Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-03-18

! laEc of $, and again went into rest
( hlllcts. We were TO be there two
weeks. Our company Immediately so;
busy and secured the village for n suit.
able place in which TO present our pro-
duction. Then we received another
shock.
rival company was already cstab-
liShcd III the village. They called
themselves The How BELLS" and put
on sketch entitled "Blighty-What
hopes?' They. were the divisional
concert party.
We hoped they all would be soon In
Bi!ehty to give us a chance.
This company charged an admiss on
OF franc per head, and that night our
company went en- masSc TO see their
performance. 1t really was good.
! had sinking sensation when
thought OF running my sketch in OPP
position TO II.
III ono Of their scenes they had n
soubrettc called Flossie. The soldier
that took this part was clever, aud
made 4 fine appearing and chic girl
until two days after. while we were
on march, VIC passed Flossie with
her sleeves rolled up and the sweat
pouring from her face unloading shells
from a motor lorry.
As our section passed her. yelled
out; Hello. Flossie. 'Blighty-What
Hopes? Her reply made our love
die out instantly.
An. go 10 hcli.'
When we returned TO our billet from
the march Curlcy Wallace. my theatre
cal partner, came running ever to me.
and said he had found swanky place
in which TO produce our show.
After taking off our equipment, and
followed by the rest Of the section. !
L..
out. 1t was Il monstrouS barn, with a
platform at enc end which would make
an ideal stage. The section go; right
( on the job, and before night had that
place rugged out in applcpie order.
The NEXT day was Sunday, and after
church parade we put all our time on
a dress rehearsal. and It went fine.
| made four or five large signs, an
nouncing that our company would open
up that evening at the King George
the Fifth Theater. on the corner OF
! Ammo Street and Sandbag Terrace
General admission was onc-half franc.
! First ten rows in orchestra l franc.
and boxes francs BY this time our
| printed programs had returned from
! London. and ] further announced that
/ on the night of the first performance
y program would be given free OF
charge TO men holding tickets costing
7 frame or over.
We had an orchestra OF seven men
and seven different instruments. This
orchestra was excellent while they
were not playing.
The performance was scheduled to
/ start nj 6 y. ~.
at 5:I5 there was a mob in front Of
/ our one entrance, and IL locked like 4
/ big night. We had two boxes each
accommodating four people. and these
we Immediately sold out Then n bril-
liant idea came to Iicy Cohcnstcin.
Why not use the raftcrs overhead. call
them boxes and charge francs for a
seat cn them? The only difficulty was
/ how we're the men to reach these boxes,
| but to key this was mere detail
He got long ropes and tied one end
! around each raftcr and then tied a lot
of knots in the ropes. These ropes
would take the place of stairways.
We figured out that the raftcrs would
scat about forty men. and sold that
/ number OF tickets accordingly.
I When the ticket holders for the
I boxes GOT q glimpse OF the rafters and
were Informed that they had 10 use
! the rope stairway, there was "A howl
OF Indignation, but we had their money
and told them that if they did not like
it they could write TO the management
later and their money would he re-
funded; but under these conditions
they would not be allowed to witness
the performance that night.
After little grousing they accepted
the situation with the promise that II
the show was rotten they certainly
would let Us know about it during the
performance.
Everything went lovely and It was
bowling success. unit! Alkali Ike ap-
peared on the scene with his revolver
loaded Win blank cartridges. BEHIND
the bar Oh a shelf was a long line OF
( bottles. Alkal Ike was supposed to
start on the LETT OF this line and break
six OF the bottles by firing at them
with his revolver. Behind these
bottles a piece OF painted canvas WAS
supposed to represent the back of the
bar AT each shot from .ilka!i's piglv.
a man behind the scenes would hit enc
Of the bottles with his intrcnching tool
handle and smash it, 10 give the i'm
preston that Alkali was good sho;
Alkali Ike started in. and aimed NJ
the right Of the line OF bottle instead
of the left, and the poor bCob behind
the scenes started breaking the bottles
on the left. and then the hox-holdcrs
turned loose; but outside Of this little
stys,fssyssaS