Oxford eagle., 1918-06-13

performance was scheduled for frluh!
night and everyone was fun Of antici-
patton: when bangI orders came
through that the brigade would move at
two that afternoon. CursiBg and
binding was the order OF things upon
the receipt Of this order but We
moved
That night We reached the little vii
lage Of $ and again went into rest
binets. We were TO be there two
weeks. our company Immediately got
busy and secured the village for q
suitable place in which to present our
production. Then we received another
shock
A rival company was alreads a''-
d>lt-I in the village They called
themselves THE Bow Bells" and
put on a sketch entitled, sBlighty-
What Hopesg They were the divi-
sional concert party.
We hoped they all would be soon
In Blighty to give US chance.
This company charged an admission
Of franc per head. and that night
our company went en- masse 70 see
their performance. II really was good
had q sinking sensation when !
thought OF running my sketch IN op-
position 10 il.
In one Of their scenes they had q
soubrette called Flossie- The soldier
that took this part was clever and
made q Incorporating and chic girl
We Immediately fen In love with her
until two days after, while We were
on q march, We passed Flossie with
'her" sleeves rolled up and the sweat
pouring from her" face unloading
shells from motor lorry.
As our section passed her / yelled
out: Hello. Flossie; Blighty-What
HopesT' Her reply made Our love die
out instantly.
"Ah, go TO hIr'
This brought quite a laugh Ion tho
marching column directed AT me. and !
instantly made up my mind that cur
sketch should Immediately run in op-
position 10 "Blighty-whaf Hopesy7
When we returned 10 our billet from
the march. Curley Wallace. uy the
strical partner, came running over 70
me and said he had found q swanky
place in which TO produce our show.
After taking of my equipment and
followed By the rest Of the section.
went over 10 the building he had picked
out. II was a monstrous barn with a
platform al one end which would make
an ideal stage The section eer right
an the job. and before night had that
place rigged out in apple-pie order.
The next day was Sunday and after
church parade We put ali our time on
a dress rehearsal. and Il went the.
! made four or I've large signs an
nouncing that our company would open
NJ thar evening at The King George the
Fifth theafer. on the corner OF Ammo
street and Sandhag terrace. General
admission was one-hah franc. First
ten rows In 0rchesfra one franc. and
boxes two francs. By this time our
printed programs had returned from
London. and I further announced that
on the night Of the first performance
a program would he given free of
charge 10 men holding tickets costing
franc 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 Al p. N.
At Sis there was & mob IA front az
our one entrance and II looked Ike q
big night. We had two boxes each &C
cOmmodating four people. and these
We Immediately sold out Then
eTtntAn1 kss came to Ikey Cobenstssn
was how were the men 70 reach these
boxes, but 10 key this was a mere de-
tail.
He got long ropes and tied one end
around each rafter and then tied lot
Of knots in the ropes. These ropes
would take the place Of stairways.
We figured out thar the rafters
would seat about forty men and sold
that number Of tickets accordingly.
When the ticketholders for the boxes
got q glimpse OF the rafters and were
Informed that they had 10 use the rope
stairway, there was a howl Of indigna-
ton but We had their money and told
them that If they did not ike IL they
could write 10 the management later
and their money would be refunded /:
but under these conditions they would
not be allowed 10 witness the perform
snce 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 II during the
performance.
Everything went lovely and il was a
bowling success. until Alkali Ike ap-
peared on the scene with his revolver
loaded Stth blank cartridges. Behind
the bar on a shelf was a long line OF
bottles. Aikah Ike was supposed 10
start on the left of this line and break
SIX Of the bottles by firing al them with
his revolver. Behind these bottles a
piece of painted canvas was SunDosed
10 represent the back Of the bar. al
each shot from Alkali's pistol n man
behind the scenes would hit one ~ the