Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-09-19
HOOing of the Chorus Boy.
Love and Stage Associations
Win Against Millions.

THE chorus boys valet paused irres-
L oluteiy on the threshold of his
masters bedroom. the r~ose-coIored
bead curtain gathered in his hand.
lie had orders to call him. at noon ex-
actly; still he seemed to be sleeping
so peacefully that the man hesitated.
is that you, James?"
1t was the voice OF the chorus boy.
Evidently he had been only doing.
The man allowed the curtain to fall
IN place with a musical clash.
"Ies. Mr.. Cecil. There are two tel
egrams and a number of notes. Miss
Feezy called"
"Niss who?'
that Miss Feezy of the Foosleorum
seXtet had called to run over that last
passage where you stuck last night.
Those were her words, SER"
"Oh, Fizzie-you mean? Monstrous.
To call at such an hour"
1.-The bawth is ready, SER"
He handed him a cr-eam-colored
crash rob with sprawling arabesques
and in a moment the chorus boy was
splashing in his pink china tub. Cecil
always did his thinking during his
morning tub and to-day the mention
of Fizzie's visit brought back the old
days when both she and he were pu-
pills at a dramatic school, never dream
ing of the successes hat fortune was
to spread at their feet. Well did he
recall the day when the fat manager
came in and looked over the class, in
lio14iunf with bic oano tho arfiaTIar
pupils that he thought would do for
the F~oOzleOrum seXtet.
Nothing beefy,'' he said. 1--WE want
lightweights. Genteel-looking. neat
footed girls and boys that can sing
a little. But lockers they must be-"
Side by side Fizzie and he had re-
hearsed through the long summer I'M
til the opening night of '~Foozleorum,"
when the musical seXtet made the hit
of the comedy. coming in for any num-
Der of recalls. Then the papers next
day commented upon the fact hat the
chorus boys all looked and acted like
gentlemen and wore their clothes well.
Until this, chorus boys had never been
noticed or featured in any way.
Rough-looking "supes'' had always
filled the places of peasants and vii
layers in operate productions, and
their clothes had never fitted them.
But "~Foozleorum" marked the en-
trance of the chorus boy on the Amer
lean stage. although he had been seen
in London for a couple of seasons.
The pretty girls of ''Foozleorum"
had taken the town, but the chorus
boys took society. While Johnnies
flied the boxes at night, the mattinees
were social events and the manage
ment had to put an awning out, there
were Sc many carriages. The story
got about that the girls bath tubs
were kept so full of orchids that they
were forced to take cold sponges in
the morning instead of the usual be-
fore-breakfast dip. Then there had
been Wall street plunges, purchases of
blooded horses and seaside cottages,
designations and brilliant marriages.
But the success of the chorus boys
was more unique, for while society
had taken to the stage it could not
be said that it had taken to the cho-
rus. AT first the "Foozleorum' eXtet
had been sung at midnight in drawing
rooms, the II young people driving
from the theater Immediately after
the performance to the stately man
sions. where they looked quite in the
picture wearing the smart clothes
that their parts demanded. Soon Cecil
had his first invitation to a luncheon
at the home of Miss Nothingbut, an
acknowledged society leader. After
that he had been simply inundated
with attentions. The other boys came
in for a lot of it, too, but Cecil was
the star. He drove in the afternoon,
and rode and golfed in the morning
and Iunched and breakfasted all
dav long. Then the idea of Fizzie
running in that way. 1t was dreadful.
The child would have to be told. She
was a nice little thing. but she hadn't
aspired to anything better than being
photographed on a raft in a bathing
suit with the other "Foozleorum"
girls.
Cecil dressed 1eisurely and walked
lan,ruidlv into the breakfast room,
where the chocolate and rolls and
frrit waited for him. There were h
letters already opened by James, the
+inv florists box with the boutonniere
that came anonymously each morning.
Well. he knew that the dainty idea
was Rhoda Nothingbut's. He opened
The box. II was hyacinth this morning.
First he read the kilograms and
smiled tenderly over the first. "Good
Cecil" was all it said 1t
YEAS a facsimile of one that came to
him Mt this time each day. Surely
80 xvas a noble-hearted IN Ii
sbe were only younger. But youth
after all was crude. There was flzzle
-uncultured as a hawk. The second
4olnnram was from q Broadway firm