South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-11-06

Rose Melville Mrs. FRANK Mlnzy)
although now residing in Lake
George. y. Y, we are pleased 10
record as one OF our most distin-
guished Teller citizens Miss Melville
is not only an extensive property
owner here. but she is very fond Of
our enterprising little village and re-
fers TO IL as home"
Sis Hopkins. the character in which
Miss Melville cOnvulsed packed
houses for 13 successive years was
originally created by her brOther-in-
law, Sam Young. sis" was one of
the characters in ''Zeb, the Clodhop-
per- a play from the pen OF Mr..
Young but as A whole "Zeb. the
ClodhOpper" wasn't very strong con-
stitutionally and after struggling
through the hardships Of a few one
night stands it arrived in South Bend
in very weakened condition, and af-
ter one performance expired with a
tired sigh. The part OF Sis. however.
always won applause. but as the sup
port was poor and the play wobbly
all the way through, Sis, of course,
could not carry the entire burden.
But Miss Melville realized the pos
sibilities in her part, and one day
asked Sam what ne wanted for the
| manuscript OF his play. Why, my
dear little siste. n-laW." (she was in
! short skirts them he replied. you
may have il, and with my blessings"
/ whereupon he produced the tattered
manuscript. Miss Melville negotiated
at once with Dan Rice in New York,
and be agreed to give her an audi
ence If she wanted TO squander the
money coming 10 New York to try 1t
out" She took the chance.
Mr. and Mrs. L. G. Ball were living
| in New York at the time. and being
intimate friends Of Miss Melville. they
were invited TO attend the try-out.
| Dan Rice was Indifferent at first, "
| reports Mrs. Ball. but before Rose
/ and her sister, Ida, were half way
| through their act, Mr.. Rice threw his
! hands and exclaimed, It's great-its
! great and engaged the two girls on
! the spot to take a part in The Little
1 christopher" at $50 a week each.
| From the outset Miss Melville and her
/ sister scored a hit, and her ultimate
| success was assured.
| Later Miss Melville refused to go
| on the road at the salary offered, and
! decided to get up a company herself.
! She wrote a play around the character
I of isis Hopkins and had a certain
we'll known playwright polish il up
/ for her. We all know what q ire
| mendOus success isis Hopkins
/ proved 10 be. Many times Miss Mel
| vile determined 10 retire long before
| she finally went into private life but
| ance with such insistence that she
| appeared in ii a round bakers dozen"
| of years as she expresses il herself,
] before she gave il up. In the early
; days of her prosperity Miss Melville
! presented her brother-in-law. Sam
! Young, with a check for $4,000 for
! the manuscript he had generously
! given her several years before. so
| ''Zeb, the Clodhopper" turned out to
/ be a financial success after all.
! While in South Bend Mr.. and Mrs.
| AIinzy make their home with Mr.. and
| Mrs l.. G.. Ball. and have spent sew
| eral summers at the latter's cottage at
1 Diamond lake.
I George Stephenson. although still
a very young man, is somewhat of
a distinguished backwoods pioneer
! He recently returned from the forest
| primeval near Man Trap Mimi. with
calloused hands. a SCARED nose and
a fumed-Oak complexion.
He has been plotting tenderfoot
| fishermen around the almost inacces-
| sible lakes in that locality since last
/ May. and when asked IL he encounter
| ed any bars or muskox during his
scouting expedition. he replied that
he had not. but that he had been Bit
J ten on the nose by a rat
We are not familiar with this ami
NAL but our reference book describes
| il as follows: Genus Musrattus. ma
! tive of China. Slender build, blush
| black in color has large thin ears. -
! That is not very enlightening. The
description might apply to a Missouri
mule. What we are interested to
| know is the kind of teeth the beast