The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-07-05

! pile over here" said the marines.
/ Tim Frawley said he could spare
( sunday for the delighting of the sailor
men at Cavite. He gave them a week ;
| notice and informed the members OF
| the Neill- Fra wiley company on ORR
/ entail tour that on the following Sun
/ day they would go from Manila 10
( Cavite and play --All the Comforts or
J Home" at the Grand opera house III
that town.
Cavite is a half dozen miles across
/ the bay. and a ferry company carries
/ people and freight to and from Manila
/ in a lazy manana way. The stage
manager and the property man went
/ over early and the property man went
/ over early on the afternoon OF the DAY
set. and l went with them to see how
/ they fixed things for the American
/ drama in the Philippines. The com
/ pany had been playing in Manila for
weeks, and everything ran along with
/ cut hitch. but the property man SAID
''jumpin' into the provinces" was de-
| parture, and he expected there would
be a good deal to do.
| The ferry boat was crowding up
| when we boarded it. AS the sun was
] baking the decks, we sat in the dirty,
/ stuffy cabin. where were the only seats
/ on the steamer. Several hundred Fill
! pinOS stood or lay about in the heat
/ outside. smoking their endless cigar
/ cites and chatting in Spanish or Taga-
/ log. Those who were not in bare feet
wore plush slippers without heels.
/ Some of these We're crimson. some pale
blue and many merely of a dirt color.
| On their wearers' unsOcked feet they
moved forward and backward as they
walked, giving a peculiar aspect OF
| unkemptness and a sound In accord
I with their appearance.
Ill
/ time the ferry pulled away from the
wharf and struck out for the opposite
shore. The noise of the whistle was
helped out by a score OF game cocks
/ carried by their owners. They were
| to fight in the chicken lists at San
| Rogue. -......
There were none but Americans m
the cabin. Besides the actors and my
! self. there were two or three ladies'
! wives Of officers of the fleet at Cavite-
| and FIVE or six soldiers. A sergeant Of
] cavalry. whose hiking under a hOri-
( ZOntal sun had burned him brown as
| a cocOanut was telling his fellows OF
an experience in Samar, and / listen
! ing intently, when a fat Filipino OF
middle age entered and in Spanish de-
manded of me 10 cents for sitting in
I the cabin. I paid it and In turn I'D
/ approached the soldiers. The ladies
4 were across the cabin and were
/ beginning to open their purses when
| the sergeant in khaki interpOsed.
Il amt goin' a-pay you nuthin'." he
1 said to the questioning Filipino. Dye
1 think I'm loco? I paid my fare on this
ramshackly craft and that's all you
I get. 1 don't stand for no hold-up
I game"
The Filipino rushed into gestures and
| animated Spanish He said the COM
/ pany always charged extra for occu-
~fr.r- he 10 I'D
I fact that all his countrymen were in
I the sun. and he called heaven to wit
ness that none had ever had seat or
] rode under shelter except for 10 cents
( extra.
"wel. then I'll teach you a bran new
trick" said the swarthy sergeant.
This amt no Chicago street car. l
! didn't come on board to stand up"
/ The Filipino persisted and vowed
/ that all who did not pay would have 10
! seek the sun. Other officials Of the
boat backed him up, and then the
/ sergeant loosened some choice United
/ States mixed with the native brand.
You darned googoo, you're nuthin'
/ but a ladrone. If you wuz in my town
/ they'd hang We fur boss stealth"
The assembled ferrymen turned yell
low at the word "ladrOne," and, with
1 threatening gestures, neared the ser
geant. The latter charged them like
a football tackle after a runner, and
/ they fed madly We heard an uprOar
on the deck, and sounds of the pur-
sued falling over the heaps of pas
sengers stretched out there. In a few
minutes the cavalryman returned with
the sweat rills tumbling from his face
and chasing down his blouse.
"Yere's yer money" he said to me.
Il made that googoo dig up his loot
when got him hangin' over the side"
He handed me the silver had paid
| for M seat.
After that we went along peaceably,
the Filipinos peeping in at the windows
to see the Americana who had made
such a row, while the Samar yarn went
/ on from the point where 1t was inter
rupted by the collector.
When we tied up to the miserable
little wharf at Cavite, the town was
already thronged with men off the
warships. Jack had been given a holt
| day to see the show, and the dozen
saloons were doing a big business.
The stage manager and the property
man saw the scenery unloaded and
then looked for the Grand opera house.
1t was not far away, for the first
hombre we asked bower deliberately and
replied in Spanish:
'Senors, you are there"
We were in the very shadow OF It.
I 4
preaching Cavite, and only a hundred
feet from the wharf. The Grand opera
house is of bamboo and nipa. It's archi-
lecture might be assigned to the CO.
lonial period, for it was essentially
primitive. 1t was just "a huge shack,
with dusty matched roof, plentifully
punctured by the weather. Luckily
there was no sign of rain.
The floor was of earth and there
a
the orchestra should be. One look be-
hind the footlights caused the stage
manager to swear. I am not familiar
with the technique of stages, but what
ever should have been there was not
and everything was wrong.
The two experts told each other that
it would be impossible 20 put the prop
er scenery in place. And then like en-
terprising Americans they began to do
it. The sergeant in khaki had drifted
into the theatre with two Of his SOL
der comrades.
L low as I'm goin' to San ROGUE
and lose my six pesos or win a hun
dred.' he said, when the stage manager
sought to draft him and the pair of
privates as assistants.
Pretty good show; you can see it
from behind and carry away five pesos
too" said the employer
The three fighting men got their
heads together and agreed that they
would take the job.
The stage was quite deep, but very
low The property man said the
proscenium arch was as low as a dog
house roof The scenes We're too tail
T. be taken over the footlights and had
to be brought in by the rear. This oc-
casioned a diversion in the work. The
stage ran clear back to a sea wall
rxrf,f ,0n hod 20 I.a.