The herald., 1898-04-29
LOCAL CHINESE SUPfS
THEY RIDICULE OUR STAGE
CONCEPTION OF THEM
Difficult Task of Instructing Them in
Mimicry-About Wong Fong,
Their Director

| one, from Assistant MaHdSer c1u MaiiS-
field to the "cub'' actor. was at high
tension of nervousness, for the success or
failure of that production would tell the
tale of the future of that play In this city.
The company had arrived at a stage of
perfection in their parts, but the doubt
was centered in the supernumeraries. of
whom many are required for this play
and all Chinese, too. That eventful day
they rehearsed until late in the afternoon
and the interval gave them just enough
time to eat leisurely.
Chinese. with an occasional isolated ex-
ception, make poor studies and still poorer
actors on an American stage. They do
| we'll enough in their own play houses,
where play takes week in acting, but
they are as so many automatons when
compared with our stage folk, and the
great majority of the latter are not ex-
cessively apt. Stage Director Osbourne.
almost invariably calm, serene and un-
ruffled of temper, was actually perspiring
and fuming just little. Could one blame
him, when he had the task of directing
dozen Chinese in the art of doing nothing
the most difficult of all stage special
ties?
He was forming them in a line prepara-
| Tory u StHuiIS llciii dNiosS tiiS Se"cN,
accompanied by the indescribable walk of
the people of the Riceland-for the Chi
nese atmosphere is one of the cardinal
features of the little tragedy. AS well
try to reason with the petrified remains
of an ancient king of Egypt as to try it
with a Chinese against his will When
one of the latter makes up his mind not
to 'sabe," rest assured that your efforts
l., r;lt to
| less.
But one does find a rare case of Celestial
intelligence sometimes, and In the event
of that discovery the person is immediate
ly placed in an official capacity, for he is
novel enough to be appreciated. Wong
Fong, who has legion of friends among
| the Americans as well as among his own
people, is a man in reference. Fong is
a Chinese Interpreter in local courts, and
possesses a knowledge of worldly affairs
| truly marvellous in one of his race. He
is smart enough to hold his own in any
Anglo-Saxon community. He works less,
perhaps, than most of his countrymen,
| but he lives better and has costlier clothes
| than any saffron-skinned man in the vi
cinity of Alameda street.
| Fong has an ample appreciation of his
anu llluutlllldl pOWtIS, anu lS
as immodest OF himself as any man above
the average usually is. Speaking with him
for ever so few minutes you will be i'm
pressed with the frequency with which he
uses the pronoun 1. 1t occurs intermit-
tenty with every second word he utters,
But what Fong says is usually reliable,
and when one is conceded to be the best
known man of his race in city of this
| size he is vain with reason.
| He is chief of the supernumeraries and
director-general of the Chinese division of
the play. He is law unto himself, and if
anything is wanted of the men in his
charge he demands the courtesy of being
consulted in the matter. He gave George
Osbourne instructions one day as to what
| he wanted done with squad of the supes,
adding that it was merely in the nature of
| a suggestion, and he hoped the director
| would view it in that light.
| Mr. Osbourne looked at 1t as an intru"
sion and interference from a menial
source, and ordered the well-meaning
Fong to be dismissed. The Chinese gen.
| tlemena was out of employment
just five minutes, when he told
Mr.. Osbourne, in his naive. heav-
enly way, that he could not hope to
do without him and that, rather than see
the play go to ruin, he would re-employ
himself He did not await an answer, but
proceeded to busy himself with his men.
Can one combat such famous innocence?
Just how Fong got his position and how
they conduct things on the stage of the
Burbank during the run of the Chinese
play is interesting. Ed Crane, the stage
manager of the company, though better
| known for his intelligent and clever rep
resentation Of the Chinese rag-picker In
the play, chanced to be in Chinatown one
night as a tourist, and he mentioned to
| the manager of the Chinese opera COM
pany that the Burbank would soon put on
| Chinese play. Wong Fong, who is In
| some way connected with the opera COM
pany-as he is, in fact, with every thing
| in Chinatown-overheard this, and the fol-
| lowing day made arrangements with the
manager to supply him with as many Chi
nese as he would have use for
When consent was given Fong proceeded
| to gather his men. Securing them, he
asked no further questions, but appoint
ed himself their manager, and this posi-
| ton he has retained to date, though dis
| charged on various occasions. The anger
| of no man can last against his blandness.
| There are six Chinese supernumeraries
| in the play. To the audience, no doubt
it seems as if there were two dozen or
| more The illusion is one of many stage
| tricks The men are formed, three on
| either side of the stage, and remain there
| in readiness for the signal from Fong.
Each man has a number, and when it is
called he walks across the stage-that Is
all he is supposed to do.
| There is always suppressed giggle
| among the supes when the father tries
| to rescue his son from the faithless
mother and kills his offspring in the at
| tempt They do not view this incident In
the same light as we do. They laugh at
| the rag-picker who has to red-powder his
chest and dirty his feet to make the stage
| character appear realistic. They laugh at
most everything-a Chinese can see joke
| where white man can't.
The majority of Chinese supes are not
| stage-struck, as are our brothers, but act
for the so cents or so a night they get
| They are usually of that class which is toe
| lazy to work at anything manual, and pre-
| fers a pittance and an easy life to living
| wages and attendant drudgery. There is
| nothing about them that will make even a
semi-humorous picture, for they are sad
| eyed lot, whose thoughts are consumed In
| thinking of bond women of their race and
| the weekly pay day. But of this class
| xyo,o L,opp &c a ramark a h1e execution.