The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1921-05-08

dren, said TO Dc the last SURVIVORS Oh
an ancient race in Yucatan. They had
unusually large Roman noses and short
black curls. A great many similar sur
vivors from Yucatan have since come
to this town and settled east Of the
Bowery. II
All Of the foregoing were wonders.
The realities which Barnum distin-
guishcd were the Siamese Twins and that
quaint group of little people headed by
General Tom Thumb (Charles s. STRAIT
toni. Tho twins In the early COS were
approaching fifty years of age. and were
accompanied by their wives and chill
dren. They were united by q broad
ligament which held them, not as COM
monty pictured. side by side. but partly
facing ono another. They were intel
ligent, mentally distinct, and apart
from their singular union We're normal
individuals.
General Tom Thumb, Commodore Mutt
and Miss Lavinia Warren We're perfectly
formed bits Of miniature humanity, who
sang funny little songs and danced funny
little dances, usually in costume. and
pleased the children nightly. And when
Miss Warren bestowed her hand upon
the General In Grace Church with all
the Accomplishments Of an ultrafashion-
able wedding. including that most genial
and Indispensable sexton. Brown. arbiter
elegantiarum, without whom no social
function could properly take place. any
more than It could later without Mr..
Ward McAllister, who invented the Four
Hundred. why, then society fairly rocked.
And a very pretty little bride she made.
the fair Miss Lavinia in her tiny veil
and orange blossoms, and most gallant
bridegroom the General. But as for
Commodore Mutt, all, there was anguish
and tribulation, for which later on Mr..
Barnum took occasion to invoke a ten
der public sympathy. The lady long
survived the rivals and died but q few
months ago.
The lecture room produced only moral
plays. and in a moral manner. No bal
let ever profaned that stage. No vii
latny was ever triumphant. The eternal
triangle never got any further than
East Lynne" much expurgated. The
stock company was a fixture.
The reigning leading lady for years
was Mrs. ]. j. Prior. Barnum would
never have tolerated any departure from
the matrimonial title. which. so to speak.
chaperoned the whole performance. Not
even Mrs. W. ]. Jones-Jonesy Of the
Bowery---ever attained higher pinnacle
Of personal popularity than did Mrs.
Prior. Where could you find a more
majestic figure, more lustrous eyes. more
bewildering raven ringlets or more
thrilling voice in it's lower register. where
she generally kept It? A crimson velvet
riding habit long gauntlets, picture
hat with dropping white plumes, jew
elIed whip coquettishly wielded--what
havoc that made among the young gem
tlemen who were just beginning to Ie-
sent being called boys
She wore that costume on every pos
sible occasion. regardless Of the charac-
ter enacted. whether the forsaken gypsy
in 'Gitanella' or the dazzling CnpitoIn
In "The Hidden Hand" or the lachry-
NOSE Mrs. Halter in THE Stranger"
can recall but one exception to that
seemingly inflexible rule, and that was
when she played Joseph In the Scriptura1
drama Of "Joseph and His Brethren"
when, of course, the unsuitability of such
attire for the Hebrew patriarch became
obvious.
The leading actor was J. F. Maggie. q
romantic artist possessing the now al
most lost art OF versatility, or in other
words OF playing his roles and not him.
self. Like Mrs. Prior he too had pet
feature In his back fall. He tilted
straight rearward on his heels. striking
the stage with his whole body and re-
sounding thud. Whether overcome by
emotion or simply stabbed, he esnpha-
sized the result alwaysin that way. The
small boys rejoiced In it as stunt
and made themselves black and blue all
over trying to initiate it.
At Christmas came aladdin and His
Wonderful Lamp" Here superlatives
fail. for no words could begin to de-
scribe its utter and inapproachable mag
nificence. Talk about that scenery in
the Metropolitan Opera House! Why.
when Aladdin came down those rocks
into that cave all studded with jewels
and gathered clothes baskets full OF
them. and when the wicked magician
rubbed tho lamp and that palace came
up with the rod nre-no. sir. the opera
company never thought Of such scenery
as that. AS play simply knew 1t to
be better than anything old Shakespeare
ever wrote. and I neglected J. Cesar's
stupid commentaries willingly to see it.
When tho civil war came Barnum's
moral drama gave place to plays much
more stirring. The boys who ran down
Broadway ahead OF the Sixth Massachu-
sets on it's way to Baltimore. shouting
John Browns Body ~ at the top of our
lungs. wanted to see what their brothers
were doing even II they could not go
with them. And Barnum rose to the
demand. He covered the Museum with
the flag. He set his band playing Hail.
Columbia and "The Star Spangled
Banner" about all the time. And as fast
as events took place down South he re-
produced them on the stage. Sumter was
there bombarded again. Ellsworth again
was shot after hauling down the Con-
federate flag. Barnum stopped. these
productions when the war became as
every day happening as did that
through which we have just passed. but
by that time many of the boys had
hanged the imitation for the real and
some OF us never saw Barnums again.
stood on the steps OF the old Astor
House In July. 1865, and saw Barnum's
American Museum burn.
PARK BENJAMIN.
NEW YORK. May T.