Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-16

furthermore, the company O1On come
home to Broadway IN Pullmans with their sal
aries paid, and all at the managers expense,
either!
A NY old kind of manager could take out any
Z old kind of show in those palmy days.
There was a chap who used to perform miracles
of the sort, mostly through New England. He'd
be knocking around Boston, say, and meet
couple of old actors. This would give him an
idea, and buttonholing them, he'd say:
" Want to go down to Brockton tonight
and play Polonius in "Hamlet"? And you,
Johnny how about you for Laertes?'
go All right, the hams would say, and he'd
tell EN- to be at the Old Colony station at six
pany and give them the same orders. In the
meantime he'd send his brother down to Brock
ton to hire the opera house and rush out some
printed hand bills, announcing the Great Bos-
ton Museum and Boston Theater Combined
Stock Companies in Mammoth Revival of the
Immortal Tragedy of Hamlet. -
"The company would collect at the train,
and Mr.. Manager would get them aboard,
after he had touched some member of the
troupe for the fares. Once l knew him to Dor
who thought she could play Ophelia, to whom
he had promised the part, and pawn it across
the street for just enough to land the company
in the town they were going to.
"Once aboard the train, if he hadn't collected
cast big enough for Hamlet or changed his
mind for any reason. he'd shift the bill.
I'VE don't play H amlet - he'd go around
telling the crowd BY special request we're
going to put on "A Celebrated Case
"' But, some one would complain, i don't
know anything about the play
"That's all right he would reply You've
played Louise in The Two Orphans" haven't
your
"Yes; but
"'Speak those lines
Somebody else would complain that he or
she hadn't any costumes. whereupon he'd fix
up some way of turning up his trousers or cut
ting off a coat tail, or changing hat hind side
to or-or something You couldn't stop him.
ARRIVED at Brockton, he'd take the COM
pany over to the nearest hotel and jolly the
landlord into giving them all supper, saying the
trunks would be over at once, and that if bust
ness was as good as it looked, and if Mr.. Field
of the Boston Museum could spare them, he'd
keep the company there week. And he'd
call the company by the names of the reigning
Boston favorites. such William Warren, and
Mrs. Vincent. and Dion Boucicault or Sadie
Martinez Oh it didn't make any odds to Mr..
Showman
GAS a rule his brother would have secured a
pretty fair house. and the show would be given
Mr.. Manager would make a speech apologizing
for the nonarrival of the scenery and explain
ing the necessity of changing the bill. and then
the show would begin.
'Awfuls What do you suppose, ANY
where else but in peaceful New England they'd
have lynched him and his troupe; but they'd
let him get through the performance and then
he'd go over to the hotel jolly the landlord into
letting him take the company back to Boston,
jolly the conductor of the train into transport
ing them free and divide up the money. Hyp-
notism? If he wasn't hypnotist. never saw
one.
7 CAN look back on personal experiences that
to-day seem funny; but at the time they
looked pretty serious. Once, in the very town
we've just left. Chicago, the irresponsible owner
of show had left me with it while he did his
usual trick of skipping back to New York or
some place to borrow money for us. / should
have known-indeed, l suspected-that he
would never come back: but had no fear of
not being able to get to our next stand, which
was Milwaukee. But Saturday night, just be-
fore the second act opened, and as was count
ing up out in the office, got bump. A man
rushed out from the stage to tell me that a
Sheriff had attached the show for debt our
nice little manager had owed bank for some
time.
II went back. The Sheriff was there all
right and the scenery of the first and third acts
of the piece already plastered with his
handbills. What was there to do? l couldn't
spare what little money we had. and it wouldn't
have been enough, anyway. to square the at
tachment, which for six hundred dollars.
Il got an inspiration. The prima donna had
some fake diamonds, which she had bought
that afternoon. got big ring from her. and
waited till got chance when | passed it to