The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-11-19

and as few actors since his time have
stirred the enthusiasm Of their children.
and this in spite Of the fact that his hab-
its were prohigate and his conduct to Am
orleans almost insulting. He ppointed
his audience time and again because he
was inebriated- He took ali kinds Of nber-
ties with them and with the text He put
up at the old Tontie Cofee-house on the
northwest corner Of Wall and Water
streets, and his manager had 10 remove
him to his own private residence because
The Americans at that hosiery complained
Of his insulting conduct But when he
played at the Park Theatre the people as
sembled at 3 O'Clock in the morning. 50
Dunlap tells US, and stood in line till 70
O'Clock for the box Office TO open.
ksAn seems 70 have had boundless
admiration for Cooke. He was accused Of
initiating him. When he went back 10
England from America, he gave a supper
party one night and told OF the monu-
ment he had erected 10 Cooke in St
Paul's churchyard "All that is wanting
now said he, is an epitaph worthy Of
the man. and shall De infinitely obliged
i any Of you clever fellows win furnish
IL Kean was very vain OF his Richard
III, and the English world believed It TO
De the greatest piece Of dramatic art the
century had produced. Imagine his as
constituent. then, when an actor By the
name Of Taylor. in response 10 MS invi-
tatioE, wrote this on card and handed IL
20 him:
Beneath this stone lies Cooke inferred,
And with him Shakespeare's Richard H.
When Cooke died New York FASTENED to
do him special honor. His funeral was
civic event. The stores were closed. All
the official bodies adjourned Flags were
al half-mast- A solemn and impressive
cortege drew flp in front Of ST. Paul's
Governor Tompkins was in a carriage
with Mayor De Witt Clinton and Elisha
Jenkins, secretary OF state. The body
was deposited in the receiving vault Of St
Paul's church with impressive ceremonies.
and rested there till Kean had it removed
20 its present tomb And no sooner were
his remains marked by fitting monu-
ment than there began to cluster round
the stone the tributes OF great actors in
each successive generation
And all this time the skull of George
Frederick Cooke was wandering about the
country.
And this is how II happened:
The actor died in his lodgings in Me-
chanics' Hall, a vel known tavern at
that time. The immediate cause OF his
death was cirrhosis hepatis, brought on
by excessive drinking. He was attended
by Drs. David Hoosack, Hugh Mclean.
and John W. Francis, and we should
never have had the secret revealed if one
Of these doctors had not long afterwards
let it out in most matter-of-fact way.
Or. Francis when an old man. and a few
years before he died. wrote a book, still
accessible in the libraries, called "OId
New York and in Il he tells plainly and
unequivocally that when he was a young
man he was called as an assistant Of Dr.
Hoosack's at the autopsy OF Cooke. and
he carried Cookies head home with him
after the post norton.
He had the skull prepared, and put it
on shelf in his Office with some kind Of
professional pride that Is inexplicable TO
any one but doctor. There IL remained
Tor several years, until performance Of
Hamlet was projected AT the Park Theatre
whenthe manager at the last moment sent /
over to DR.. Francis Office 10 get a skull
Tor thu graveyard scene, and after some
Darleying a loan was made Of Cookies /
skull. One can easily imagine the grim
humor with which the doctor went 70 the
performance. But there is no record OF
tradition that he ever told even his boon
companions until he wrote his book Al
ter that the skull was borrowed when
ever Hamlet was played. and finally {
was not returned. It was put upon a shelf
in the prompter's room IS "a property
and the doctor. having lost interest in #. /
and having grown to be a man Of affairs.
made no effort TO reclaim f. II must
have been there in 1890 when Charles
IIean came. and there Is every reason 10
believe IL when in Hamlet he says,
Alas. poor Yorick-I knew him. Horatio.
a fellow Of infinite jest.of most excel /
eut fancy" etc, he was really abiding
to a greater than Yorick
In 1872 George Vandenhof played Ham
let at the Park. and the skull was stil
here The theatre was burned in IS4S
a few months before the fire. Manager
simpson retired. and Manager Hamblin
came down from the Bowery with his
cohorts and took possession. and then It
was that the skull disappeared. Mr.. Har-
y Placide in letter AT one time in the
possession Of John Brougham. states that
the stage-manaEer carried IL home. and
that there was a notion in the theatre
hat II belonged to a formerly distinguish
ID person.
There Is nothing at all unlikely in al
his. But what became Of It after that
40 one seems TO know. That It should
urn IN in 70 in the manner described is /
'ne of those incidents or accidents that (
wear the air Of mystery. but are Quite /
within the ordinary course Of human /
events.
Without doubt the skull IS in existence +
some where Vet. unless IL has fallen TO /
pieces with decay. which skulls that are
properly prepared very. seldom do There /
are plenty OF theatrical collectors who /
would probably pay good price for it. /
and stop its wanderinss and put it on a
clean. new shelf - De admired by All
subsequent Yo-icks. # only for is event F.
-ul and pitiful history
one Of the last things shat Edwin Booth 4.
lid before he became fatally III was 10
commission an intimate friend % his - .
,e1air the Ccoke monument. kindly act .
II the last o. our great Shakesnez-ian ac- F.
ors 10 commemorate the genius OF the (
lrst English star tta%ame 70 America
TAR AND FEATHERS
Fmporia Gazette: \ piece OF cusscdness /
ame 10 light this morning which, had # .
,zs~ r0ruF o,-- he first ~ thta week +