jest OF modern civilization. He
tells the chilled steel Of coy fiat In
!, far-away New York, and of the bonny
little woman who had prepared so .care-
fully for their holiday together-who A.