Waterbury Democrat., 1903-02-16
PLAYED TO FULL HOUSE
Those Who Furnished Entertainmenf
 at Trolleymen,s Benefit.

S&A*ft ~AAS<~% " The concert at Polls theater last evening for the benefit of the striking trOlleymen was the biggest financial success of the kind ever held in this town. From pit to gallery the house was packed. There was hardly breath ing space, not to speak of standing room Early in the evening the sign standing room only" was put in view in the lobby of the house, but the house was sold from top to bottom and every one holding ticket surged in. The aisles and every available space where one could sit or stand was taken up until it seemed as though not another person could enter the house. The committee from the Central Labor union that managed the concert stated that the profits over and above the ex- penses is about $1.0O0. It may be more. This great gathering was only an- other feature of the sympathy of the public in this contention between capi- tai and labor, and if was greatly apprc- clated by the strikers and their friends I Naturally, from the behavior of the people since the strike began. it was surmised that the concert would be
 DE financial success, but that the pro- ceeds would amount to S1,0OO was somewhat of surprise.
 l There were some changes from the program that was published some days ago This was on account of the storm. But the people did not mind
 that. The main object of their pres- ence was to show that their sympathies
 and their pocketbooks were with the l strikers It is estimated that about oOO people over and above the seating
 capacity of the house were present, which would make an attendance of aDout 2,oOO The program lasted three
 hours, from 8 to n o'clock.
 The opening figure was by the Amer ican band, after which James IT. Dona- hue appeared on the stage and ex- plained that owing to the failure of
 many of those who were on the pro-
 gram to appear on account of the weather some changes and substit11-
 lions would be necessary. However, he guaranteed pleasing results to all.
 The next figure was a duet by Messrs Byrnes and Robinson, who
 were given hearty encore. King and
 Raines of New Haven were next. They appeared in vocal music and Hebrew. 1 fmpersonations.
 The trolleymen's trio, Whalen, King
 and Fogarty were received with
 great outburst of applause. Mir Wha- ! lens violin, Mr Kings mandolin and
 the piano at which sat MT Togarty.
 made music that was very pleasing and
 kept the players before the audience
 some time. Thomas McGrath sung a baritone solo and Daniel Shea gave an exhibition of cleverness in swinging a 1 baton. Shea is an artist at this kind
 of business. A banjo solo by Master
 Daniel Blansfie1d was very we'll re-
 ceived. the boy showing himself to be
 2 master of the instrument
 Miss Annie Whalen was kept singing for some time, though she was down
 for only one solo A clever smaIl boy
 from Naugatuck named Thomas Pow
 CTS showed himself to be bright young fellow, and he was very much
 appreciated in his songs.
 .I But one of the hits of the concert were the topical songs by Kiely and Mo- .. Ian of Nangatuck. Their allnsions to !, the strike and the trolley company brought down the house, and their ap- pearance closed with the audience in , an uproar.
 l Thomas Howell, Muster Max Her. Imam, Miss Kittie Spain and Miss Ethel Adamson were all very well received with great warmth, and then came the F1orOdora sextette, consisting of the l Misses Christina Mccarthy, Rose Ro- berge, Pamela Demers, Stella McCar- thy. Mamie Morgan and Rose Schwartz ! and Messrs Robert Herr, Robert Stone, William O. Fogarty, Frederick Porter, John Dunn and Charles Holman. This feature was encored quite frequently The Shelvey trio, consisting of Jos : eph Rivers and the Shelvey children, appeared in their excellent line of con~ tortions. Louis Lautenback of New
 Haven sung two songs which brought
 down the house. Solos by Miss Me-
 Nish. Miss Etta Bagley and M. J. Ryan 1 closed the program, and then the drop curtain went up, disclosing the familiar
 scene, Exchange place, which formed { a background of a most dramatic pic-
 ture Tn front of the curtain stood N
 two-horse Congratulated, ready to start for Naugatuck or any of the other :. lines on which the strikers buses ply, and around the bus stood all forty or fifty of the strikers in uniform. It , was a picture consistent with the situ- |. ation the curtain showing the vacant streets and the silent car tracks. Not ' a soul in sight but the strikers 'bus { surrounded by crowds. A great burst , of enthusiasm greeted this picture. Then President Barrett of the Trolley mems union stepped to the front and
 in a few words thanked the audience
 for their support and the public for the : great assistance given the cause by re-
 training from riding on the cars during the past i've weeks. 1t is great pleasure for me to be able to thank you : this evening for the great support you
 have given us. I must thank the
 unions of the city, the public at large
 and the people of the adjacent towns for their assistance to us and for the
 help you are still giving" Then he
 stepped back to the ranks of the striiS-
 CTS amid burst of applause that shook the house Every man. woman and
 child in the audience shouted Such a
 scene was never before witnessed ir
 that house of many strange sights and occurrences. The curtain went down < while the people were stiIl shouting and then they departed for home. The buses for Naugatuck Waterville and , suburbs were crowded.
 soUTHTNGToN COCKIGHT.