Evening star., 1921-09-18
.HERE are few odds and ends
among the Rambler's notes
Il. which he means to hand over

among the Ramblers notes
l.. which he means to hand over
to you before he closes this
series of narratives about actors Of
Washington and acting in Washing
ton. In one of his stories-but
whether it was "ramble" or another
kind of story, or the same kind Of
story with another name, he does not
remember-mention was made of ''the
white horse in 'Mazeppa.' That must
have recalled to many of you a once
popular and prosperous play and an
actress who was famously associated
with it. AS 1.-The white horse OF
'Mazeppa' came off the typewriter
the Rambler thought of Kate Fisher,
and there also came to mind the
names of two actors who were popu-
lar with us when we were boys and
when some of those who are follow
ing these lines were girls.
One of those old actors was Daniel
Reed and another wss Charles R.
Thorne, ST. The RamblefNt7tinks he
scents a local connection here. for
old Charles Thorne had at least two
boys. one of whom was Charles
Thcrne. faycrite actor in romantic
relies about twenty years ago. and
the other was William Thorne.
whom we all called Bill. Bill was
quite an actor himself and in his
lifetime played many parts. He had
:: big voice and he delivered his lines
in a robust way. He was not what
you would call a simpering. mealy-
mouth actor. Bill wearied of travel
and concluded to settle down and he
picked out Washington as the most
desirable place to settle in. Some
time in the eighties he adopted the
position of government clerk as his
profession and attached the Interior
Department to himself. Bill had a
desk in the old patent Office building
for good many years. but the
Rambler long ago lest track Of him.
Among other old players who trav-
eled with Kate Fisher and shared her
fame and applause were Annie Ward
Tiffany. who had been leading lady
with the elder Booth and Edwin For
pacity with an excellent and rip
snorting tragedian. whose surname
was Hamblin. but whose baptismal
name the Rambler has forgot. As
sociated with Kate Fisher were also
George Boniface and Mrs. Bonifacc
Kate and Eliza Newton. n. b. Clark.
George Brokers. Edwin Blanchard
and Mrs. W. c. Jones.
| 4 < y x
THERE were other popular Mazep-
| pas besides Kate Fisher. and it
! may be that you can recall in this
role Miss Leo Hudson. an English
i actress. who was also celebrated as
| an equestrienne. Her horse. called
! Sensation fell off the stage one
| night during the performance of Ma
| zeppa at the old Bowery Theater.
| New York. The poor horse died in
the pit of the theater. while Miss
| Hudson held his head in her arms.
! given much publicity. By the way.
! this Miss Hudson was the first wife
| of Charlie Backus. the minstrel, and
| if you do not remember Charlie your
| memory is feeble or you never took
much interest in the minstrels."
Minstrels. which were playing in San
Francisco in 1882. After playing
| there several years they disbanded
and in the 70's the trope was re-
occupied a little theater on. the west
side of Broadway between 2Sth and
! 29th streets. or 1t may have been
! between 27th and 2Sth-anyhow. 1t
was very near the old Stuyvesant
! house. where Charlie. his second wife
I
! it's New York theater was Dave
| Wambold. Washington boy and one
! of the sweetest singers among the
! minstrels. Billy Birch was another
member. So was Billy Emerson. So
| was Bobby Newcomb. and you sure
ly remember singing Down Where
! the Pansies Crow" and that other
| old song. I'm as Happy as Big
| Sunflower." which went something
like this:
| There is a charm can't explain about girl
I've seen.
And my heart beats fast as she goes past in a
dark dress trimmed with green;
Her eyes are bright evening stars. so low
ing and 70 shy.
I, And the folks all srop and look around when
! ever she goes by.
| Then feel just happy as a Mg sunnower
! That mods and bends in the breezes.
And my heart is light the wind that
i blows
The lesves from Oft the treeses.
| Charlie Backus had a number of
good turns and was always thinking
up something new. or that seemed
new. He had a recitation called "A
| Shakespearean Dream" beginning:
Last night I thought 1 was with
Shakespeare; my dream ran thus:
To be or not to be. that is the ques-
tionr' And then Hamlet. Lear.
Othello. Richard. Macbeth. Juliet and
all the rest passed before him.
Charlie could initiate a fiddle with
his voice and he was great on show
/ ing how Edwin Forrest read the lines
of Richard. Do you remember a
great New York cornetist named
Levy? I think he was the cornet