The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-06-18
Edward Harrigan's Death De.
priyes Stage Of an Ex-
cellent Comedian.
BLUEJACKETS FIND WAY
TO RESENT a SLIGHT
Officers Procure Reduced Rates
and Sailors Spend Money
in Boston.
BY JAMES GRANT THURsToN

BY Leased Wire to The Tribune
NEW YORK. June 17.-By the death
Of Edward Harrtgen. the Irish American
comedian. which occurred here recently,
the stage loses one Of the brightest and
cleanest actors who ever entertained
audiences. His death is regarded as a
positive loss 60 the American stage.
In all OF his life ne never penned a
line or sang a song that would offend
man woman or child. Being unique in
a class by himself his place cannot be
flied What Booth was in tragedy Har-
rigan was in Irish american comedy. In
a sense he was the Victor Hugo OF Irish
American comedy.
In 1867 he secured an engagement In q
San Francisco music ball where ne did
u singing turn. and while there he mel
Sam Hickey, about the first exponent OF
the modern stage Irish character, and
the two formed partnership. During
this he filled dates at a popular theater
known as the Bella Union. where Lotta
Crabtree. Maggie Moore, Joseph Murphy
and other ertlsts had made their deDuts,
and ne also travelled through the mining
sections OF California and Nevada, where
ne met and became personally acquainted
with the mining Kings Macltay, Flood and
O'Brien. who, in later years. visited him
in his own theaters.
In the early seventies Harrjgan re-
turned east and While playing IN ChlcaEo
he FIRST met his long time partner. Tony
Hart. He discovered In Hart the pos
SCISSOR of talents and the meeting result
ed In the formation of business pact
which was successfully continued many
years. They worked together toward New
York doing Harrigan's original sketches
among which was The Little Fraud. =
Hart as the girl in the sketch shared
equally with Harrigan In its success.
at Tony Pastor S.
Pastor, Robert Butler at the Union
Square theater and for Joseph Hart at
the Theatre ComiQue. II was at this last
house that MIR. Harrigan became &C
who was musical director there: and soon
they became collaborators In the COM
position OF songs. The MulliSau Guards
was the first OF their successes.
Harrigau and Hart eventually became
the lessees Of the Theatre Comique. but
were not in possession OF il for long
before they were obliged to surrender IL
TO make way for commercial building
They erected the Theatre Comique at
I2S Broadway, which was destroyed by
fire.
This left them without PLAYHOUSE
AS there was no Insurance on the prop
erty the financial loss was In excess of
$loo 900, BY speedy and earnest effort
they succeeded in obtaining from Hyde d
aid Square theater After few sue
cessful seasons Hart decided to star
alone and the partnership was dissolved.
ii was this FIRE that really caused a
break between Harrigan and his part
ner Hart blamed Harrgan for failure
to have the building insured, Hart died
some years later in Sanitarium IN
Massachusetts.
Harrigan married Brahams daughter
and she assumed an active interest IN
her husbands affairs. purchasing an old
church and some adjoining property in
West Thirty-hftl street. where another
amusement cdiflce was built. This was
called the Harrisan theater. Concerning
this investment Mr.. Harrigan once said:
'I put on Reilly and the Four Hun
dred' and won out" "
Continued success at that house en-
abled him to retire from active manage
ment and he leased the theater TO the
late Richard Mansfield who rechristened
II the Garrick theater.
There are few. II any, dramatic au-
thors who can boast of having written
as many plays that have run over 100
nights as has Edward EIarrjgan. Among
them are "Cordella's Aspirations"