The Washington times., 1901-12-01
THE PASSING SHOW.

Bob Blessing9 alias Paul Gilmore,
stood in the wings of the Academy stage
one night last week waiting for his cue
to go on in the third act of Lost River"
when a representative of The Times,
catching sight of the matinee idol and
taking advantage OF an interviewer's pre-
rogative, became inquisitiYe regarding the
actor past, present and future.
"The story of my life?' repeated the
actor You may not realize it, but that
is not only an unfair but an unwise re-
quest / may have done all sorts Of wick
ed things in my time, and II the newspa-
pers expose me, what might be tho awful
result. / am not fond of the modern
drama and. although the public has been
very kind to me since | Joined Lost
River l am out of place--that is, as far
as ny own inclinations are concerned. l
long to get back to the romantic drama
and sincerely hope to do so before long.
Il am under a five years contract with
Jules Murry, and he put me into Mr.. Ar
thurs play until a suitable starring We
hicle could be secured. l am now negotiat-
ing with James X. Hackett for the rights
to Victor Mapes' play, Don Caesars Re-
turn Last week In Baltimore Mr.. Hack
EFT produced Edward E. Roses new play,
"A Chance Ambassador and is said to
he will undoubtedly present the new piece
exclusively. l am especially anxious
TO play Don Caesar and would like to Sc
cure the Mapes version; so, IL everything
goes as | hope and expect, my desire Will
be gratsaed in the not distant future.
Another thing which l am seriously
considering is the idea of taking out an
accident policy That may not be quite so
important from an artistic viewpoint, but
r,uI1r fhn
that 1t wouldn't be a bad move. few
weeks ago in Baltimore one of the horses
in Lost River manifested a little bit Of
professional Jealousy toward me and
knocked me down in his effort to gain the
centre OF the stage. AS 1t happened, the
only serious consequence of his histrionic
aspirations was broken finger.
But last season while playing in The
Musketeers,' had the opportunity OF ex-
periencing the feelings of real hero. A
green property man was sent out to buy
some blank cartridges, and very kindly
purchased the real articles l had or
dered the men when firing to aim low, for
II was close range, and even the powder
burned. The real cartridges were used
that night. and the bullet struck me just
above the knee. i dropped to the stage
Immediately, and we couldn't finish the
performance. Our manager went before
the curtain and announced that I had
been seriously wounded, and the audi
ence laughed thinking that they had wit
messed Just a bit of real acting. he final
ly convinced them of the truth, and re-
duested the services of surgeon. Three
responded to tie call, one Of them de-
claring he could locate the bali in no
time. as he had an X-ray machine. Well,
they experimental with that machine and
me for an unconseionable time: in fact,
think it must have been the first chance
that surgeon had of testing his machine,
! and it was Just my luck to be the victim.
| When re failed to 1ocate the bullet they
decided to probe for il, and when they
| had about finished me, they concluded
| that the bail could be left in. and that
/ would experience no Inconvenience !
| finally had to cancel my dates, and go
| to New York, where the offending little
| bit of lead was quickly located and dis
| posed OF.
These are but few results of being
| an ao.or. You must be prepared to be
| shot at, knocked down by ambitious
equine actors. and in the face of it all.
| go on and, as the photographers say,
look pleasant.
It has been said, that Henrietta Cros-
man comes of lighting family" At any
rate the name of Crosman is well known
and respected in army and navy circles
here in Washington.
! Miss Crosman may be said to be an
army girl She was born in a tent while
her father was at the head of his troops
and foT the first few years of her life was
| shifted from post to post on the frontier.
| Her father is Major George II. Crosman,
U. S. A., retired. His last command was
| in the Tenth Infantry, and when the regi-
ment was ordered to Manila a few years
20 he went down to the steamer to bid
4 / ; old friends goo--by. During the civil
war Major Crosman served with distinc-
/ ton. and was more than once commended
for gallantry. During his West Point
days he made many friends. among them
| GEN Joseph Wheeler. who was a class
mate. Miss Crosman's grandfather was
Gen. George II. Crosman. also cf the Reg
ular Army. and connected with the Pay
masters Department.
At the outbreak of the civil war Cen