The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-04-14
SAVED By HANGING BEE.
now a Melodrama Company Was
RESCUED From BEING Stranded.

eu from He1nE Stranded.
pa you ever hear of hanging bee
ciial was necessary to save a company
from stfandlngT" queIisd AL IL. Wilson,
mne IS twinkling In the theatrical frma-
hlent IN his first venture as a star
NO! Well, then I'll tell you
II was IN 1887. Burt G. Clark, who is
now doing the Co.onel in Jacob Lstl's
IN Old Kentucky, had just closed
winters engagement with Sid France in
the latters sensational drama of thrill
ing memory, Marked for Life" and had
saved few hundred dollars. He hal
also written a play, 'Rondo, or the
American PRINCE, a piece. by the way.
Which, II staged now, wcald set the vo-
! tarles or meledrama fowling with de-
light 10 put Ronoo' on the road for
spring tour was his ambition, but his
money gave out and he was compelled
10 take in partner, gentleman who
sold secondhand clothing, who had
visions of becoming theatrical mag
nate on an investment of a few pen
MES. Paper was secured, some scenery
painted, an advance man set forth to
Dill the attraction and the show started
en- tour
The first weeks profits were $4O0 and
the secondhand clothing dealer who had
only put up $10O on the plea Of paying
the printers, collared the whole amount
The second week broke seven; the third
week, one-night stands through Indiana
and Kentucky, showed loss of several
hundred the angel suddenly had bust
ness elsewhere and forgot to leave enough
money for the ghost to indulge in his
nocturnal walk on salary night.
The fourth week was at Louisville,
and at the Buckingham. Visions of
profitable week and payment of back
salaries came to everyone in the land.
We arrived opened on Monday after
noon, house $19, night SIS. The town
was in the throes of wild excitement over
an atrocious murder that had been COM
mitted in the blue grass region, and for
safety the murderer, who had been cap
tured, had been brought to the Jail at
Louisville SO that he could be preserved
for trial Theztown was full of friends
and neighbors of the murdered man as
well as their friends. 1t seemed as if
the entire blue grass region had come
to the city. There was considerable talk
of lynching, butsold Hy Bailey, who was
sheriff then; Al Boulior. the mayor, also
manager of thee Masonic Temple theater,
and John Whalen. the chief of police and
owner of The Buck, where we were.
playing, sWore each big, strong. Ken
lucky oath that the law should take it's
course and that the 1ynchers, if they
dared, would be peppered with buckshot
tenpenny nails from an old Confederate
cannon which they had Planted in front
of the Jail. ries -
Tuesday came, and the matinee, netted
81. Tuesday night, when the ghost
should peranbulates' the receipts were
$515. With this sum Clark was expected
to pay several hundred dollars Of back
salary to his 4eel aborers in the laudable
work of elevatfhg zthe stage. Things
were looking desperately the streets were
full of people, vet none seemed to care
for the theater. Everyone was talking
lynch lawyysbut nobody wanted to do. the
lyncTling. All were afraid of that ten
FOUNDER in 'front.' of the Jail. The crowd
lacked a leader. .tsz..a
"Wednesday matinee, the gross takings
were -S450 Despair Resolved, calling TO-
gether of the company after the show
Whispered conferences among the mile.
members, rummaginss in our trunks,
securing the property room of the theater
for ferce-leoking firearms. Each ona
gave his makeup an extra touch, and |
their costumes were wild enough, for the |
most of them Represented border men CT
the frontier type in the play. Marching /
into the tap-foom of The Buck thenfewJ
pennies of the treasury were thrown on
the bar, with instructions to the dispen- I
sers of firewater that everyone was to be |
allowed to drink mountain dew until the !
money gave out.
Nov mountain dew is nothing bit |
corn whisky distilled in the mountain |
Businesses, on which no revenue tax has !
been paid. It's "a fiery liquid that burns |
and scratches as 1T goes down, and it |
keeps on gc,.sc down until it reaches the /
tip of the toes. Then it commences to |
tingle and ting1e back to the head, and /
it isn't long befefeaevery vein in the body |
is boiling The boys got several doses of |
that mixture ere the barkeeper called a
halt, and of course they were in merry I
mood, fit for anything.
Headed by Clark we started down the |
street toward the JAIL hooting, shooting
and yelling like all possessed. OF course
the crowd kept on swelling and It soon
became noised about town that an in
trepid leader had been found, a stranger
from the wild and woody West, judging
from the cut of his garments. But who !
he was no one seemed to know.
ION and on marched the mob, gathering |
members with each step. AS we neared /
the iail Clark, who had been in the van
gave a signal, and one by one the actors /
let the Kentuckians go to the front Be-
fore the jail the sheriff, the mayor and |
the chief of police were heard ordering |
the mob to dispense, and threatening the
laws vengeance. But the crowd, now |
thoroughly worked UP, brusifsd them |
aside, took the keys from the sheriff's !
pocket, incidentally promising him a re-
election, went into the jail, got their man I