The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-11-11


NJ agerslEaaiSS III E=sPes==i
srie nee
wi hisSco I'M:
pany 81 viii be seen here IS at
0peraB Iotses soye = Der 23
ne orgeous%r revival $of his most
II noted com
eei ian pnearfn 8 in th Is Il tie role, IS
fond of relatin g8 his experience in the
III ed 55.s One OF the best
stofiiess is that which describes his
can Is ma ser:
death of his father, Hopper
aiies into the possession Of some
prop bout $50 1000, and, with the
cont dence In own ability born of
ssnoran nee and 81 inexp erience, he pro-
81 ceeded to.2 invest this money in al
& ieatrfcaI vent ure. An organization,
hich as called the Criterion Come
Company. was gotten together,
III Jacob Goshe as manager, and F.
81 e. NEackay as the stage manager, and
Hoop eT made his professional debut
Talbot Chamneys in Our Boys.
1.-The Criterion Comedy Company also
included sCaste',#inE repertory, but
ss either play seemed to. find remarka-
bic public favcr8as acted by the ag-
gregatfon, and consequently the Critic.
sss rfonS Comedy Company concluded to
smash Thus ended the first stage in
sthe process of separating De Wolf
81 Hoop Ter from his money. The gentle
ssssoperatfo On was continued in a produc-.
ton known as One Hundred Wives,
itch exploited Ada Gilman as star.
s8s Hopper relates the story of this en-
terprise in the following characteris-
tic style:
with "a heart fired with ambition
and the dazzling prospects of rich re-
ard both pecuniary and profession
ags Il, left New York as manager Of
yThe Hundred Wives company The
gaudyS visions of wealth and fame,
which 1ured me far from the metropo-
lis FAILED to materia1ize, and it was a
season rich in experiences and one
that Is shall never forget. After
many icissitudes we at length reach
ed a certain one night stand on Sat
nrday a bout II "A. NJ. 1t was the
day before Christmas. We were de-
termined not to be barred out Of Civ.
ling an extra Christmas matinee, even
Tvs had to give it the day before
Sogwe sent a man through the town
with a big bell, and a sandwich post
ss Grover his shoulders, announcing
that the colossal aggregation Of tai
entssfrom New York would give a
matinee promptly at twelve o'clock.
Twelve O'Clock came and not pen
In the house. had often heard
this expression used fgurativey, but
ss IT'S cold literal significance never
daWned on me till then. The advertis-
ing man was called in after consulta-
ion , and supplied with a new an
ss$ norncement which informed the pub
lie thatethe matinee would positively
be given at one o'clock. But when
the hands pointed to one, to use the
language of the advance agent, we
couI dn,t get them in. This is to be
3sS taken IN a literal sense. After fur
ther conferences, our advertising
agent was again withdrawn from the
public gaze. and we printed a new
poster which set forth that the cur
tain would positively be run up al
& two O'clock, and we also kindly advis
w
the rush. Two O'Clock came and we
s5S Abandoned all idea of giving matt
nee. When the audience assembled
that might, I figured it's size through
speep!hole in the curtain. There
was not a woman in the house-noth
saa ing but menand l discovered before
the. Performance was half over, tina
theyS7were in various stages Of intoN
ication. There was not sober pei
son in the audience. Fifty-four dol
lars worth Of Insecurity stepped il
alcohol witnessed the performance
AS emerged from the stage entranc
that nj ght, a fellow, who was so full
that Whisky was running out of hi
atSs#s ears, stepped up and said: Shay,
!s$l only say two alsh of the Show bu
pay a dollar any time to see tn
sath err ak. While the play was sc
ing on. native walked up 10 gu
manager, who was on the door, an
wanted to know how much it cost t
sit upstairs. Fifty cents was the re