The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-16
Jim Yomnr snins n Yarn.

Jim Young Spins a Yarn.
 It was in his dressing room the oth- CT night, when group of actors were relating anecdotes of queer incidents that sometimes occur during per- formance, that the following story was overheard. It was told by James Young who Is appearing in Viola AL lens Shakespearian productions.
 Every one here knows,' said MT. Young, that the ludicrous happenings that actually take place on the stage are really more startling than many of the invented stories of the press agent, though after ali there is usually an element of truth in the press agent story, though he don't always receive credit for 1t, and we must not blame him if in the way of business he finds 1t necessary to elaborate for the pur- pose of making attractive reading mat ter. But here are the plain unvarnish- ed facts of an actual occurrence that took place years ago during my first year on the stage.
 q was playing a Shakespearian rep ertoire throughout the southern ter ritory, and when filling an engage ment in Norfolk I received an offer of a guarantee to put on Hamlet at the little town of Christfield, on the east ern shore of Maryland. At that time guarantees were not plentiful, so the dates were shifted in order to play the town. We needed the money and were not turning down sure things The theatre in Chrisfield was not a thea tre, but a long narrow hall with a platform at one end for us, and rows of benches for the audience.
 We could use no scenery but there was a certain business of the play that demanded some kind of preparation; namely. the burial of ophelia. There was no trap through which to lower her and yet she must be got rid of some way. So permission was ob- tained from the manager to saw out bit of the stage for the purpose of im- provising trap. After this was done we found that 1t was twelve feet to the ground underneath, but this difficulty was overcome by pilng drygoods boxes under the stage to form a platform upon which the grave dig ger was to stand. The box of dirt, the skulls and bones all being placed n position, the trap was replaced and | everything completed we were ready | for the performance.
 Night came, the play proceeded un- eventually, we arrived at the church yard scene, the trap was taken up, thrown aside and the curtain rung up. The dialogue between the clowns be- | ing over, one goes after a 'stoop of
 
 rily singing A pick-axe and a spade leaps into the open grave. but instead | of landing upon the boxes that had been placed there he goes down and disappears. We heard a splash and a | yell, and the fellow had jumped into the Chesapeake Bay. He was down under the building in an impenetrable darkness and splashing waters eight feet deep. It seems the hall was built on piles and the back extended | far out on the shore. During the night a high tide came in, washed the | boxes away, together with our useful props, the bones and Yorick's skull. | Oh, yes, he was rescued but there was some excitement for a few minutes" Plays and Players.
 Hattie Nichols, who plays the Cold Bottle in "Woodlawn," is a grandniece of the famous scout, Davy Crockett, | Miss Amelia Bingham Is famous as | being Americas best gowned actress. Never has she worn more beautiful dresses than she shows in Mile Mar ni." the new play in which she is now appearing at Wallacks Theatre, N. Y.
 The English Grand Opera Company under the management of Henry w. Savage will shortly begin a three weeks engagement in San Francisco During its ten years history the Saw age organization has never visited the ] Coast, and the interest is keen.
 l Raymond Hitchcock, in the Blossom Robyn comic opera, The Yankee Con- sul," continues to delight large audi ences at Wallack's Theatre, New York During the comedians five months
 run on Broadway last season the sue cess of this, his latest offering, was ably proved and the present revival 's most timely.
 Henry w. savage's production ot 1 "Parsifal" in English has created
 furore in Chicago. The press of :h'
 Windy City is a unit in declaring tha
 the reverent attitude of Bayreuth ha
 been preserved and transferred to thu American stage. The Illinois Theatr
 has sheltered the largest audiences il
 it's history.
 Mistress Nell" the title character Il
 the comedy of that name in whlc
 Henrietta Crosman is to make i'm lited spring tour, is Nell Gwyn' faN
 orite of King Charles IL, and one c
 the striking personalities of the tint iNeu Gwyn has haeoma a ponular suh