Evening star., 1921-06-05


Rambler recalled the open
ing OF AIbaugh's Opera
House on Monday evening. Novem-'
Der 10. 1884. the attraction being the
Emma Abbott Opera Company. While
the Washington Light Infantry Arm
ory Opera House Gas it was called
before being leased by John w. AL
baugh Of Baltimore) was building
Ford's Opera House was ~remodeled.
This reference is not to Ford's The
ater. the tragedy house. on 10th
street, but to the old structure. still
standing, which many Washingtonians
will recall as Walls Opera House,
and which very many of you much
remember as Harris Bijou Theater.
In The Star of July 26. 1894. many
of you read what follows. but only
one IN ten or twenty thousand pasted
it III a scrap book or clipped 1t with
the idea of putting it in a scrap book
and then stuck it away where you
never saw it again:
workmen are busy in the interior Of Ford's
Opera House. The furniture has been re-
moved and all the ornaments stripped from
the ceiling. A peep into a theater undergo
ing alteration ahords no .Ereeable senss.ioa ntoa
world Of the stage. The shadowy regions
behind the wings and the mysteries Of the
sreenroom are laid bare and one gets an
unpleasant notion that beneath the glamour
and romance and hctions Of the stage are hard
realities Of every day life-cash, capital and
such ssotsns
before the doors OF the opera house are
again opened to the public the theater Will
and striking any which ever delighted the
little folks at Christmas pantomine.
We are coming down stairs" said MAI. an.
Inn
porter when the improvements are com
pieted the two great disadvantages we have
labored under will hc overcome The main
door will be near the street and will have
a stage adequate to any performance"
That old theater was the property
of Thomas Berry. known to most OF
the residents of Washington Of his
time as builder and contractor. The
breaking out Of the civil war, and
during the progress of the war the
upper floor was converted into a
pubic ha in which variety shows were
given. The place was then called Ok
ford Hall. Washington was crowded
with people who were doing. war
work" for the government. with peo-
Pile who hoped to be called on to work
for the government, people who had
business with the departments and
people who had no business in Wash
crowd just to see the wheels of gov
| ernment go round during war times
and to have their friends back home
know that they were in Washington
and they probably sent back letters
| telling their friends that they were
working day and night to help save
! the government of the United States
! and to overwhelm the Confederate
States-only they rarely used the
! words Confederate States because
they generally. said the rebel gov
ernment," or rebel states" "secesf
intended to have a highly loyal SOUND
! in Washington.
lTHERE came to Washington during
1 the civil war a horde of patrio
teers. who. while singing The Sta
Spangled Banner" and hip-hip- hur
raying when the band played Yankee
Doodle" found their greatest deligh
in robbing the Treasury and swim
ticles required by the armies in tn,
field. There was also a large soldier
population in Washington. men from
| the ring of forts around the city. from
the fortidcations that lay out in viz
| ginia beyond the Gordon of Washing
I
! service and desk service; men on fur
Tough from the armies; men passing
through Washington to join or re
1 join the armies. convalescents ant
soldiers of such other kinds as ther,
may be. Variety halls were openedir
many parts of the city and drew wha
| was then considered aOnighty patron
age from the war crowds in the capi
tai. The old barrooms were crowd
ed and new ones were opened to "ac
commodate the public" and to ge
some of the "gettings while the get
ting was good"
Oxford Hall came into being durfn,
this period. and, from what the Ram
bier has been told, it was a compare
lively respectable and orderly place
the comparison being with man.
other of the wartime variety halls O
the city. The hall was improved
| which means that it was repainte,
on the inside. a new floor probabl,
laid. new seats put in and some nev
curtains hung up. Then it was re
named Wallis Opera House, the man
ager being W. l.. Wall. a prominen
iauctioneer. who had his auction room
in the Marble building. just north .
the opera house. on the bit OF LAM
between the AveKue and c street, ives
of 9th.
Many Of you remember the Marbl
i