The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-06

/ One, two, three balance like me,
You are daisy, but you have your
] Your right foot is lazy,
{ Your left foot is crazy;
But don't be unaisy,
} I'll learn you to waltz
This is the epitaph of Josie Gregory,
which is writ in the minds of those who
knew her in the days when she had
power. 1t is the chorus of the song
she sang hundreds of times in the old
Roster &, Bal Music hall in Twenty
third street.
Ten years ago Josie Gregory was
queen Of dubious court, but still q
queen. Then she was the most splen-
did specimen of physical womanhood
in New York. She had superb health,
youth, beauty and an almost perfectly
formed figure.
To those who knew her in the old
days it is difficult to realize that it was
the same Josie Gregory who died a few
days ago in poverty and wretchedness,
after a long illness, supported by char
| ity, neglected by everyone save the
women who were her bitter profession
al rivals and enemies.
There is none to speak i'll of her. and
many who have good words to say, and
they are not the maudlin expressions
that have their birth in a coffin. She
was generous and kindly. She was a
joyous, laughing, careless creature, far
less mercenary than many about her,
and infinitely more considerate.
Perhaps q thousand men had been in
love with Josie Gregory, ready to sac
rifice everything in their possession to
gain her favor. when she was the cork
room queen. But when illness came,
and poverty, these men fed from her,
turning to a newer footlight queen.
It was about fifteen years ago that
TnGia C-recrnr1r mt "a Of
Roster az RiaFs. She was half Span
ish. and she had the glorious eyes of
that race. She had the form and COM
pleXion of a Brunhilde.
The corkrOom, that little space back
of the stage, which the members Of
the company We're required to frequent
in tights. was crowded with men anx-
ious to worship lazy, laughing, careless
Josie. When she went on the stage in
the medley that closed the show,
and started to sing the familiar mel
ody:
Thence McFadden he wanted to waltz,
But his feet weren't built that way
there was a shout. and the audience
joined in the chorus. For two or three
years she had to sing it over and over
again.
Josie Gregory could have become
rich in those days. but she was careless
of the future. She seemed to think a
glass of champagne would always be
held temptingly before her lips. She
accepted the Jewels, the fine dresses,
the luXuries which were at her COM
mand, but she never bothered about a
bank account. She was a better wO-
man than many of those about her,
but she led the same butterfly exist
ence.
The beginning of the end came when
Jennie Joyce came into the company,
supplanting Josie Gregory as leading
lady" Jennie Joyce had more dash,
was prettier and was more efferves-
cent. She divided Josie Gregory's fol-
lowers. and the rivalry and hatred be-
tween them was intense. Then Madge
Leasing came along, and she is the
only one of the trio who made a subse
quent stage success. Jennie Joyce
married Phil Daily, jr.. and retired.
The passing of the old Roster q Bal
place was the passing of Josie Greg
DRY. For awhile she did nothing. and
she had no difficulty in living. Then
she tried to work and filed sporadic
engagements. She went to Chicago,
there to renew something of her for
mer triumphs. When she returned to
New York there seemed to be no place
for her.
During the last three or four years
Josie Gregory has not been much in
evidence. Occasionally she appeared in
4 vaudeville theatre and in the Broad
way restaurants she used to frequent
She grew fat and lost much of her at
tractiveness.
Then illness fastened its grip upon
her. 1t had been better for her had she
died then. Men who had flocked about
her fled. and she had no resources. She
found a refuge with friends in One
Hundred and First street.
For a year Josie Gregory lived in
misery, pain and poverty, almost de-
serted. She was taken to st. Elizabeth's
hospital, and her former associates
anne to visit her. Among them was
she whom New York will always call
Jennie Joyce, the former enemy. but
always a generous, kindly-hearted wo-
man. Josephine Allen of Weber &
Fields company called the attention of
the actors fund to Josie Gregory's
condition.
Nothing could be done, 1t was writ