The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-07-23


Billy Emerson. the old minstrel, is i'll
and semi-destitute i'm Cincinnati. will be
heard with great regret by many an old
timer who will remember the pleasure
Billy gave him years ago, by his vocal
and terpsichorean powers. lie was with
est entertainers the American stage has
ever known.
Billy Emerson was born I'm Brooklyn.
N. ", about fifty-five years ago. His
family was respectable and / understand
that in early youth his mother destined
him for the priesthood, but Billy was too
light, too volatile and too frivolous in
character for a religious life. He took TO
the stage when only i'm his teens and
soon drifted west, where his talents
brought him into great prominence.
Thirty years ago Cincinnati was one OF
the liveliest cities I'm this country, so
lively that II was known as The Paris
OF America" It was one OF the best min
strei cities In the country and Emerson
soon became one OF it's prime favorites
Billy possessed 1.-THE. elegant figure
He was about five feet, nine inches tall
and weighed about 160 pounds His face
his manners were very winning and
agreeable.
lie had voice of wonderful sweetness
and power and faculty for mimicry es-
pecially OF Irish and the negro peculiari-
ties, which was remarkable. but IL was
his ability as a dancer which gave him
his special fame.
Previous TO his coming into prominence
OF the boards the dancing seen OH the
minstrel stage was OF two kinds One
was the rough and ready breakdown
j guess I may call it-typiied by the
Bob Ridleys." and the men who danced
THE Essence of Old Virginia" and the
other was the jig dances.
The greatest of the Jig dancers was
Dick Sitter. for whom the Sitter Jig
was composed and the other was John
been seen. before or since, either on the
English or the American stage.
Billy Newcomb was the greatest of all
the dancers OF 1.-The Essence" with Dan
Bryant OF New York for close second.
Every minstrel troupe had Bob Ridley.
and IL is hard TO say who was the rough
est or the toughest OF the lot.
Emersons dancing was entirely diff
ferent from that OF his predecessors II
was marked by wonderful grace and ease
and the almost entire absence of noise
To see him dance was To witness indeed
the poetry of motion personfd. His
favorite song and dance was "The Big
Sunfiower." and many Of my readers
who have heard and seen him I'm II will
remember with delight how exquisitcly he
rendered the chorus:
"Oh! I feel just as happy as big sun
flower,
That mods and bends i'm the breezes.
And my heart today is as light and gay
Ag ha win ha in fhfa hroa
In those days the Cincinnati baseball
club was known as The Red Stockings
and Emerson adopted a modification of
its uniform as his stage costume for
singing and dancing
AS an Irish comedian, Emerson would
have gained fame on any stage Made
up as New York policeman he sang.
Are You There, Moriarity," between
each verse addressing imaginary char
acters after the style of an Hbernian
copper enforcing the law. or his idea of
IL, to imaginary offenders. Many "a time
have thought of Emerson while listen
ing to Hibernian policemen i'm this city.
There was another minstrel I'm and
about Cincinnati in those days and mis-
name was Billy Manning. He was
native of Picaua, Ohio. and began his
career driver on a canal boat on the
Miami Canal.
Adnnlnk was pOSSeSSeu OF merely
rudimentary education, but he was ma
turally witty and irrepressibly funny.
He was the opposite OF Emerson, but
almost equally popular. They formed n
troupe known as Emerson and Manning
Minstrels and with it literally coined
money for several years.
AS John l.. Sullivan would say: "They
blew it, however, as fast as they made
IL, most of II going into the Golfers OF the
ia ha nd NJ
west.
In the height OF his popularity Emer-
son married Maggie Homer. She was a
young girl of great beauty and stunning
style. Their married life was not very
happy one and after a few years they
separated, Mrs. Emerson getting a dl-
vorcc.
Then Billy went farther west, TO San
Francisco, where he organized a min
strel troupe and had beautiful hall
built for him. 1t was called the Bijou
Theatre. In the metropolis of the Golden
Gate. Billy met, wooed and won a very
rich woman who offered him "A fabulous
sum IL he would give up the stage and
retire from IL.
He tried to do this, but there was no
fascination for him in private life and
he soon returned 10 the minstrel boards
He had a somewhat checkered career
but his wife's money kept him i'm af-
fuence for years. Finally she tired OF
her role of producer and they separ-
ated
As the years rolled by Emerson's sport
i've habits. coupled with the fact that at
times he drank more than was good for
him, produced the usual results. His
voice began to grow husky and people
began TO tire of THE Big Sunflower" ard
"Moriarity." but there was always good
big money for Emerson I'm the middle
west and for years he made Chicago his