The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-08-31

II Is seldom one meets a member OF q
, profession or A follower OF a distinct occu-
I patton whose memory goes back TO an era
of conditions that 10 the present generation
I would be almost traditional and from a
picturesque point OF view not even hlstof-
ical. Now and then some old. grizzled from
ilersuan comes out Of the new Wet win
living memories Of the old West: rsils tales
Of romance. Of adventure and Of horo!sm
which are as strangely fascinating = , the
younger generation IS stories Of medieval
chiyaIry.
AEa'n. one meets some old lawyer VINO
I ran "r by the hour and relate anecdotes OF
49,. practice IN the days when e~lcquence
counted for more ;han logo and when a
score or more Of orators of the old school
were known the world over for their facli-
ties n speech.
II * seldom. though. that tie rare treat "a
given Of meeting an actor who can rsnen-
ter the days 0f Charlotte CUshman. the
Macr.adys an! p.1yers ~ that remarkable
period. which hi- MADE an indei!slr impress
.%ou upon the tugl'-h history . the drama.
+ n. 5rDddast. who il St@rr.rg this year N
"rh- Bonnie Hrier l.ti~i ." tells In his au-
f"tiOsrhVhy. f.Hi published by The Century
COMPANY. H"w ire began his siage career
H-arly sevsnfr raarz a@O. appearing IN a
ch.}1's p1rt - his father Is :1'atsr in E1in-
Jurgn. and how h- has during nv long ex-
per.ence On thu stage ben ;E@ victim OF
maus lud,crCua situations. amusing TO look
back upon. but very ~scricgs at the time Of
their enactment.
Il rsmemhe-." said the old actor during
a recent chat with a friend. my first tour
outside Of the city Of E!inbursh. ~ broth
~ and 7 joined "a Company that intended
touring the small towns in the North Of
Scotland. That was nearly sixty years ago
ard I shall never FORGET the first day that
We started out on the rArthbound coach to
hagin a real season Of playing. In these
days people did rot know what the word
billboard or printing meant. and fire.
quently the manager Of the tteater had no
Information q the cOnpany's proposed en-
GaGement. We would straGgIe into town.
the manager OF our company would hunt up
the manager OF the theater or han. and. il
satisfactory arrangements could be made.
we would play there that night; but If. on
the contrary. an engagement was impossi-
bic. we would wander on to the next town.
When II had been arranged 10 play. the
hrst DUTY Of the manager would be 10 an
nOunca the entertainment to the folk OF the
town. He would employ the town crier.
who would walk through the town. ringing
a grea; bell. crying: Hamlet" tonight!
Princess Theater! Shilling a seat, Ham
let tonight"
Shortly after We left Edinburgh we de-
cided to play a small town in the North OF
Scotland. and the manager concluded to
present a now forgotten play. The Tragedy
OF Douglas The town crier OF this town
had a voice and an enunciat:on which made
Ii Impossible for any one to understand
what he was endeavoring to announce
without asking an explanation Of him. You
can fancy the result. for when the curtain
went up there were just five people in the
house, and all these occupied front-row
seats. The Tragedy Of Douglas opened
under most u~nfavorable conditions. even
aside from the small audience. for We had
some trouble in securing our wardrobe and