Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-07
DEADWOOD'S FIRST THEATER
Experience OF an Actor Who Made Short
Strut Upon that Stage.
UNIQUE EXPRESSIONS OF DIsAPPRovAL
when He began to Sing the Audience
began TO shoot-Lnter came
warm Invitations to "Tnke
sumthin."

Frank j, watson, a tenueIloot wiz "'
trionic leanings, hoatod into Deadwoou
very early in the game and acquired
large store of experience. He Is now III
Pittsburg. To a correspondent oil the new
York Sun at that point he relates some OF
his experiences
These actors who spend their time
growing about hard work and low salaries
should have been with us in the Black HIS
during the gold excitement in the ''Os'
said Watson "Those we're the days when
performer had to make good or
be dropped at the first STOP
and IL an audience didn't like you 1t was
likely to shoot you full Of holes before you
could get into the wings. | was the nrst
performer to appear in Deadwood Notice
these gray hairs They were caused by my
fright that night. will never be so badly
scared again and live.
81 had been doing black-face song ana
dance for quite few years and the spring
OF 1877 found me working my way back east
from the coast. Quite a few OF the protes-
zion we're in Cheyenne in April when
struck the town and we decided TO stay
while and spend a little of our money
Deadwood was just then opening up llVely
as a mining camp. 1t lay 300 miles from
Cheyenne and by every stage coach came
news of new shootings. A man named NC
Daniels who had money to toss at the crows
came down from Deadwood one day ana an
nounced that he would hire good talent
to open a house at home l was young ana
the idea struck me about right especially
when McDaniels offered me long contract
at $40 a week. McDaniels hired all ne
wanted the first week in April and set out
alone for Deadwood alone to build his thea-
ter When l think Of our troupe now
would like to pit it against some OF the star
high salaried people on the road today In
the first place We had Babe Mcdonald or
Polly Mcdonald. She was little souprette
who could ont dance and sing with any one
/ have ever seen or heard. She was only 10
years of age and pretty as picture. four
years ago she was burned to death IN ne"
York fire. Jim Mcdonald, Babes father,
did pedestal clog on ice skates. The ike
of his work in those days has never been
eoualled since Jim and Babe drew $l5o
week. Mcdonald is now in Boston. Then
there was Billy Diamond who in black-face
did everything well. Jack Morton, an all
round man, completed our party.
Going Over the Road.
1--WE left Cheyenne about the middle OF
April by stage coach under guard OF four
armed men and made the trip in two days
1t was not until the night of May 1 that
we opened up Deadwood was the emoodl-
ment of everything tough and bad. Saloons
and gambling halls were on every corner.
When n man got too tough for any other
part of the earth he fled to Deadwood. II
was in this sort of place that we were hired
ia cpen up the first theater. McDaniels had
built a long ramshackle affair of rough
boards. 1t was a saloon, of course, and he
made a hit by announcing that his theater
would be free to. all who bought drink at
his bar. He sold villainous whisky at 20
cents a glass; and at s o'clock, when we were
to open, there were about 800 in the house.
"I shall never forget my impression as l
peered through the flimsy curtain at the
mob 1t seemed that every fellow had at
least two guns in sight and most of them
had been drinking before they came in and
they were still at it at the tables in the hall.
The curtain shot up, and came forth to do
my little song and dance. l had selected
something with which ! was very familiar
and did we'll. The first verse finished, took
the customary, one, two, three step back
ward. apparently preparatory to swinging
into my Jig when something happened. Ten
thousand Dewey receptions would not convey
to me a conception of noise equal
to what happened 1t seemed that
thousand people were shooting at
me. Down in front one fellow was stand
ing and blazed away like all possessed. I
was sure he was popping at me, and could
almost feel each bullet cutting through me-
One thing l do remember, and that is Dia-
mond who had been waiting in the wings.
shouting to me as he ran that he was off for
Cheyenne. and that he would tell my friends
how died | stood there like fool scared
to DEATH believe If some one back of the
scenes lad given me the cue l would have
dropped dead without any more fuss. After
what seemed an eternity the shooting
stopped. and the big fellow down in front
shouted to me:
'Ye're all right, pard, an | kin lick the
moke wot says yer aint. Climb down an
drink
Heavenly Music.
Talk about heavenly music. That fell
lows bass voice was as the whisper of an
m nt tn ht..