The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1902-05-02

resort of unprincipled ana WORTH
less characters, he was surrounded
bv an atmosphere as wholesome as
the product of his genius. In all
his g ,reer he has never been known
To offer a word or thought that
world offend the moral SEN e OF
even a Quaker, and his life has
been devoted principally, as he Of
ten said. to the pleasure OF the
busy, toiling people. His great
est successes we're plays of simple
country home life, full of the es-
sence of humor and purest sentl-
ment. In GA Poor Relation" and
ga Bachelors Romance" Mr.. Kid
der and Miss Morton both under
stood the secret of his nature and
furnished him with the characters
that made him famous. With
these and others he entertained his
American audiences, banlshlng
care and lifting the soul to a nobler
purpose. A Christian, he lived
free from the conflicts OF church
and state. and if we mistake not, in
rejecting upon the lives of such
as he and Joe jefferson and even
our own Bob Taylor, the sermons
that they preach will live long at
Ter some of the so-called evangel-
lists who parade the pulpit with
the proclamation of slums and alleys
are forgotten. Following is a
biographical sketch of the actors
life:
The death of Sol Smith Russell will
occasion profound sorrow among the
theater-going public. He was com
paratively young man, and seemed
about the only American comedian
qualified to wear the mantle of Jetfer-
son. Our greatest comedian is grow
inc old and before many years have
nassed he will be compelled to retire
from the stage. Sol Smith Russell
seemed to be his natural successor.
But death has willed otherwise, and a
dramatic promise is unfultlled, rms
actor certainly did not inherit his ORA
matte talent: for his father was first
a timer and then a preacher, and his
mother was a strict church member,
and her inclination was toward char
liable work. He had an uncle, how
ever. the somewhat celebrated Sol
Smith, who was a player and from
him by reflection possibly the boy de-
rived his taste for the stage. lie had
to indulge his bent by stealth, for his
parents did not encourage anything
of the kind. At the theatres in ST.
Louis, where he was born, he was
known as the nephew Of Sol Smith
and he got to see many plays on that
score. The career of Sol Smith Rus
sell illustrates the difference between
going on the stage forty or fifty years
ago and embracing that profession to-
day. Sol organized company OF boys
when he was very small and used tC
play in barns and cellars, travelling
from town to town. Even then
though he rendered songs, specially
was a comic impersonation of quaint
half pathetic type. When the CIVIL
war broke out, his family had moved
from St, Louis to Jacksonville, LII,
He Joined the Federal army as drum
mer boy and after several months eX'
perience in this line, he was taken Sc
riously i'll at Paducah. The doctor eX'
amined him and was rather inclined
to think that he would not get well
Sol took the other view OF 1T, and
crawling down to a steamboat went
to St. Louis, and after much suffering
managed to reach his home. When
he recovered he became a sort OF stroll
ing entertainer among the army
camps. His first regular engagement
was at theater in Cairo where he re-
ceiyed a salary of six dollars a week
He not only took part in a lurid mel
odrama, but he sang comic songs be-
tween the acts and played the drum
in the orchestra. He was so delicate
in physique that he played the part OF
little girl often in those days. He
then secured an engagement in Gin
cinnati, after which he Travelled with
dog show on a canal boat.
/ In 1868 when he was Is years old he
sang at a concert saloon in st Louis
Here he attracted attention and was
made stock actor at a st, Louis the.
alter. For a time he Travelled with
the celebrated Peak family, and at the
age of 16 he became the second comedi
an at the old Nashville theater, where
he was associated with Frank Drew
/ Al. NTi+,l,oll p,,p., Koapn ~ r