The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-06-05
THE MINSTREL MANS STORY

/ -hCf- III llic new pro0uctlcH t1ie tzEdilQ
| opera house. is q native of Denver. When
he was II years old he ran away from
! home and Joined a circus that travelled
| in eight wagons and q wheelbarrow- In
/ those days he was an acrobat, and cblig-
| ingly did song and dance in the con-
/ cert after the main performance under
/ the large canvas" The circuo worked
along down through Kansas. Nebraska
/ Indian Territory, and what is now Okla
homa. until it finally struck Texas Mean
while Fred had persuaded his younger
! brother 10 join the show and him in a
brother trapeze act" Unfortunately the
| brother broke his leg the third day out
and went back home TO Denver, where
/ he has stayed ever since.
Finally the circus and Stone or Stone
and the circus. according TO your point
Of view. struck Galveston. Tex There
the circus went 10 pieces and its late
/ proprietor started out to found an i'm
/ proved breed of beef cattle with the aid
/ or the sacred COW and the other ami
mails Mr.. Stone, being several hundred
miles from his base Of supplies. found
| employment temporarily as the left end
! in a professional football team with
which ambitious Galveston had just start
ed out to clean up the rest OF the South.
| Galveston felt that it would be q great
! feather in its cap to have left end or
! the team who could turn series of cart
wheels and back sonnersaults on the way
ir from the CORY field of battle, and will
iingiy paid Mr.. Stone a salary OF so a
week to accomplish its purpose. But just
! when Stone had begun to acquire a lot
or good, thick callouses on his face and
the other parts of his body chiefly used
in professional football the scene changed.
Along came Haverly's ALinstrels just
then towards the rear end of their sue
cessful career. Billy Rice was in com
| mand OF the show. and one of HIS end
men was Dave" Montgomery, whom
Stone had met up at ST. Joe. Mo-, the
summer before. Montgomery got Stone q
place with the minstrel company. and
thus football lost star. Then was form
ec the partnership which both of them
declare shall never be broken so long as
they are able TO stay in the business.
Twice a day Montgomery and Stone
BACKED up and did a song and dance
through the cattle ranches of Texas and
the sugar plantations of louisiana FL
nally they struck New Orleans. The day
they got in Billy Rice, who had read
the signal in the stars, left the company
and started for Chicago.
Two days later the company struck a
rock and its members were left stranded
on a financial shoal Billy Rice they
knew was in control OF the old Casino in
Chicago. so with hopeful hearts they
wired him to send them transportation.
When two days passed without an an
swer to their message they remembered
the old adage in the theatrical business
that "a silence of two days means a
more or less polite negative" so they
called on their long-lost uncle and raised
money enough to buy two tickets to Chi
csgo.
II had never been east of the Missouri
river before" says Stone. "and when We
landed In Chicago it was about twenty
below zero. I had been in the South
for the six months previous, and was
wearing a beautiful suit OF light blue
tissue paper. Dave had an overcoat. I
left him to carry the grips and 1 started
on the dead run for the theater. Billy
Rice said he'd give us an engagement for
the week. and then 1 got him to advance
me enough money TO buy nice, thick, "a
oVercoat
The team got $50 the first week. But
we caught on and instead of one we play
ed fifteen weeks in Chicago and finally
managed to get our salary raised to $3.50.
Then we went to New York and got
an engagement of forty weeks with one
OF Gus Hits companies. But ii was the
next year that we met our Waterloo.
Dave and l had saved about $500 piece,
and we decided that we would become
managers So we went down TO Kanka-
kee, H.. and rented a pretty little park
IL. the outskirts for the summer months.
We had il all figured out. and it looked
a clnch that we would make money.
Why we could put on hdif dozen turns
ourselves. and by dint of doubling UP and
wearing half dozen different costumes
each evening ii seemed that we should be
able TO get along and give them q good
summer show without hiring much. If
any outside talent. AT the end of three
weeks our $500 was gone, and We each
owed for a three weeks board bill, which
amount a knd-hearted landlady put in
the icebox for US until We got on our
feet again.
1T was right after that experience
that we got our first chance 10 go to
England. We played the music halls that
trip and it was then I first introduced
what we call acrobatic buck dancing. 1
thought it a pity that | could not utilize
my. old training as a circus acrobat in my
new line Of business. and one day ] tried
it on, turning back somersault in the
midst of clog dance without losing the
step. 1t caught on from first, and
claim to be the originator of that Dartic-
ular style of work. Since then l have
made a speciality of acrobatic. eccentric
comedy dancing, If you know what that
means.
Coming back to New York we got
mixed up with the White Rats, Of which
Dave Montgomery is a Yice-president.
and that kept us out of lot of vaude
vile houses, including those IN Chicago.
But when Frohman put on The Girl
From Up There in New York he en-
gagged us TO do dances and comedy work.
and we went across the second time with
that company. The play was not great
success. but IL led US to the signing Of a
longtime contract at the Duke Of YORK
theater IN London. where several times
King Edward, then the Prince of Wales.
came TO see the show and gave US
hand We played also at benefit for
the hospital ship Maine. for the benefit
% the widows and orphans Of the sol
diers killed IN South Africa and for halt
a dozen similar causes In fact. we dis
covered that an actor playing IN London
Is expected 10 give up about a ifth Of
his time IN benefits.
In the English music halls, instead OF
the card boy who puts UP the announce
rnent cards at the American vaudeville
theaters they have a card man. an eN-
tremely pompous ard dignified old person
IN a white wig and knickerecckers. no
eatronfzes the actors and feels himself
quite the most important individual about
the house. IN some of the lower class
music halls in the provinces I believe the
custom stiu persists Of having chair-
nan who sits in the middle cf the Or
chestra and announces each number u
& deep bass voice.
81 So ne wiii call out. the next
number on the program Is Montgomery
and stone. q couple Of American lads
They say they are clever but We shall
soon see. we shall s1sn see
Then be hits the bass drum whack
and out come the unfortunate perform
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