The age-herald., 1901-03-26
THE DECAY
 OF MINOTRELSY
"Old MiIt" Barlow Tells of the Days Gone By-Few "BIack
 Face' .Nrt StS Now
From the Baltimore Sun.

From the Baltimore Sun.
 One of the greatest minstrels who ever blacked his face is now in Baltimore with the Uncle Toms Cabin Company at the Holiday Street Theater The old-timer is Milt Barlow, who plays the part of Uncle Tom in a manner which has gained him praise wherever he has appeared. MT. Barlow is between 55 and 50 years old, smooth shaven, an agreeable talker and a gentleman of the old school He was seen yesterday at the Hotel National, and talked interestingly of his experiences on the stage. He said:
 My home State Is Kentucky. and when the civil war broke out l became full of enthusiasm, with the result that enlist ed in the Confederate army. l believe that l was born with the instincts of snowman, and in the army this instinct was not smothered, for while a member of the Sixty-third Tennessee Regiment about dozen of us organized minstrel company for the benefit of the soldier boys. We had instrumentalists, singers and monologists. When the opportunity offered we built platform, and with no roof but the canopy of heaven, or scenery but the background of woods or hills. we
 
 out, and collection was taken up, The price of admission was ten cents but if the spectator did not have the price it made no difference. These exercises were usefeul to us In the way of providing but ter and chicken money, while they also served to enliven the other boys.
 After the war I engaged in the news paper business but found 1t too confining, and went to Cincinnati in the commission httc with a hl1t lnpk . against us, and I clerked in a clothing store. When the summer season came on the boss wanted to cut my salary, but would not stand for it, and threw up the job.
 In the meantime there was a man in the city organizing a minstel company, and he was sent to me by bank presi- dent who had seen my work in some anna teur performances at which had assist ed. The manager liked my work in re- hearsal and enga~ed me to play end man and to do a turn in the olo I stayed with him for several months and then managed houses in different cities.
 My last engagement as a house mana ger was in Texas. I went there under contract to stay six months, but remain ed eighteen, and nearly had a fight when I left. as they wanted me to stay. I went away with a minstrel organization to St. Louis and there joined Haverlys troupe. Later the firm of Barlow, Will son, Primrose & West was organized. We stayed together for several years, and then Wilson and I went out as firm. That was finally disbanded, and I went into more legitimate lines, ploying parts
 Modern blackface minstrelsy retains nothing of the old except the name. In my day we had some sixteen men in the company, each one of whom was . s-je- cialist whose style was familiar to the public. They were fond of their work and proud of the stuff that they origt- mated. The result was that while there was not so much quantity in our shows they were all quality. A gentleman called upon me when I was m Baltimore fome years ago and in talking over old times said he remembered that as soon esA the posters of a we'll known rlinstrel com pany were put up the people began to smile and engage their seats in advance. When they saw the snow the witticisms were impressed upon them and smile would break out now and again for Wee 2 after as the memory of some especially good line fitted through the mind Now adays the minstrel posters lack the gen uine comic character and are more like oil paintings, nor do the people have the same pleasant "reminiscences of the visit
 The downfall of minstrelsy began when Thatcher raised the number of his com pany from sixteen to forty. After he set the nnce the rest of us had to follow suit or fall behind. The effect of the in crease of numbers was to obtain ouan- tity at the expense of quality. In my day the salaries of our small shows came to total nearly as large as that Of the present large ones, and the consequence ie that YOU find a few artists surrounded by mediocre men whose shortcomings de- tract rom the work of those who are better.
 You see an octette get up H"' instead of the splendid volume of sound Wnlch you would expect from eight good singers you find that several of them are soldier ing, and that hardly more than halt or them are really singing. Or you see SIX teen buck dancers come out on the stage and in the entire collection there Will not be more than two or three who can oo more than the ordinary steps, and the realv acoomnlished dancers have to tone down their work to suit that or tnelr Tel lows.
 Many of the present minstrels also have no conception of the real darkey and while they blacken their faces they do nothing more to enact the charac.ei, Taken all together, the modern mihserei show Is little more than vaudeville per formance and bears practically no re- semblance to that which used to be seen'
 "A man who has not studied the negro cannot give a truthful picture of him on the stage Naturally the negro IS the funnie st man in America today, but ne does not realize 1t. l do not speak or the city darkies who have learned to read and write and cipher. but the kind that were known to southerners before the war and are now rapidly dying out
 The regro is in many respects put an ape minus the tail, and In no way does he so resemble the ape as in his love oi mimicry. If you watch a darkey and he becomes aware of that fact he imme- diately tries to act and becomes forced, without being in the least funny, but oo- serve him when unrestrained and you see a chare cter worthy of the close attention of the best actors.
 "A man may be splendid actor and a great success, but unless he is acquaint- ed with the negro from years Of contact and experience he will fail in playing ITncle Tom and similar parts. An tllustra- ton of this Is Mir. Steele Mackaye, who started to play the part in the star pro drctior in New York. He has reputa- ton all over the country as leading n.nn, put as Uncle Tom he was a decided failure. The part of Tom does not require a star in the ordinary acceptation of the term. but 1t does require a man who grasps the great goodness of heart of the old slave and can express that goodness as it was expressed by him
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