Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-12-29
STORIES OF HENRY IRVING
Early Struggle to Live on 1915 Yea
His Feeling Toward Dixie


His Feeling Toward Dixie
The late Sir Henry Irving had ,..
hard fight for recognition. He serrai
probation. of something like ten yaors =, a
the provinces before he even 6ad ID
chance to catch the ear of London
rive OF these ten years were snon+ ,.
Manchester as member of n stoI, l-, at
pany. Years afterward Irving ws sou
guest OF honor at u banquet in tbat 5;, d
ana ndulged IN some "reminiscences of
his earlier sojourn. Vi
Il had many friends here 4hoo
SAID, and | needed their good adrion
for found it very difficult as an ac 'I,
TO pursue my profession and tn do i'm,
tlce to certain things that | ALWAYS IaJ
a deep and eXtravagant idea of an tba
sum OF t75 a year. | have been m9l,;ne
calculation of the amount Of ma,,as
that | did earn in those days and frI
that it really was no more than tx
year"
With a smile that was half hpmoron,
and half pathetic, he added; "tnr
friends of mine present who NAV LarIs
thought a little less of ME at that limo
perhaps because of my continuous Sfoto
of impecuniosity, will forgive me- y yiasg
| confess to the amount of nv aarnincs
However, that time is past. and if tbera
are any odd half-crowns that owe
shall be glad to pay them"
After leaving Manchester Irving drift.
ed about from place to place untjl he
finally secured a few months engage.
ment at Liverpool. He told Joseph Han.
ton, who repeats the anecdote in tIe
Grand Magazine, that the day that en-.
gagement ended was one Of the most
miserable in his life.
He was just about to leave the theatar
to go to his modest lodging-hs wretch.
edness seeming all the darker in contrast
to the brightness of the summer day.
when the stage doorAeeper handed him
a letter which ne had forgotten to deliver
till then.
Like an incident on the stage el%
said Irving in telling it.
For that letter was from Dion 30uCi
cault, offering him the engagement in
Hunted Down." which afterward gave
him his entree to London.
OF the stage limitations of Irving, Dix
ey's was the only one that at first really
seemed to offend him, and this was large
~ on account of the way IN which the
young man was advertised. At the same
time he had too high a sense of his OTA
dignity to make any show of the indig'
nation he must naturally have felt at
the public reception given to introduce
an actor whose attraction was to be
burlesque of Irving.
The Irving-Dixey sensation soon f2-
zled, however. So much so that Irving
presided at a supper at which DiXey was
guest. When it came to proposing bis
imitator's health, Irving may have got
some satisfaction out of doing it thus:
II will not call upon Mr.. DXey to give
an imitation of myself. lest it should be
so good as to put me out of conceit with
my own identity. l congratulate myself,
however, and the public on one thng,
and that is, supposing some evening |
cannot appear at the Lyceum. they can
send around for Mr.. Dixey, who would
be performing at the Gaiety next door,
to fill my place. Probably the next day
I should be told that on this occasion
Mr.. Irving played his part with more
than usual ability aud artistic effect 50
New York Sun.