The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-11
PRESS AGENTS ROUND TABLE.

national contest for the best coon" story
must be handed to Otis Harlan. who will
be seen at the Columbia during the COM
| ing week as Willie Tyre. in the new Nc
Naiiy vaudeville farce. Star and Gar
ter" The jolly little comedian makes
verbal affidavit to the truth OF this nara
tive, but there are those who will insist
( that it is product of Mr.. Hogarty's FRO
| life joke factory
| Harlan" continues Mr.. Hogarty. with
! a small coterie of kindred spirits, essaysd
f! rabbit hunting expedition last winter.
I in the environs OF Washington during an
! engagement here of the company OF which
| he was then a member After a fruitless
f, drill of three or four hours through the
| Virginian woods the company began to
| feel stealing over them that sensation OF
| WEAKNESS and depression common to
| hunters out of luck.
| "Just upon the point of a concerted
| break for the cheering confines of the
| hotel, and intermingled with many deprc-
cations upon the head of the weli-inten-
| toned man who suggested the trip. an
unmistakable senegambian voice from the
| brush was heard to interrogate, What
| you all lookin' fur?
Rabbits, You black rascal Rab-
! bits, came in chorus from the detected
| hunters. &
"'Does you all wants to know whar to
| fin rabbits, an how to kitch 'em?
queried the grinning Afro-virginian. as
he emerged slowly into view.
"'Of course We do. and we'll make 1t
worth your while If you can tell US, Ru-
fus.' eagerly replied Harlan.
Well, den. you can JUS foller de hedge
down yander bank a mile, an when you
comes to de turn of de read, you jus lay
down on yo' launches an'-aD'-make q
noise like turnip." fairly yelled the
chuehiing colored man, as he rapidly dis-
appeared in the underground. .
And, according to the veraeieus Mr.. Ho-
garty, Comedian Harlan now spends all
his spare moments enieayoring to master
an imitation of a turnip making a noise.
Press Agent ]. T. Doyle is responsible
for the statement that the tranquility
which always pervades the performances
given by the vaudeville company gath
cred together by Mr.. Chase. and which APP
pears at his New Grand this week. was
rudely broken not long ago in Cleveland
CONSERVATION reigned fer time, and
there was no end of excitement. Murder
and the concealment OF the corpse had
been accomplished. And as a result of the
nervousness incident to the discovery OF
the crime the act of Nine. Hermann and
that Of Towards ponies were seriously
endangered. says MI. DOyIe.
1.-The victim and the murderer were both
actors in these two acts, one necessary
helper of NINE. Hermann in one of her
most striking Illusions, the other an
equestrian actor of grotesque cIeveruess
who enhanced the work OF Mr.. Towards
ponies. With almost breaking hearts
Mme. Hermann and Mr.. Howard made
the grewsome discovery when their sus-
picions had been aroused, but they had
to go before the audience.
'.Mme. Hermann had an understudy to
take the part Of the slain one, and Mr..
Howard had to conceal his repugnance
for the guilty one under him.
Nine Hermann uses a trained duck as
an adjunct to her illusion, in which she
produces an entire banquet from six or
gan pipes that have been shown to be
empty. The taking out Of the live duck
is the last and browning feature. Thu:s =
day evening before the act the duck was
nowhere to be found Nine. Hermann
searched but could not find it. The stage
hands assisted, but in vain. Mime. Her
mann was not daunted. for she had pro-
vided an understudy for just such con-
tingency. This happy thought was what
saved her act
1T had been suggested in Detroit,
where she had lost a valuable ring. The
servant suspected of the theft had ac-
cused the duck. and had told Nine. Her
mann 20 kill it and see. like the tabled
goose that laid the golden eggs. This sug-
gested to her the value of an animal tn
derstudy. So the substitute did the trick.
little uncertainty. and with much
Guacking but we'll enough
Meantime Harry Howard. gettirg his
animals ready found the trained monkey
much indisposed. and apparently unal1,
to do his act Mentioning this to Mn.
Hermann, the light Of suspicion breks n
upon her. The monkeys cage was
searched, and some tail feathers wsre
found and the remains of the decea Sed
duck while Mr.. Monkey showed unmis-
taxable evidences of having had game
banquet. the evidence being the rsmzins
Of the duck and the guilty look OF the
monkey
IAN ingenious mind is as good as S10.-
eco year, under certain circumstances.
sagely remarks c. E. Hamilton, business
manager for William Gillette. yesterday,
land / will tell you true incident to
prove it. Early in the last decade. Harry
Award who is acting manager for Dan
iel Frohman's stock company, which will
be the attraction at the National this
week. was a newspaper man in New York.
and good one at that, and I, at the time,
was handling The Bostonians.' One Sun
day night / went to Manhattan Beach and
I was either held up on the quiet or lost
my pocket book and did not discover 1t
until / went to take the last train to New
York Just as I was boarding the train
Harry Award came up and asked for the
price of his fare to New York. He had
gone down the day before for his paper,
been delayed. and was out of mobey-
..It was lac at night: no possible chance
eol-a knew
soul in sight. In those days the railroad
issued a stiff ticket good for the round
trip on the day of issue only and the
date was stamped across the end on the
back Award climbed aboard; we went
into the smoker and presently tie con-
ductor came along. having with him his
air of own the earth
Tickets he yelled. and Award, who
had the outdated PIECE OF pasteboard in
his teeth, began frantic search through
his pockets. The conductor stood in the
aisle with a look Of cynical superiority on
his official face and let him search. 1t
was a long and frantic hunt. There was
a large and miscellaneous assortment Of
articles in Awards pockets. but not
sign of a ticket or coin of the realm
did he find.
1.-THE conductor. having attracted the at
tention of the other passengers SO that
his triumphal sarcasm might be all the
greater. at last informed Mr.. Award that
he had his ticket i'll his teeth. OF course.
there was a laugh, and the newspaper
man sat down, heavcd a sigh. and busted
himself replacing the articles turned out
of his pockets. After the conductor had
gone into the next coach, Award turned
to a fellow passenger who had been par
ticularly hilarious over the incident ard
said: