The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-03-19
JOSEPH JEFFERSON
A BUSINESS MAN
The Veteran Actor Seeks Rest
in Hard Work
HOME LIFE AT PALM BEACH
Takes a Lively Interest in What Is
Going on About Hlm-storIes
Told by Dean of Ameri-
can Stage.
HOME LIFE AT PALM BEACH.
BY FRED. 3. WARREN.

RAIN Beach, ria. hdIcu 1o-kopeclhlsl
lsI have left the limelight to go into the
evener sunshine of quiet life. and l left
a blessing behind me and pray for a
blessing before me-
Joseph Jefferson, the dean of the Amer
lean stage, sat in a wheel chair on the
crest Of a ridge of sand overlooking the
Atlantic ocean, at this fashionable soci-
ETY. resort, and gave utterance to this
benediction upon the stage and prayer
folk
He wore a coat commonly known to
the trade as seersucker, and his trousers
were baggy and comfortable. They had
been selected by their owner With APP
parently no intention Of following current
fashions.
Mr.. Jefferson was surrounded by bevy
of northern society folk who make their
homes In Palm Beach several months
each winter Apparently Indifferent to
their marked attentions he conversed
with Carl Kettler, his faithful German
valet, who has been his personal attend
ant for years,
Since his retirement from the stage
few months ago on account of Ill health
commercial interests and is now known to
q limited extent as promoter.
Owns a Power Plant.
Ever actively engaged in some pursuit
and used to vigorous routine since the
days when he covered lone night stands"
the enforced vacation began to pail on
Mr.. Jefferson and he looked about him
for work.
I 81 Dol,
the adjunct to this tourist resort was
without an adequate lighting plant, and
Mr.. Jefferson organized a company, made
himself president. and within a few
months are, lights hung over the street
corners, and Mr.. Jefferson in evening
dress addressed the assembled citizens
in the pretty little local club house, and
then he turned over the plant to the viii
layers with his best wishes.
When Joseph Jefferson rides down the
palm-arched avenues in West Palm Beach.
the youth of the town follow him in
procession on their bicycles, circling
around and around his conveyance and
shouting jests at the veteran player and
receiving equally pleasant replies.
Southerners idolize the stage veteran,
and he himself declares with much
warmth that the most pleasant years Of
his life have been spent beneath the
palms of Florida and in the French-Eng-
lish city of New Orleans.
Tried In New Orleans.
Apropos of visit to New Orleans he
today told this story of a joke that the
southerners played on him. He had been
invited to be present at the meeting of a
certain secret order" and noted for it's
hospitality. but hardly had he got seated
when the chair roared out:
Let our worshipful officers arrest one
Joseph Jefferson and bring him before
us" And the roof fairly trembled with
the applause that greeted the spectacle
of the veteran laugh-maker being hustled
up front"
"What am I arrested for, Mr.. Chair
MANI" asked the prisoner, as the cheer
ing died away.
For dlscharging firearms in the Cats
kills and comprising the death OF your
good dog Schneider came the answer.
Again the applause broke out. so
Mr.. Jefferson remarked: 1.-THE jurymen
seem to be rather en- my side of 1t, Mr..
Chairman"
Il don't know" closed the debate; "a
duffer like you that has packed so many
houses might have packed this jury easy
enough"
A Family Joke.
If Jefferson. senior. loves a good joke and
loves to make one. too, so does Jefferson,
Junior Thomas by name. and also an
actor. The younger man, as well as the
veteran, appears as rip" and 1t just
happened that one night when Thomas
Rip opened in Norwalk, Conn, Joseph
Rip opened in Philadelphia; Thomas to
crowded house and Joseph to a decidedly
thin one. The next morning the fol-
lowing telegram arrived at the Bellevue
addressed to Mr. Joseph Jefferson:
Hadn't you better come on to Nor
walk and let me take your place in Phil
adelpha? TOM"
II believe" said the aged actor today,
''that the people of the south live closer
to nature than any other folk who popu-
late the United States. More homely
philosophy is found in this section than [
ever hoped to hear while privileged to
spend the rest of my life in this semi
tropical land.
II find untold pleasure in seeing the
negroes of the south. They have a large
fund of humor, and their misunderstand-
ing or misnterpretation of the meaning
of English words furnishes me constant
amusement.
II was recently riding in an electric
launch on the waters of Lake Worth when
/ passed a bayou on the bank of which
several alligators were visible. One of
IDENTIFY In pursuit of useful Information,
and he asked the negro skipper:
Typical Negro Retort.
Are those alligators amphibiousT
:. Yes, sah,' said the darkey, 'fibious as
hell, sah Whole shote at one mouthful,
sah.' Shote, in the south, is the word for
a young pig.
II have just rounded out my seventy
sixth year" said the comedian. land, you
know, that is a very long time. When
look back over my early years on the
stage there are many incidents that 1
utterly fail to recall.
Seventy years ago, in 1893, / Joined my
childish fortunes with those of a stroll
ing troupe in far-away Texas. The exact
date of my debut no one is able to give.
/ was a baby in arms when l was once
carried upon the stage in a scene of
'Pizarro.' and l remember another very
early appearance. when l was Kissed.
When He Was Kissed.
Had been old enough to curse at the
time" is the way the smiling old gentle
man now puts it, II dare say l should
have muttered very nasty things of the
national anthem. I had gone on to recite
the Star Spangled Banner but / could
get no further than Oh. say, can you
sep Several times l asked the ques-
ton, or began to, and then some one
Kissed and l fed. When was that /?
Heaven knows. There is no danger of my
forgetting the incident. but the month
and year are beyond me.
ssJor will ever forget the time when