The record-union., 1899-01-10

town away down in California. where
our advance man had arranged for q
hall 1t turned out when we arrived
there that the hall was a new one and
no incline had been made for the bach
understanding chairs, and no stage
had been constructed. But our men
were handy-the first tenor was a car
penter and the comedian had served In
shipyard or something Of the kind
so we rugged up stage with the lum-
Der which we found lying about. We
decided to let the chairs stand on a
level, and opened up with flourish Of
trumpets quite cheering in the circum-
stances.
1--WE were given great reception. The
plaudits of the townspeople nerved our
folk to extreme exertions to be enter
tanning, and the 20O-pound Ralph
Rackstraw made the most delightful
love to the slender Josephine, while the
heavyweight Dick Deadeye looked on
and scowled, promising duly to inform
the elephantine Captain Corcoran. 1t
was very great, but just as they got
into the home stretch Of the last act I
noticed that something was wrong. 1t
was a naval piece, but had never be-
fore seen a stage act SO true to life as
this one. 1t careened like the bilowy
sea, and I knew it couldn't hold out
much longer than the close. Indeed,
just before the finale a cracking noise
indicated that it was time to do some
thing to save wreck. There was no
way of supporting the Internal thing;
not trestle or beam could be found on
short notice, and so I hurriedly called
Sir Joseph Porter, who was not quite
ready to go on, to take one corner
while I got under the other. and with
the two heavy joists on our shoulders
we braced to keep that platform in an
upright place.
We'll, upon my life, / never knew
that the last end of 'Pinafore' was so
long or had SO much bouncing and
humping in it. First Buttercup would
MARBLE few sweet notes and then jump
about in dance, coming down with
every step of it with q good hundred
and a half weight and making us stag
ger; then the bos'n would be impelled to
carol and also to leap and dance, and
whenever he went into the air and lit
on his feet knew how Atlas felt, and
so did Sir Joseph Porter. Then the
whole chorus set to scrambling and pi-
rouetting and we sweat and swayed
and clenched our teeth. Suddenly the
cue for Sir Joseph to enter was uttered,
and of course Sir Joseph couldn't. If
he had attempted it a large and mex
pensive cast would have fallen about
five feet into broken lumber. There was
pause and then the cue was repeated.
Still no Sir Joseph. Captain Corcoran,
who was stage manager and man Of
expedients, not knowing what was up,
but determined to save the stage wait,
then said:
While we are waiting for Sir Joseph
we will have go at the fishers horn
pipe, if you please Sir Joseph and I
moaned, but we had to stand it, al
though it was killing. felt as though
somebody had shot another bullet into
me every time an extra emphatic mo-
ton was made by dancer AT last
Sir Joseph had an inspiration. 1t was
time. He yelled from where he was
that, being seasick in the cabin, he
would not come on deck, but would be
glad to converse with the crew of the
Pinafore from his berth. The rest
caught on, and we finished with an in
visible Knight Commander of the
Bath"
And the audience
"Appreciative? should say So
Wanted an encore, but you can bet
they didn't get it.
That, 1 may say, Is the only time
ever tried to uphold the stage. / was
lame for three weeks Chicago Rec
ord.