The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-30
INTERESTING ACCOUNT
OF OLD STAGE TRAGEDY

4
]. Ferguson. veteran comedian. tell the
story OF Lincoln's assassination as he
saw. It from the stage. He believes
that he is the sole survivor of the COM
pany that was appearing on that lam
entable occasion:
"No event in my life has left an i'm
preston more keen and lasting than
the assassination OF President Lincoln.
think, perhaps, We best remember
the occurrences of our youth. My whole
life has been passed upon the stage
John T. Ford. the manager Of Ford's
theater, Washington. and my father
were friends. and IL was due TO this
fact that / went upon the stage main
ly at the solicitation of the manager
himself, who fancied possessed tai
ent. l began as the cali boy, and in
that capacity from the prompter's box
In the corner of that mimic stage, 1
witnessed the tragedy, the most
lamentable that has ever befallen our
| great nation.
1.-THE call boy is a messenger for the
prompter, and is often assigned to play
some simple part. One OF my duties
was to call the acts at the green room,
where the actors sat waiting their turn
TO be summoned to their station five
minutes before they were to make their
entrance. upon the scene. Call boys
and green rooms went out of vogue
! together
! ION the day Of the assassina-
ton Laura Keene, the star did not at
| tend the rehearsal, nor did the walk
| ing gentleman, who was III and could
not play, The cast of 1.-THE American
Cousin being full one, was pressed
into service.
When Miss Keene came in the even
Ing, she would not consent to LET me
go on unless came 10 her room TO
rehearse the scene with her. That was
impossible, as my duties chained me
/ 70 the prompt box. OF this she was
notified. and she accordingly came out
to that spot to me. 1t was then about
8 o'clock, and that is how we happened
TO be, in theatrical parlance, standing
at the prompt box at the first entrance,
directly opposite the box Ca balcony
one on the right hand side OF the
house, in which Mr. Lincoln sat-
I'm the boy were Mr.. Lincoln, in his
usual seat in the outer corner, with his
back TO the audience (the droop of the
lace curtain half obscuring his face),
while Mrs. Lincoln sat facing IT, IN the
other corner, On a sofa in the rear
were Major Henry R. Rathbone and
Miss Clara Harris, daughter of Sena-
tor Harris.
1.-THE second scene of the third act
was in progress, Miss Keene was hur-
rying through the lines of our little
scene. Mr.. Hank. the principal come
dian In her travelling support, was
| leaving the stage when suddenly the
sharp report of a pistol rang through
the house. II did not at first attract
my attention. as the property man (the
employe who had charge Of the guns
ETC., used in plays) was in the habit
OF dtscharging old firearms in an alley
in the rear Of the theater, in order to
| reload them.
Almost instantly Booth Jumped
from the lincoln box onto the stage,
twelve feet below. The noise of his
fall made me turn. However, let me
recall my mental impressions.
| las I had charge OF placing books,
manuscripts and papers on a desk that
was TO be used in the following scene.
and which was Just back of and hid
den from view by the scene on the
stage, the thought occurred to me that
the desk had in some way been over
turned and the papers all displaced.
More work for me- murmured to
myself. But as looked onto the stage
I saw Booth kneeling on one knee, the
! position In which he had fallen.
The spur OF his riding boot had
| caught in the national flag with which
| the box had been draped, and threw
him IN that position. The boards used
on theatrical stage are quite narrow,
| about two and a half inches wide. We
| afterward discovered that there was a
semt-circle cut by his spur. Just below
the presidents box. whence he had
| jumped.
But TO return to the subject. Booth
| (for recognized him Instantly arose
and quickly ran across the stage to-
ward US, apparently unhurt, although
1t afterward came out that he had sus-
tanned compound fracture Of his right
ankle.
"In his fight he did not cry out las is
popularity supposedly Sic semper tyran-
MIS- He uttered no sound, no word.
Inside OF thirty seconds he ran across
the stage, through the first entrance,
brushed between Miss Keene and my
| self with a knife in his left hand,
which was nearest me). and, turning
the angle Of the side wall, continued on
back wall. where his horse was stand
| ing. saddled and bridled, awaiting him.
During all this time there was a
deadly silence; seemingly a spell was
upon that vast audience. No one ap-
parently had as yet realized or under
stood exactly what had occurred. There
was a scuffie at the door; Booth DELHI
erately closed the door between him
and the scene Of his crime. With one
hand he felled the boy who had the
bride, and. mounting his horse, he rode
away.
"AIl this transpired in fewer seconds
than 1t takes to tell it. Meanwhile,
amid the hush I could distinctly hear
the beat Of his horses hoofs on the
cobblestones of the alley, as they died
away in the distance.
'1rhat sound will always remain with
me. and my dreams are still sometimes
haunted with II.
IT could not realize that II was Booth
who had committed that crime. Per-
sonally, he was an apparently pleasant
and agreeable man, the last person one
would pick out as an assassin. He was
undoubtedly a monomaniac.
However. at last the silence broke.
By this time all knew what had hap
pened, but no one seemed certain as TO
who the assassin was. I had not left
my post. Men, citizens, and soldiers
with arms in their hands began climb
ing over the footiights onto the stage.
The CLEAN OF steel was all about me,
with the cries OF Who was ftp Where
did he go?
"The theatre was searched. but he