The sun., 1903-07-05
4 PRINCE OF lMpRESARIOS.
.IoP POND'S ADVENTURES
WITU LECTL RE STARS.
u..,,er First on His Roll Of LiOns-Tal-
mage Last His Friendships with Mark
Tva,n. Henry VI. STANLEY and
n,hcr Great Men whom lie "Nianaged
From the Boston Transcript.

,orceited Englishman, finding himself
o,oced with Madame de Stael on one hand
"a famous beauty on the other Yes,
oo the wjts tart reioinder, "and possessing
,ot,her" Such, in measure. was the fate
=, opr genial old friend. Major Pond. With
40, tttlr 10 fame. he sat always In the shad
n celebrity Without distinguished gifts.
hs vas constantly in the society Of the gifted.
success for him lay in promoting the success
-, his bettcrs, and his name will be written
in hundred biographies-o of other men.
And vet il was pleasant life out of which
,br major has lately slipped. Nature had
made a nice adjustment Of the man to his
niche Major Pond was big-sOuled enough
10 play second fiddle with enthusiasm. He
nas innocent Of envy His best genius was
=, genius for hero worship; he was great in
capacity for admiration He loved his lions
and reoced generously in their triumphs.
uo hasked in reflected glory as comfortably
ss though ii were his own. He was the prince
Of promoters.
II bespenks a certain nobility in the ma ior.
nuch tact much coura ge, much force. that
his personally conducted lions loved him.
For when man Is being rushed about the
country as a talking piece Of baggage.
10 ,e wound up every day at the same hour,
/, Is something of an art to keep his affection.
That the majors celebrities did love him
is abundantly proved by his letter files
Writes Bill Nye: IT'S funny that little
tuss like you should make such cavity in
New York when away from it," And each in
hi. own peculiar way. Ian Maclaren. Conan
Doyle. Hall Caine. Mark Twain and other
lions expresses the same emotion. Ma jor
Pond not only had business relations with
practically 1ll the distinguished folk Of his
k..l. xl.x Il
them. travelled in their private cars. saw
them with the mask of, learned all their
individual oddities.
Major Ponds acquaintance was as varied
as il was wide. 1t included Josh Billings
and Walt Whitman. Lyman Abbott and p.
r. Barnum. Sir Henry Irving and Booker
r. Washington. He sometimes travelled
with them in wonderful combinations. Think.
for instance, of a season spent with Mark
Twain and George Gable! These twins Of
genius as the Major called them, beguiled
the tedium of the road by letting them
selves out" in song and caper.
Another time it was Bill Nye and James
Whitcomb Riley who united to cheer the
managers fun-lovng soul. BY way of ad-
vertisement of the combination Nye wrote
RIley's autobiography" and Riley wrote
Nye's. A sample will show the unique style
OF the poets present personality we need
speak but briefly. His dress is at once ele-
CANT and paid for. 1t is even less picturesque
Than allwool Not liking hair nprticularlv
,''''a w.. ,,,,TS a ," ,,,a u'a, ~
~ se"i9 W. i''ie, anu i. ema. y, ue ili'uesI ~
to--but much better listener, and often longs
n change places with his audience 40 thnt he
also NAV retire,
The happy Major was present at many ID
notable meeting of literary folk from both
Gid n " AZ hfa "a hn n arTAp N ptrpI fht.f
Edwin ArnoId. whose first visit to this
eSuntry was made expressly to see Walt
his home pond snt nv while the two friends
discussed their literary loves each reciting
freely from the Others poems Again. The
major made one Mt n little SINNER M which
Ina' iayorson ana inthnn, unn. g. -, ~,
and taed t the small bours Of the ,nornine rTr e'
IL was he who introd iced Henry Irving 10
Beecher. ''''' '''e''' 1''''' ""'u
Among Major Ponds warm friends bs
recNoned Henry Ward beecher nrst BnrIns
ttrnseveiIcd together some soO. .oSS miles and
syceoting Arizona and New Mexico. there was
not a state or Territory in the Union which
they did NOT visit Rainp friends with Heecher
d,ring ut the black days of his trial and disgrace
meant stirring experiences. Pond said
4 was near him a the time oil his greatest
sorrow, when he was reviled ard spat upon.
| saw the majestic courage with which he
passed through gaping crowds at railroad
Stations and at the entrances of hotels and
nuhlic hnlls-.a courage which I had NOT com
ceived mere humanity could possess
The most Of manager 70 Beecher was NOT
without its actual physical perii In Rich
mond hostility rnn so HIGH that Reecher was
urged MOI 70 risk attern ntinR 10 sneak Even
The noice detailed 10 protect him sym pathized
with the mob. No doork eeper could be got.
so ~ tha va Naiop oojisoteJ tba' dolIora b;n,saiS'
riskinr The eggs, The Legislature ad passed
an Informal vote to bovcott the lecture. and
then each member, secure in his knowledge
that none of the others would be there, took
the opportunity to hear Beecher. They
prepared for mischief MIR Beecher faced
The ieering mob and opened with an a,l-
daclous drive at the Legislature in special
session assembled He captured his crowd
The evening ended in cheers and demon
strations
Again. when Beecher's private car was
attacked BY a mob, it was Major Pond who
heated a poker in the car stove and went
for them Sc" II iabbed il right into them. said
he, "and they began to get outi" The Majors
devotion had lis reward: he had the satisfac-
tlon OF seeing the tide turn in Beecher's favor
and hearing on both sides the continent and
both sides the ocean demonstrations of love
and confidence from his church. his friends,
his country
\ nightly different experience awaited
she manager with nightly different sort
OF clprgvman.-T De Witt Tamage Eng
lish audiences at first went mad over Tai
n-o.d-g ge The erratic clergyman was
literally ierked from his berth by n well
coming crowd when the steamer landed:
vast throng surrounded the carriage which
conveyed Min, to his frst service. unlocked