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Title: The Mormons and the Theatre; or, The History of Theatricals in Utah

Author: John S. Lindsay

Release date: March 12, 2011 [eBook #35565]
Most recently updated: January 7, 2021

Language: English

Credits: Produced by the Mormon Texts Project. Volunteers: Eric Heaps with a little help from Benjamin Bytheway and Ben Crowder

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MORMONS AND THE THEATRE; OR, THE HISTORY OF THEATRICALS IN UTAH ***

Produced by the Mormon Texts Project,

http://bencrowder.net/books/mtp. Volunteers: Eric Heaps
with a little help from Benjamin Bytheway and Ben Crowder.

The Mormons and the Theatre

OR

The History of Theatricals in Utah

With Reminiscences and Comments
Humorous and Critical

By JOHN S. LINDSAY

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 1905

CHAPTER I.

In rather sharp contrast to other Christian denominations, the Mormons believe in and are fond of dancing and the theatre. So much is this the case that Friday evening of each week during the amusement season is set apart by them in all the settlements throughout Mormondom for their dance night. Their dances are generally under the supervision of the presiding bishop and are invariably opened with prayer or invocation, and closed or dismissed in the same manner, with a brief return of thanks to the Almighty for the good time they have enjoyed.

The theatre is so popular among the Mormon people, that in almost every town and settlement throughout their domains there is an amateur dramatic company.

It is scarcely to be wondered at that Salt Lake has the enviable distinction of being the best show town of its population in the United States, and when we say that, we may as well say in the whole world. It is a well established fact that Salt Lake spends more money per capita in the theatre than any city in our country.

Such a social condition among a strictly religious people is not little peculiar, and is due, largely, to the fact that Brigham Young was himself fond of the dance and also of the theatre. He could "shake a leg" with the best of them, and loved to lead the fair matrons and maidens of his flock forth into its giddy, bewildering mazes. Certain round dances, the waltz and polka, were always barred at dances Brigham Young attended, and only the old-fashioned quadrilles and cotillions and an occasional reel like Sir Roger de Coverly or the Money Musk were tolerated by the great Mormon leader.

That Brigham Young was fond of the theatre also, and gave great encouragement to it, his building of the Salt Lake Theatre was a striking proof. He recognized the natural desire for innocent amusement, and the old axiom "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," had its full weight of meaning to him. Keep the people in a pleasurable mood, then they will not be apt to brood and ponder over the weightier concerns of life.

There may have been a stroke of this policy in Brigham Young's amusement scheme; but whether so or not he must be credited with both wisdom and liberality, for the policy certainly lightened the cares and made glad the hearts of the people.

Although Salt Lake City has been the chief nursery of these twin sources of amusement for the Mormon people, to find the cradle in which they were first nursed into life, we will have to go back to a time and place anterior to the settlement of Salt Lake. Back in the days of Nauvoo, before Brigham Young was chief of the Mormon church, under the rule of its original prophet, Joseph Smith, the Mormon people were encouraged in the practice of dancing and going to witness plays. Indeed, the Mormons have always been a fun-loving people; it is recorded of their founder and prophet that he was so fond of fun that he would often indulge in a foot race, or pulling sticks, or even a wrestling match. He often amazed and sometimes shocked the sensibilities of the more staid and pious members of his flock by his antics.

Before the Mormons ever dreamed of emigrating to Utah (or Mexico, as it was then), they had what they called a "Fun Hall," or theatre and dance hall combined, where they mingled occasionally in the merry dance or sat to witness a play. Then, as later in Salt Lake, their prophet led them through the mazy evolutions of the terpsichorean numbers and was the most conspicuous figure at all their social gatherings.

While building temples and propagating their new revelation to the world, the Mormons have always found time to sing and dance and play and have a pleasant social time, excepting, of course, in their days of sore trial. Indeed, they are an anomaly among religious sects in this respect, and that is what has made Salt Lake City proverbially a "great show town."

Mormonism during the Nauvoo days had numerous missionaries in the field and many converts were added to the new faith. Among others that were attracted to the modern Mecca to look into the claims of the new evangel, was Thomas A. Lyne, known more familiarly among his theatrical associates as "Tom" Lyne.

Lyne, at this time, 1842, was an actor of wide and fair repute, in the very flush of manhood, about thirty-five years of age. He had played leading support to Edwin Forrest, the elder Booth, Charlotte Cushman, Ellen Tree (before she became Mrs. Charles Kean), besides having starred in all the popular classic roles. Lyne was the second actor in the United States to essay the character of Bulwer's Richelieu—Edwin Forrest being the first.

The story of "Tom" Lyne's conversion to the Mormon faith created quite a sensation in theatrical circles of the time, and illustrates the great proselyting power the elders of the new religion possessed.

Lyne, when he encountered Mormonism, was a skeptic, having outgrown belief in all of the creeds. It was in 1841 that George J. Adams, a brother-in-law of Lyne's, turned up suddenly in Philadelphia (Lyne's home) where he met the popular actor and told him the story of his conversion to the Mormon faith. Adams had been to Nauvoo, met the prophet and become one of his most enthusiastic disciples. Adams had been an actor, also, of more than mediocre ability, and as a preacher proved to be one of the most brilliant and successful expounders of the new religion. Elder Adams had been sent as a missionary to Philadelphia in the hope that his able exposition of the new evangel would convert that staid city of brotherly love to the new and everlasting covenant.

In pursuance of the New Testament injunction, the Mormon missionaries are sent out into their fields of labor without purse or scrip, so Elder Adams, on arriving at his field of labor, lost no time in hunting up his brother-in-law, "Tom" Lyne, to whom he related with dramatic fervor and religious enthusiasm the story of his wonderful conversion, his subsequent visit to Nauvoo, his meeting with the young "Mohammed of the West," for whom he had conceived the greatest admiration, as well as a powerful testimony of the divinity of his mission.

Adams was so convincing and made such an impression on Lyne that he at once became greatly interested in the Mormon prophet and his new revelation. This proved to be a great help to Elder Adams, who was entirely without "the sinews of war" with which to start his great campaign.

The brothers-in-law put their heads together in council as to how the campaign fund was to be raised, and the result was that they decided to rent a theatre, get a company together, and play "Richard III" for a week. Lyne was a native of Philadelphia and at this time one of its most popular actors. It was here that Adams had met him a few years before and had given him his sister in marriage.

The theatrical venture was carried through, Lyne playing Richard and Elder Adams, Richmond. The week's business, after paying all expenses, left a handsome profit. Lyne generously donated his share to the new cause in which he had now grown so deeply interested and Elder Adams procured a suitable hall and began his missionary labors. His eloquent exposition of the new and strange religion won many to the faith; one of the first fruits of his labors being the conversion of Thomas A. Lyne.

Such an impression had Adams's description of the Mormon prophet and the City of the Saints (Nauvoo) made upon Lyne that he could not rest satisfied until he went and saw for himself. He packed up his wardrobe and took the road for Nauvoo. With a warm letter of introduction from Elder Adams to the prophet, it was not long before Lyne was thoroughly ingratiated in the good graces of the Mormon people. He met the prophet Joseph, was enchanted with him, and readily gave his adherence to the new and strange doctrines which the prophet advanced, but whether with an eye single to his eternal salvation or with both eyes open to a lucrative engagement "this deponent saith not."

The story runs that after a long sojourn with the Saints in Nauvoo, during which he played a round of his favorite characters, supported by a full Mormon cast, he bade the prophet and his followers a sorrowful farewell and returned to his accustomed haunts in the vicinity of Liberty Hall.

During his stay in Nauvoo, Mr. Lyne played quite a number of classical plays, including "William Tell," "Virginius," "Damon and Pythias," "The Iron Chest," and "Pizarro." In the latter play, he had no less a personage than Brigham Young in the cast; he was selected to play the part of the Peruvian high priest, and is said to have led the singing in the Temple scene where the Peruvians offer up sacrifice and sing the invocation for Rolla's victory. Brigham Young is said to have taken a genuine interest in the character of the high priest and to have played it with becoming dignity and solemnity. Here was an early and unmistakable proof of Brigham Young's love for the drama.

Mr. Lyne, while relating this Nauvoo incident in his experience to the writer, broke into a humorous vein and remarked:

"I've always regretted having cast Brigham Young for that part of the high priest."

"Why?" I inquired, with some surprise.

With a merry twinkle in his eye and a sly chuckle in his voice, he replied: "Why don't you see John, he's been playing the character with great success ever since."

There are still a few survivors of the old Nauvoo dramatic company, who supported "Tom" Lyne, living in Salt Lake. Bishop Clawson, one of the first managers of the Salt Lake theatre, is among them.

Lyne played a winning hand at Nauvoo. He made a great hit with the prophet, who took such a fancy to him that he wanted to ordain him and send him on a mission, thinking that Lyne's elecutionary powers would make him a great preacher. But "Tom" had not become sufficiently enthused over the prophet's revelations to abjure the profession he so dearly loved, and become a traveling elder going about from place to place without purse or scrip, instead of a popular actor who was in demand at a good sized salary.

Lyne had made his visit remunerative and had enshrined himself in the hearts of the Mormon people, as the sequel will show: but he drifted away from them as unexpectedly as he had come. Having become a convert to the new religion, it was confidently expected that he would remain among the Saints and be one of them; but he drifted away from them and the Mormons saw no more of "Tom" Lyne till he turned up in Salt Lake twenty years later, soon after the opening of the Salt Lake Theatre.

Lyne was the first star to tread its stage and played quite a number of engagements during the years from '62 to '70. He made money enough out of his engagements at the Salt Lake Theatre to live on for the remainder of his days. For the last twenty years of his life, he rarely appeared in public except to give a reading occasionally. With his French wife, Madeline, he settled down and took life easy, living cosily in his own cottage, and in 1891 at the advanced age of eighty-four Thomas A. Lyne passed peacefully away, a firm believer in a life to come but at utter variance with the Mormon creed, which he had discarded soon after his departure from Nauvoo.

CHAPTER II.

    Thus far into the bowels of the land
    Have we marched on without impediment.

—Shakespeare.

When the Mormons came from Nauvoo to Salt Lake they brought with them to this wilderness in the Rocky Mountains, the love of the drama, and as a consequence it was not long, only a few years from 1847 to 1850, before they began to long for something in the way of a theatre.

The pleasant recollections of the drama as interpreted at Nauvoo by Mr. Lyne and his supporting cast, were still fresh in their memories, and almost before many of them had comfortable houses to live in they began to yearn for some dramatic amusement. As a result of this strong inclination for the play and a still more universal desire for dancing, it was but a short time before their wishes materialized.

As early as the fall of 1850 they had formed a club called the Musical and Dramatic Association. The name was a comprehensive one, intentionally so, for the organization included the celebrated "Nauvoo Brass Band," a number of whose members also figured in the dramatic company. Indeed it was from this musical organization that the dramatic company really sprang.

The members of this original dramatic company were John Kay, Hyrum B. Clawson, Philip Margetts, Horace K. Whitney, Robert Campbell, R. T. Burton, George B. Grant, Edmond Ellsworth, Henry Margetts, Edward Martin, William Cutler, William Clayton, Miss Drum, Miss Margaret Judd, and Miss Mary Badlam. Miss Badlam, in addition to playing parts, was very popular as a dancer and gave her dancing specialties between the acts, making something like our up-to-date continuous performance.

The first public dramatic performances were given in the "Bowery" (a very reminiscent name for a New York theatre goer of that day). "The Bowery" in this case was a summer place of worship which stood on the Temple Block near where the big Tabernacle now stands. In this place of worship as early as the year 1850, with the aid of a little home-made scenery and a little crude furniture, were the first plays presented to a Salt Lake audience.

The first bill consisted of the old serio-comic drama, "Robert Macaire, or the Two Murderers," dancing by Miss Badlam, and the farce of the "Dead Shot."

Judging by their titles, these plays were rather a gruesome selection to play in a church. As it is a matter of historic interest the cast so far as procurable is appended of "Robert Macaire:"

    Robert Macaire …………………………… John Kay
    Jacque Stropp ……………………….. H. B. Clawson
    Pierre ……………………………. Philip Margetts
    Waiter ……………………………. Robert Campbell
    Clementina ………………………….. Margaret Judd
    Celeste ………………………………… Miss Orum

Several other plays were given during this first dramatic season and were creditably performed, affording pleasure both to the audiences and actors; the only remuneration the actors received, by the way, for it must be remarked that these first dramatic efforts were entirely voluntary on the part of the company.

The orchestra which played in connection with this first dramatic company deserves to be made a matter of record quite as much as the company itself, for it was also drawn from the ranks of the historic "Nauvoo Brass Band."

William Pitt, the captain of the band, was the leader of the orchestra. He could "play the fiddle like an angel," handling the bow with his left hand at that. The associate players of Captain Pitt were William Clayton, James Smithers, Jacob Hutchinson, David Smith, and George Warde. The Musical and Dramatic Association played in the Bowery occasionally from 1850 to 1852.

The first amusement hall built in Salt Lake, which was used chiefly for dancing, was erected at the Warm Springs in the year 1850. It was a good sized adobe building and served as a social hall until 1852, when the Social Hall proper was completed. It was built at this out of the way place so as to combine the use of the Warm Springs for bathing with the social meetings held there. But it proved to be too difficult to get to, when the nights were dark and the roads were bad, so Brigham Young had the Social Hall built which was quite central and the Warm Springs music hall was converted into a roadside tavern and was run by Jesse C. Little for a time.

The first string band to furnish music for dances played at this hall and was composed of Hopkins C. (familiarly known as "Hop") Fender, Jesse Earl and Jake Hutchinson. These gentlemen deserve to be remembered in the musical history of Salt Lake City as the first to furnish the inspiring strains to which the worthy pioneers danced.

In the fall of 1852, the Musical and Dramatic Association was reorganized and renamed the "Deseret Dramatic Association." In this year the historic Social Hall was erected, and with a view to opening it with becoming brilliancy the original company was greatly added to, for the drama had become a popular amusement with the Saints, and many of the chiefs of the church, including President Young, held honorary membership in the "D. D. A."

The Social Hall, which is still standing and in well preserved condition, is one of the old landmarks that are fast disappearing. It is a comparatively small structure about 40x80 feet. It was considered in its time a fine amusement hall but has long since become dwarfed by the greater buildings which have gone up around it. It has a stage twenty feet deep, two dressing rooms under the stage, an ample basement under the hall for banqueting purposes. This auditorium is about 40x60 feet with a level floor for dancing for the amusement of the play and dancing were fairly and considerately alternated by the managers of the D. D. A.

In the early winter of 1852 this hall was opened with a dance to which the elect were invited, and it was a great crush. The first social gathering in the new hall formed a sort of punctuation mark in the social caste among the Saints.

Of course, the hall being small, the invitations had to be limited and many there were who felt slighted because they were not among the invited. Envy on the one hand and a supercilious superiority on the other gave birth to a feeling of caste which was altogether in bad taste among professing Saints.

The great event of this season in the amusement line was the dramatic opening. Local artists had been employed for some time and had stocked the stage with excellent scenery. Bulwer's classic play "The Lady of Lyons" was selected for the opening bill. The company had been so strengthened that the members could cast any of the great plays. To the original company had been added besides a long list of honorary members, the following named active male members: James Ferguson, Bernard Snow, David Candland (stage manager), John T. Caine, David McKenzie, Joseph Simons and Henry Maiben; to the female contingent had been added Mrs. Cyrus Wheelock, Mrs. Henry Tuckett, Mrs. Joseph Bull, Mrs. John Hyde, Mrs. Sarah Cook. It will be observed that they were all married women. This is a very noticeable feature, as it is so unusual in a dramatic company nowadays, either amateur or professional. The explanation of it, however, is simple enough. At that time there were few if any unmarried women in Utah that had arrived at the marriageable age. The only three women whose names appear in the original company were unmarried, Miss Judd, Miss Orum and Miss Badlam, which seems exceptional and they now seem to have all disappeared, or they are overshadowed by the married women, or perhaps they appear in the reorganized company under a new name with Mrs. attached.

The Social Hall theatrical opening was an event in the history of Utah. It may be truly said that it marked an epoch in the development of civilization in the Rocky Mountain region and the growth of the drama in the far West. Even San Francisco had not up to this time made any such ambitious attempt in the dramatic line.

I have not been able to procure a program of this opening performance but the cast of the principal characters was as follows:

    Claud Melnotte ……………………… James Ferguson
    Monsieur Beauseant ………………….. David Candland
    Monsieur Glavis ……………………… John T. Caine
    Col. Damas …………………… John D. T. McAllister
    Mons. Deschapples ………………… Horace K. Whitney
    Landlord ………………………….. Philip Margetts
    Pauline Deschapples ………………….. Mrs. Wheelock
    Madame Deschapples ………………. Mrs. M. G. Clawson
    Widow Melnotte …………………….. Mrs. Sarah Cook

The play was a pronounced success and the players covered themselves with glory. A number of plays were now put on in rapid succession, for the D. D. A. had caught the true dramatic fire, and the people were hungry for the play. In the great plays, a number of which were essayed, the characters were strongly filled.

Bernard Snow, who had played with the elder Booth in California, which gave him a brief professional experience, was easily in the lead of all the Mormon actors. He played an Othello that would have done credit to Shakespeare anywhere, while Ferguson as Iago was scarcely less convincing. In "Damon and Pythias" also these players shone with more than ordinary brilliancy. Snow's Damon was pronounced a work of art, while Ferguson looked and acted Pythias to the admiration of all who witnessed it. Mrs. Wheelock as Calanthe and Mrs. Tuckett as Hermion made up a quartet of players that would have graced any stage in the country.

"Virginius" was also played here with Snow in the title role, a favorite with him. When Lyne came ten years later and played these same characters in the Salt Lake Theatre, many of the old frequenters of the Social Hall ranked Bernard Snow as Lyne's equal and they had to be brought to play together in the Salt Lake Theatre to gratify the many admirers of both.

"Pizarro" was the play chosen for this event and it served to pack the theatre. Lyne appeared as Pizarro for the occasion although Rolla was his favorite part. This gave Snow the advantage as Rolla is the star part. It proved a great hit both financially and artistically.

The Social Hall orchestra was a feature at all the dramatic performances, and came in for its due share of praise and admiration. It was under the direction of Domenico Ballo, who had formerly been a band master at West Point. He was a fine composer and arranger, and one of the best clarinet players ever heard. Professor Ballo was a graduate of the Conservatory of Music at Milan. He served several years as band master at West Point. He drifted into Utah at an early day and cast his lot with the Mormons. He organized a fine brass band here and built a fine dance hall which was known as "Ballo's Music Hall."

Salt Lake City has from a very early period in its history enjoyed an enviable reputation in a musical way. Its first musical organization as already mentioned was the Nauvoo Brass Band, organized originally in Nauvoo in connection with the Mormon militia known as the "Nauvoo Legion," of which Joseph Smith held the distinguished office of Lieutenant General. The exodus from Nauvoo and the formation soon afterwards of the "Mormon Battalion" demoralized to a great degree both the legion and the band. Both organizations, however, were reconstructed soon after the settlement of Utah, and each played a conspicuous part in its early history.

At the laying of the corner stone of the Salt Lake Temple as early as 1853, the Nauvoo Brass Band and Ballo's Brass Band were consolidated for this occasion and increased to sixty-five players under the leadership of Professor Ballo, who gave the people of Salt Lake a musical treat that would have been a credit to any metropolitan city. Ballo was a thorough and accomplished musician and his masterly work at such an early period had much to do with developing Salt Lake's musical talent.

From 1852 to 1857 the Social Hall continued to be the principal place of amusement for the people of Salt Lake City, as well as those who came in from various parts of the Territory. Those living at a distance and visiting the city either on business or pleasure (which were generally combined) deemed themselves extremely fortunate if there chanced to be a play "on the boards" during their brief sojourn in the city.

The fame of the Social Hall and its talented company of players, dramatic and musical, had spread abroad in the land and many of the smaller towns began to emulate Salt Lake City and organized dramatic clubs.

In the year 1857 amusements as well as business of all kinds received a sudden and severe shock from which it took a year or more to recover. In this year a rupture occurred between the Mormon chiefs and the United States Judges, which resulted in President Buchanan sending Albert Sidney Johnson to Utah with an army to crush the incipient rebellion. The heroes of the Social Hall stage now were cast to play more serious parts. The stage was now to be the tented field, their music, the roll of the drum and the ear-piercing fife.

"Jim" Ferguson, one of the leading actors, was Adjutant General of the "Nauvoo Legion," as the Territorial militia was called, and all the other stage heroes were enrolled under its banners. The "Legion" was sent out into the mountains to check the advance of the invading army. Not only did all amusement and business generally come to a sudden stop, but so serious was the situation that a general exodus of the people to the south was ordered by the church authorities and Salt Lake City was abandoned.

Meeting houses, theatre, stores and nearly all the dwellings in the city were vacated, and the intention was to burn the city rather than this "hell born" army should occupy and pollute it.

No occasion for carrying into effect this insane resolution transpired, for which the people have ever since been thankful. Soon after its adoption a better understanding was reached between the refractory Saints and Uncle Sam's government, and the people gradually came back to their homes in the city, glad indeed that the sacrificial torch had not been applied to them.

"The invading army" had passed peacefully through the city and made its encampment forty miles away. Things began to resume their normal condition, but the winter of 1857-8 was a blank in the Mormon amusement field.

CHAPTER III.

    Now is the winter of our discontent
    Made glorious summer by this son of York,
    And all the clouds that lowered upon our house,
    In the deep bosom of the ocean buried;
    Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,
    Our bruised arms hung up for monuments,
    Our stern alarums are changed to merry-meetings
    And our dreadful marches to delighted measures.

—Richard III.

The Mormon war cloud that lowered so portentously during the winter of 1857-8 had been dispelled without bloodshed, and peace once more brooded over the land. The soldiers of the "Nauvoo Legion" had "hung up their un-bruised arms for monuments" and resumed their old avocations, and the wheels of trade, "the calm health of nations," were once again running in their accustomed grooves.

The people had set to work with redoubled energy to make up for the losses "the war" had entailed upon them, so that they had little time or inclination for amusement. The advent of Johnson's army into Utah, although encamped forty miles from the city, had its effect; it brought in its wake, as an army always does, a lot of camp followers,—hangers-on—a contingent that was thrown largely into Salt Lake, and not a desirable one. This made the Mormon people wary and suspicious, and inclined them more than ever to isolate themselves from strangers.

Notwithstanding this condition of affairs, in the winter of '59 they began to resume their usual amusements, and a number of plays were given that winter in the Social Hall.

By this time the "army" having no active service, began to feel the need of some amusement, and some of the soldiers improvised a theatre in the camp.

Sergt. R. C. White, better known later among Pacific coast theatricals as "Dick" White, was the leading spirit in this affair. White was a scholar as well as a soldier; moreover, he had the poetic and dramatic instinct in him, and in common with all living creatures, he felt that he must exercise his faculties. So in order to give vent to his pent up love of the drama, he organized a dramatic company among the soldiers of Camp Floyd. The Sergeant, or "Dick" as he was called, was not only a clever amateur actor but a poet, and something of an artist as well. By his skill in this latter line he soon had the necessary scenery painted for the Camp theatre. Pigments were scarce in the camp and even in Salt Lake at that time, but White was resourceful, and equal to every emergency, so he made levy on the quartermaster's department for liberal supplies of mustard, red pepper, ox blood, and other strange materials with which to get in his color effects.

The "Camp Floyd Theatre" as it was called, was not a stupendous structure, only large enough to accommodate about two hundred persons, and the stage in proportion to the auditorium. It was built of rough pine boards and canvas—principally canvas—but answered all the requirements of a theatre for the amusement of the camp.

White had but little trouble in organizing his corps dramatique, so far as men were concerned, but the female contingent gave him much concern and considerable trouble to secure. Women in the camp were scarce, and female talent was at a premium. There were a few officers whose wives were with them and some "hired help" of the female persuasion, but none of the women of the camp had any experience in theatricals. Several were willing, and even eager to try; so White made a selection and cast a play and put it in rehearsal, but "woe is me!" the women were all such tyros that he was almost in despair, until he suddenly conceived the project of engaging one of the Social Hall actresses to play the leading female character; if he could do that, then, he reasonably argued that he could get along, but could a Mormon actress be induced to come to Camp Floyd?

Here was a dilemma; but the bold Richard perhaps thought of the lines of his renowned namesake, Richard Plantagenet:

    "Dangers retreat when boldly they're confronted,
    And dull delay leads impotence and fear,"

so he took courage. He opened up a correspondence with Mrs. Tuckett of Social Hall fame. White was an accomplished writer, and poetical, and there is no doubt he could write a winning letter. We have no knowledge of what inducements he offered, so can only surmise that a liberal salary was the temptation held out to her. Suffice it to say that Mrs. Tuckett accepted the offer and joined the Camp Floyd Theatre Company, thus making a noticeable weakening of the Social Hall force, and creating a commotion among her fellow players in Salt Lake, and the people generally, as she went in opposition to the wishes of her husband and friends and the church authorities. It was regarded not only as an unwise step for Mrs. Tuckett to take, but a discreditable one.

It was a reproach to the Saints to have one of their number go and mingle with the ungodly soldiers who had come out here to destroy them. Mrs. Tuckett was looked upon from the moment of her departure as a lost sheep from the fold. These apprehensions were not unfounded, for Mrs. Tuckett, whether wearied of her Mormon environment, or led away by the unusual attentions shown her by the officers and men of the camp (with whom her acting soon made her a great favorite), lost any former love she may have had for Salt Lake, and sundered all social and family ties there.

"Dick" White, poet, actor, artist, achieved another conquest; not only had he succeeded in getting Mrs. Tuckett away from the Social Hall company, but later on he won the affections of the Mormon actress and took her completely away from her family, friends and church. In some way White severed his connection with the army before the breaking out of the Civil War and had gone to California "taking the fair Desdemona with him." He married her and they lived together in Folsom, California; only a few years, however; Mrs. Tuckett-White died there in '63.

Mrs. Tuckett, whose maiden name was Mercy Westwood, was of English birth, came to Utah in the early '50s where she soon afterward married as a polygamous wife. The Westwood family had a strong predilection for the stage; three of her brothers, Richard, Phillip and Joseph Westwood, figured conspicuously a little later on in the Springville Dramatic company. Her desertion from the ranks of the Social Hall company had created a vacancy they found it difficult to fill. She had been playing the leading roles, filling the place of Mrs. Wheelock who also became disaffected and went to California in '57 with a number of others, under protection of Col. Steptoe's command.

What particular reason Mrs. Wheelock had for withdrawing from the Mormon people, we do not know. She settled in Sacramento where after a time she became Mrs. Rattenbury, and has never returned except for a brief visit and this quite recently.

Mrs. Tuckett was the wife of Henry Tuckett who is still living in Salt Lake; and had four children by him at the time she left, and in abandoning husband and children to share the fortunes of the soldier actor Dick White, she subjected herself to a vast amount of severe and apparently just criticism. There is little known of her life after she left Utah even by her relatives; she probably regretted the step she had taken when too late.

The Mormons never forgave White for taking Mrs. Tuckett from them. He visited Salt Lake about four years after the death of his Mormon wife, in the dramatic company of John S. Langrishe, who had Mr. C. W. Couldock with him and was traveling by stage overland to the gold mining towns of Montana; Virginia City of vigilante fame being their objective point.

The Langrishe-Couldock company opened in the Salt Lake Theatre, August the first, 1867, in the "Chimney Corner" with Couldock in his favorite character of Peter Probity. R. C. White was the Solomon Probity of the cast. White was apprehensive of trouble if he should be discovered by the friends of Mrs. Tuckett, who regarded her peculiar "taking off" almost in the sense of an abduction. Conspicuous among Mrs. Tuckett's friends were the managers of the theatre, H. B. Clawson and John T. Caine; so White discreetly kept himself secluded during the day as much as possible, and only put in an appearance at the theatre when it was time to dress for the play.

White was not personally known to the managers, or any of the employees about the theatre. He had been little in Salt Lake during the army's occupation of Camp Floyd and consequently was scarcely known. Trusting to these circumstances he hoped to escape recognition, and avoid the storm of abuse he felt sure would be showered on his guilty head; but unfortunately his name was on the program and although a common name and one that might easily escape especial notice, White was by no means a common man and his performance of Solomon attracted special attention to him.

Some man in the audience who had met him at Camp Floyd recognized him, and quietly informed the managers who he was. The whisper spread about with amazing rapidity and he began to be pointed out as the "reprobate and unscrupulous scoundrel" who had enticed Mrs. Tuckett away from home and friends and people.

To make sure that this was the veritable White, the manager made some inquiries regarding him of Jack Langrishe, his manager. This was sufficient to arouse the curiosity of the company with regard to White's previous experience in Utah. White did not make a second appearance at the theatre. He had caught something of the buzz that was in the air about him, and quietly dropped out of the Langrishe company for the remainder of its Salt Lake engagement.

The Langrishes remained two weeks and then moved on to Montana. White had not been entirely idle in the interim. He had made the acquaintance of a second Salt Lake woman, whom he prevailed upon to join him soon after his departure, and they were married shortly after; the woman casting in her fortune with the Langrishe troupe and doing such parts as they thought fit to cast her in.

Mr. and Mrs. White eventually drifted into Portland, Oregon, and made that their home for many years. It was there the writer made their acquaintance some fifteen years later when he went to play leads for John Maguire at the New Market Theatre. They appeared to be living harmoniously and had four lovely children, two boys and two girls, the eldest about twelve years of age and a promising young actress. White was then the editor of the "Bee," an afternoon paper, and played on occasions in Maguire's Stock company.

Some years later White with his family removed to San Francisco, where he became the stage manager of the Tivoli. It was during his incumbency of this position that he made the first dramatization of Rider Haggard's "She," and gave it its first production on the stage, which proved to be a great success and started numerous other companies to play it.

White has now "fallen into the sere and yellow leaf" and for the last dozen years has been affectionately called by the profession "Daddy White."

CHAPTER IV.

Notwithstanding that during the winter of 1859-60 a number of dramatic performances were given in the Social Hall, they were nearly, if not all, revivals of plays that had been performed there previous seasons. Interest had declined from some cause or other. It was probably attributable in some measure to the departure of first Mrs. Wheelock and then of Mrs. Tuckett, the two leading actresses of the company; and then Jim Ferguson, one of the leading actors, was now engrossed in the publication of The Mountaineer, a weekly paper he had started in connection with Seth M. Blair and Hosea Stout, and for which he wrote most of the editorials, so that he had little if any time to devote to the playhouse. Bernard Snow, too, was absent from the company that winter and as a consequence plays of a lighter character were selected that did not require Snow and Ferguson.

"The Golder Farmer," "Luke the Laborer," "Still Waters Run Deep," "All That Glitters Is Not Gold," were the principal plays given. During the following winter, 1860-61, there was nothing doing in the dramatic line in the Social Hall. One reason for this was that a new company had arisen, which, if not exactly a rival, was a strong competitor for public favor. Some of its principal members belonged to the Deseret Dramatic Association, and had been conspicuous in the ranks of its performers.

The new company was called the Mechanics' Dramatic Association, and was headed by the favorite Social Hall comedian, Phil Margetts, who was president and manager of the new organization. The members of this new company were Phil Margetts, Harry Bowring, Henry McEwan, James A. Thompson, Joe Barker, John B. Kelly, John Chambers, Joseph Bull, Pat Lynch, William Wright, Bill Poulter, William Price, Mrs. Marion Bowring, Mrs. Bull, Mrs. McEwan, Elizabeth Tullidge and Ellen Bowring. Harry Bowring had in course of construction a new dwelling house; it was covered and the floors laid, but no finishing or plastering had been done, no partition walls had been put in, so that the entire lower story was one room, not more than 18x40 feet in dimensions, about one-third the size of the Social Hall. The stage occupied about one-third of the same, leaving an audience chamber of about 18x25 feet, not large enough, as it proved, to accommodate the numbers that were anxious to witness the new performances. For dressing rooms, they had the house at the back, in which Mr. Bowring and family resided, and which communicated with the stage by a doorway in the new structure. The scenery and drop curtain, which was necessarily of small dimensions, was painted by the sterling and versatile artist, William P. Morris. The auditorium was seated a la circus, with board seats rising one above the other, with a row of chairs in front for the distinguished guests and patrons.

Such was "Bowring's Theatre," as it was called. Whether the managers christened it that, or the name was given it by the patrons and guests, we do not pretend to know, nor does it matter; but this fact may be mentioned in relation to it, that it was first place in Salt Lake City to be called a theatre.

The Bowery being a place of worship (although the name was strongly suggestive of the New York Bowery theatre), could not consistently be called a theatre and the Social Hall embracing all the social features—plays, dances and banquets—never came to be called a theatre, Social Hall fully covering its functions, so that the Bowring was really the first place to be known distinctively as a theatre. Although the theatre was so very small the company did not appear to be circumscribed in their histrionic efforts by any mere limitations of space or stage appurtenances, as the following list of plays will show:

"The Honeymoon," "The Gamester," "Luke the Laborer," and "Othello," and the farces of "Betsy Baker" and "Mr. and Mrs. Peter White."

In the dramas, Mr. Margetts, who was recognized as the comedian par excellence, chose to assume the tragic mask and appeared in the leading roles, leaving the principal comic parts to his friend and colleague Harry Bowring. It was somewhat of a surprise to "Phil's" friends and admirers who knew his qualifications for comedy, to see him in these tragic characters, but he is said to have given everybody a pleasant surprise in them and Harry Bowring carried the comedy roles so successfully as to divide the honors with "Phil." Mrs. Bowring, who played the "lady leads," also distinguished herself to such a degree that she took a prominent place in the Salt Lake Theatre soon after its opening.

It was during the performance of "Betsy Baker" in this place that "Jimmy" Thompson, who was playing the part of Mr. Crommie, won such distinction in that character that the name of "Crommie" has attached to him among his acquaintances ever since. Harry McEwan, Joe Barker, Billie Wright, Bill Poulter and dear old John Kelly and Mrs. Bull and Mrs. McEwan all achieved some celebrity in connection with the little playhouse—"Bowring's Theatre."

Manager Margetts waited one day on President Brigham Young and invited him, with his family, to see their play. The President of course had heard of the new theatre, (what was there he didn't hear of?) but affected some surprise that Phil and his associates should have started what might be considered a rival to the D. D. A.

"When do you play?" inquired the President.

"We have a play tonight," answered Phil; "'Luke the Laborer,' but we could not accommodate your family tonight, President Young, as the seats are mostly engaged, but we would be pleased to reserve the house for yourself and family for our next play, 'The Honeymoon,' which will be on Friday night."

"Well," says Brigham, "I would like to see the play tonight. Why can't Heber (meaning Heber C. Kimball, his chief counsellor, who was sitting within hearing) and I come tonight, and the family can come the next night?"

The President thought to catch them in a state of unpreparedness by going sooner than was arranged for him, but Phil readily acquiesced in the President's wish, and he and Brother Kimball "took in the show" that night. They both expressed their pleasure and spoke words of encouragement to the performers.

On the following day Manager Margetts sent ninety tickets, the entire seating capacity of the theatre, to President Young for himself and family. The tiny theatre was packed to see "The Honeymoon." The Young family certainly was in evidence on that occasion, but there was quite a sprinkling of "Heber's" folks and other friends to whom the President had given tickets from his wholesale reserve.

"The Honeymoon" was a pronounced success. After the play Phil appeared before the curtain and in a happy way thanked the President and those of his family and friends present for honoring the company, and expressed regret that they had not a more commodious and comfortable theatre in which to entertain their friends.

Brigham, evidently pleased, made a return speech from his place in the audience and complimented the company. He encouraged them to go ahead and told them he intended before long to build a good big theatre, where they could have ample room to develop their dramatic art, observing in his characteristic way, that the people must have amusement.

It will thus be seen that these performances led indirectly to the building of the Salt Lake Theatre, for immediately after this the President instructed Hyrum Clawson to reorganize the Deseret Dramatic Association and to unite it with the Bowring Theatre Company, for he was going to build a big theatre. The idea had evidently entered his mind to stay.

"Brother Brigham," as he was popularly and lovingly called, was quick to comprehend the financial results of a great theatre in a community whose members were all lovers of the drama, and two large dramatic associations, bursting with ambition and only too anxious for a good place and opportunity to air their talents. So he gave it out in meeting one Sunday, much to the gratification of his congregation, that he was going to build a big "fun hall," or theatre, where the people could go and forget their troubles occasionally, in a good, hearty laugh.

"We have a large fund on hand," said he, "for the erection of a Seventy's hall, but not enough to build such a hall as I want for the Seventies; so we will use that fund to help build the theatre, and when we get the theatre running we can pay back the Seventy's hall fund with good interest, and in that way the Seventy's will get their hall sooner than if they started to build it now."

The Seventy's hall has never been built!

The big theatre was planned and erected. William H. Folsom was the architect and personally superintended the construction of the building. This same gentleman, also, designed and built the big turtle-shaped Tabernacle, proving that he was a constructive genius.

On March the sixth, 1862, the Salt Lake Theatre, although far from being finished, was so far completed as to be used, and on this date it was opened with such ceremonies as would not only be deemed unique in any other community, but would be set down as sacriligious by pious people of other faiths.

On this occasion the theatre was filled to its utmost capacity by invitation. No admission fee was charged, the invitations being extended by President Young to the church authorities, state, county and municipal officers, the workmen who had erected the building, some two hundred with their families. Some even who held invitations could not get in; it resembled a huge revival meeting.

The President and his counsellors, a number of the apostles and other church dignitaries sat on the stage in front of the green baize drop curtain. The parquette was filled with the officials, church and secular, and the dramatic company and members of their families. The circles were filled principally by the men who had worked on the building and their families. There was a feeling of greatest expectancy pervading the large audience. The people were there to witness not a play on this occasion, but something deemed of still more importance, the dedication of the new theatre.

The Mormons dedicate all of their public buildings, whether temples, tabernacles, stake houses, ward houses, school houses, theatres, dance halls, or co-operative stores to the service for which they were erected.

The ceremony is much like one of their religious meetings with the addition of the dedicatory prayer.

On this occasion President Brigham Young occupied the center of the stage. There was a program of vocal and instrumental music, a special choir gotten together for the occasion, and the theatre orchestra, led by Professor "Charlie" Thomas, furnished the music.

President Young called the large audience to order and the choir sang. Then Daniel H. Wells, or "Squire" Wells as he was popularly called, offered up the dedicatory prayer. "Squire" Wells no doubt made a good city mayor and an efficient general of the Nauvoo Legion, but the worthy "Squire" was not an orator, moreover, he had his piece written for this occasion and read it; his peculiar mode of delivery was tiresome even when at his best, when he had his choice of subject and all the latitude he could desire; but it was especially so on this occasion, when he was circumscribed to a most monotonous enumeration of everything that entered into the construction of the huge building. Beginning with the ground on which it stood and going in systematic order up through it foundation, walls, floors, doors, windows, to the roof, particularizing even the timbers, nails and bolts, the laths and plaster, the glass and putty, no detail he could think of was omitted. Each and all were especially dedicated to their particular purpose and use, and the blessing of the Almighty invoked to be and continue with each of these materials, and with the structure as a whole. Even to those who believed in dedications, who were the great majority of those present, the dedicatory prayer was just a little wearisome and the audience experienced a feeling of relief when it was over and William C. Dunbar stepped to the front and assisted by the choir and orchestra, sang "The Star Spangled Banner."

Brigham Young then made an address on the mission of the drama and his object in building the theatre, which avowedly was to furnish innocent and instructive amusement to the Saints. He inveighed somewhat extravagantly against tragedy and declared he wouldn't have any tragedies or blood-curdling dramas played in this theatre. This people had seen tragedy enough in real life and there was no telling the far-reaching and evil effects tragedies on the stage might have. He strongly opposed, too, the idea of having any Gentile actors play in this theatre. We had plenty of home talent and did not need them.

President Heber C. Kimball followed in a brief address, strongly supportive of what President Young had said.

Apostle John Taylor then gave a short address; then came selections by the orchestra, and more singing by the choir, and Mr. Dunbar sang another song written by Apostle Taylor for the occasion and set to music by Professor Thomas.

For the grand finale an anthem written for the occasion by Eliza R. Snow and set to music also by Professor Thomas was sung by the choir, accompanied by the orchestra and and brass band consolidated for the occasion. The solo parts of the anthem were sung respectively by Mr. Dunbar and Mrs. Agnes Lynch.

The musical program ended, an announcement was made that the theatre would be formally opened on Saturday evening, March the eighth, when the plays of "The Pride of the Market" and "State Secrets" would be presented. The people anxiously awaited the opening night. The performance was advertised to begin at 7 o'clock. At 5 o'clock hundreds were at the doors waiting to get in and before the time of the beginning every available spot of both seating and standing room was taken. The prices of admission were 75c for parquette and first circles; upper galleries 50c.

The plays, both drama and farce, were capitally acted. Dunbar's song between the plays, "Bobbin' Around," made an immense hit. The merging of the M. D. A. into the D. D. A. made up a strong company. The roster of the Deseret Dramatic company as it stood at this opening performance and the cast of the initial plays cannot fail to be of interest after a lapse of more than forty-two years and so many of the original players have passed away.

The members were: Hyrum B. Clawson, John T. Caine, Managers and both
players; Philip Margetts, David McKenzie, William C. Dimbar, John R.
Clawson, Henry Maiben, Jos. Simmons, Horace K. Whitney, Henry E.
Bowring, R. H. Parker, George M. Ottinger, C. R. Savage, George
Teasdale, Henry McEwan, John Kelly, Richard Mathews, John D. T.
McAllister, Sam Sirrine, Henry Snell, Mrs. Marian Bowring, Mrs. S. A.
Cook, Mrs. Woodmansee, Mrs. Margaret Clawson, Mrs. Alice Clawson, Miss
Maggie Thomas, and Miss Sarah Alexander. Of the above-named the
following have passed away: John R. Clawson, Henry Maiben, Jos.
Simmons, H. K. Whitney, Henry McEwan, John B. Kelly, Richard Mathews,
Henry Snell, Mrs. Bowring, Mrs. Alice Clawson, and Mrs. Cook. Bernard
Snow and James Ferguson of Social Hall fame were on the roster, but
not active members; they too are gone.

The following is the opening bill:

SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1862.

A Beautiful Comedy in Three Acts,

THE PRIDE OF THE MARKET.

Cast of Characters.

    Marquis de Volange …………………… John T. Caine
    Baron Troptora ……………………….. Henry Maiben
    Chevalier De Bellerive ………………… Jos. Simmons
    Ravannes …………………………….. R. H. Parker
    Dubois …………………………….. David McKenzie
    Isadore Farine ………………………. H. B. Clawson
    Preval ……………………………… S. D. Sirrine
    Servants ………………… R. Mathews and Henry Snell
    Waiter ……………………………… John B. Kelly
    Mille De Volange …………………… Mrs. Woodmansee
    Norton (pride of the market) ……… Mrs. M. G. Clawson
    Comic Song, "Bobbing Around" …………… W. C. Dunbar

To Conclude With the Laughable Farce

STATE SECRETS.

Cast of Characters.

    Gregory Thimblewell (the tailor of Tamworth) .. H. E. Bowring
    Robert (his son) …………………………. R. H. Parker
    Master Hugh Neville ……………………… S. D. Sirrine
    Calverton Hal …………………………….. W. H. Miles
    Humphrey Hedgehog ……………………….. Phil Margetts
    Maud Thimblewell (tailor's wife) …………… Mrs. Bowring
    Letty Hedgehog (with song) …………… Miss Maggie Thomas

Such was the superb comedy bill with which the Salt Lake Theatre was auspiciously and successfully launched into the great dramatic sea on which she has made such a long and splendid voyage.

The company played a few other plays between the opening date and the 15th of April, catching conference, which closed the first season of about six weeks' duration. They gave fifteen performances in this time. The company during this first short season scarcely found its bearings, much of the best talent was in the background and it took time and opportunity to discover it and place it to the best advantage.

During the first season of the Theatre, Miss Sarah Alexander, in addition to playing many of the soubrette roles, was the premiere danseuse of the company, and gave exhibitions of her skill in the terpsichorean art between the plays almost nightly; she was eventually superseded, however, by Miss "Totty" Clive (a daughter of Mr. Claud Clive, the costumer), who became so proficient in the art of dancing that before she was 15 years of age she was an established favorite with the public, and a feature of the theatrical entertainments.

CHAPTER V.

The isolation policy peculiar to the Mormons at this period, found expression in a discouragement of all Gentiles (as all non-Mormons were called) and Gentile enterprises in Utah. This feeling also found expression to some extent, for a short time in the sphere of the theatre, and it was boldly announced by some who were close in the councils of the Mormon chief, that he would have no Gentile actors in his theatre. A policy which was much more strongly emphasized at the time, however, was as to the character of the plays that should be presented. President Young set his foot down very firmly against the presentation of any tragedies, or plays of tragic character. The people he said had seen and felt too much of the tragic side of life; he wanted them to be amused, and not have their feelings harrowed up by tragic representations. This policy obtained for a short time only; gradually the general growing desire for the higher class of plays had to be taken into consideration by the managers, Clawson and Caine, who were running the house in the interest of the box office, chiefly, and this initial policy of the founder of the theatre was gradually abandoned, as well as the isolation policy which was to debar Gentile actors from the stage of the Mormon Theatre.

During the summer of '62 the theatre was rushed to completion. On December 24, '62, the completed theatre was again formally dedicated and the following night, Christmas, the Stock Company opened up for a regular winter season in the "Honeymoon" under the direction and tutorship of our old Nauvoo favorite, Tom Lyne, who had learned of the opening of Brigham Young's new theatre, and saw a chance to renew his acquaintance with his old friends, and do a little business with them in their new temple of the drama.

After a lapse of nearly twenty years, during which his old friends and admirers had completely lost sight of him, he suddenly "bobs up serenely" at Denver where he had been playing an engagement with J. S. Langrishe; from here he corresponded with Manager Clawson with the result that he was engaged to come to the Salt Lake Theatre as a tutor to the company. He was received with great kindness by the company and managers, and especially by Brigham Young, who treated him with marked consideration. He coached the company and directed several plays for them, but that was an irksome task for Lyne; he wanted to face the public himself. He saw a great opportunity and did not rest content until he had secured a starring engagement with the managers.

Accordingly it was not long before the veteran tragedian (Lyne was now fifty-six) was announced to appear in a round of favorite characters supported by the Theatre Stock Company. He opened on January 14th in "Damon" to a packed house and played in quick succession the characters of "Richelieu," "Othello," "Richard," "William Tell," "Sir Giles Overreach," and Rolla in "Pizarro." In the latter play he could not expect to have any of the old Nauvoo cast, especially Brigham Young for the "High Priest," as he was now reigning as High Priest in reality; but he found a very capable successor in the person of George Teasdale, who since his experience in this part found promotion in the priestly line until he became one of the chief high priests of the church and a member of the Twelve. There is certainly some charm in that character of the "High Priest" in "Pizarro."

Lyne's engagement was the first one made with any outside actor and broke almost in the very start the President's avowed policy of having no Gentile actors in his theatre. It was a comparatively easy step, however, as Mr. Lyne was regarded as almost, and likely to be altogether, one of us again, which idea, however, proved quite erroneous for Tom Lyne, after playing several profitable engagements during his first years in Salt Lake, where he settled down to end his days, became unnecessarily cynical and bitter against the dominant party; and especially against the proprietor and managers of the Salt Lake Theatre, when they decided that they had played him all that was profitable. Lyne's first engagement had "let down the bars," broken the isolation policy to such an extent that other Gentile actors soon followed. The truth is that the managers discovered even at that early period in Salt Lake's theatrical experience that the local Stock Company could not hold up the interest unaided and alone, especially after the Lyne engagement had shown the public the difference between a past master in the art (as Lyne was), and a company of comparative novices however talented they might be. Another line of policy which had been laid down by the chief of the new amusement bureau (that he would not have any tragedies nor murder plays performed in the new theatre) was sadly tangled and demoralized, during the very first engagement of an outside actor. "Virginius" was a favorite part of Mr. Lyne's and it went on, notwithstanding some discussion and protest, with Mrs. Alice Clawson (Brigham's prettiest daughter) as Virginia. When Virginius thrust the death dealing butcher knife which he purloins from the neighboring butcher stall into the trusting bosom of the fair Virginia, exclaiming "It is to save thine honor," the Rubicon was crossed the leap was taken, and the second cherished whim of the chief promoter of amusements for the Saints was shattered; it fell a sacrifice to a worldly "box office" policy; and significant to relate, his favorite daughter Alice was made the principal accessory to this disregard of his desires and counsel.

The step once taken could not be retraced. Mr. Lyne's "Virginius" like his "Damon" and "Richelieu" proved very popular, and justified several repetitions. It was found that tragedy had its votaries quite as numerous as those of the Comic Muse; and there were no more protests either against the Gentile actors or the tragic plays, for the varied tastes of theatre patrons had to be considered and from this time on "box office" considerations wholly dictated the managerial policy of the Salt Lake Theatre.

During the early days of the Salt Lake Theatre, that is to say, the first short season of 1862 and part of the season of '62-3, the company was somewhat handicapped by the lack of a competent "leading lady." Mrs. Wheelock and Mrs. Tuckett, the two leading actresses of the Social Hall days, had both left the Territory for California, and this left the D. D. A. weak in this respect. The comedy roles were well represented in the persons of Mrs. Margaret Clawson, Miss Sarah Alexander, Miss Maggie Thomas, and the character parts and old women by Mrs. Sarah Cook. Mrs. Marian Bowring was good in heavies, while pretty Alice Clawson could make good in a walking lady or light juvenile but they were short a "leading" woman. In the classic plays which Lyne put on: "Virginius," "Damon and Pythias," "Richelieu," etc., (Mrs. Alice Clawson was cast for the leading juvenile roles; she filled all the requirements so far as looks were concerned, but was not at all convincing where any impassioned acting was required) the popular verdict was "She's pretty, but can't act." Soon the managers discovered a very talented and promising actress to fill the place, in one Mrs. Lydia Gibson. Lydia was the young and pretty wife of Elder William Gibson, who had recently converted Lydia to the Mormon faith in the old country and brought her to Salt Lake and prevailed on her to become Mrs. Gibson number two. She was a very lovely woman and when she made her advent into the dramatic company soon became a general favorite both with the company and the public, and more than one fellow experienced a pang of envy when he learned she was the wife of Elder Gibson, a man old enough to be her father. Mrs. Gibson remained in the company only two seasons, long enough to establish herself thoroughly in the affections of everybody, when she sickened and shortly after died. She was buried in Brigham Young's private burying ground near where the prophet himself is buried. The entire dramatic company and many of the community followed her to her last resting place with every evidence of genuine sorrow. Her dramatic career was brief but brilliant.

There had been some trouble on the male side of the cast also. On Lyne's first appearance the part of "Pythias" was cast to the old Social Hall favorite "Jim" Ferguson he had played the part with Snow in the Social Hall and was "accounted a good actor;" but on this particular occasion, one of no small importance, being his first appearance at the Salt Lake Theatre as well as the first appearance of Mr. Lyne, Mr. Ferguson did not win fresh laurels. No doubt the fact of appearing alongside of a veteran like Lyne, made "Jim" more or less nervous. Somehow he did not "screw his courage to the sticking place," whether from nervousness or other causes, and failed to give a satisfactory performance of the part; he was over-excited, and the Calanthe complained that he was too realistic. He terrified the soldiers of Dionysius to such a degree that they wanted to desert, and Mr. Lyne declared he was the most vigorous Pythias who had ever played with him, but he could not rely on him; his stage business was so eccentric and uncertain. "Jim" thought he was making a great hit, but the managers decided to make a change. At the following performance the character was essayed by Mr. John R. Clawson, who if not so brilliant as Ferguson, proved to be less erratic and more steady and reliable.

Ferguson never again appeared on the stage but devoted his brilliant talents to his paper, The Mountaineer, and the practice of the law. John T. Caine was now nominally the leading man of the theatre. He had played with stately dignity the parts of "Dionysius" in "Damon and Pythias" and "Pizarro" to Lyne's "Rolla," and before the season was over a number of leading characters in plays such as "Eustace Baudin," "Senor Valiente," "Serious Family," "All That Glitters," etc.

Each of Lyne's characters was played twice or three times, and went far toward filling up the season as the company played but two nights in the week. The Stock Company filled out the season of '62-63 which closed after the April conference, '63. Soon after the opening season of '63 and '64, the Irwins were engaged, and opening on November 4th played the entire season till April 10th, 1864.

When the Irwin engagement began, November 4th, 1863, this put Mr. Selden Irwin in all the leading parts. Early during this engagement Mr. David McKenzie, who had already scored a success in "old man" parts, came strongly to the front in the play of "Evadne" in which he was cast for the part of "Colonno," a character of the "Hotspur" type. He made a distinct and pronounced hit in this character, fairly dividing honors with Irwin, who played "Ludovico," a character of the "Iago" type, and second only to that "great villain," perhaps, in the whole range of the drama. This performance brought McKenzie conspicuously to the front so that he was promoted to the leading position and held it with public approval for a number of years.

A year or so ago a "write up" article in "Munsey" claimed for George B. Waldron the distinction of being the first Gentile actor to play in the Mormon theatre. How far astray from the historical record the writer was can be gleaned from the foregoing facts, and those which are to follow.

Mr. Lyne's first engagement lasted into March, close up to the April Conference, when a season of stock work was resumed with some special attraction in the way of spectacular effects for the conference season. It was the custom during the first regular season to play but two nights a week Tuesdays and Saturdays the other evenings of the week being devoted to the necessary rehearsals, as it was impracticable to get the company together in the daytime for that purpose, as they all had other occupations which demanded their attention. Each play was given twice, this was the rule; it was the exception when a piece ran three nights in succession. It was the custom to put up a new bill each week, so this gave the company about a week to get up in a new play and a new farce; with their daily occupations to attend to as well. Actors today would consider it a task to get up in a new play and a farce each week with nothing else to attend to. It will readily be understood from this statement that the original stock company of the Salt Lake Theatre had no sinecure, or "soft snap," to phrase it in the present vernacular, especially when it is made known that during all this season there was no such thing as salary attached to their positions. They were all working for honor and glory, and to help Brother Brigham pay for the theatre; but there was no grumbling; all went merry as a peal of wedding bells for "the labor we delight in physics pain," and the first regular season of the Salt Lake Theatre closed after the April Conference, 1863, with a good financial showing, much of the indebtedness on the building have been wiped out, and everything in good shape for the ensuing season.

This first long season's work had to a great extent disclosed the respective merits of the various members of the company, so that a number of changes were wrought out, some members gaining promotions in accordance with public voice and approbation.

During the summer of 1863, the interior decorations of the theatre were completed and preparations were made for opening the season of '63 and '64 a little in advance of the October Conference, which always brings the people in even from the remotest settlements, and consequently makes a great harvest for the theatre. The stock company opened up the season without any assistance from the "Gentile" dramatic world no second star had as yet appeared on our dramatic horizon. Some additional interest, however, was lent to the stock company by the accession to its ranks of two new members, who had been selected from an amateur club called the "Thespians," whose performances, given in a little crib, popularly known as "Cromie's Show," so designated because the manager, "Jimmy" Thompson, had acquired the nickname of "Cromie" from an excellent performance he gave of that character in the farce of Betsy Baker.

The new accessions were John S. Lindsay and James M. Hardie, whom the theatre managers had picked from the ranks of the young "Thespians" as being of promise and worthy a place in the big theatre. The company presented a number of comedy dramas; did the usual S. R. O. business during the October Conference and played well on into the month of November, when "The Irwins" were engaged as stock stars for the remainder of the season. This engagement proved to be a wise move on the part of the management, for the strain on the stock company was becoming apparent, and it is questionable whether they could have held the public interest with them throughout the season; so the Irwins were welcomed by both the company and the patrons of the theatre. Selden Irwin (or as he was familiarly called "Sel") was at this time in the very flush of manhood, full of life and ambition, with a plethora of good looks and activity. He was essentially a dashing actor, and pleased the public immensely. Mrs. Irwin was even more of a favorite than "Sel." If not great, she was very versatile, and they gave Salt Lakers a series of plays of very great variety, embracing classic tragedy, comedy and farce. Everything from "Camille" and the "Lady of Lyons" to "That Rascal Pat" and "In and Out of Place." With Mr. and Mrs. Irwin was Harry Rainforth, a boy of sixteen years, a son of Mrs. Irwin by a former marriage, who in after years became a well-known manager, being a partner with Bob Miles in the Grand Opera House at Cincinnati. Harry was quite an actor as a boy, and helped out the cast on several occasions; his most conspicuous effort, however, was Lord Dundreary in "Our American Cousin," which was put up to give "Sel" a chance at "Asa Trenchard." It is not of record that Harry ever became a formidable rival of Sothern's in this part, but on this occasion he filled the role very acceptably.

The Irwins remained as stock stars to the end of the season, which came to a close after the April Conference, 1864. They were well liked by the Utahns, and came back for a short starring engagement the season of '66, after making a tour of Idaho and Montana with a small road company. The Irwin engagement inaugurated the three night performances a week and Saturday matinees. This increased the work of the company to such an extent that they had to neglect to a greater or less degree their regular business, that on which they depended for their living, for it must be understood that there was no compensation attached, beyond the honor of acting in the Salt Lake Theatre. So there began to be some dissatisfaction with this part of the business, and complaints from some that they were neglecting their business for the theatre and ought to be made good, so it was arranged near the end of the season to give two benefit performances one for the gentlemen and the other for the ladies of the company, and then divide the results pro rata among the members of the company. This scheme was carried out and served to conciliate the players and smooth the way to another season's work for the managers.

The writer at this time was probably the youngest member of the company and had attained but little prominence, hence his "divvy" was a very modest one, yet quite acceptable, as it was unexpected. The following autograph letter of Brigham Young's will show the method adopted by the management to carry on the business and make the company contribute liberally to the building of the theatre:

SALT LAKE CITY, April 15th, 1864.

Mr. John S. Lindsay.

DEAR BROTHER:—Inclosed please find Twenty Dollars, being amount assigned you out of the proceeds of the Benefit recently given at the theatre.

    Appreciating your faithful services, and the alacrity with which
    you have contributed to our amusement during the past season, I
    pray God to bless you, and increase your ability to do good.

    Your brother in the Gospel,
                               BRIGHAM YOUNG.

This plan served to keep the company in a contented mood, and was repeated at the close of the following season with like result.

The writer had made some progress in the company, and at the next benefit got seventy-five dollars for his pro rata; this was less than a dollar a performance during the season of seven months, but then we were doing good missionary work, in the way of amusing the people, and this company were engaged in a labor they delighted in; while they were assisting in a great measure to pay for the great Thespian temple in which they were performing, they were enjoying the labor immensely and gave the same enthusiastic efforts to it they would have done to a mission, had they been called to go and preach the gospel. Moreover, they were gaining an experience in art that would have been perhaps impossible for them, had not this splendid theatre been erected in the home of the Saints. Brigham Young's comprehensive mind had grasped the advantage to his people of blending art with religion, and relieving the monotony of arduous pioneer toil with innocent and refreshing amusements.

CHAPTER VI.

SEASON OF '64-'65.

A Metropolitan Theatre in the Wilderness.

The Salt Lake Theatre was a source of wonder and admiration to all strangers visiting it. Considering the time and the place of its erection, the isolated condition of the people, the meagre facilities within reach for so big a project, the quadrupled cost of everything that had to be imported, such as glass, nails, paints, cloth for scenery and everything in the shape of decorations, it was then, and remains today, a monument to the liberality, foresight and enterprise of Brigham Young. Since its erection, forty-three years ago, theatrical architecture has been vastly improved, and in many respects the Salt Lake Theatre is old-fashioned, but few theatres in the country, with all the improvements which have been introduced, surpass it in point of comfort and convenience, especially behind the curtain. When it is considered that not only the architectural designs, the mechanical construction, but all the interior decorations and the scene-painting was done by local talent, it speaks highly for the artistic and mechanical skill that was centered in Salt Lake even at that early period of its history. William H. Folsom was the architect and personally superintended its construction. He was also the architect of the big Tabernacle with its turtle-shaped roof spanning a stretch of 150 feet without a supporting column. The first installment of scenery was painted by W. V. Morris and George M. Ottinger, both clever artists, and with their assistants they gave the theatre stage a very nice investiture in the way of scenery. As the seasons rolled around the stock of scenery was continuously growing, for every new play had to have something done for it in the way of scenery, so that the painters were always working, and as a consequence the Salt Lake Theatre has probably a larger stock of scenery than any theatre in the country. The same may be said in regard to the stage properties. "Charley" Millard was the property man, and Charley could manufacture anything in the shape of a "prop" from a throne chair to a cuspidor, from a papier mache cannon to a firecracker, from a basket horse to a baby; so that in the course of a dozen years the property room became a veritable museum, an "old curiosity shop" well worth an hour of anybody's time to examine.

There was a wardrobe department, which was equal in importance if not superior to the scenic arid property departments. This was presided over by Mr. Claud Clive, an expert tailor, who with his assistants, manufactured all the costumes for the male characters of the plays, while the female costume department was presided over by Mrs. Marion Bowring. Mr. Robert Neslen had general charge of the costume and wig department, and dispensed the necessary apparel and wigs to the company. There was also a tonsorial artist connected with the house, who was always there to curl a wig or put it on in good shape for the actors who needed such assistance. John Squires was the tonsorial artist—he was a busy man in those days. He had his shop in a little adobe house that stood directly opposite the "President's Office" on the lot where the Amelia Palace was afterwards erected. John was the President's barber, and had a large run of custom from the church and tithing offices, besides nearly all the actors patronized him, so that he was a prosperous man in the community. He continued to shave his share of the people up to within a recent date, when he was obliged to retire; "age with his stealing steps had clawed him in his clutch," so this knight of the razor was reluctantly compelled to lay down the implements of tonsorial art, the strong steady hand that once could clean a man's cheek in about three strokes had grown weak and tremulous, and but recently he passed peacefully away to that better land where it is to be hoped there is no shaving or need of hair-dye. His place is amply filled, however, for John has a numerous progeny—and all his sons and grandsons, so far as we know them, are barbers. Here we find a true touch of heredity.

After such a brilliant and successful season as the Irwins had just concluded, it seemed like a daring venture to open up the ensuing season with the stock company unassisted by the strength of a star; but notwithstanding this seeming riskiness, the managers did not wait for the ensuing season, but bravely ushered in a supplemental season on May 14th. Only five weeks after the Irwins had closed their long and brilliant run, the stock were hard at it again, notwithstanding the summer days were come; they kept going till the 18th of June, when the "veteran tragedian" (Lyne, at the time 58 years of age) was engaged to reinforce the stock, and add to the box office receipts. He opened this, his second star engagement, on June 25th and played up to July 16th. He repeated all his former triumphs and achieved some new ones, notably in "Sir Giles Overreach" in "A New Way to Pay Old Debts."

In the meantime a new star had appeared in our dramatic horizon; by the time Lyne had closed his engagement, it was in our ascendant, astrologically speaking, and by the time it had reached our zenith, or midheaven, it had shed another halo over the Salt Lake Theatre and the drama in Utah. This bright particular star was George Pauncefort. "He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one," an actor of rare and varied accomplishments, and proved to be an invaluable instructor and model for the company. Under his leadership a great progress was made. Pauncefort was an English actor, who had acquired considerable celebrity on the London stage. He was a married actor, and his wife and several daughters, at the time of which I am writing, were quite popular on the stage, and their names appeared frequently in the London casts. Pauncefort came to the United States as early as 1858. He was the original "Armand Duval" in "Camille," when Matilda Heron first produced that play in New York. After his New York engagement, Pauncefort drifted West, and in 1864 came to Salt Lake for a brief engagement of a week or two. He had just concluded a stellar engagement with Jack Langrishe at Denver. Denver at that time was not so large as Salt Lake City, nor could it boast anything like so good a theatre. The great overland road had not been projected at this time, and people crossing the country from Denver to Salt Lake or San Francisco were obliged "to stage it," or travel with private conveyances. So George had to stage it, not a difficult thing for an actor to do. He was accompanied by Mrs. Florence Bell who was featured with him as co-star during his first engagement. He opened on July 20th, 1864, just four nights after Lyne closed, in "The Romance of a Poor Young Man," in the character of "Manuel," Mrs. Bell playing "Marguerite." Pauncefort's "Manuel" made a great hit, and stamped him at once as an actor of superior parts. It was a new awakening. His style was so different from anything we had seen, either in Lyne or Irwin. Mrs. Bell, however, fell as far below public expectation as Pauncefort went above it. She was not the equal of our own leading lady, Mrs. Gibson who in consequence of this engagement had to be retired from the leading roles, and bear with what grace she might to see an inferior actress usurping her place. The popular verdict was all in Mrs. Gibson's favor. Mrs. Bell was a pretty woman, but a very mediocre actress. The management would gladly have retired the lady after the first performance, but there was a contract, and she was allowed to play the leads in several plays, during this engagement. Pauncefort played until September 30th, when the season closed.

It no doubt cost the princely George a pang to realize that Mrs. Bell had not made a favorable impression with the public, as he had featured her on the bills. She had found great favor in his eyes, if not so fortunate in gaining the public favor. Their admiration was mutual and so apparent that it was frowned upon by "the powers that be." George was given plainly to understand that although Mormons believed in and practiced polygamy, they drew the line in morals at promiscuity, and he could not continue his present intimate relations with Mrs. Bell and his engagement at the Salt Lake Theatre. George took the hint and severed the "entangling alliance;" all the easier, no doubt, as Mr. Bell had come closely on their heels from Denver. Bell was a good cornet player, and secured an engagement in the Theatre Orchestra, where he played until the end of the Pauncefort season, and then drifted off to Montana, "taking the fair Desdemona along with him."

That the Bell alliance worked to Pauncefort's injury there is no question. President Young took great offense at it, and never attended the theatre during Pauncefort's engagement after the opening performances, when he became apprised of the intimacy existing between George and Florence. On Brigham's first visit to the theatre after the Pauncefort season, the writer met him on the stage near his box and took occasion to express his pleasure at seeing him occupy his accustomed seat after so long an absence, remarking, "It is a long time since you were here, President Young." "Yes," he replied. "I told John T. and Hyrum (the managers of the house) that I would not come into the theatre while that man Pauncefort was here." This showed how strong a prejudice he had conceived against Pauncefort—and notwithstanding the very favorable impression his acting had made, it was quite a long time, nearly four months, before he again appeared.

The Lyne and Pauncefort engagement following each other in such close succession and in an extra season, and that season a mid-summer one, had given the theatre-going public a very gratifying sufficiency of theatricals, and consequently it was not thought advisable to open the theatre again until the ensuing October Conference; so the house was closed up for a period of five weeks and reopened on the 5th of October, just in time to catch the Conference gatherings. Although both Lyne and Pauncefort were in the vicinity, neither of them were engaged until after the Conference dates were passed. The management could rely on full houses during the Conference and could not see the policy of sharing up the profits with a star when the stock company could fill the house to its capacity. The Conference over, the following week T. A. Lyne opened his third engagement and played up to the 10th of December; a very long engagement, lasting eight weeks. Pauncefort should naturally, according to all professional ways of looking at it, have filled this time; and no doubt would have had the preference over Lyne if the managers had not been handicapped by the strong prejudice of the "President" against this actor; for he was the newer and more attractive star. Lyne had already played two long engagements and exhausted his repertoire, besides Pauncefort had introduced us to a more modern and popular school, and from financial considerations alone, any manager would have given him the preference, but he did not get back into the theatre for a second engagement until after Lyne had played everything he knew; still he lingered in the vicinity. He went out through the provinces—played smaller towns, such as Springville and Provo, with their home companies—and dabbled in merchandising, shipping fruit to Montana; it was bringing big prices just then. On the 17th of December, 1864, George Pauncefort began his second engagement in "A Bachelor of Arts" and "Black-Eyed Susan." It was during this engagement that "Hamlet" and "Macbeth" had their initial performances in the Salt Lake Theatre. Both of these plays were marked events in the history of the theatre, more particularly "Macbeth," which called into requisition the Tabernacle choir to play the witches and sing the music of the play, which was ably conducted by Prof. C. J. Thomas.

"Macbeth" was the last play of this engagement and closed the second Pauncefort season on January 7th, 1865—a brief season of three weeks—after waiting around about four months. Why this engagement ended so suddenly in the very height of its brilliancy is somewhat puzzling to understand, as there was no other star to follow, and the stock company played unassisted by any stellar attraction up till May 20th, which closed the season of '64 and '65.

Pauncefort shortly after the closing of his engagement went to San Francisco, where he remained for more than two years playing there at intervals.

CHAPTER VII.

SEASON '65 AND '66.

The next star to appear at the Mormon theatre was Julia Dean Hayne, and a brilliant one she proved to be. She created on her first appearance an impression that was profound and lasting, and each additional character she appeared in only served to strengthen her hold on the admiration and affection of her audiences.

The advent of such a well-known and popular actress into the heart of the Rocky Mountain region at such a time, years before the completion of the overland railroad, had in it a rich tinge of romance and wild managerial venture. Julia Dean came to Salt Lake City under the management and in the dramatic company of the veteran Western manager, John S. Potter. Some time prior to this she had gone to San Francisco from New York by way of the Isthmus, had played a successful engagement there, and being "at liberty" after it was over, Mr. Potter, who was an old acquaintance of Mrs. Hayne, made her a proposition to organize a company and play her through the principal towns of California. This was done, and after the state had been pretty thoroughly toured, the fair Julia appearing in many places that had very "queer" theatres, the tour was extended through the cities of Oregon and then through the sparsely inhabited territories of Montana, Idaho and Utah, finally arriving in Salt Lake July 26th, 1865, on a regular old-time stage coach, a tired and jaded-looking party. There was in this company John S. Potter, manager (then a man of sixty or more), Julia Deane Hayne (the star), George B. Waldron (leading man), Mr. and Mrs. O. F. Leslie (juveniles), Mr. A. K. Mortimer (heavies), Charles Graham (comedian). Mr. Potter himself played the "old man" parts, Miss Belle Douglas playing characters and old woman parts, and "Jimmie" Martin, property man and filling-in parts. The fame of Brigham Young's theatre had reached them in their travels, and they had traveled many miles to get the opportunity of playing in it. A week's engagement was soon effected, and on August 11th, 1865, "The Potter Company" with Julia Dean Hayne as the stellar character, opened up in the play of "Camille." They were received by a packed house, and with every demonstration of welcome and approbation. Mrs. Hayne, who was no longer girlish in face and figure but a mature woman, verging on towards the "fair, fat and forty" period, was nevertheless so exquisitely beautiful and girlish-looking when made up for "Camille" or "Julia" in the "Hunchback," that everybody sang her praises. The entire community seemed to have fallen irresistibly in love with the new star, and henceforward she had fair wind and smooth sailing while her lot lay cast among the Saints. While the Potter Company were playing in the theatre, supporting Mrs. Hayne, the stock company were of course getting a needed rest, but their salaries (?) were going on as usual, and the management could not well afford to have two companies on its hands, so after the first week, the novelty being over, the Potter company were let out, and the regular company reinstalled. The Potter Company, however, had lost its "star;" the theatre managers had effected an engagement with Julia Dean to remain with them for the rest of the season as stock star with George B. Waldron, also to play her leading support, and direct the staging of her plays.

This proved a severe blow to the Potter Company, who now had no place to play in in Salt Lake and could not well take to the road again, having lost their principal attraction. Potter had not expected to have been so soon supplanted. He came to Salt Lake, expecting to find a company of amateurs, and thought no doubt the managers would be glad to supplant them, at least for a good long season, with the Potter Company and its distinguished star. Outside of Mrs. Hayne and Mr. Waldron, however, the Salt Lake Company was much more numerous, talented and capable than the Potter Company. It took but one or two performances for the managers to discover this, and they hastened to make the arrangements with Julia Dean and Mr. Waldron and to reinstate their own company.

Poor Potter and his remaining company were in a sorry strait. Their overland jaunt, through Oregon, Montana and Idaho, had not been very lucrative, and now they were out in the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains, a thousand miles from any metropolis with a theatre, and no railroad to get away on; nothing but the overland coach. Potter was a resourceful manager, however; he was not easily daunted; with him Richmond's admonition to his army was ever present. "True hope never tires, but mounts on eagle's wings. Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings." He found in "Tom" Lyne an old acquaintance, and a strong ally. Lyne was by this time disgruntled and dissatisfied with the theatrical outlook in Salt Lake; he was not getting any more the plaudits and the "star's" share of the receipts. He wanted some place to play in. So he inspired Potter with the notion of building an opposition theatre to that "monopoly" of Brigham Young's. Potter drank in Lyne's inspiration fervidly. The idea took a frantic possession of him, and plans were at once devised for getting up another house as speedily as possible, for the season was advancing and if the project was not hurried the Potter company would be scattered beyond all recovery. So it was decided to erect a cheap frame building, and push it to completion as rapidly as possible. This decision served to keep the Potter Company in Salt Lake, as they all had faith in the scheme, and faith in themselves that they could win out. They argued that by the time the new play-house was ready to open that Julia Dean and Waldron would be played out at the Salt Lake Theatre, and something new would catch the people. Poor, deluded actors, they did not know the people of Salt Lake; they knew them better after. How much money Mr. Lyne put into this scheme the writer never could learn from him, but I opine it was very little. He, however, secured the building site, by some kind of a deal with "Tommy" Bullock. It was about where Dinwoodey's furniture store now stands. Potter had little or no money with which to start such an enterprise, so Lyne introduced Mr. Potter to such of the merchants and lumbermen as he wanted to do business with. Potter played a bold game, and really accomplished a great feat in the building of this theatre. He got from sixty to ninety days' credit for everything nearly that went into the construction of the building. It was a cheap affair; built of poles, hewn to an even size and placed in the ground like fence posts; then boarded on both sides with rough boards, the space between the inside and outside boarding being filled in with sawdust and refuse tan bark from the tanneries, to make the building warm. The place was about half the size of the Salt Lake Theatre; that is, it had about half the seating capacity and a stage about one-fourth the size of the theatre. The structure, including the lease of ground, cost about $7,000. It was put up in about thirty days, so that Potter had a month's more time in which to pay for the bulk of the material, but the merchants and laborers who did the building were worrying his life out long before he got it going, for their money. He proved to be an expert at "standing off" his creditors, however, so by hook and crook he got the building completed, his company reorganized, and the theatre started. Some very amusing stories were related of him at the time; how he would cajole and stuff with promises the dissatisfied workmen as to what he would do as soon as he got the house open. One man went to him with the sorrowful story that his landlady had refused to credit him any longer, and he must have money to pay his board and lodgings. Potter looked at him pityingly, and expressed his regret that he could do nothing for him till he got the theatre going. "It will soon be finished now; tell your landlady this, and if this will not appease her, change your boarding house." To such like desperate shifts and subterfuges was he obliged to resort to keep the men at work, doling them out a few dollars at a time, when they became unmanageable or threatened to quit. Eventually the house was ready for opening and "Tom" Lyne had to have the first "whack" at the new box office receipts.

With woeful shortsightedness they put up for the opening, "Damon and Pythias," with Lyne starred as "Damon," a character he had already played three or four times at the other theatre. Lyne probably thought, however, with Richard that "the king's name is a tower of strength, which they on the adverse faction want." Such did not prove to be the case, however, as the "adverse faction" having in view the opening of the opposition house, put on a strong new bill with Mrs. Hayne in a new and powerful character, so that there was no apparent diminution of patronage, and the Salt Lake Theatre kept on the even tenor of its way "with not a downy feather ruffled by its fierceness." Potter and Lyne had succeeded in getting "Jim" Hardie away from the other house by offering him the part of Pythias and a larger salary than he was getting at the older house. "Jim" at this time was the youngest actor in the Salt Lake Theatre company, and had not yet made much advancement; he was ambitious, however, and this opportunity to play "Pythias" to Lyne's "Damon" was very alluring to him, so he deserted the ranks of the D. D. A. and allied himself with Lyne-Potter, et al., with what poor judgment the sequel will show.

The new theatre was christened "The Academy of Music," with what reason or consistency no one could ever conceive, unless it was to give it a big sounding name, to allure the unwary, for it was as utterly unlike an Academy of Music as anything could be.

On the opening night, the novelty of the new theatre opening, and curiosity to see the Academy and Mr. Lyne with his new support, sufficed to draw a fairly full house.

Several amusing incidents transpired on that eventful evening. First and most laughable was the following: "Jim" Hardie had a brother-in-law named "Pat" Lynch. Pat had been clerk of the district court for a number of years and was well known for a big-hearted, generous man, his greatest fault being that he would indulge occasionally too freely in the ardent. "Pat" had loaned "Jim" ten dollars to help him get a costume for "Pythias" the Academy had no wardrobe department and "Jim" could not with any grace attempt to borrow one from the Salt Lake Theatre. It would appear he had promised to get an advance as soon as the box office had begun to take in money, and Pat had expected the return of his money that day; at all events, he was present at the play, occupying a front seat in the parquette. He had been indulging freely, and his sight was not so clear as usual; besides, he had the character of Pythias and Dionysius mixed in his imagination. Mr. Potter was playing Dionysius, and as he strode on at the rise of the curtain and began to speak, Pat mistook him for Hardie and bawled out at the top of his voice, "See here, Dionysius, where's that ten dollars you owe me?" Potter was filled with consternation; Pat's friends who were with him succeeded in quieting him and Potter made another start, this time without interruption. Pat had discovered his mistake, that he had dunned the wrong man, and it took but little persuasion to get him to leave the theatre. Hardie, behind the scenes waiting for his entrance, and fearing a second explosion when he should make his appearance, was immensely relieved to see from the side wings Pat's companions lead him up the aisle and out of the theatre. Potter, not aware but what it was one of his numerous creditors dunning him, when he made his first exit, threw up his hands in dismay, and said to Lyne in the wings: "My G—d, they won't give me any peace! Even dunning me from the audience." When Lyne, who had caught the truth of the matter, explained to him, he was greatly relieved.

Another amusing incident, and one which nearly wrecked the scene, was furnished by the little girl they had for Damon's boy. It has never been a difficult task to find in Salt Lake a pretty and clever child to play the child's part in this or any other play. On this occasion, the selection was probably limited to a small circle, owing to the feeling engendered by this opposition to the favorite theatre; at all events, the "Damon's" child of the occasion was an uncultured looking little miss of about six years; she was so dark and tawny-looking that she might have had Indian blood in her veins, and certainly she had a touch of the obduracy and stolidness that characterize that race; Belle Douglass was the "Hermion" of the occasion, and she was obliged to improvise and speak most of the child's lines for her; when "Damon" came on for the farewell interview with his beloved "Hermion" and his darling boy, he strove in vain to get a response from his young hopeful; the child had become thoroughly nervous, and seemed apprehensive of some danger and when "Damon" interrogated her, "What wouldst thou be, my boy?" instead of the cheerful response, "A soldier, father," there came only a frightened look, and the child put its finger in its nostril, and swayed to and fro, as if she would say, but dare not, "I want to go home." Miss Douglass, annoyed, pulled the little hand down testily from the child's nose, and "Damon" repeated the question, "What wouldst thou be, my boy?" No answer, but up went the finger again to the nose. "Hermion" again pulled down the hand, and rather harshly demanded, "Come, say, what wouldst thou be, my boy?" The child by this time was nearly terrified, and only repeated the nose business with more emphasis and began to cry—and "Damon" utterly disgusted with his youthful prodigy, hurried him off to pluck the flower of welcome for him. The child's queer action of sticking its finger up its nose sent the house almost into convulsions of laughter, and came near converting one of the greatest scenes of the play into a burlesque. Lyne played all the other plays in his repertoire in rather rapid succession, as the aim was to keep the Academy open every night (except Sundays) and as each play would bear but one repetition, this repertoire was soon exhausted, and as there was no other "star" in the Utah firmament to fill the place, the Academy went into a rapid decline. As the business had not proved to be what the promoter and manager had calculated on, Potter was daily besieged by creditors, until the poor man was almost driven frantic. The heavy creditors, those who had furnished material on sixty days' time, now began to grow troublesome, and one attachment after another followed, until the house fell into the hands of the sheriff—and Brigham Young, through T. B. H. Stenhouse, as agent, made a deal by which the property came into his hands. He soon put a force of men to work who tore it down, hauled it away and fenced a farm with it.

Such in brief is the history of Potter's Academy of Music. The merchants and lumbermen who had given Potter such liberal credit were now sadder but wiser men.

Potter got away as soon as possible, for matters were very pressing and unpleasant for him. His company drifted off in various directions, except Belle Douglass, who got married to Captain Clipperton and settled down in Salt Lake, and after a while got into the Salt Lake Theatre. Hardie also got back after a time, long enough for him to become repentant and express his regrets for what he had done.

The season, by the time the Academy's brief career had ended, was well advanced into the spring. Julia Dean Hayne had not only not played out, but had steadily grown in the affection of the people. Mr. Waldron continued to to be a favorite also; but Julia Dean was the bright particular star whose effulgence can never be effaced from the memories of those who attended her performances during that memorable engagement. She received many marks of personal favor from President Brigham Young; indeed, it was current gossip that the President was very much enamored of the fair Julia and had offered to make her Mrs. Young number twenty-one. How much, if any, truth there was in this gossip will perhaps never be known; the fact that Brigham did pay her unusual attention and gave several parties in her honor and had a fine sleigh built which he named the Julia Dean was quite enough to set the people talking. The probability is that the President was very much charmed with her, and sought to win her to the Mormon faith; had he succeeded in this, he might then have felt encouraged to go a step further and win her to himself, for in spite of his already numerous matrimonial alliances, he did not consider himself ineligible. The fair Julia was not ineligible, either, for she was divorced from her husband, Dr. Hayne, the son of a "favorite son" of South Carolina. Speculation was rife, and much surprise and wonder was excited in certain quarters that President Young should go out of his way to show more marked attention to an actress than he had ever shown to any of his wives; but he was bent on getting Julia into the fold; once there, he could have played the good shepherd, and have secured her an exaltation. She had another man in her eye. One she had set her heart upon, too. "As hers on him, so his was set on her, but how they met and wooed and made exchange of vows I'll tell thee as we pass."

James G. Cooper was at this particular time secretary of the territory of Utah—an appointee of the United States government. He was a cavalierly man of southern birth and breeding—tall and handsome, and of courtly bearing, a great lover of the theatre. He was never known to miss a performance during Julia Dean's engagement. He was one of the most enthusiastic admirers she had; night after night, all the season through, he sat in front, early always in the same seat, and with eyes aglow and ears alert, he seemed to absorb every tone of her voice and catch, every gleam of her eyes—her every move was to him a thrill of rapture. Out of her thousands of admirers he was the most devoted worshipper at her shrine. Up to a certain time he worshipped in silence as if she were a deity. Chance had made them neighbors: the secretary's office and Mrs. Hayne's apartments were in adjoining houses, and it was not long before an acquaintanceship was formed which rapidly grew into a friendship and friendship soon ripened into love.

These lovers were discreet, however. Many happy hours they passed in each other's company, but they did not parade their love, nor "wear their hearts upon their sleeves for daws to peck at." Little did her audience suspect that often when she cast her most bewitching glances, and brightened their faces with her radiant smiles, that those smiles were mounted especially for him; but he knew—how could he help but know. Cupid had drawn his bow and sped his dart.

    "Where on a sudden one hath wounded me, that's by me wounded
    Both our remedies within thy help and holy physic lie."

So after the close of the season, much to the surprise of her numerous admirers, "these 'twain were made one flesh." They bade a rather hasty farewell to the land of the Saints, and wended their way to the far East by stagecoach, the terminus of the Pacific road being yet some hundreds of miles from Salt Lake.

Mrs. Hayne's last appearance at the Salt Lake Theatre was an event marked with quite as much if not more of interest than her first appearance. She had become endeared to the Salt Lake public, and they regarded her approaching departure with genuine regret. At her last performance, June 30th, 1866, she appeared as "Camille," the same character in which she opened her engagement, and was the recipient on this occasion of many tokens of kindness and appreciation. Being called enthusiastically to the front of the curtain after the performance, she bade a loving farewell to Salt Lake and its people in one of the most delicately and tastefully worded speeches ever made in front of a theatre drop. During her long engagement, lasting from August 11th, '65, to June 30th, '66, she played all the great classic female roles that were then popular, a number of comedies, and even took a dip into extravaganza or burlesque, appearing during the holiday season in the character of Alladin in "The Wonderful Lamp," which ran for eleven consecutive performances. Her best remembered characters are "Camille," "Lady Macbeth," "Leah," "Parthenia," "Julia" (in the "Hunchback"), "Lucretia Borgia," "Medea," "Marco," "Lady Teazle," "Peg Woffington," and "Pauline" in the "Lady of Lyons." In her ten months' engagement, she played a great many plays besides those mentioned, each play being presented twice or three times, according to its popularity.

Among others, an Indian play, entitled "Osceola," written by E. L. Sloan, then editor of the Salt Lake Herald, in which Mr. George Waldron played the title role and Mrs. Hayne the chief's daughter. The piece had a fair success, but has never been heard of since. Mr. Sloan wrote another play a year or two later, about the time of the completion of the overland railroad, which he called "Stage and Steam." This was a melodrama with a stage coach and railway train in it, intended to illustrate the march of civilization. It had two presentations, and was never acted again that we are aware of. It was during Mrs. Hayne's engagement also that Mr. Edward W. Tullidge made his first essay as a dramatic author—Mrs. Hayne and Mr. Waldron had exhausted the list of available plays and new plays were in demand. Tullidge's play was entitled "Eleanor de Vere," or "The Queen's Secret," an episode of the Elizabethan Court—in which Queen Elizabeth was a secondary character. Tullidge had written his play with various members of the company in his eye, and succeeded in fitting them very well. This play made a very favorable impression and was repeated several times to large and appreciative audiences. Mrs. Hayne's character, "Eleanor de Vere," was one of the Queen's waiting women, in love with "Rochester," and afforded the actress very good scope for her great talent, but the character of Queen Elizabeth, although a secondary part in the play, made such a favorable impression on Mrs. Hayne that she asked Mr. Tullidge if he could write her a play of Elizabeth, making the Queen a star character for her. She believed from what Mr. Tullidge had done in "Eleanor de Vere" that he could write a great play of Elizabeth. Tullidge felt that he had a great subject; it was a favorite theme, however, and one on which he was thoroughly posted, and encouraged by Mrs Hayne's faith in his ability, he at once commenced the task. "The labor we delight in physics pain," and Elizabeth became a labor of love with Edward Tullidge, for he was very enthusiastic in his love of Julia Dean, both as a woman and as an artist; and so familiar with all the heroes of Elizabeth's court, that his task, though Herculean, was a pleasant one, and before Julia Dean was ready to leave Salt Lake, Tullidge had completed a great historical play, "Elizabeth of England." It was with a view of presenting it in New York that Mrs. Hayne (now Cooper) went there soon after her departure. Before she had concluded any arrangement for its production, however, Ristori, the great Italian actress, loomed up on the dramatic horizon in Elizabeth. She had crowned all her former achievements in a great triumph in this same Elizabeth of England. Although the play was written by an Italian author (Giogimetta) and was not as true to history as the Tullidge play, it filled the particular historical niche so far as the stage is concerned. Ristori had a great success with this play, both in Europe and this country. It must have broken Julia Dean's heart professionally. She might have been the first in the field, at least in this country, if she had not dilly-dallied. She was having a delightful honeymoon and was too indifferent in this important affair, and when the advent of the great Italian in Elizabeth awoke her from her reverie, her opportunity had gone and Tullidge's Elizabeth never saw the light. Very keen indeed was the disappointment of the author. Julia Dean was his ideal for Elizabeth, and when he found to his amazement that the Italians (author and actress) had gained the field ahead of them, poor Tullidge went crazy with grief, and for a time had to be confined in the city prison, there being no asylum in Utah at that time. Mr. Lyne, who read the play to a large audience in Salt Lake, pronounced it one of the greatest historical plays he had ever read.

Whether the great disappointment had any effect in hastening Mrs. Cooper's death or not can not be known, but "it is pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful," that she did not live longer to enjoy her new-found happiness, and add a crowning glory to her brilliant career, for she was without doubt the greatest favorite of her day in America, and Americans everywhere would have hailed her with delight in any new achievement. She only lived about a year after her marriage to Mr. Cooper. She died in New York, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. The news of her demise was received with profound sorrow by her numerous Salt Lake admirers, and many a silent tear paid tribute to her memory.

    "There is a destiny that shapes our ends,
    Rough hew them as we will."

Through the courtesy of Mr. C. E. Johnson, our popular photographer, I am enabled to append the following information in relation to Julia Dean's death and burial:

THE UNMARKED GRAVE OF JULIA DEAN.

NEW YORK, August 26, 1897.

To the Editor of the Dramatic Mirror:

SIR:—While recently walking through the beautiful Laurel Grove Cemetery at Port Jervis, New York, the aged caretaker called my attention to a good-sized circular burial plot overlooking a lake in the centre of which, surrounded by mountain laurel shrubs and lilac bushes, is a sunken mound under which the venerable keeper declared rested "as great and fine a looking actress as the country ever had," and further stated that "much of a time was made over her years ago in New York." Also that "when her body was brought on here a big crowd of theatre folks came on to see her buried and they cried over her open grave."

Becoming thoroughly interested, I carefully noted the location of the actress' lot, and immediately visited the little cemetery office on the grounds, and in looking over the admirably kept records, I was astonished to find that it represented the grave of a fair member of the dramatic profession whose tomb had been entirely lost sight of, and dramatic historians and editors have been unable for years to enlighten those of their readers who sought to discover her grave rest. Beneath this mound rests all that is mortal of the once lovely Juliet of the American stage—Julia Dean.

The complete record of the Laurel Grove Cemetery reads:

"Name—Julia Dean-Hayne-Cooper.

    "Place and time of nativity—Pleasant Valley, Near Poughkeepsie,
    N. Y., July 21, 1830.

"Names of parents—Edwin and Julia Dean.

"Age—Thirty-five years.

"Place and date of death—New York City, May 19, 1866.

"Cause of death—Childbirth.

"Second husband's name—James G. Cooper.

    "Buried in Lot No. 3, Section B, owned by her father-in-law,
    Mathew H. Cooper.

    "Remains of deceased first placed in the Marble Cemetery General
    Receiving Vault, Second Street, New York City. Transferred to
    Laurel Grove Cemetery, Port Jervis, April 16, 1868."

    The lone cemetery official states all of Julia Dean's kindred
    passed away years ago, and together they are buried in the old
    Clove graveyard at Sussex, N. J.

At the time of their deaths, they were in reduced circumstances, and while still well-to-do, years before Julia Dean's demise they acquired this Port Jervis burial lot that she might await the resurrection in the place where her childhood days were so pleasantly passed.

At the foot of the eminent actress' grave slumbers the unnamed girl infant for whom Julia Dean surrendered her illustrious life.

None of her relatives were ever able to erect a monument over her remains, and it seems a pity that this exquisite actress of another generation should forever sleep in an unrecorded sepulchre.

Having heard and read that the noble Actors' Fund of New York has caused' many a granite tombstone to be erected over the graves of their worthy comrades, and as Julia Dean was so sweet and accomplished an artiste, I thought that by calling attention to this forgotten and out of the way tomb through the columns of the most powerful of America's dramatic journals, The Dramatic Mirror, it might result in placing a modest memorial stone of granite at the head of the mound under which so peacefully reposes Julia Dean, whose splendid genius Dion Boucicault compared to that of another gifted and beautiful daughter of the drama, the ideal Juliet, Adelaide Neilson, who awaits the final call in distant England, beneath an imposing mortuary memorial, thanks to the influence of the loyal William Winter.

LOVER OF THE STAGE.

CHAPTER VIII.

SEASON OF '66-'67.

After the close of this eventful season, Mr. George Waldron, who had played the leading support to Mrs. Hayne and become an established favorite, drifted away from Salt Lake, going into Montana; returning a year or so later in conjunction with Mrs. Waldron. He had found his mate and brought her to Salt Lake to make her acquainted with his many friends there. George tried very earnestly to get a Salt Lake wife. It looked for a while as if Miss Sarah Alexander was destined to fill that place; she certainly filled George's eye. He was very much enamored of the petite and lithesome Sarah, but the expected union did not materialize, and George sought pastures new, and ere long returned, bringing a beautiful wife with him. Meantime, Sarah had drifted off to the East in company with a literary lady named Lisle Lester. They took with them Sarah's little niece, her dead sister's baby, Baby Finlayson, then but two years old. Miss Finlayson, under her aunt's careful guidance and training, developed into a very clever and capable actress, and for many years now has been holding leading positions in prominent companies and theatres. She is known professionally as Lisle Leigh.

The Waldrons played a short engagement and then bade a long farewell to Salt Lake and the West. At this writing George Waldron has been dead for ten years, his wife, a son and a daughter survive him; all follow the stage successfully.

During the season of '65 and '66, there were few changes in the supporting stock company. Mr. Waldron doing the leads, lightened considerably the labors of the "leading man," Mr. D. McKenzie, who was quite content to escape the onerous study the leading parts would have imposed, and play something easier. Before the beginning of this season, Mr. H. B. Clawson had retired altogether from the field as an actor, although still one of the managers of the house, and Mr. Phil Margetts was the acknowledged premier comedian of the company. Mr. John T. Caine, too, Clawson's associate manager, and also stage manager, yielded up his line of parts to John S. Lindsay and devoted himself exclusively to the duties of stage manager, which in the old "stock" days meant far more than that office means today. "Why, in the elder day to be a 'stage manager' was greater than to be a king," in any of the plays. Briefly enumerated, his duties were: First, to read carefully and then cast all the plays. The casting of a play is a most important affair. It must be done with great care and consideration so as to get the best results, and at the same time each actor his "line" of parts as near as practicable; then he must write out the cast, and hang it up in the case in the green room—write out all "calls" for rehearsals, and hang them up in the case. Then he must direct all rehearsals. To do this, he must study out all the "business" of the play in advance of the rehearsals, so he will be able to direct intelligently. When a "star" is rehearsing, he generally directs the rehearsal, thus relieving the stage manager of a great responsibility; but he must be around, and see what is required for the play in the way of scenery and properties and make out complete and detailed plots for scene-men and property-men, and in this particular case where the theatre furnished the actors with all wardrobes (except modern clothes), the stage manager had also to make out a costume plot. The costumer would then distribute the wardrobe for the play according to his best judgment, and the conceit or fancy of the actor, which often made the costumer's duty a perplexing one, for actors are so full of conceits and fancies that they are a hard lot to please.

In the Salt Lake Theatre a first-class copyist was constantly employed in copying out parts—books were not so easily procured in those days. It took from three to four weeks to get a book from New York, so where the manager had but one book all the parts had to be copied, and the stage manager had to have his plays selected well ahead, so as to give the copyist plenty of time to get parts ready for distribution. Besides these duties, the stage manager had to write out all the "copy" for advertisements and posters and house programs, see to the painting of new scenes, and the making of new properties; also, any new costumes that had to be made. His decision was final in all these matters, so that the stage manager of the "old stock" days was no sinecure. Mr. Caine filled the position with rare ability, and his regime in the Salt Lake Theatre was distinguished for its prompt executive alertness, and the utter absence of any trifling or inattention to business.

One important accession there was to the company just before this engagement, that of Miss Annie Asenith Adams. Miss Adams made her debut on the 25th of July, 1865, (the same night that Julia Dean-Hayne and the Potter Company arrived in Salt Lake), in the character of Grace Otis in the "People's Lawyer," W. C. Dunbar being the "Solon Shingle" on the occasion. Her maiden effort proved very successful and satisfactory to the management, and during Julia Dean's long engagement she proved to be a valuable acquisition to the stock company. She made rapid progress in the dramatic art, and before the close of the season had attained a prominent position in the company which she held with credit to herself and satisfaction to the public until 1874, when the stock company was virtually retired to give place to the "combination" system which then came into vogue.

On August 15th, 1869, a little more than four years after her debut, Miss Adams was married to Mr. James H. Kiskadden. Between the time of her debut and her marriage, Asenith (she was always called "Senith" in those days) was not only a favorite with the public, but she had a number of ardent admirers among the "opposite sex." There was quite a rivalry for her affections between several members of the company, but the most ardent of them were already married, and although they did not consider that a bar to their hopes, in Annie's case they were not eligible; so the chief rivalry existed on the outside of the theatre. Mr. Kiskadden, or "Jim," as he was universally called by his acquaintances, was cashier in his brother William's bank (the location is the identical room where Walker Brothers' Bank is today). Jim was a dashing sort of fellow, big and manly, with a determined kind of air, that seemed to say, "Things must go my way." He drew a good salary, dressed well, and always wore immaculate linen, his shirt front always illuminated with a large diamond. He was inclined to "sporting," and was recognized as the champion billiard player of the town in those days. How much apprehension "Jim" endured regarding "Senith's" married suitors in the theatre we have no means of knowing, but it is probable she set his doubts at rest on that score by assuring him that she would never marry an already married man. She had seen enough of that to make her dread it. However this might be, "Jim" had a rival and a dangerous one in the person of Mr. Jack O'Neil. Jack was beyond question the handsomer fellow of the two; indeed, he was handsome as a prince, always dressed superbly and was one of the most attractive looking men in Salt Lake. Jack was very much infatuated with the rising young actress and missed no opportunity to make known to her his appreciation of her talents and his admiration and adoration of herself. The rivalry between Jack and Jim was at white heat for a spell, and it would not have been very much of a surprise to their intimates if there had been a challenge sent and accepted, and a duel fought over the young Mormon actress. Unfortunately for Jack and his aspirations for the lady's affections, he was a professional sport, and that was against him. He had no other profession, and handsome and cavalierly as he could be, he was classed as a gambler; while Jim could flip the pasteboards just as skillfully, and lay them all out at billiards, he did not follow it for a "stiddy liven," but held the cashier's box in his brother's bank, for a steady job, and only sported on the side, and so it came to pass that in the course of time Jim distanced his handsome rival and bore off the prize. Many of "Senith's" friends regretted this, as Jim did not belong to the household of faith, but was a rank, out-spoken Gentile, utterly opposed to Mormon ways, and not afraid to say so. Whereas all of "Senith's" folks were staunch adherents of the Mormon faith and were striving to live their religion in all its phases. So they did not rejoice over "Senith's" marriage to a Gentile (as all non-Mormons were called—Jews included). They regarded it as equivalent to apostasy from the faith in which she had been reared, periling her soul's salvation. She was not appalled, however, by the gloomy and hopeless pictures some of her friends were kind enough to paint for her, and bravely married the man she had set her heart upon and stuck by him through thick and thin, sunshine and storm, prosperity and adversity. On November 11th, 1872, Maude Kiskadden was born, within a stone's throw of the Salt Lake Theatre, and before she was a year old made her debut on the stage where her mother was a debutante some eight years before. It looks now as if it were fate, as if she was predestined for a great stage career. There was an emergency and Maude, not yet a year old, was there to fill it. It happened in the following manner. In those palmy days of the profession, the old stock days as they are now called, it was customary to supplement the play with a farce—no matter how long the play—even if a five-act tragedy, the evening's performance was not considered complete without a farce to conclude with. On this particular occasion, the farce was the "Lost Child," a favorite with our comedian, Mr. Phil Margetts. He played Jones, a fond and loving parent, who goes distracted over his lost child. Instead of providing a real baby, as the property man had been instructed to do, he had a grotesque-looking rag baby, not at all to the comedian's taste in the matter. Millard, the property man, declared he had been unable to procure a live baby, nobody was willing to lend a baby for the part—older children he could get, but he could not get a baby, and the rag baby was the best that he could do under the circumstances, and on such short notice. Margetts was in distress. "What, in Utah!" he exclaimed. "The idea!" Where babies are our best crop, to be unable to procure one for his favorite farce. It was simply preposterous, absurd, incredible; he objected to play with nothing but a miserable makeshift of a rag baby. In agony he appealed to the stage manager, Mr. Caine, to know if the farce was to be ruined or made a double farce by the introduction into it of a grotesque doll like that! It would be worse than a Punch and Judy show. Sudden as a bolt from a clouded sky, while the altercation was still at its height, Mrs. Kiskadden appeared in the centre of the stage with her baby in her arms, and in a good-natured tone that ended all the trouble, exclaimed, "Here's Maude, use her!" Maude was indeed a good substitute for the inartistic-looking "prop" the property man had provided. Phil was happy and played the distracted parent with a realism and a pathos he never could have summoned for the rag baby. When the cue came, Maude was ushered into the mimic scene, making her first entrance on a large tray carried by a waiter. Then she was taken from the tray into somebody's arms and tossed from one nurse to another throughout the farce, until finally, as it ends, she is lodged safely in the arms of Mr. Jones, her distracted father. To her credit, be it recorded, she never whimpered or made any outcry or showed any signs of alarm, but played her first part bravely, though perhaps unconsciously; winning the admiration and love of the entire company. It was a lucky accident that Maude was in the theatre that evening, for her mother was not in the habit of bringing her to the theatre when she had any one at home to take care of her, but this evening was the "nurse's evening out," and "Maudie" had to be toted to the theatre and carefully put to sleep before mamma could "make up" and go through her part. Here she was safely stowed away in a safe and quiet corner of the green room, where she had been blissfully reposing all through the first play, and was now rather rudely awakened to fill the distressing emergency.

It will be readily seen from this narration that Maude Adams was virtually "born to the stage," her mother studying assiduously and playing parts both before and after Maude's birth, often taking Maudie with her, both to rehearsals and performances, so that she became a familiar little object in the theatre before she could walk or talk, and long before she could ever essay a speaking part she was the pet of the Green Room.

We had a Green Room in the Salt Lake Theatre in those days, and a very capacious and comfortable one, too. Such a commodious and luxurious adjunct is scarcely known in the theatres today. Here the actors could retire between the acts or during the scenes they were not engaged in, and study over their lines, or if already easy in their parts, pass the time in reading or social chat. It was the prompter's business to send the "call boy" to the Green Room and all dressing rooms to "call the act," a few minutes before he was ready to "ring up." The act being called, each actor was required to be at his entrance on time; if he should be late and make a "stage wait," the stage manager might reprimand him, and impose a fine. Fines were also imposed for being tardy at rehearsals. There was seldom any occasion for the enforcement of this penalty, except in the case of "Jim" Hardie. "Jim" was a notorious laggard, and often kept the company waiting for him. On one occasion the company had been waiting his arrival for fifteen or twenty minutes, when he strode in very hurriedly and taking the centre of the stage, took off his hat and wiping the perspiration from his brow, began an apology to the stage manager for being late. He had only just begun to talk when a general laugh broke the gravity of the occasion. Jim had just come from the barber's where he had his head shaved, and his entire scalp down to the hat line was as smooth as a billiard ball. His monkish appearance created much merriment, in which the stage manager and Jim himself joined. Jim at a very early age showed a tendency to baldness, and he had been told that shaving the head was not only a check to it, but would stimulate the growth of the hair, so he had to get his head shaved, even though he kept the rehearsal waiting. I think the fine was omitted on this occasion, owing to the fun the company had over it.

In the fall of 1874, after a connection of nine years with the Salt Lake Theatre, Mrs. Kiskadden and her husband, no longer a cashier, the bank having been long a thing of the past, removed to Virginia City, where Miss Adams was engaged with a number of others from the Salt Lake Theatre Company, including the writer, to form a stock company for Mr. John Piper, the Virginia City manager. "Maudie," now nearly two years old, formed one of the party. After playing a season with Mr. Piper, Miss Adams went to San Francisco, where her husband had preceded her some months previous, and secured a good position as bookkeeper for the firm of Park & Lacy. Here they made their home for about eight years, Annie playing at the San Francisco theatres whenever she could get an engagement, and making occasional excursions with dramatic companies into the neighboring cities.

In September, 1877, before she was five years old, "Maudie" played her first speaking part with Joe Emmett in "Fritz" at the Bush Street Theatre. When the question of Maudie playing in Joe Emmett's piece was under consideration by Mrs. Kiskadden and she informed Mr. Kiskadden she had an offer from Mr. Emmett for Maudie to play the child's part, Mr. Kiskadden did not encourage the idea; he had a plenty of the theatre as it was, so he rather bluffly remarked: "No, indeed, we don't want Maude to make a fool of herself; one actress in the family is quite enough." Maude looked up with a touch of his own determination in her voice: "Papa, I won't make a fool of myself." She was irresistible—her papa had to consent. Her second part was Crystal in Herne and Belasco's "Hearts of Oak," then played under the name of "Chums." She afterwards played a part with Oliver Doud Byron—and in 1878, when six years old, played little "Adriene" in "A Celebrated Case" at the Baldwin Theatre. In this character she made a decided hit. After the run of the play at the Baldwin, it was taken to Portland, Oregon, and produced under John Maguire's management at the New Market Theatre, with Annie Adams and little Maude specially featured in the cast, the writer playing "Jean Renan" in this production. "Ten Nights in a Bar Room" was then put on, little Maude being made a feature as Mary Morgan, the writer playing "Joe." After the close of the season at the New Market Theatre, the company went out under the writer's management and played the Puget Sound circuit in those two plays, little Maude being made a special feature.

During this trip Maude had her first "Benefit" at Walla Walla, Washington. She was "put up" for a "benefit," extensively advertised, and helped out the company's treasury—after netting something liberal for her. In this tour Maude played in all the Puget Sound towns from Portland to Victoria and all the principal towns of Washington. At its conclusion, she and her mother returned to San Francisco, and she was not seen again in public for some years. Mr. Kiskadden died in San Francisco in '83, and Mrs. Kiskadden took his remains to Salt Lake for burial. There she settled down for a time and sent Maudie to school. Here in the city of her birth she attended school for the next four or five years, but always had a yearning to get back to the stage; and eventually her mother secured an engagement for herself and Maude in "My Geraldine" and the "Paymaster" under the manager of Duncan B. Harrison. From that she got into Frohman's "Lost Paradise," and from that on her history is known to the theatre world.

CHAPTER IX.

SEASON OF '66-'67.

An Interesting Prayer Meeting.

Julia Dean Hayne's final appearance closed the fourth season of the
Salt Lake Theatre, counting the opening one which only lasted from
March 8th, '62, to the end of April, about eight weeks, the Irwin
season of '63 and '64, the Pauncefort season of '64 and '65, and the
Julia Dean Hayne season of '65 and '66.

Up to this time the only compensation the stock company received was a pro rata dividend of the benefits given at the end of each season—no one had been put on a salary. The stars, of course, got good liberal percentages or salaries, but even the leading people of the stock company realized but a very meager compensation from the two performances that were gotten up as benefits, one for the ladies of the company and the other for the gentlemen—the two nights' receipts were aggregated and divided up among the company according to their respective merits or worth to the management. These two benefit performances alone probably aggregated twenty-five hundred dollars, which, divided up among about thirty performers, actors and musicians, did not prove satisfactory to a number of the company—more especially some of the orchestra. As a consequence, the ensuing season approaching, the salary question came to the front again very strongly, and the "management" found a well-grounded reluctance on the part of the company to enter upon a new season's work without a certain and satisfactory compensation. This feeling was even stronger among the orchestra than among the stage players, a number of them being quite outspoken in their sentiment: "No pay, no play." The principal agitator among the musicians was Mark Croxall, the brilliant young cornetist recently from England. Mark could not see the propriety or consistency of playing to help pay for the theatre. He had not been used to that kind of thing in England, and although he had been playing but a very short time as compared with the majority, both of the orchestra and the dramatic company, he vowed he would play no longer without a stipulated salary. This, of course, aroused all the others to a certain show of opposition. The leader of the orchestra, Prof. Thomas, or "Charlie," as he was affectionately called by his familiars, was probably as dissatisfied with the existing regime as Croxall or David Evans, the second violin, who was another Britisher of recent importation and quite pronounced in his views about the way the theatre should be run. Prof. Thomas was not of the stuff that kickers are made of, and could doubtless have been managed with the majority of his orchestra had it not been for the recalcitrant Croxall, and the equally pugnacious Evans. The dissatisfaction spread rapidly and alarmingly to the management, until the entire dramatic company as well as the orchestra, was in a state of semi-rebellion. All the actors and most of the musicians had other occupations, as I have stated in a former chapter, and now the number of performances and rehearsals had increased their work to such an extent they could not see how they could give satisfaction to their various employers and keep up their work at the theatre too. Some of these declared it had to be one thing or the other, the theatre now demanded the greater part of their time, and the employers had in several instances intimated that they would have to give up the theatre or be replaced in their employ by others. Mr. David McKenzie, the leading man of the company, held a clerkship in President Young's or the Church office; "Joe" Simmons, our juvenile man, and Horace Whitney, the "old man" in the company, also held clerkships in the same office; Mr. W. C. Dunbar, the Irish comedian, was a clerk in the "tithing office," so their time went on whether they were working in the "Church offices" or at the theatre; of course all their night work at the theatre was extra work, but the day time they put in at the theatre they were not docked for at the office; but with the other leading members of the company it was quite different; the hours they spent at the theatre in the day time was a positive loss to them. Phil Margetts was a blacksmith, Lindsay and Hardie were carpenters, Evans and Kelly were printers, and so on. So that several hours each day spent in rehearsal meant a heavy tax when at the end of each week they were docked for time lost, so there was a committee appointed to wait upon the managers, Clawson and Caine, and present the situation. The managers being only employees of Brigham Young and not proprietors or lessees, passed the company's grievance up to their chief. The managers saw plainly that a crisis had come, and a new departure must be made. "The President," accustomed to having things his own way, and with confidence in his influence, thought he could effect a compromise, or adjust the matter without much trouble or cost, so in pursuance of this idea a notice was posted for all the company and orchestra to assemble in the Green Room of the theatre on a certain evening to consider the question of salary. There was no tardiness on that occasion, even "Jim" Hardie, notorious for being tardy, was on time. Every employee of the theatre was there from the managers to the night-watchman. The orchestra was in full force, and the ladies of the company, even to the smallest utility, were there, all inspired with the hope of being put upon the theatre salary list. The Green Room was found to be too small to accommodate all the company, so the meeting was shifted to the stage, which afforded the necessary room. President Young called the meeting to order, and requested the company to join him in prayer. It is customary in the Mormon Church to open all meetings with prayer, even political ones where those present are all of the household of faith. Brigham offered up a fervent prayer, asking the blessing of the Almighty upon that meeting, and each and every one present, that they might all see with an eye single to the glory of God, and the building up of his Kingdom here on the earth. The prayer over, the President arose and in a brief but very adroit speech, told the object he had in view in building the theatre, the recreation and amusement of the people, thanked those who had contributed to that end, whether as actors or musicians, told them that they were missionaries as much as if they were called to go out into the world and preach the gospel, and the Lord would bless their efforts just as much if they performed their parts in the same spirit. He understood there was some dissatisfaction, however, and some of the brethren thought it was too much of a tax upon their time to continue to do this without proper compensation. He called on the brethren to state their feelings in regard to this question that he might judge what was best to do in the matter. It seemed as if the prayer and speech had almost made them forget that they had any cause or grievance to present, or it had blunted the edge of their courage. Every one was expecting to see Mark Croxall, the principal agitator, get up and make a statement in behalf of himself and the orchestra; but Mark's courage, like that of many another agitator, seemed to have sunk into his boots, when the ordeal came; he opened not his mouth. So the second violinist, David Evans, who was a shoemaker by trade and a cripple from birth, pulled himself to a standing position by the aid of his crutches and spoke to the question. He told how hard he had to work, and what a loss of time the rehearsals and plays occasioned him; being up so much at nights, he could not get up very early in the morning—and could not but lose several hours every day. Besides, he said he did not think it right and just, when the theatre was taking in such large sums of money at every performance, that those who furnished the entertainment, whether in the art of music or the drama, should be expected to continue to do it gratuitously. It was a bold, fearless, manly speech and coming from a man who was obliged to sling himself along through life on a pair of crutches, and a recent comer from the old country, it sent a thrill of astonishment through the company and fired some of the others with a spark of courage, too. Mr. Phil Margetts, the leading comedian, arose and made an explanation of his case; then a number of the other fellows followed suit. A sort of "no pay, no play" sentiment pervaded the entire company. President Young saw here an end of the old method; he discovered that a new deal would have to be made with his actors if he wanted to continue in the amusement business, so he tried an expedient. He was evidently a little irritated at Evans, the crippled shoemaker, who had presumed to take the initiative in the affair and express his views so fearlessly, inspiring the others with a little of his own courage, but Brigham did not show the lion's paw but spoke in rather a patronizing way of Brother Evans's crippled condition, and said it was right that he should have some additional pay, owing to his misfortune of being a cripple. He told Evans he could have anything he needed out of his private store; that if he would leave his flour sack there, it should be regularly filled, and whatever else was there he was welcome to what he needed of it. This savored a little too much of charity for Evans, who although badly crippled in his limbs, was by no means a weakling in his brains; and hurt a little by the President's patronizing manner, he arose and said about as follows:

"President Young, I have had my flour sack at your store for more than a month, and every time I have gone in to try and get it filled, the clerk has told me the flour was all out." Evans's unique relation of the flour sack incident injected a spark of humor into the proceedings; a suppressed titter ran through the crowd, and even Brigham, although nettled at this unexpected sally, could not repress a grim smile.

That the reader may better understand the flour sack incident it must be explained here that what little pay the actors and musicians had been receiving for their services through the benefits was not all in cash, but store orders mostly on the tithing store. The cash receipts of the theatre up to this time and indeed as late as 1870 were probably one-third of the gross receipts, the other two-thirds consisting of orders on various stores or tithing pay, which consisted of all kinds of home products—so that when the "benefits" were divided up among the company each member got about one-third of his "divvy" in cash and the other two-thirds in store orders and orders on the tithing office. Evans was the possessor of an order on Brigham Young's private store, and he felt chagrined that he had been so often with that order and failed to draw it. Flour was flour in those days, running as high at one time as twenty dollars per hundred, but the uniform church or tithing office price was six dollars per hundred, which was what the actors had to pay for it, but it was doled out very sparingly to them at times when it was commanding high prices in outside markets. With these orders they drew about all their provisions from the tithing store. Artemus Ward amused the world by telling how the Salt Lake Theatre used to take in exchange for tickets cabbage, potatoes, wheat, carrots, and even sucking pigs through the box office window. It was perhaps nearer the truth than he himself suspected, for these tithing office orders were good for all these things.

After the titter had subsided Brigham arose again, and answered Brother Evans that he was sorry he had been disappointed so, but there really had been a great scarcity of flour during the past month or so, but he would see to it in the future that he would meet no more disappointments. To Brother Phil Margetts he made an offer to come and work in his blacksmith shop (Phil was running one of his own) and then he need not lose any time; his pay would go on whether working in the shop or in the theatre. Brother Lindsay could bring his carpenter tools to the theatre and he could find plenty of work for him to fill up the time between the rehearsals. To others he made similar propositions; but these suggestions were not in harmony with the feelings of the company, who thought they had given their time to Brother Brigham long enough, and now contended with Brother Evans, that as they were furnishing the amusements for the people, it was only right that they should be paid for their services, so the result of the meeting was that the company was put on salary. Salaries ranged from $15.00 to $50.00 per week, one-third cash, the balance in store orders and tithing office pay.

CHAPTER X.

SEASON OF '66 AND '67.

The season of '66 and '67 opened on September 8th with Alonzo R. Phelps as the star attraction. Mr. Phelps opened in the character of "Damon" and made a fairly good showing, although he appeared to much greater advantage in some lighter roles, and particularly as "Crepin," the Cobbler, in "A Wonderful Woman." His engagement lasted two weeks, when the Irwins returned after an absence of over two years. They opened on September 29th, just in time to get well ready with a repertory of plays for the approaching conference. Their engagement lasted up to November 15th, when they departed for the East and Salt Lake was never favored with a visit from them afterwards. "Sel" Irwin "died young in years, not service," after very intense suffering for several years from rheumatism, which virtually made a helpless cripple of him. He died in New York in 1886, being only a little over fifty years of age. His widow, Maria Irwin, still survives, and up to a recent date was playing in a road company. Harry Rainforth, her son by her first marriage, who was a mere boy of sixteen when they played their first engagement in Salt Lake, has been for many years manager of the Pike Grand Opera House, Cincinnati, the associate and partner of "Bob" Miles. It was during this last Irwin engagement that Miss Nellie Colebrook, who later on became leading lady of the company, made her debut. Her first appearance was in the comedy of "Dominique, the Deserter." The first line she had to speak was, "Oh, I'm half dead with fear," which was literally true of Miss Colebrook on the occasion. She was shaking like an aspen leaf in a strong wind, but her nervous condition fitted the character remarkably well and the lady sailed at once into public favor. Miss Colebrook was tall and stately, with a very winning face and musical voice; she went rapidly to the front, being especially well suited to many of the leading roles. Mrs. Lydia Gibson, the leading actress of the theatre, died on January 8th, 1866, a little less than three years after her first appearance. This left a vacancy in the company difficult to fill, and afforded Miss Colebrook many excellent opportunities in leading roles, which she always filled satisfactorily, so that by the time Pauncefort returned to play his third engagement—after an absence of more than two years Miss Colebrook was doing most of the leading female roles.

After the departure of the Irwins, the stock company finished out the season without the assistance of a star, playing from November 15th until after April Conference. It was during the conference that our old friend George Pauncefort, suddenly and unexpectedly to most of us, returned from San Francisco after an absence in that metropolis of more than two years. He opened a return engagement on April 16th in "Don Caesar de Bazan." The season was virtually over after the April Conference, but notwithstanding he played to splendid business, he gave repetitions of his previous plays and won out splendidly on a production of "Arrah Na Pogue," in which he had played "Col. O'Grady" during a successful run of this play in San Francisco.

"Arrah Na Pogue" drew good houses for three or four nights, and closed the season of '66 and '67. Robert Heller got in a three nights engagement, commencing May the 20th, while the company was getting up in "Arrah Na Pogue." He was the first to introduce the mysterious second sight illusions and succeeded in bewildering and mystifying the patrons of the theatre to an unusual degree.

During the last engagement of Pauncefort most of the opposite roles to his own were assigned to Miss Colebrook, who had in the past year, since Mrs. Gibson's demise, divided honors with Miss Adams, and owing to her more stately appearance had been entrusted with many of the leading lady roles and was an established favorite. Pauncefort, who had never met her before (her debut having occurred after his departure for the coast), was much surprised and pleased to find a new and attractive leading lady in the company. He took an especial interest in her, and she was cast for all the leading roles during his engagement, beginning with "Maritana" in "Don Caesar," and including "Lady Macbeth" and "Ophelia." Pauncefort discovered that she had exceptional dramatic ability and encouraged her in every possible way; for "Miss Nellie" was not over-confident of her own abilities, and suffered keenly from nervousness or stage fright, especially on the first time in a part; and to receive encouragement and compliments from a star of Pauncefort's acknowledged luster was doubtless sweet and flattering to the lady, who as yet was all unconscious of the impression she had made on the susceptible George. "The fair Elizabeth has caught my eye, and like a new star, lights onward to my wishes." Possessed of a sweet and loveable disposition and a musical voice added to her charms of personal appearance, Miss Colebrook was a general favorite, not only with the public, but with the company. She had numerous admirers, and several rival aspirants for her affections, both in the company and out. With what surprised and ill-concealed chagrin they viewed the growing attentions of the reigning star can better be imagined than described. The princely George had enrolled himself in the list of her devotees and it was very much in evidence that he was enamored of the lady, for George had a keen eye for the beautiful, and "a free and open nature, too," most susceptible to female charms, so he entered the race with the others for the fair "Nellie's" hand. While he was considerably older than any of his competitors, being now close onto fifty, he probably had the advantage over them all in looks, being generally regarded as a handsome man, and most decidedly he had the advantage of experience, for George had been a gay Lothario. He seemed in a fair way to carry off the much-coveted prize. Notwithstanding the disparity of age, the fair "Nellie" seemed strongly attracted to the princely George. Playing "Ophelia" to his "Hamlet" and "Lady Macbeth" to his "Macbeth," and a long series of opposite characters to him, he had not failed to make a powerful impression on her, and if she had been left to herself without guidance or counsel, there is little question but what Pauncefort would have won her; but her mother had more penetration, and could see the objections which "Nellie" either did not see, or care to raise, so the chief arbitrator of the Church, President Young, was appealed to by Miss "Nellie's" mother to decide the case for them. Brigham decided very quickly and positively against an alliance between his fair leading lady and the "stock star," with a great big emphatic No. He had formed a strong prejudice against Pauncefort during his first engagement, owing to his reputed intimacy with Mrs. Bell, which was rather flaunted in the face of the community on their arrival in Salt Lake. So this ended the Pauncefort-Colebrook romance.

During this engagement, Pauncefort played in addition to his previous repertory "The Dead Heart," "Man with the Iron Mask," "Lavater," and "Arrah Na Pogue." The latter piece closed the season on June the 15th, being the fourth performance of the piece. Very soon after, Pauncefort purchased a horse and chaise, fitting himself out with gun and fishing tackle for a long jaunt. He headed for Portland, giving readings by the way—hunting and fishing by day—and evenings entertaining the towns along his route. How far he got with his one horse chaise is not exactly known, but the probability is he traded it off before he passed the Utah border line, and took the stage for Virginia City, Nevada, where he played for a short time and then drifted over to the coast, and finally got lost to view.

A dozen years later he was discovered by some American actors in Japan, keeping a roadside tea house for travelers with a set of pretty Japanese girls for waiters. He married a Japanese girl and latest reports credited him with a fine young Japanese colony of his own. A picture of himself and Japanese wife and three children in the possession of Jack Langrishe's widow at Wardner, Idaho, was shown to the writer there recently, and was a strong verification of what had been told by parties who had seen Pauncefort in Japan. George had let his beard grow and was quite a patriarchal looking man when Joseph Arthur met him there in 1880. Pauncefort died in Japan in 1893, leaving a Japanese wife and four semi-Jap children. George Pauncefort missed the greatest opportunity of his life by not joining the Mormon Church; he had all the natural endowments to make a great patriarch.

CHAPTER XI

SEASON OF '67-'68.

On the first of August, this same year, '67, C. W. Couldock made his first appearance at the Salt Lake Theatre, supported by Jack Langrishe and his company from Denver, where they had been running a stock company. It was an unfavorable time for opening, in the hottest nights of summer, but there were no resorts in those days and it was not so hard to get them into the theatre as it would be now. Langrishe had a full road company and was traveling through to Montana in his own teams, the Union Pacific Railroad not being nearer than Rawlins at that time. The company comprised Mr. Couldock and his daughter, Eliza Couldock, John S. Langrishe and Mrs. Langrishe, Richard C. White (he of Camp Floyd fame, referred to in a previous chapter). The Langrishe company played a week, then went to Virginia City, Montana. Couldock and his daughter returned later and played a long engagement as stock stars.

On the 5th of September, Amy Stone, supported by her husband, H. F. Stone, began a stock star engagement which lasted a little more than four months. Opening the regular fall season on September 5th, by the time the fall Conference came on, October 6th, the Stones had the stock company up in a very attractive repertoire of plays to present to "our country cousins" attending the Conference. Fanchon, Pearl of Savoy, "Little Barefoot," "French Spy," "Wept of the Wishton Wish," were leading favorites in the Stone repertory, and proved to be very popular, serving to keep the exchequer in a satisfactory condition. Their engagement lasted until January the 6th, 1868. Amy, if not a great actress, was at least a fascinating one. She was blessed with a superb form and an attractive face; she fairly reveled in parts where she could wear tights and display her shapely form, and it must be frankly confessed that "the folks" loved to see her in that kind of attire. She was more at home in it than in an evening dress with a bothersome train; there was a freedom of movement and a candor of expression about Amy that was positively refreshing, and we all liked her and got along with her with very little trouble. "Harry," as her husband was always called, was not a brilliant but a good, useful actor, and had a good knowledge of her plays, and could direct the staging of them. Besides, he attended to the making of engagements, and the financial end of the business, and as he was devoted to Amy, they were apparently one of the happiest couples I have ever met in the theatrical business. The Stones were a very prudent and saving couple, and by the time they had finished a four months' stock star engagement, they had a very handsome deposit in the local bank, and they left Zion feeling a very warm affection for the Saints, and so went on their way rejoicing.

On the night immediately following the close of the Stones' engagement, January 7th, Mr. James Stark opened in John Howard Payne's play of "Brutus, or the Fall of Tarquin." This was the first presentation of this play in Salt Lake. Mr. Stark made a fine impression as Brutus. He followed it in quick succession with Richelieu, Damon, Jack Cade, Alfred Evelyn in "Money." His engagement lasted two weeks and closed with the play of "Victorine, or Married for Money." Stark was a very talented tragedian of the Forrest school, and his engagement proved quite popular and successful. He went to San Francisco, and played an engagement there, and returned to New York by the Isthmus, the Overland railroad not yet being completed. Mr. Stark had a brother, Daniel Stark, a pioneer Mormon, who settled at Provo among the earliest settlers of that place. James, who had not seen him for many years, availed himself of the opportunity his Salt Lake engagement afforded him, and arranged a meeting with his "long lost brother" (?). He paid Daniel and his family a visit, and was most hospitably received and entertained. The family made much ado over him, and Daniel, like his namesake of old, "prophet-like," sought to show James the error of his ways, pointing out to him the emptiness and effervescence of dramatic fame, and the poor illusive thing that was as compared with the real joys and blessings of the Latter-Day Gospel. "Jim" accepted it all in good part, but he could not see "eye to eye" with his elder brother Daniel, but he promised to consider seriously what he had heard and bade them a loving goodbye till they could meet again. He rather expected to play a return engagement when he left here, and see the folks again, but he never returned. Stark died in New York before the close of the year 1868, in his 50th year.

After the Stark engagement, the stock company continued the season, starting off with a series of annual benefits which by this time were given the leading actors of the company in addition to salaries. January the 23rd, D. McKenzie "Benefits," playing "Huguenot Captain," with an Olio and a farce to conclude. February 4th, John S. Lindsay "Benefits" and essays Hamlet for the first time. The farce that followed Hamlet was "Boots at the Swan;" think of it, "ye modern school actors." A five-act play and a farce, this meant being in the theatre from seven o'clock till midnight, but the people stayed to see it all, and many of them would have stayed till morning, if we could have kept on playing pieces for them. J. M. Hardie "Benefits" with "Jack Cade," Miss Colebrook with "Leah," etc., and so the season ran along without a star from January 23rd till April the 23rd, when the company was stiffened up again by the accession of Mr. and Mrs. George B. Waldron, who played up till May 16th. On May the 19th, Madam Scheller opened in "Pearl of Savoy," gave us "Pauline" in "Lady of Lyons," "Enoch Arden," "Lorlie," "The Phantom" and "Hamlet." Madam Scheller was Edwin Booth's "Ophelia" during the one hundred nights' run of Hamlet at Winter Garden Theatre, in New York.

Very naturally the Salt Lakers conversant with the facts were anxious to see her in "Ophelia," so Lindsay who had recently played "Hamlet" for his "benefit," was admonished to prepare himself for another go at the melancholy Dane with the new "Ophelia;" and in due time we had the novelty of Scheller's "Ophelia." She was irresistibly charming in it, in spite of her German accent, which in moments of unusual excitement was quite pronounced. Madam Scheller proved to be a pleasing and accomplished actress and filled a long engagement at the Salt Lake Theatre. She was accompanied by her husband, Mr. Methua, who was a skillful scenic artist, and put in a lot of new scenes for the theatre during his wife's engagement. Here was a model couple, courteous and refined; they left many warm friends in Salt Lake at their departure, whose best wishes for their success went with them. Unhappy to relate, this worthy and respected pair died of yellow fever during the deadly siege of that disease at Memphis in 1878. "United in life, in death they were not separated."

On January 9th, after playing three weeks Madam Scheller was rested for a week to give an opening to Charlotte Crampton. Crampton was a genius and in her younger years had astonished the dramatic world by her histrionic gymnastics. She affected the male characters almost exclusively—"Hamlet," "Richard III," "Shylock," "Don Caesar," and in "Lady Macbeth" and "Meg Merrilles" she rivaled the great Charlotte Cushman. The writer remembers seeing her when a boy at the old Bates's Theatre, St. Louis, which was her home. She was erratic as a comet, and her eccentricities were the town's talk. How often she was married this deponent saith not, but remembers that at the time he saw her playing in St. Louis in 1857, she was the wife of a Mr. Istenour. When she appeared here in Salt Lake City in 1868, she was far past the meridian of life and was accompanied by her husband, "Mr. Cook," young enough to be her son. The novelty of a woman essaying those characters was a strong one, and served to draw out good houses. She played "Hamlet," "Shylock," "Richard III," and "Don Caesar," which with two repeats, filled up her week.

Crampton was a woman rather below the medium height, and looked insignificant dressed up for those male characters, but when she got animated she made you forget her size, and at times she seemed to fill not only the center of the stage but the entire stage. She had passed the zenith of her fame some years before she made this trip to the coast. She bore all the evidences of an erratic life and premature age; her sun had nearly set when she played with us here; and after her departure for the East, we heard but little of her. Charlotte Crampton's engagement was like the flashing of a meteor across the dramatic firmament. Like the elder Booth, she was notorious for her eccentricities, and in genius was akin to him. "How close to madness great wits are allied."

After the passing of this meteor, the steady star, Madam Scheller, resumed her reign, reappearing as "Laura Courtland" in "Under the Gas Light." This was the first production of this play in Salt Lake City, and it had an unprecedented run, going for an unbroken week to full houses. As an index to the personnel of the company at this time, June 16th, 1868, we append the cast of "Under the Gas Light."

"UNDER THE GAS LIGHT."

    Ray Trafford ………………………. John S. Lindsay
    De Milt ………………………………. Mark Wilton
    Wilton ………………………………. Bert Merrill
    Byke ……………………………….. Phil Margetts
    Joe Snorkey ………………………… David McKenzie
    Bermudas …………………………… John C. Graham
    Peanuts …………………………….. Johnny Matson
    Station Man …………………………… Mark Wilton
    Police Judge …………………………. J. M. Hardie
    O'Rafferty ………………………….. John E. Evans
    Martin ……………………………… John B. Kelly
    Police Patrol ……………………… Richard Mathews
    Laura Courtland …………………….. Madam Scheller
    Pearl Courtland …………………… Miss Annie Adams
    Mrs. Van Dam ……………………… Nellie Colebrook
    Sue Earlie ………………………….. Alice Clawson
    Peachblossom …………………… Miss Sara Alexander
    Judas ………………………….. Mrs. M. A. Clawson

Summer heat had but little affect on the business of the Salt Lake Theatre in those days of which I am writing. Madam Scheller played from May 10th to August 1st, excepting the one week allotted to Charlotte Crampton, all through the hot nights of June and July and there was no perceptible or serious diminution in the attendance. This can only be accounted for in the fact that there were no resorts in those days, and the theatre was the coolest place in the city. We naturally looked for and expected a rest through August after the long season we had put in, but there was no respite. On the 4th of August, Annette Ince opened in "Julia" in the "Hunchback" and gave in rapid succession "Evadne," "Medea," "Ion," "Mary Stuart," "Elizabeth," "As You Like It," "Camille," and other pieces filling a three weeks' engagement. She was followed by E. L. Davenport, who opened on August the 27th in "Richelieu," supported by Annette Ince as "Julia de Mauprat," and the full strength of the company. Mr. Davenport gave us his "Richelieu," "Julian St. Pierre," in "The Wife," "Hamlet," "William" in "Black-Eyed Susan," "Rover" in "Wild Oats" and "Sir Giles Overreach" in "A New Way to Pay Old Debts." Mrs. Davenport (Fanny Vining) appeared in conjunction with Mr. Davenport in this engagement, playing the "Queen" in "Hamlet" and kindred parts, and with Miss Ince in the leading female roles, Mr. Davenport had a supporting company in every way worthy of him. His engagement was a memorable one, as Mr. Davenport was thought by many to be our greatest American actor. He was certainly a worthy rival of Edwin Booth and had he, like that actor, confined his brilliant talents to the great Shakespearian roles, he would undoubtedly have made a greater name for himself, but he was too versatile and he scattered his efforts on the "Williams" and "Rovers" and the other trifles that he should have dropped as he advanced in years and concentrated his efforts on a repertory of his greatest characters only. When he played this Salt Lake engagement he had declined into "the vale of years." As Hamlet, he looked older than the "Queen" but he possessed all the fire and animation necessary; as "St. Pierre" in the "Wife," he was at his best, and fairly lifted the audience into enthusiastic demonstrations of applause. It was not long after this that Davenport was pitted against the English tragedian Barry Sullivan in New York. An exceedingly interesting and able criticism and comparison of these two great actors appeared in Wilke's "Spirit of the Times," headed "The Two Rossi." This was Davenport's last memorable engagement. He was already an old man and failing fast. He died in 1871.

    "Ay, but to die and go, we know not where, to lie in cold
      obstruction and to rot,
    This sensible warm motion to become a kneaded clod,
    And the delighted spirit to bathe in fiery floods,
    Or to reside in chilling regions of thick ribbed ice,
    To be imprisoned in the viewless winds,
    And blown with restless violence about the pendant world.
    'Tis too horrible! The weariest and most loathed worldly life,
    That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment can lay on nature,
    Is paradise to what we fear of death."

It will be observed that there was no summer vacation this year of 1868. The Davenport engagement carried us into September, the time for opening the season of '68 and '69. Miss Ince's engagement following the Davenports was really the beginning of the season '68 and '69.

CHAPTER XII.

SEASON OF '68 AND '69.

Davenport's engagement ended, Miss Ince resumed and played from September the 5th to the 17th, then departed for the Golden Shores of the Pacific. Now again, after this brilliant succession of stars, the stock company was left to its own unaided efforts, and from September the 17th to November the 26th they kept the wheel turning with a steady stream of stock pieces, and the old mill grinds, and the box office does business and the actors get their salaries. "Stars may come and stars may go, but the stock keeps on for aye." This was a good long stretch of stock work from September the 17th, through the October Conference and away to nearly the end of November, ten weeks of it; broken only by a rest of three nights, when Perepa Rosa gave us a series of Operatic Concerts, November the 14th, 15th and 16th. Salt Lake even then had a great love of music and turned out large audiences to hear the famous prima donna and her talented support, including her husband, the brilliant violinist and conductor, Carl Rosa.

Now we arrive at another important event in our theatre's history, the first engagement of John McCullough. For several years Lawrence Barrett and John McCullough had been the lessees and managers of the old California Theatre in San Francisco, and in spite of Barrett's known sagacity as a manager and notwithstanding the succession of brilliant stars presented at the California and the magnificent stock company kept to support them, the venture was not a financial success, and Barrett and McCullough were forced to succumb. Then it was that McCullough began his career as a star; what reputation he had made up to this time was as Edwin Forrest's leading man. "Larry" Barrett had "starred" some in the character of Elliott Gray in "Rosedale," now they were both out of a job and looking for engagement. Barrett went East and resumed his starring in "Rosedale" and gradually drifted into the Shakespearian roles. McCullough went to Virginia City, Nevada, with a picked-up company, and played his first star engagement. They took to the "genial" John very kindly there, and worked him him up a rousing big benefit; those were the palmy days of the Comstock and everybody had money, actors were at a premium in the camp and the old theatre was packed at every performance. The "Benefit" netted McCullough over two thousand dollars and "John" was glad he was an actor. He knew we had a fine theatre and a good company in Salt Lake, so he made arrangements to come and play with us a spell. On November the 26th, he opened in "Damon" and followed it in quick succession (playing nightly) with "Richelieu," "Hamlet," "Othello," "Shylock," Volage in "Marble Heart," "Richard III," "Robbers," "Macbeth," "Brutus," "Romeo and Juliet," etc., etc.

This was a very notable engagement, in more ways than one. It was notable for its length, covering a stretch of twenty-three nights; likewise for its strength, as George B. Waldron and Madam Scheller, who had both returned from a Montana tour, were added to the company to stiffen the cast—here we had really three stars and a strong, capable, self-sustaining stock company in the cast of all the plays during McCullough's first Salt Lake engagement, which lasted three weeks, terminating on September 17th. Again the stock company was left to its own strength and resources and even after this brilliant trio of dramatic artists, McCullough, Scheller and Waldron dropped away from us, the managers, with never-failing confidence and temerity, put forward the stock once more to plough through the billowy Christmas time, past the new year and on to February 10th, when we welcomed another acquisition to the ranks in the person of Miss Annie Lockhart.

Miss Lockhart was an English lady of liberal education, refined and cultured; and although she had not posed as a "star actress," she had an extended and varied experience on the stage. She had been for several years in Australia in the stock companies of Melbourne and Sidney, where she had met, loved and married an actor by the name of Harry Jackson. Harry was a talented character man, but the flowing bowl was his weakness and Annie in time wearied of his indiscretions and indulgences, "shook him off to beggarly divorcement," left him in San Francisco and came to Salt Lake in quest of an engagement. She must have made a very favorable impression on the managers, for they put her in as stock "star" up to March 1st, and she continued a member of the company up to her fatal illness in the following November. Annie Lockhart was at this time about thirty-two years of age, a woman of comely appearance and gentle mien, and if not great like Julia Dean, Annette Ince, or Charlotte Crampton, was always pleasing and satisfactory. She delighted in such characters as "Matida" in "Led Astray," the dual role in "Two Loves and a Life," "Janet Pride," "Peg Woffington" and kindred light comedy characters. Miss Lockhart was a very tasteful dresser; she always made a good appearance in her part. During her long stay with the stock company a number of stars appeared. The first after her engagement was James A. Herne, who opened on March 1st, 1869, in "Rip Van Winkle." Herne's "Rip" made a great hit and had an extraordinary run of five nights. Herne played ten nights doing "Solon Shingle," "Captain Cuttle," and some other characters. Then he was joined by Lucille Western who appeared as the leading stellar attraction supported by Herne and the stock company. Miss Western opened in her original character of "Lady Isabel" in "East Lynne." It was undoubtedly a great performance of the character, but the recollection of Julia Dean Hayne in the part was still fresh in the public mind, and she had made such a powerful impression in this character that Lucille Western was compared with her only to her disadvantage, notwithstanding she was the original "Lady Isabel." We had now in rapid succession Western's entire repertory which included "The Child Stealer," "Green Bushes," "Oliver Twist," "Flowers of the Forest," "Don Caesar de Bazan" (with Western as the Don), and "Foul Play." Miss Western's engagement proceeded smoothly and drew large audiences. One of the Herne-Western performances created a genuine sensation in Salt Lake. It was "Oliver Twist." In the scene where Bill Sykes (Herne) kills Nancy (Miss Western), both Herne and Miss Western sought to make the murder as realistic and blood curdling as possible. The murder is done off the stage in a room on the left; Sykes is supposed to beat Nancy to death with his ugly stick which he carries through the play. To carry out the realism of the beating a pad was made of a number of wet towels; these Herne struck with a piece of board, making a sickening thud which Lucille accompanied with a scream, each one growing fainter, until it became a groan, then Bill steals across the stage and off at an outer door and Nancy, almost dead, drags herself on till she gets to the centre of the stage, her face completely hidden by her dishevelled hair when she gets to position centre she turns her face which has been covered from the audience, throws her hair back and reveals her face covered with stage gore. On this occasion the picture was so revolting that several women in the audience fainted—everybody was shocked. The actress had made it as revolting as possible, thinking to make a sensation. She succeeded, but had she been a woman of finer feelings, instead of seeking to make the picture as horrible and repulsive as she could she would have studied how to make it effective without being repulsive. President Young was very angry over it. The picture was very abhorrent; there is no knowing what the physiological results were; it was rumored afterwards that a number of children were birthmarked as the result of it. The President gave orders that the piece should not be played again and sent messengers all over the city to tell the people not to go and see it if it was put on again. Of course the managers withdrew it in deference to his wish, but there is no doubt the house would have been crowded had it been repeated, for the prohibition only aroused a greater curiosity to see it; forbidden fruit, you know, is generally most hankered after. The play has been done here several times since President Young's death, but never in such a shocking manner.

On the night of the "Benefit" Lucille chose to show us what she looked like in male attire, so she put up "Don Caesar" and appeared in the role of the ragged cavalier. Before the play was over it was very apparent that Lucille had been indulging in the ardent, but she managed to get through without materially marring the play. The next night, however, was Charles Reade's "Foul Play." This piece was entirely new to the company, never having been done in the theatre before, so that the stock company was hard pushed with study to get their lines, but with their accustomed industry and regularity they were all au fait on this first occasion, and the play might have scored a genuine success if the "star" had done her part towards it; but she repeated her indulgence of the night before and to such a degree that by the opening of the fourth act she was in a very sorry plight. This act is on an uninhabited island; there has been a shipwreck and the hero and heroine have been washed or driven or blown onto this island and with a few of the ship's crew are the only survivors. As the act opens Robert Penfold (Lindsay) and Helen Rolleston (Miss Western) are discovered on a high cliff looking for a sail. The few survivors of the crew have gone in search of fresh water and something to eat, and the two leading characters have the entire act between them until the finale when a rescuing party arrives with a boat. Here was a dilemma; never was a stage lover placed in a more embarrassing position. It was quite apparent to him as they ascended to the cliff before the rise of the curtain that the stalwart Lucille was not in proper condition for climbing cliffs, more particularly stage cliffs, which are generally pretty shaky affairs, and the probability of a sudden and unlocked for descent was anything but a pleasing prospect to Mr. Lindsay. To still further embarrass him he discovered that Lucille's tongue was decidedly thick, in fact she could scarcely articulate. The curtain should never have gone up; it would have saved the management, the actors, and particularly Miss Western, a vast amount of humiliation; Miss Western should have been suddenly ill; or an announcement made to that effect and the audience dismissed and their money refunded if necessary; they should have been spared the agony of witnessing a really great artiste rendered imbecile and helpless by an uncontrollable appetite for liquor. But the curtain did go up and down went Lucille. At the very first step she made to descend she staggered, and in spite of all that her stage lover could do to steady her she made a sudden unsteady descent and landed in a kneeling position on the stage. Oh! the agony of that moment! With assistance she staggered to her feet, and now as she attempted to speak her first speech in the act, a new terror seized me. Her words were thick and inarticulate—not heard at all by the majority of the audience, who now began to realize the true condition. It was evident to everybody on the stage that she could never get through the act, and so the stage manager, after another abortive attempt on her part to say her lines, sent on the boat with the rescue party and the finale of the act was reached. Never was such a scene between a pair of stage lovers so horribly mutilated as this; never was an act so fearfully and unintelligibly abbreviated as this one, and never did a rescue party arrive more opportunely. It plucked the "star" from immediate disgrace, an embarrassed actor from despair. It was no wonder the audience remained for the last act, for they had before the end of the fourth act divined the true state of affairs and they stayed, curious to see how it would or could end. The last act was a court room scene and the star had to sit on the witness stand. She did not make a very intelligent witness but sat there with a bright green silk gown, with a face flushed to redness, and looking the picture of helplessness. How we got through that act, I don't think anyone engaged in it could have told, but with the prompter's assistance reading most of Miss Western's lines, we blundered through and the final drop came on the most inglorious and trying performance I ever had part in.

The manager promptly cancelled Miss Western's engagement, although she had one more night to play. The following night "Arrah Na Pogue" was put up with Mr. Herne in the part of "Shaun the Post," but as if the fates had decreed that this Herne-Western engagement should end disgracefully, if not disastrously, this last night went on record as losing one for the managers and a discreditable one to the solitary remaining star. Owing to the fiasco of the night before, a rather slender audience was in attendance to witness Mr. Herne's last appearance. Whether this fact had to do with the sudden indisposition and collapse of Mr. Herne on this occasion, there is no means of knowing, but the writer has ever been of the opinion that it was the very perceptible falling away of the patronage and his chagrin and vexation over Miss Western's conduct of the night before that wrought upon the actor's nervous system to such a degree that he declared himself unable to appear. The writer's dressing room was so situated that he could not hear what was transpiring on the stage. When the curtain time arrived and I came down to the stage all made up for "Michael Feeney," to my great surprise I was informed there was to be no performance; the audience had been dismissed owing to the sudden illness of Mr. Herne. Herne was seated on the big curtain roller and a number of the company around him, offering sympathy and assistance to the disabled star who appeared to be in great agony. I returned hastily to my dressing room and divested myself of Michael Feeney's habiliments, and resuming my own attire, was soon back to Mr. Herne's side and proffered my assistance to help him to his hotel. In the meantime a doctor, who kept his office a few doors west of the theatre, had been called in and he requested us to bring Herne to his office. There were few hacks or gurney cabs in those days, and so with the assistance of Mr. Hardie and myself, Mr. Herne managed with difficulty to reach the doctor's office. This doctor was one of the old school of practitioners and like Felix Callighan, in "His Last Legs," he proceeded to "cup" or bleed the patient. After he had relieved Herne of a quart or so of superfluous blood, he bandaged the cupping; gave the patient a dose of regulation stimulant and directed the patient to be taken to his hotel and placed comfortably in bed. It was a quarter of a mile to the White House and there was not a hack or vehicle of any kind available, so Hardie and I formed a seat for the sick actor by locking our hands together and getting the patient's hands over our shoulders, we carried him to the White House. By the time we got him up a long flight of stairs to his room, we were tired and winded, although Margetts and McKenzie, who had accompanied us, took turns at the carrying business. Scarcely had we got the sick actor in bed before a knock at the door (a sort of frightened knock) was heard, and as we said "come in" the door opened and Miss Western, clad in her night gown, with a shawl around her, timidly entered and inquired with great anxiety what the matter was. On being informed that Mr. Herne had been taken so ill that the audience had to be dismissed, and he carried home to his room, she became hysterical. Bursting into tears she exclaimed, piteously, "Oh, my God! This is awful! Oh, Jimmie!" addressing herself passionately to Herne. "I wish we were home with mother!" She evidently had not fully recovered from her carousal of the night before, and in her half stupid, half hysterical condition, moaned and prayed as if some terrible calamity had befallen her. Herne rapidly recovered from his illness and the co-stars left Salt Lake. Lucille never returned, but Herne came back early in 1874 and hovered between Salt Lake and Ogden for a long time, and finally drifted to San Francisco, where he became the stage manager of the Bush Street and afterward of the Baldwin theatre when Tom Maguire, "The Napoleon" of the Pacific coast, as he was called at the time, opened that popular theatre. That was before any of the Eastern managers had invaded San Francisco.

The Herne-Western engagement closed on April 17th and was closely followed by Fannie Morgan Phelps, who played from April 20th to May 20th, appearing in a new line of plays for the diversion of the stock company as well as the public. She opened in "Meg's Diversion," and proved to be a prime favorite. "The Deal Boatman," "Black Eyed Susan," she seemed to have a partiality for nautical pieces and succeeded in making the seashore heroines very attractive. Fanny stayed four weeks with us, then went to Montana. She never paid us a second visit although Salt Lake treated her very handsomely in the way of patronage. Mrs. Phelps was a widow; her husband, Ralph Phelps, a popular actor, was killed by a blow from a tackle block on board of the steamer coming from Australia.

Our next stellar attraction was Charles Wheatleigh, who opened on May 20th in "Sam," supported by Annie Lockhart and the stock company. Wheatleigh gave nine performances, the pieces presented being "Sam," "Lottery of Life," "Arrah Na Pogue," "After Dark," and "Under the Gaslight." Charley Wheatleigh was rather a brilliant comedian. His plays proved very popular and he played a memorable engagement.

The next engagement was one that eased the labors of the stock company, giving most of us a rest. It was the Howson Opera company. It was quite a family affair. The company consisted of Pere Howson, Mere Howson, John Howson, Frank Howson, Clelia Howson, and Fannie Howson. They were a very talented musical family and played light opera very well indeed. They opened in the "Grand Duchess," their cast being filled up with members of the stock company who could sing. They played from January 1st to the 20th, each opera being played twice or three times. The Howsons were well liked and made many friends, both in and out of the theatre.

Prof. Hartz, a magician, followed the Howson engagement, holding the stage from January 21st to the 26th.

On June 28th, 1869, George D. Chaplin made his first appearance at this theatre in "Hamlet," playing thirteen performances, closing July 10th in "Armadale." Chaplin made a very favorable impression and later played a longer engagement. He had been leading man for Ben DeBar in St. Louis, and was a versatile actor, fond of playing "Hamlet" and "Macbeth," in which, if not great, he was always pleasing. Then, as if to prove his versatility, he would put on a burlesque called "The Seven Sisters," and appear as the principal sister. George had a handsome face, and a very plump physique, and made up for a woman, he was a study.

On July 12th, Lotta opened in "Little Nell," and played during the week "Captain Charlotte," "Firefly," and "Topsy" in "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

George Chaplin resumed on July 10th, opening in the burlesque of "The
Seven Sisters" and filled out a week with "Ten Nights in a Barroom,"
"Money," and the burlesque of "Pocahontas," in which he played
"Powhattan" very cleverly.

July 26th, Kennedy's Scottish Entertainment held the boards, and on the 28th a new star was ushered in that gave the stock company more work, just as we were expecting a brief summer vacation—Geraldine Warden. She played four nights and a matinee. This engagement closed the season as far as the stock company was concerned. It was now July 31st and the company had the month of August in which to rest from study and rehearsals, for the fall season would open early in September.

The theatre was not entirely closed, however, in August. On the 18th of that month, Murphy and Mack's minstrels opened and continued until the 28th giving eleven performances. This was Joe Murphy's first visit to Salt Lake, when he was a black face artist, and before he had dreamed of becoming an Irish comedian. The fact of this company giving eleven performances in the theatre in August shows how very popular they were, and how Salt Lake liked minstrelsy.

CHAPTER XIII.

SEASON OF '69-70.

The season of '69 and '70 opened auspiciously on September 4th with the now recuperated stock company in a new play. "The Captain of the Vulture" was played one week and another new star dawned on the horizon. September 13th Mr. Neil Warner was the star attraction. Warner was an English actor and had been in the supporting company of the late lamented Gustavus Brooke, who gave promise of becoming England's greatest tragedian, but whose already resplendent career was unfortunately cut short by the loss of the steamship London. Brooke was making a second visit to Melbourne and Sidney in '66, where he had achieved a remarkable triumph a year before, but alas! for the irony of fate, he was doomed to be cut off in the very unfolding of the most brilliant talents the English stage had yet seen. The unfortunate London went down in the Bay of Biscay and some two hundred souls perished in the wreck and among them the brilliant Gustavus Brooke. A friend of the writer, now in this city (Salt Lake), Mr. Jack Cooey, had a brother who was one of the very few survivors of that ill-fated ship, there being but sixteen in all. So America never got to see Brooke, who was regarded by his countrymen generally as the greatest of all their tragic actors.

Neil Warner was said to be a copyist of Brooke; undoubtedly he had played with him, and learned much from him, and if not as great as his acknowledged tutor, Warner was not unworthy to be called great. He had a splendid physique and a magnificent voice, which he could use with magnetic effect. Its transitions were at times marvelous and in this writer's opinion, he was the superior of all our American tragedians, with the exception of Davenport, whom he very much resembled both in the majesty of his presence and in mental superiority. Warner opened in "Richard III" and made a most decided hit in the character, notwithstanding he had several notable predecessors in the part, notably McCullough and Stark. He played twenty-four performances, embracing a wide range of legitimate plays—"Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Richelieu," and his "Macbeth" was the greatest of all his fine performances. He went to New York from here and we quite expected to hear great things about him, but for some cause or other he never played a stellar engagement in New York, and the following year the writer, much to his astonishment and disappointment, saw him playing a second heavy part in support of Charles Wyndham the English comedian at a theatre in Brooklyn. Warner did not make a go in New York, and drifted over to Montreal, Canada, where he stayed for many years; but a few years ago he toured California in connection with a rising young actress of that state, in a round of his favorite characters. Annie Lockhart played the leading female characters in all Warner's performances here. They had known each other in Australia, and there seemed to be a very warm friendship between them and it was certain that Annie was an ardent admirer of her talented countryman, and some of us rather feared she would go with him when he took his departure from Salt Lake; but something occurred between them that must have angered him, for a day or two before his engagement closed, he spoke to Miss Lockhart at a rehearsal in words and tones so heartless and insulting that the company were amazed at him, and poor Annie sought the seclusion of her dressing room to have a good cry. Conjecture was rife and pointed to a rival in the lady's affections as the cause of his tirade. Warner departed, leaving Annie with us, very much to the gratification of the company and public, but it was not for long; poor Annie Lockhart had received a wound from which she never recovered. She only lived five weeks after this and the cause of her sudden decline and death was more or less of a mystery, for up to this time she was a hale, hearty woman, in the very prime of life. She was laid away tenderly by loving hands and hearts, whom she had never known until eight months before, but whom she had endeared to her by her sweet, womanly ways. Many a tear was shed and genuine sorrow was felt when Annie Lockhart was laid away in Olivet.

The night after Warner's engagement closed, Sunday, October 12th,
Stephen Massett lectured.

October 13th, Madam Scheller opened her second engagement, playing six nights, and gave "Roll of the Drum," "Child of the Regiment," "Enoch Arden," etc. The theatre closed from the 18th to the 23rd on account of the Militia Muster. The Nauvoo Legion, as the Territorial troops were called, had a big encampment on the banks of the Jordan river and of such importance was it that the theatre had to close, as every able bodied man was expected to drill and all the women and children, of course, had to go and see them. The late George Q. Cannon and other high church dignitaries fell into the ranks on this occasion and carried muskets, whether from the love of exercise or a keen love of duty, or for the effect of example, this deponent saith not. Nearly all the dramatic company were in the big drill, so, of course, there could be no theatres until it was over. It was intended to be a great demonstration, and it was; almost every Mormon man was in the ranks. The theatre resumed business with the rest of the town, Saturday the 23rd inst., when one of Madam Scheller's pieces was repeated. This was Madam Scheller's last appearance at this theatre. She and her husband, Methua Scheller, went East from here, and died in Memphis in 1878, during the yellow fever contagion of that dread disease.

On October 25th, the Stones, Amy and Harry, opened up a return
engagement in "French Spy." They played twelve nights, giving
"Fanchon," and "Little Barefoot," etc. Their engagement closed
November 6th, after a very satisfactory engagement.

On the 8th the stock company resumed, and played "Waiting for the Verdict." Annie Lockhart, who had rested during the Stones' engagement, resumed and was playing the leading female character in this play when she was taken very ill. With the aid of kind attention she got through the night's work, but she went home so ill that she took to her bed, and on the 18th of November, died. Three days previous to her death, on the 15th of November, John Wilson and Kate Denin were ushered in as stock stars, and continued until January 5th, 1870, when they withdrew for a week to give place to Charlotte Thompson, who played a six nights' engagement, playing "Julia" in the "Hunchback," "Leah, the Forsaken," "Sea of Ice," and "Court and Stage." Miss Thompson was a pretty woman and a pleasing actress—a favorite in the South where she belonged.

From the 14th to the 24th, the stock company held down the business without stellar assistance, when Kate Denin and John Wilson returned and played another engagement. As stock stars they remained until February 14th. Then came another siege of stock work without any star, broken intermittently by lectures and concerts. Ole Bull gave concerts March 8th and 9th; Alf Barnett's entertainment, March 22nd and 23rd; Satsuma's Japanese troupe from March 25th to 30th. These attractions, of course, gave the company some respite from their arduous studies, but it was only brief, and we were already rehearsing for the ensuing conference dates. So the stock company resumed their labors and played all through April and up to May 16th when the season of '69 and '70 closed.

CHAPTER XIV.

SEASON OF '70-'71.

The theatre did not reopen until August the 27th when the season of '70 and '71 was ushered in with a "Benefit" to Miss Colebrook. This was really the first summer the theatre had remained closed and given the company a needed rest. The stock company played one week only when the veteran tragedian, T. A. Lyne, began an engagement which ran from September the 3rd to the 20th. This was Lyne's fourth engagement since the opening of the theatre, and it proved what a remarkable hold he had upon our theatre goers when he repeated his well known and well worn repertoire to splendid business. As there was no other star in the dramatic firmament when Lyne's engagement expired, the stock company was put on its own resources once again and continued successfully up to the 10th of December, when the monotony was in some measure broken by the accession to the company of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Langrishe, and the following week C. W. Couldock and his daughter, Eliza, floated the stellar flag for the third time, repeating a portion of their old repertoire. They played from the 26th to the 31st. Mr. Couldock went East, leaving Eliza (who was in poor health) here to recuperate. They were succeeded by George W. Thompson and Sallie Hinckley, who played a week's engagement, presenting "Man and Wife" and the "Persecuted Dutchman," filling dates January 2nd to the 7th, of 1871. The stock company then played along again until February 13th, when McKee Rankin, Kitty Blanchard and W. H. Power opened a stellar engagement, playing two weeks to February 25th. Everywhere else the Rankins were playing "The Danites," but owing to the odious light in which that play presented the Mormon leaders, they did not dare to produce it at the Salt Lake Theatre. Of course the managers would not consent, and the great wonder is that Rankin could secure dates at all at Brigham Young's theatre while he was starring through the country in a play so well calculated to stir up prejudice against the Mormons. "The Danites" had to be eliminated while the Rankins fell back onto some old plays in which the stock company was up in. "Rip Van Winkle," "Little Barefoot," and "Colleen Bawn" were given.

It may be of interest to note the fact here that "The Danites" has never been played in Salt Lake or anywhere in Utah.

About this time George B. Waldron turned up again in Salt Lake, and was installed as leading man to strengthen the company and ease somewhat the labors of David McKenzie.

Rose Evans, a lady who was enamoured of "Hamlet," and made a specialty of playing it, was introduced to Salt Lake soon after Waldron's accession to the company, and we had during her engagement which ran through the April conference, "Hamlet," "Twixt Axe and Crown," "Ingomar;" Miss Evans as "Parthenia" and Waldron as "Ingomar;" "Lady Audrey's Secret," "Romeo and Juliet;" Waldron as "Romeo." Rose Evans established herself very strongly in the favor of the Salt Lake theatre goers. Her "Hamlet" was liked, and she played it intelligently and perhaps as well as a woman could play it, but no woman can ever play "Hamlet" satisfactorily to the critical mind; and very few men out of the thousands of actors ever reach and handle it satisfactorily. Her "Juliet" was very acceptable, but Waldron's voice was' too basso profundo for "Romeo." It was hard to imagine him as the youthful love-distraught Romeo with his deep set vocal organ.

Miss Evans closed on April 8th and was closely followed by Mlle. Marie Ravel, who opened on the 10th, supported by Waldron and the stock company and played an engagement of twenty nights. On May 4th Herr Daniel E. Bandmann and his wife (his first one) opened an engagement of five nights, presenting "Macbeth," "Hamlet," "Merchant of Venice," "Narcisse," and "Richard III." Bandmann, at this time, was a very popular tragedian. He had played as early as '65 in San Francisco a very successful engagement. He was now returning from his second visit to San Francisco. He spoke with a decided German accent, which was, however, not disagreeable to the ear, his voice being musical and his reading very artistic and finished. Bandmann bought a ranch near Missoula, Montana, some ten or twelve years ago and went into semi-retirement. He had a curious advertisement in the Dramatic Mirror, about as follows: "Daniel E. Bandmann, Tragedian and breeder of fine horses and cattle." He also bred a large family of children on that same ranch. When he went into retirement he took with him his latest "leading lady," Mary Kelly, as his wife, and they have a number of heirs to succeed to the tragedy and breeding business. His first wife, Millie Palmer, still figures in London theatricals, and she has a son who is conspicuous in theatrical management. Herr Bandmann still makes spasmodic incursions into the surrounding country with an improvised dramatic company and plays his favorite characters.

The next star to shine in our firmament was J. K. Emmett. "Joe," as he was familiarly called, was just at the zenith of his fame about this time, and he filled the theatre from pit to dome. The character of "Fritz" appealed strongly to nearly all theatre goers, and "Joe" Emmett with his bewitching voice and catchy lullabies, had an easy road to fame and fortune. Emmett played from the 10th to the 13th.

The Couldocks, father and daughter, now played a return engagement, covering two weeks, from May 22nd to June 5th, repeating mostly old repertoire. They were followed closely by Mr. and Mrs. Ida Hernandez, a Polish couple, who came to this country with Madam Modjeska, and were now working their way to the East. They were clever performers, but being unknown, they did not draw heavy houses. June 8th to the 11th.

The Lingards followed Hernandez in a brief engagement of three nights, June 12th to 14th. The following week was filled in by the Hernandez and the Carter-Cogswell contingent of the Salt Lake stock company. J. M. Carter and his wife, Carrie Carter (nee Lyne-Cogswell) had recently arrived from Denver and had been added to the stock company, which had been weakened materially by the loss of several of its prominent members. Hardie had gone to the Virginia City theatre; Lindsay had gone on a visit to England and had withdrawn from the company for a time; Miss Alexander had also drifted away to the East, so that when the Carters arrived and sought engagement, the managers readily availed themselves of their services. They played here for a few weeks and at the close of the season went on to California.

On July 3rd, Edwin Adams made his first appearance at this theatre. He opened in the character of "Rover" in "Wild Oats" and played in addition, "Extremes," "Enoch Arden," and "William" in "Black Eyed Susan." Mr. Adams filled out a week with great satisfaction to our theatre goers, the managers, and the company, and with very satisfactory financial results to himself. He was a gratification to both eyes and ears a brilliant actor with a melodious voice, and in appearance the ideal actor.

The following week John McCullough, who had with him Helen Tracy as a leading female support, played a notable engagement, rendered more so by the fact that Edwin Adams was retained to appear in conjunction with Mr. McCullough. They gave "Damon and Pythias," with McCullough as "Damon" and Adams as "Pythias," and notwithstanding McCullough made an excellent "Damon," so convincing was Adams as "Pythias," that the critical Salt Lakers declared it was "Pythias" and "Damon" on that occasion, putting the brilliant Adams ahead of McCullough in their admiration. Adams played "Iago" to McCullough's "Othello" and even strengthened the favorable opinion of him. For their closing performance together, "Hamlet" was given with Adams as the Prince and McCullough as the King. Miss Helen Tracy lent some lustre to the triple alliance and this engagement is remembered as one of the most notable ever given in the now historic theatre.

Just how it chanced that McCullough and Adams got dates so close together, the one immediately succeeding the other, I have forgotten, but as Adams was going to the Pacific coast and McCullough and Miss Tracy were going East, I presume that their meeting here was purely accidental.

They were very glad to see each other, "John" and "Ned," and decided to have a good time while they were together; to that end Adams, who was in no great hurry to get to San Francisco, decided to stay over during McCullough's engagement and play in some of his pieces with him, which he did as stated above. The combination was a strong one, and no doubt helped McCullough's engagement, as this was his second visit; but the primary object of the combination was evidently to have a good time. We had an actors' club here at that early day which must not be forgotten.

On January 16th preceding, Milton Nobles played the "Marble Heart," appearing as Raphael. Nobles was then a young actor, comparatively unknown. He was on his way to the East, where some years later he became widely known through his plays of "The Phoenix," "From Sire to Son," etc.

There was at this time residing in Salt Lake a gentleman by the name of Bentham Fabian. Fabian was widely and favorably known for certain peculiarities. He was extremely fond of the theatre, and every actor was his friend. He was one of those versatile fellows that could turn his hand to many things. He organized a public library here, which he called "The Salt Lake Exchange and Reading Rooms," and he was the librarian. It was while Milton Nobles was here that Fabian worked up a "benefit" for this library, at which Governor Vaughn, (then Governor of Utah), recited Poe's "Bells," and Nobles and the writer gave the third act of "Othello" (in evening dress), Nobles reading "Iago," and the writer "Othello." There were several other numbers by Fabian and others, and music by the Military band from Fort Douglas. One of Fabian's strong peculiarities was that he loved his pipe and glass and occasionally his courtly bearing and Chesterfieldian manners would get a little lopsided and obscure. This benefit, being a sort of royal occasion with Bentham, he had a fresh keg of beer in his den behind the library, and after the entertainment was over he invited all the performers (except the "band") to go and help drink it.

Governor Vaughn having a prior engagement, declined, but the rest of us adjourned to the library. Fabian, eager to treat "the boys," made haste to tap the keg, but there was a decided uncertainty about his manipulation of the mallet and tap, which plainly indicated that he had already been tapping something. So Cyrus Hawley (Judge Hawley's son) rather impatiently and dramatically exclaimed, "Give me the daggers!" (the mallet and tap), and taking them from Fabian with the air of an expert tapster, he proceeded to drive the tap; he made a misslick, and in an instant he was covered from head to foot in foamy beer. His nice clothes were apparently ruined, and he was roundly sworn at for wasting so much good beer. After stopping the flood, there proved to be sufficient left to make all hands merry and happy.

About this time Fabian, who was a great projector of schemes, succeeded in organizing an actors' club, to which he made us all pay tribute, not only the actors, but a number of other professional men and good fellows were made members, and when the transient "stars" came along, we generally contrived to give them a good time, although our quarters were not so pretentious as those of the Alta or Comcial clubs of today. During the Adams-McCullough engagements these actors were the guests of "the club," and dear old Fabian was in his glory. Fabian was the president of the club, and he certainly wined and dined McCullough and Adams to their hearts' content. On their closing night we had a great carousal, even Miss Tracy did not escape. It was a memorable night truly. Everybody present seemed determined to give "John" McCullough and "Ned" Adams a royal time, and they had it.

    "Care mad to see a man sae happy;
    E'en drowned himsel among the nappy.
    Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,
    O'er all the ills of life victorious."

Burns' "Tam O'Shanter".

The stock company played one week, even after this brilliant triumvirate had united its course, with Mr. and Mrs. Carter doing leads. That they could hold the interest of the public after such a combination of talent as Adams, McCullough and Tracy dropped away from them was not to be expected. In looking back at it from this distance, the wise thing for the managers to have done would have been to close the season with that extraordinary engagement, but the Carters were here and had a play or two to exploit, and struggled through a week when the management were glad to close the season, with the Pioneer holiday, July 24th. Here was another case of playing all summer, for the theatre only remained closed about ten nights, opening on the 10th of August. The advent of the Carters into Salt Lake and their engagement at the Salt Lake theatre was not devoid of interest. It was well-known to many that Mrs. Carter (Carrie Cogswell) had been the wife of the veteran tragedian, Mr. T. A. Lyne, who was very much perturbed at their presence here. He declared that she had come here expressly to annoy him, and nothing could convince him to the contrary, so when after a short stay here, Mr. and Mrs. Carter and their son, Lincoln J., now the celebrated Chicago playbuilder and manager, took their departure for California, Lyne's heart was joyful. There were two children, a boy and a girl, the offspring of the Lyne-Cogswell marriage. The court, in giving Lyne the deliverance which he sought on the grounds of desertion, gave him the custody of the two children, and he had them in Salt Lake attending school, and he was very apprehensive that the mother might kidnap them. So when she had departed without any signs of having molested the children the veteran was happy, for he never dreamed they would return, but alas! for the contrariness of human nature, in this he was doomed to disappointment. Lyne had been for the second time a widower when he met Miss Carrie Cogswell. She was about sixteen and he about fifty. Lyne at this age was an active, fine-looking man with hair as dark as a raven's wing and a very commanding presence. Miss Cogswell was enamored of the stage and soon became not only Mrs. Lyne, but "leading lady" for Lyne. After some years of married life, and two children had been born to them, there came a cloud in their sky. In the same company chanced a young man by the name of Carter, whose father, Jared Carter, had been a leading light in the Mormon Church in the Nauvoo days. Disparity in age and incompatibility of temperament between Mr. and Mrs. Lyne gradually brought about a separation and divorce. By this time both had sought and found new matrimonial alliances. Mrs. Lyne had some years now been Mrs. Carter and Mr. Lyne had found consolation in a French widow whose Christian name was Madeline. Such was the situation at the time when the Carters made their first visit to Salt Lake, and the veteran tragedian having settled down in Salt Lake to end his days, was in mortal dread of the Carters fixing their future home here too.

CHAPTER XV.

SEASON OF '71-'72.

The season of '71 and '72 opened on August the 4th, only two weeks after the closing of '70 and '71. The Lingards were the opening attraction; they played only two nights. The Lingards consisted of Horace W. Lingard, Alice Lingard, his wife, and "Dickie" Lingard, a sister to Horace. They played short cast pieces and did not require many members of the company. The repertoire included "Caste," "The Weaver of Spitaefield," "Morning Call," "A Happy Pair," etc. They were followed closely by Kate Newton and Charlie Backus of minstrel fame, who stayed two nights; and these were succeeded by the Hyers Sisters, a colored concert troupe, who gave five concerts, opening August the 9th and playing up to the 13th.

On the 21st Joseph and Mrs. Murphy made their debut in drama—the medium being a hash-up of improbable incidents put together to string Joe's specialties on. He played a sort of stage detective and disguised variously as an Irishman, a Swede, a Dutch Girl, and a Nigger. This was the first performance of "Help" on any stage, and should have been the last, if merit alone counted.

The Salt Lake Theatre was made the bridge to carry a number of new dramatic ventures across the quicksands of dramatic speculation. Afraid to make the trial of a new play in San Francisco or New York, they have brought them to Salt Lake to "try them on the dog." "Help" ran three nights, 21st to the 24th, and was fairly launched on the dramatic sea, and Joe Murphy was no longer a blackfaced comedian but a versatile actor of the Irish comedy persuasion. "Help" served Joe faithfully for several seasons and put him on Easy street, financially.

August 25th the Stock Company, strengthened with the Cogswell-Carter troupe, resumed. J. W. Carter was engaged to play leads for a time; McKenzie was absent, Lindsay was gone, Hardie had deserted, and the management were in sore straits for a leading actor. The Stock played from August 25th to September 25th, when Mrs. Lander opened a star engagement in "Mary Stuart," continuing one week, during which she gave, in addition to "Mary Stuart," "Camille," "The Hunchback" and "Marie Antoinette." Mrs. Lander was at this time one of the bright particular stars of the American stage. She was a woman of superior intelligence and rare dramatic talent and played a fine engagement.

After the Lander engagement, the house closed for a few nights, to give the Stock company a chance to prepare for the approaching October conference. The management could always count on packed houses during these conferences, and it was like giving money away to engage any stellar attractions at these times, so the Stock company was up against their work once more. On October 3rd they opened and played through conference, to the 9th.

On the 10th Robert McWade made his first bow to a Salt Lake audience, in "Rip Van Winkle." McWade had a very good reputation through the west in this character, and drew a very good house for his first night. If we had never seen "Jim Hearne" as "Rip Van Winkle" we might have thought more of McWade, but the impression Hearne made in the character was so strong and still so fresh in the public mind that McWade's "Rip" did not become a favorite. He played some five nights and then the Stock had to go alone again for a while, so on the 16th they resumed and played up to November 7, only relieved a little by the Japanese jugglers, who put in an hour each evening for a week, from October 23rd to 28th. On November 9th, Johnny Allen and Alice Harrison opened a four nights' engagement, closing on the 13th. On the 15th the Stock resumed the even tenor of its way, and played unassisted up to December 10th, when J. M. Ward came in with "Through by Daylight," and got through by gaslight in two nights. Jim Ward was a very versatile and capable actor with a racy Irish brogue, that was suggestive of the "ould sod." He has had rare experiences in theatrical life, and they would make a volume of interesting reading, but as he is still having them, being yet upon the stage, it is too early to add his experiences to the general history of the stage, especially his matrimonial ones.

An entire troupe of juvenile actors followed Jim Ward's advent into Salt Lake City. Whether Jim was in any way accountable, we are not advised; they were called "The Nathan Juvenile Troupe," and put in one week from the 15th to the 20th.

Oliver Doud Byron followed them, opening on December 21st, and playing till January 3rd, "Across the Continent," being his piece de resistance. Ben McCullough filled out the week. Eliza Couldock, who was in delicate health, and had been left here by her father after their last engagement, was now called in for a week to assist the Stock in a production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Miss Couldock was cast for the character of Eliza. The writer, who was playing George Harris and Legree, well remembers how nervous and poorly the lady was during this week's engagement. She was over ambitious and worked beyond her strength, and it was evident she was in a decline. This was her last appearance, poor girl, and it was not long before we were paying the last respects, and with loving hands laying her gently i' the earth, alongside of dear Annie Lockhart, whom we had performed the same service for only a short time before. "Lay her i' the earth and from her fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring."

Rose Evans came to us for a second engagement, after the "Uncle Tom" week, and played from January 8th to the 27th, repeating her former repertory. Stock company put in the following week alone, then followed E. T. Stetson for a week in his melodramas, "Neck and Neck" and "Old Kentuck." This puts us along to February 7th, '72, when the Stock played another week without any star; then the Stock got a week's rest, the time from the 15th to the 20th being filled by Purdy, Scott, and Fostelle's minstrels. Refreshed with a week's vacation, the Stock company started in afresh on February 22nd—great George's birthday—and played till April 9th, getting through another conference without the aid of a star. Here the company had another brief respite while "The Child American Concert Company" filled time from April 10th to the 13th, when the company resumed their labors and played up to the 20th. On April 22nd, Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Bates began a stellar engagement which ran three weeks, up to May 11th. Mrs. Bates was the lead horse in this team, and the repertory was selected to give her prominence as the principal star, and the announcement should have been Mrs. and Mr. F. M. Bates. She played "Pigeon the Torment," "Camille," "Leah," and "Lucretia Borgia," and all the great popular roles for tragediennes, and was the first to introduce to us the great historic play of "Elizabeth." The Bateses made a very good impression and were so pleased with the result of their engagement that they remained in Salt Lake during the ensuing summer. Blanche Bates, now a very successful star under David Belasco's management, was with the Bateses then, and as she had not been christened Blanche, she was just called Baby Bates.

May 13th to 16th was filled by Berger's Swiss Bell Ringers, and Sol Smith Russell, who was then doing specialties with the Bergers little dreaming of his "Poor Relation" or "Peaceful Valley."

A few nights of stock followed this, and not proving strong, the Bateses were re-engaged and put in another week, from the 22nd to the 28th, introducing some new plays of lighter caliber.

May 29th the Majiltons put in a date, and the stock then played a lone hand up to June 8th. Billy Emerson's minstrels held the boards June 10th, 11th and 12th, and Joe Murphy came and gave us some more of his "Help," 13th, 14th, 15th. Stock put in another week alone, 17th to 22nd, when Charles Wheatleigh opened a return engagement, 24th and played till July 1st. Wheatleigh gave "Lottery of Life," "Flying Scud," "After Dark" and "Arrah Na Pogue." That was Charley Wheatleigh's farewell, we never saw him more.

The Bergers and Sol Smith Russell had swung around the circle and came back for a second engagement. They found Salt Lake a congenial and profitable place and put in another three nights with us, 4th, 5th and 6th.

James M. Hardie, who had just returned from a long professional engagement in San Francisco, played a two nights' engagement, opening in a play called "Early California." Season closed June 8th. "Jim" Hardie left Salt Lake for the East soon after this his last appearance here, as it proved, for he has never since returned. After playing in support of stars several seasons, "Hoey and Hardie" starred for several seasons in "A Child of the State," but it was not a money maker, and after several losing seasons the firm of Hoey and Hardie dissolved, and Jim cast about for a new "angel." Hoey's "old man" had been the angel in the "Child of State" venture and it was understood at the time that after making up some rather heavy deficits, he grew weary and refused to put up any longer for "The Child of the State." Hardie had some money which came to him through his wife, who had an annuity, but "Jim" had a strong touch of the "canny Scot" in him, that always impelled him to let someone else "put up," In time he found a new "angel," and one more to his taste, for this one was of the female persuasion, and Jim always was a favorite with the ladies. He caught a society woman who was stage struck and wanted to star; she had the money to pay for the privilege, and this was just such a snap as "Jim" wanted. So the lady put up the money to put out the show, and she was starred in conjunction with Jim. The firm name stood "Hardie and Von Leer." "A Brave Woman" was the name of the play they chose for the venture; there was a great significance in that title. The show went out with a stock of $1,200 worth of special printing, so Hardie himself informed me in New York. They went into the south, but in six weeks the company was disbanded and Hardie and Von Leer were back in New York. Then they got up a cheaper company and went into the dime museums, where they made a little money. The dime museums were very popular just then and a number of good attractions played them. The play of "A Brave Woman," however, was not an unqualified success, although Sarah Von Leer seemed to be, and held onto her partnership through thick and thin. After a while Hardie got a play called "On the Frontier," and conceived the idea of getting a brass band made up of real Indians. It proved a ten strike, and, after doing a big business with it in this country for two seasons, he took it to England in '93 and made a barrel of money with it. Sarah is still his partner and still stays by him. They built a fine theatre in Manchester, which has been their headquarters for the last twenty years. Mrs. Hardie and her daughters have been back in Salt Lake for a number of years. They have never crossed the ocean to join the husband and father. It must be acknowledged that the dramatic profession is altogether too prolific of this sort of thing. Its tendencies are to draw even well mated couples apart—a hundred cases could be cited; but we will let the reader think the matter over and divine the cause.

On July 31st Jim McKnight, a young fellow of ambition and talent, put on a play of his own writing, which he called "The Robbers of the Rocky Mountains," with an exclusive amateur company. Young McKnight drew on his imagination for his robbers; had he written years later he could have taken his characters from life, with Butch Cassidy and the whole Robber's Roost gang in the cast.

CHAPTER XVI.

SEASON OF '72-'73.

The season of '72 and '73 opened on August 7th with George Chaplin and Clara Jean Walters as stock stars. They opened in the classical drama of "Buffalo Bill." This was a long time before Cody started his wild west show and probably this play was what put him in the notion of starting in the show business. Chaplin made a fine Buffalo Bill, and if Cody saw him in the part it must have made him envious to see another fellow stealing his thunder. The combination ran two weeks, when Stetson came in "Neck and Neck" with us and played a week, presenting also "Daring Dick" and "The Fatal Glass." Chaplin had a decided objection to supporting male stars of mediocre ability, and second class repertory, and so he generally laid off on such occasions as the Stetson engagement; besides it was a matter of economy with the management; they did not need him, so George laid off during Stetson's week, and then came with his "Seven Sisters" the following week. George was immense as the big sister and was just a trifle vain over the fact that he could outshine all the women in the company in female apparel.

On September 2nd Ada Gray opened a week's engagement in "Article 47" and gave besides, "Jezebel" and "Whose Wife." Ada was a pleasing actress, of fine appearance, but didn't seem to quicken the pulse of her Salt Lake patrons, after their seeing some of the greater ones.

On the 9th Chaplin and Walters resumed as stock stars and played continuously up to the 23rd, T. A. Lyne taking a benefit on the 20th instant and playing "Richelieu." On the 23rd Chaplin dropped out of the company, closing in "School," and on the 25th the stock company kept right along with Clara Jean Walters featured through the October Conference and up to the 12th.

On October 1st W. T. Harris made his initial bow to the Salt Lake public; he came from one of the Omaha theatres, accompanied by Annie Ward and Miss Blanche de Bar, a sister of the popular manager and actor, Ben de Bar. Miss De Bar had already grown old in the profession, but proved nevertheless a very useful member of the stock company. She played old women and characters and on more than one occasion proved her agility in spite of years and gray hairs, by doing an Irish jig or a "Dolly Varden" lilt. The rag time had not yet come in vogue or Miss De Bar could have done a cake walk with the best.

"Jimmy" Harris, as he was familiarly called, cut quite a figure in the future history of the theatre as manager and deserves more than a passing notice. He was featured on his opening night in an Irish farce, "That Rascal Pat," and made a very fair impression. Miss Annie Ward, who accompanied Harris to Salt Lake, and who at first was supposed to be "Jimmy's" wife or fiancee (from all appearances), was a young woman who had been beautiful, but her face was now so deeply pitted with small pox that she invariably in public kept it covered with a veil, except when on the stage, where she could veil the blemish under a thick coat of grease paint, and, this artistically done, she presented as fair a face as one could wish to look at. "Annie," 'twas said, had been the fiancee of the great African explorer, Henry Stanley, before he caught the African fever, which tore him away from her and all his early associations. Annie found consolation for her bereavement in a close friendship with "Jimmy." So close was their alliance that on their joining the stock company here together, everybody judged they were man and wife, or ought to be. They had taken a room together in old man McDonald's house, just under the shadow of St. Mark's church, and everything went well for a little while—but by some inadvertence the good Mr. McDonald discovered that they had not secured the necessary license for rooming together, and he very promptly and perhaps rudely gave them notice to vacate. They thought the old man was a crank and quite unreasonable, to turn them out of his house for such a slight offense, in a community where many of the men were living with a plurality of wives. They had an idea it was a sort of Oneida community here; free love, etc. They secured another lodging house, but the lady who ran that was a very strict Mormon also, and so soon as she found out how matters stood she served them with a notice to quit. "Jimmy" got a "hunch" from some one that he would have to marry Annie or sever the alliance altogether, as the Mormons would not stand for anything of this kind. It was even intimated to him that he might be indicted for lascivious cohab, which so terrified him that he suddenly ceased his relationship with Annie altogether, and left her to paddle her own canoe. Those who were acquainted with the circumstances have always blamed Harris for his treatment of Annie Ward; he should have married her, was their thought, but he turned away from her in this time of mutual trouble. His offense was condoned, and gradually he worked himself into favor until he became quite an object of interest with the ladies about the theatre, while those same ladies turned up their noses at Miss Ward, and made it so unpleasant for her, that she was glad to terminate her engagement long before the season was over, and go back to her former haunts. Poor girl! She went down hill rapidly after returning and died wretchedly in St. Louis a year or so later, while Harris remained here, married one of Brigham Young's daughters and was given the management of the theatre, which he held for several years. Harris and his wife went to New York in about '80, where they have resided ever since. "Jimmy," who has wealthy relatives there, has a good easy position and raised a nice family of four or five children, to whom he has bequeathed his real name of Ferguson, that of Harris being merely adopted to hide him from his relatives while he was a profane stage player. So runs the wheel of fortune.

Hamlet. I did love you once.

Ophelia. Indeed, my honored lord, you made me believe so.

Hamlet. You should not have believed me; for virtue can not so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.

Ophelia. I was the more deceived.

Hamlet. Get thee to a nunnery.

—Shakespeare.

On November 8th Mr. Al Thorne was added to the stock company and made his first appearance in the play of "Maud's Peril." Al Thorne came to Utah as a soldier in Johnston's army. He was a member of the Camp Floyd Theatre company and played with Dick White, Mrs. Tuckett et al. He contrived in some way to remain in Utah when the Civil War broke out, instead of following "the uncertain chance of war." He had married and settled in the north part of the territory, and was associated with the Richmond Dramatic Company for several years and now found a place in the Salt Lake stock, where he remained for several years, doing excellent work in "heavies" and "old men." Thorne joined the Mormon church and got more family than he could take care of—two families in fact, which proved his ruin. He became estranged from them both, and for the last twenty years of his life was practically an exile, living a solitary life in the mining camps of Nevada. He died three years ago at De Lamar, Nevada, a prematurely old man, with no relative near. But Al always had friends, for he was a good natured, generous hearted man—his own worst enemy. "Requiescat in pace."

George Chaplin having exhausted his extensive and variegated repertory, and taken his departure for pastures new, the stock company, with Clara Jean Walters, played through the October conference. The very palpable weakness occasioned by Chaplin's retirement was filled by F. M. Bates, who with his wife and Baby Blanche had been rusticating in the vicinity ever since their engagement in the previous May. Bates opened on the 14th of October, as joint star with Miss Walters, and continued until November 21st, the only interruption being a three nights' engagement of the Australian actor, James J. Bartlett, who gave "David Garrick," "New Magdalen," and "Married for Money."

On November 25th Mrs. Bates opened her second engagement at this theatre, supported by her husband (Frank), Miss Walters and the stock company. She played two weeks, repeating mostly her favorite roles, "Elizabeth," "Lucretia Borgia," "Camille," etc. Mrs. Bates during the time her husband, Frank, had been playing with the stock company, had played an engagement with John Piper, the Virginia City manager. Returning here she sent ahead of her to exploit her return engagement Mr. John Maguire, who has since made a name as a theatrical manager, but who was then a very enthusiastic disciple of Thespis, and was ambitious to make a mark in the histrionic art. Maguire by his own confession had been educated for the Catholic priesthood, and certainly a good priest was spoiled when John turned Thespian, but the stage fever caught him, and struck in so deep that he was irrevocably lost to a profession which he was capable of adorning, and exposed "to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" that are generally in quiver to be hurled at the unfortunate actor or manager who does not achieve an unqualified success. At the time of which I write, 1872, John Maguire was young (about 30, eh, John?), and handsome; he was often mistaken for Lawrence Barrett, the tragedian, which was a flattering compliment to John, as he was a very great admirer of "Larry" Barrett. We don't know just how it came about, but he was cast in Mrs. Bates' opening performance of "Elizabeth" for the part of the young Scottish king, James VI, unless it was that he had played it in Virginia City with the lady, and she thought he looked the part so well. Any way the company was numerous and the managers let John out after his performance of King James. The week following the Bates engagement, there being no star attraction booked, the managers gave it to the writer, who had not been playing in the stock company that season. I arranged a repertoire for the week which included "The Duke's Motto," "Macbeth," "Louis XI," "The Stranger," "Jack Cade," and "The Three Guardsmen." A very ambitious attempt, as I view it now, but all parts that I was "up" in, having played them in the company before. While rehearsing before I opened, Maguire, who was out of a job and evidently out of money, come to me and in a very friendly and confidential way informed me that he had just received the bells. "The bells?" I inquired, "what bells?" "Why Henry Irving's Bells, that has just completed a year's run in London." "Take my advice, John," said he, "take down some of those 'old' chestnuts you have billed and put on 'The Bells' for two nights in their place and you'll be money in by it." "Oh, that's impossible," I objected, "my plans for the week are arranged and cast, besides I know nothing about the play of The Bells.'" Maguire was earnest, however, for he had a point to make, so he urged me to make a change. "I have two printed copies of the play," says he, "and will let you have them and copy the remainder of the parts for you for $10. I want to get to Pioche; things are booming there and I am short of money; you can advertise the wonderful run the play has had in London, and you'll be the first to play it west of New York, where Studley is playing it now." John arguments prevailed with me and I took down "Louis XI" and "The Strangers" and put up "The Bells" for the Wednesday and Thursday nights. Maguire delivered the goods, got his money and took the stage for Pioche. Bidding me good bye and good luck, he says, "There's a theatre down there, and if I can secure it, you will hear from me before long." "The Bells" gave me the hardest day's study I ever did; playing "Macbeth" the night before and staying out later than was discreet, I was reading "Mathias" at rehearsal next morning to play that night, but we got through it fairly well, and to my surprise the local papers praised the performance highly next morning, but "The Bells" did not prove the great drawing card Maguire had so sanguinely predicted, the older and better known plays drawing better.

On Friday evening, while playing "Jack Cade," a few of my admirers sent up a request to have me play "Othello" on the following night instead of "The Guardsmen," with Mr. F. M. Bates as Othello, Mrs. Bates as Emelia and myself as Iago. I should have promptly decided not to make the change, but nothing in the way of work seemed too onerous for me, and too willing to oblige, I sent back word that if they could get Mr. and Mrs. Bates to volunteer I would make the change. Some of them waited on the Bateses with the result that Mrs. Bates declined to be Emelia, and Mr. Bates had never played Othello, but would play Iago if I would do Othello. I was in Mr. Bates' fix, having played Iago several times but never Othello. However, I consented to try it and gave myself another hard day's study to get perfect in Othello. Next morning Sloan, in the Herald, roasted me for playing a "star" part like Othello in stock costumes, notwithstanding I had been wearing stock costumes all the week. He spoke rather favorably of my acting, however, which was more than I should have expected. I would not be nearly so accommodating now. This my first "stellar" engagement closed on December 14th, 1872. The record shows that the farce of "The Spectre Bridegroom" was played after Othello, with Phil Margetts in his great part of Diggory. In those "palmy days of the drama," it was quite usual to have a farce after a five-act tragedy. On benefit occasions not infrequently there would be a long play, then an olio of singing and a fancy dance, and a farce to close the "evening's entertainment."

During this engagement Clara Jean Walters played the leading female roles, and rendered effective support, as indeed she always did. She was the most capable and versatile "leading lady" the stock company ever had and remained with it for several seasons a well-established favorite.

Carl Bosco, a very clever magician, put in two nights following the Lindsay engagement, 16th and 17th, and Mrs. Chanfrau opened the 19th inst. for two nights and appeared in "A Wife's Ordeal" and "The Honeymoon." On the 26th John T. Raymond opened a two weeks' engagement, giving "Toodles," "Only a Jew," "Rip Van Winkle," and "The Cricket on the Hearth." Johnny Allen and Alice Harrison and "Little Mac" for three nights. These parties put in from January 6th to the 15th. Johnny Allen and Alice Harrison were a great attraction in those days; how many remember them now? And "Little Mac," that homely dwarf, what wonderful stunts he could do with those stunted legs of his!—a circus in himself was Little Mac.

On the 20th of January William J. Cogswell joined the stock as leading man, Miss Walters still retaining position of leading lady. A Miss Florence Kent (Mrs. McCabe) had been added to the company, and being petite and good looking, as well as talented, Miss Walters saw a chance to gratify a long-cherished ambition, which was to play Romeo. (She would show some of us men folks how to make love.) So the piece was put up with Miss Walters as Romeo and Kent as Juliet; they made a pretty couple. Miss Walters looked very dashing, being a nice size for Romeo, but making love to one of her own sex was not such an easy task as she imagined and although it was a very fair "Romeo and Juliet," it did not make so great a mark as many of her female performances. The stock with the new leading man, Cogswell, played along till February 3rd, when Yankee Robinson came in for a week in "Sam Patch" and "The Days of '76," February 3rd to the 8th inst.

CHAPTER XVII

SEASON OF '72-'73.—CONTINUED.

Before this time John Maguire had been heard from; he had found on his arrival at Pioche that there was some sort of a theatre there. It had been built for a minstrel company of whom Harry Larraine, formerly of the Fort Douglas band, was the leader. At the expiration of the minstrel engagement, Maguire secured the theatre when he immediately set about to put a dramatic company in there. He telegraphed for Mr. and Mrs. Bates, offering them a strong inducement to go there. He also telegraphed for the writer, offering him a salary that was sufficient inducement for him to go. John W. Dunne, a young Californian, who had been in the Salt Lake Theatre company, was also engaged. Our fares were arranged for and about the middle of January this nucleus for a dramatic company left Salt Lake City for Pioche for a six weeks' engagement. Our party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Bates, Baby Bates (Blanche), the now famous actress, who was then about a year and a half old; Mrs. Bates' sister, Miss Wren, who acted as the chief nurse, and Mr. John W. Dunne. It is a matter well worthy of record that Mr. Dunne was married the night before he left for Pioche, to Miss Clara Decker, a niece of Brigham Young, a very pretty and attractive girl, who had been assistant costumer in the ladies' department of the theatre for some time. It was of course, a great trial to the young couple to have to part so soon, after one brief night of married life, but the exigencies of the theatrical business are at times merciless. As they had been engaged for some time, it was decided when Mr. Dunne accepted the Pioche engagement, that it would be best for them to get married before he went away lest absence and distance might cause one or both to change their minds. How wise a precaution this proved the sequel will show. This proved to be a memorable trip. Every member of the party will remember that trip to their dying day except Blanche, and she was too young to remember anything about it. The schedule time from Salt Lake to Pioche was fifty-five hours. We were five days and nights, or one hundred and twenty-five hours making that journey. The Utah Southern was then running only as far as York, about seventy-five miles south of Salt Lake. This left two hundred and seventy-five miles to be traveled by stage. Our stage was not a Concord, but a rather dilapidated specimen of the "jerkie" or "mud wagon." It had seating accommodations for nine persons, and two could ride on the "boot" with the driver. There were two male passengers in addition to our party of six—six counting Baby Bates, who must be figured in as one, for although quite small, she was very much in evidence throughout that journey. One of the gentlemen rode most of the time on the "boot" and occasionally one or another of the men would take a spell on the driver's seat so that we were never crowded uncomfortably; yet, oh, how tired we did get and especially the ladies, before that ride was ended. It was the 18th of January, the weather very pleasant but very cold nights, and our first night on the stage was decidedly uncomfortable. We reached the terminus of the railroad, York, about noon, ate dinner in a shack of a restaurant and started on our stage ride about two p. m. We were not long in discovering that there was something the matter with the horses. The driver, in answer to our queries, informed us that they were all suffering from the epizootic; it was getting awful bad, he explained, "don't believe we've got a horse on the line that is free from it." We agreed with him that it was awful bad. The poor beasts coughed and sneezed continuously, throwing off effluvium, the odor of which was disagreeable in the extreme. On our second day out a regular January thaw set in and the snow melted so rapidly that the roads got very bad; a number of times the men had to get out and walk, and on several occasions the well named "mud wagon" got mired so deeply and the horses were so weak, we had to get a fence pole from the neighboring fence and lift the wheels out of the holes, the horses being unable to budge the old coach. The further south we got the worse the roads got. We had to change the horses about every twenty miles, but they were all alike, weak and dispirited, and the stench about the stables at the different stations was nauseating. On the fifth day out we arrived at the last station. Between it and the mining camp there was a hard mountain to climb and the snow was falling thick and fast. It was then well on to sunset and to our keen disappointment the station man and driver decided it would be folly to try to get over the "divide" in that storm, and that we would have to remain at the station until morning. Here was an unlooked for and unpleasant predicament, but there was no help for it, and it was better than getting stuck on the "divide" in a heavy snowstorm. The hostler was a good natured fellow and tried in his homely way to reconcile us to our fate. "I ain't got so very much grub here and what there is ain't very dainty, I 'low, especially for the ladies, but such as it is you're welcome to, and you can have a good fire, and if youse want to stretch yourselves out after supper, I can rake up quite a few blankets and laprobes, and ye can lie down when youse tired of settin' 'round the fire." The odor of the stable from the epizootic was almost sickening and the thoughts of eating there was anything but cheering, but we were all hungry, almost famished, having had nothing since breakfast. So we made the best of it. The hostler hustled in great shape, the presence of the ladies and the baby inspiring him to extra exertions in our behalf. He soon had a big pot of coffee and a pan full of bacon cooking, and he had to make some bread too, in which Mrs. Bates and her sister lent him their assistance. The quickest thing he suggested was slapjacks, and we all agreed to the quickest thing, and so before long we were all partaking with what relish we could of the hostler's coffee, slapjacks and bacon, and, notwithstanding the disagreeable odor of the stable, we all contrived to satisfy our hunger. After the hostler cook had cleaned away the few tin plates and cups, he proceeded to strew the end of the little "hostler's room" farthest from the stove with a diversity of blankets and laprobes, all of which were permeated with the odor of the stable, and suggested in his rough but kindly way "that we had better stretch ourselves on the floor as it was a long time till morning" and he knew "we must be pooty darn tired a ridin' so long in the coach." Mrs. Bates and her sister would have preferred sitting up if they only had comfortable chairs, but there was nothing but a rough bench and a couple of rough stools in the place and the majority of the men had been standing about or sitting on the floor all through the supper function and sleep gradually overpowered the party, and one by one they "knit up the raveled sleeve of care" and were glad to bunk down on the uninviting bed the kindly hostler had improvised for the occasion. In less than an hour after our sumptuous repast, the entire party were in the arms of Morpheus. The women and the baby Blanche were in the most secluded corner, then Frank Bates, John Dunne and myself stretched out on the hospitable blankets. These took all the space and the two strangers and the driver wrapped up in their overcoats and betook themselves to the portion of the floor unoccupied; this was close around the stove. The floor of that hostler's room was literally covered with the sleepy travelers. It was a change of position and measurably restful, but our sleep was broken and anything but sweet, even though it was the "innocent sleep." The constant coughing of the poor, afflicted horses and the peculiar and disagreeable odor of the epizootic, rendered sleep anything but delightful, but "necessity knows no law," and in spite of all the disadvantages we managed to snatch some repose from the "chief nourisher in life's feast." Unenviable as was our position in the hostler's room on this memorable night, it would have been much worse had we undertaken to cross the mountain. Snow was falling thick and fast, and the wind blowing hard enough to be very disagreeable. After we were all asleep, or apparently so, the hostler shoved a stick of wood in the stove which was getting cold, and then turned into the hayloft to get a little sleep himself, for he had to be astir before daylight. Before daybreak the storm had spent itself and the sun rose bright and cheerful, mountain and vale deeply covered with snow. Our breakfast, which the hostler prepared while the driver was feeding and watering the horses, was exactly the same as we had for supper: coffee, slapjacks and bacon, with the addition of some tea which one of our fellow passengers prepared for himself and the ladies. It was a sample package he had and cost him, he solemnly declared, $5.00 a pound. This gave an extra flavor to it no doubt, at all events the ladies declared it was fine and we did not doubt its being more to their taste than the coffee the good hostler provided. Breakfast over, we once more clambered into the shaky old jerkie with the admonition from the driver that we men would have to walk when we came to the steep places. We thanked the kindly hostler and invited him to come to the show when we got to playing in Pioche. The snow was six or eight inches deep and even on the gradual ascent, as we started up the grade, it was all the horses could do to pull us, and the snow soon began to melt and the road to get steeper. It was evident we men would have to foot it, and most of the way to the top, and so we got out one or two at a time till we were all walking and occasionally we had to give a shove on the coach to help the willing but weakly horses get to the top. Once there we were all very glad to get in; we were not long in rattling along the down grade into Pioche, all very glad to get there. Maguire, who had been impatiently expecting us for two days, was overjoyed to see us, for he was full of expectations as to the business we were going to do. He had secured us the best hotel accommodations the camp afforded, and they were duly appreciated after our recent experience at the station.

After dinner we all took a walk with Maguire at his invitation, to see the theatre where we were to play our six weeks engagement. The building stood back from the principal street which was built right in the ravine, the stage entrance facing the street, and the entrance for the audience facing the street above. We had ventured various conjectures in reference to this theatre that the always over sanguine Maguire had secured a lease of. We had not expected very much and yet we were disappointed. We all entered at the stage door which opened directly from a flight of steps onto the back of the stage, and as we beheld the wonderful temple of Thespus, where we were to do honor to his art, the exclamations that escaped us were not well calculated to enthuse John Maguire, but rather to make him feel a little shaky about the venture he was making. Ye gods! What a transition from the Salt Lake Theatre to this shack! The theatre was about 35x75 feet, the stage occupying twenty-five feet. The orchestra floor for reserved seats ran from the stage towards the front about 15 feet. The rest of the space was fitted with rough board seats a la circus, the natural declivity of the ground giving the seats the necessary pitch for the audience to see the stage. The walls of the building were of rough pine boards about ten feet in height and the entire auditorium was roofed in with ducking or light canvas. The stage part was roofed with shingles so as to preserve the scenery from the rain. Of scenery there was a very limited supply and that not very artistic, being painted by an amateur. The stage projected beyond the curtain some six feet and on each side of this apron or projecting stage was a private box, finished off with cheap wall paper similar to the interior scenes on the stage. These boxes were well patronized. Every night they were filled with the fair, frail denizens of the camp at the rate of $10 a box. The opening play had already been announced, but owing to the lateness of our arrival, was necessarily postponed for a few nights. Maguire had gotten together some people of more or less experience (mostly less) to fill up the minor parts in the cast. He also took a hand himself and rehearsals were started the same night we arrived.

The opening night came around and the Opera House (that's what John called it) was packed to suffocation. The boxes were filled to overflowing with the swellest looking women in the town. The play was "Camille" and Mrs. Bates had them all shedding tears. The girls in the boxes were deeply affected. Most of them were "like Niobe, all tears," but we received no intimation that this powerful sermon of Dumas was instrumental in turning them from their life of shame.

Pioche was a camp of about eight thousand people and was "booming." We played four weeks to good paying business. This fairly exhausted the Bates repertoire, and business began to fall off appreciably. So a farewell benefit was worked up for Mrs. Bates and she made her final appearance at Pioche in a blaze of glory, chiefly emanating from a diamond ring with which she was presented on the memorable occasion as a token of regard to a distinguished actress from a few of her Pioche admirers. The Bateses were fortunate. They had been playing on a large percentage of the gross receipts and had cleared up quite a nice little stake in the four weeks they had played and they struck out at once for San Francisco, and from there went to Australia where, in '78, Frank Bates died, after which Mrs. Bates and Blanche, now a girl of eight, returned to San Francisco in 1880. Maguire still kept myself and Dunne and the rest of the company, thinking that with some new and lighter plays we could still do a paying business. The results were not very satisfactory. We played several weeks in a sort of spasmodic way, and then organized a little traveling company in which a clever young girl, Maggie Knight, whom Maguire had discovered, was a feature, and we played back to the C. P. R. R. On one of these occasions in Pioche, a very ludicrous thing happened which should not go unrecorded. We were playing the burlesque of "Pocahontas." Maguire was playing Captain John Smith, the writer Powhatan, and Johnny Dunne, as we were short of ladies, was playing Pocahontas. In the scene where Smith is brought in a prisoner and is about to be executed, a catastrophe happened to John Maguire, so sudden and appalling, should he live to be as old as Methusaleh, I doubt if he would ever forget it. Where Smith says, after viewing the stone on which he is to be decapitated,

    "It's a hard pill, but a harder piller,
    Life's a conundrum," and Powhatan replies:
    "Then lie down and give it up."

Just at this point a sudden scream emanated from one of the boxes, which were well filled on this occasion with the demi monde, then several screams of laughter, then the whole audience began to roar with laughter. I knew something had gone wrong for there was nothing in the text to extort such screams and peals of laughter. I glanced over the group on the stage, and to my amazement I saw Mac's trunks had dropped down to his feet, and he, all unconscious of the fact, was standing there in a pair of thin cotton tights. His knee pants or trunks, were of very light material and the drawstring with which they were fastened around his waist, had given way and they dropped to the floor, and so excited was he in his character he did not notice it. I said to him in sotto voce, "Your pants are down." Then he cast his eyes down, and the look of abject despair that came over his face as he said in a subdued tone, "Oh, my God!" and stopped and pulled the gauzy things up to their place and walked off the stage to readjust them, we can never forget. The girls at this resumed their screams of laughter and the audience roared until they were tired. When the noise subsided, Maguire, with his costume adjusted, came back to finish the scene, but it was several minutes before we could proceed, so much did the audience enjoy this simple accident. Maguire remained in Pioche some time after I left there, and finally left the place worse off by far than when he went there, and I did not see the genial John again till I went to Portland in '78 to play in the New Market theatre of which he was the manager. Just before the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Bates, John Dunne and myself for Pioche, the Cogswell-Carter company arrived in Salt Lake, having traveled by stage and team from California, playing the towns en route.

This company consisted of J. W. Carter, Carrie Carter, W. J. Cogswell (Carrie's brother), Ed. Harden, Lincoln J. Carter (then a very small boy), and probably one or two others, minor people who did not come into publicity here. On arriving here the party waited upon President Brigham Young to pay their respects, and to inform him that they had been commanded by the spirit world, with which they had been having communications (by the "Planchette" route), to go to Salt Lake and join the Mormon church as that was the true church and the only one that could save them. This told in all apparent sincerity, with the request to be baptized, was altogether a pleasing surprise to Brigham and his counsellors, and the Cogswell-Carter company were warmly welcomed. They were baptized and confirmed into the church without delay, and within a few days they were all engaged at the Salt Lake Theatre. Their coming was very timely for the theatre managers, for they had lost several of their leading people. "Jim" Hardie had gone for good, McKenzie, who had been playing steadily since the opening of the theatre in '62 and was wearied with study, had been released and sent on a mission in the belief the change would benefit him; John Lindsay was off on a "fool's errand" playing for John Maguire in Pioche, and the Cogswell-Carter-Marden accession filled the gap very nicely, and the season progressed to its close without much friction.

During the absence of Mr. Dunne and myself from Salt Lake the following attractions appeared at the theatre. Jean Clara Walters, W. J. Cogswell and the stock company from February 8th to March 10th, on which date a new play by Edward L. Sloan (then editor of the Salt Lake Herald) was produced. It was entitled "Stage and Steam." It was intended to show the advance of civilization. It had a railroad scene and a stage coach in it and a sensational saw mill scene, where a man was placed on the log carriage to be sliced into boards, but was rescued just in the nick of time. Jos. Arthur's saw mill scene in "Blue Jeans" is exactly the same thing, although it is scarcely probable that Mr. Arthur ever saw Sloan's play. The play only had two performances. March 10th to 15th, Frank Hussey and Blanche Clifton held the boards in "Hazard" and some other plays. Marion Mordaunt was the next stellar attraction and gave "The Colleen Bawn" and "Hearts are Trumps" the 17th to 10th. On the 24th a star of the first magnitude appeared. It was Augusta Dargon. She opened in "Camille" and played also "Deborah (Leah)," "Lady Macbeth," "Meg Merrilles" and "Lucretia Borgia." Miss Dargon was one of the greatest actresses our country ever produced, but she was not financially successful. She is the only American actress who has ever played Tennyson's "Queen Mary." Mrs. John Drew made a costly production of this play at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, with Augusta Dargon as the star during the Centennial. But it was not a financial success. The writer did not meet Miss Dargon till 1878, when she came to the New Market theatre in Portland and played a two weeks' engagement under the management of our old friend John Maguire. Here I had the pleasure (and hard work) of playing the opposite roles to her in her extensive repertory, changing the bill nearly every night during her engagement. Toward the close of it she put up Tennyson's "Queen Mary" in which I had to play King Phillip of Spain on two days' study, a very long, arduous part, that put me on my mettle to master it; also studied and played "Cardinal Wolsey" for the first time during this engagement. Miss Dargon, who was under the management of Henry Greenwald, after her Portland engagement, made a tour of the "sound" playing Tacoma, Seattle, Port Townsend and Victoria, supported by the New Market Theatre company, and returning, played a few more nights in Portland, then took steamer for Australia. Under Mr. Greenwald's management she had played successful engagements both in San Francisco and Portland, and when she opened in Melbourne she just captivated the city, playing extraordinary engagements both there and in Sidney. The press of Australia printed volumes in her praise. She made a great triumph, and in the very flush of her victory, some wealthy Australian captured her. She got married and retired from the stage, and Greenwald was forced to return without her. She never came back to us. Her return engagement here was played before she went to Australia.

Mr. "Bill" Cogswell seemed to have dropped out of the company before Miss Dargon's engagement and consequently David McKenzie was her principal support. After the Dargon engagement, which closed March 29th, Jean Clara Walters, Florence Kent and the stock company played through the April conference without a star attraction, and filled up time to April 28th when for some reason the season closed but was reopened on May 3rd with the stock company who played up to the 6th. On the 8th of May, Augusta Dargon began a return engagement which lasted till the 15th. She opened in the new play "Unmasked," and repeated "Deborah," "Camille," and "Lady Macbeth," and closed in a new piece "The Rising of the Moon." It speaks highly of Miss Dargon's popularity in Salt Lake that she should play a return engagement in five weeks after her first one.

Blind Tom, the musical prodigy, was the next attraction. He played but one night, May 17th. On the 19th Annette Ince began a return engagement of six nights and a matinee and the record shows a change of play for each performance. She gave "Elizabeth," "Mary Stuart," "Medea," "The Hunchback," "The Stranger," "The Honeymoon," and the "Lady of Lyons." This repertory in one week undoubtedly kept the company right busy. Miss Ince was a sterling actress, and always gave satisfaction, but she did not possess the faculty of making your blood thrill in your veins and your hair rise occasionally that Miss Dargon had. It is just a little singular how she came so close on Miss Dargon's heels this time. It seems like poor management to play two lady stars, so nearly alike in repertoire, so close together, but these accidents would happen once in a while. Frank Hussey and Blanche Clifton came back for two nights, May 26th and 27th. Then the stock had to take up the burden again and carry it from May 28th to June 21st. By June 1st John Dunne and the writer had returned from the Pioche trip and were back in their old positions in the company. Dunne had a surprise party in store for him on his return. Instead of being received with open arms and loving embraces by his bride of a night, she coldly repulsed him and refused ever to live with him, and she kept her word. This was owing to things she had heard about John and his freedom with other females while he was at Pioche. This did not discourage Dunne, however, from trying again. He has had several wives since, the best known being Patti Rosa, a talented actress whom he managed and married. Clara, on the other hand, was not inconsolable, and her enchantment with the stage and stage actors having been rather rudely dispelled, she sought "surcease from sorrow" in the affections of a well to do farmer, who has proven more constant, and with whom she has raised a representative Mormon family.

Madam Anna Bishop put in a week of high class concert from June the 25th to 30th. On July 2nd John W. Dunne took a benefit, on which occasion we repeated one of our Pioche performances with an important change of cast. "Theresa, or the Cross of Gold" and "Pocahontas" was the bill. Dunne did not find the atmosphere of Salt Lake so congenial to him as it had been and did not remain for the next season. I next met him in Cheyenne in '78. He was married and apparently contented, working at his trade of printer.

The business, after Dunne's benefit, seems to have been spasmodic. The stock kept on playing, however, during the month of July. That it did business at all was remarkable, but there being no "resorts" and the theatre the coolest place in town, in some measure accounts for its keeping open during the torrid heat of the summer.

Weiniawska, the Polish violinist, gave a concert on the 12th. George Waldron and his wife drifted in and played a few nights up to the 17th. Then W. O. Crosbie and his wife, Arrah Crosbie, and James A. Vinson, drifted in from the northwest and were given a few nights. "Jim" Vinson was featured in the play of "Quits" and "Billie" Crosbie in some favorite farce, supported by Arrah and the stock company. Both Vinson and Crosbie made a very favorable impression which resulted in them being engaged by the management for the following season. It looked as if all the other theatres in the West had closed and the actors had come trouping to Salt Lake to get summer engagements. Now comes Carrie Cogswell-Carter and the available stock to the front. They opened on the 26th and played till the 30th, and the season closed.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SEASON OF 73-74.

The season of 73 and '74 was somewhat later than usual in opening. The reasons were, Clawson and Caine had renewed their lease of the theatre, and having done so well with it financially, they were not content to "let well enough alone," but felt that they should make certain imaginary improvements that different wise-acres had suggested, and embellishments commensurate with the liberal patronage they had received during their previous lease of the house. Accordingly some radical changes were made which cost a plenty of money and made the managers scratch their heads many a time before they were all paid for. As an example of how much costly mischief one interfering "know-it-all" can accomplish, the managers were persuaded by their prospective new stage manager, "Jim" Vinson, that the stage of the theatre did not have sufficient pitch or slope from back to front. It had a slight pitch one-eighth of an inch to the foot, or about eight inches in its entire depth, which was just perceptible, but not sufficient to be particularly noticeable or to render it uncomfortable to walk on or to dance on. But the wisdom of the new stage manager was paramount, and that immense stage whose huge supports were built into the solid stone walls, had to be cut loose from its bearings and the front of it lowered until it had three-eighths of an inch fall to the foot, a slope that made it uncomfortable to walk on, indeed, entering in a hurry, one was quite inclined to slide on. It made it awkward too for stage settings. Every piece of scenery that was set up and down the stage or at any angle save that paralleling the front curtain, was thrown out of the perpendicular that is so essential to make the scenery look well. At the very time that this alleged improvement was being made, the pitching or sloping stage (once thought to add perspective to the scenery) was obsolete and all the new theatres in the country were being built with level stages. It cost hundreds of dollars to make this change and instead of being an improvement it was a positive detriment, is still, and always will be. So much for the advice of a stage manager. The proscenium doors that had been used for coming in front of the curtain, were done away with and the present boxes put in their stead, a very sensible and profitable improvement. Something like $8,000 was expended in these and other improvements—a costly experiment the sequel proved. The managers, Clawson and Caine, had in contemplation a very profitable season and engaged an unusually large and expensive company. The old stock members had been now so many seasons constantly before the public that it was thought their drawing powers were waning, and it was considered necessary to get some new blood into the stock. Accordingly, while nearly all the old stock was retained, a number of new people were added to the company, vastly increasing the salary list. First in prominence was Kate Denin (Mrs. John Wilson) who was featured as a stock star. Mr. W. J. Cogswell, who had been playing leads during the latter part of the previous season, was retained as leading man. "Jim" Vinson, who had put into Salt Lake before the close of the last season, was retained as stage manager and to play "old men." "Billie" Crosbie was engaged for the principal comedy roles, thus displacing the local favorites, Margetts, Graham, and Dunbar from the choice comedy parts. Arrah Crosbie, Billie's wife, had to have a place and she made a good utility woman; or she could play Irish characters. From the mere force of assimilation "Billie" was a good Irish comedian. Mr. "Al" Thorne, who was added to the company in the previous November, was retained especially for the "heavies." "Buck" Zabriske was engaged as prompter at a good fat salary, because the prompter was a very essential feature in the makeup of a stock company and generally earned his salary, for he often had a hard part to play behind the scenes on a first night. Then there was dear old Frank Rea, with his face and head of antique beauty; always full of Forrestonian reminiscences, and his wife of blessed memory, who had grown old in the service, along with her husband. Then there was Carrie Cogswell-Carter, and Ed Marden was there. J. W. Carter had parted company with theatrical business and accepted an engagement to preach the gospel for a while. He succeeded in making one convert that we know of whom he brought to Utah later and made Mrs. Carter No. 2. This was a bitter pill for Carrie Carter and she revenged herself in time by becoming the fourth wife of Bishop Herrick of Ogden. Apropos of this latter event, about a year later, December, 1875, Miss Carrie Cogswell was playing Julia in the "Hunchback" to the writer's "Master Walter" at Ogden. There was a Gentile paper there at the time called the Ogden Freeman. It was published by a man named Freeman, who came to Ogden with the advent of the Union Pacific railroad. Freeman had published his paper at each successive terminus of the road until it reached Ogden, and then he settled down there and ran the "Ogden Freeman" as a rabid anti-Mormon paper. We had journeyed northward and were in the town of Franklin. Phil Margetts, "Jimmy" Thompson and myself were seated in the hotel parlor when Carrie came in with a paper in her hand, and in her lively, good-natured way, said "Boys, I met Freeman of Ogden, in the Co-op. store just now, and he gave me a copy of his paper. He says it has a long notice of the 'Hunchback' in it. Let us see what he says." With that she threw herself into a chair, turned over the paper and found the notice. It was generally favorable but criticised her Julia rather adversely, at which she said rather petulantly, "Well, I know I'm not an Adelaide Neilson, but I guess it was good enough for Ogden." On further examination of the paper she came across a "personal" which read as follows: "We understand that Miss Carrie Cogswell, now playing here with the Salt Lake company, is the fourth polygamous wife of Bishop Herrick, having herself had three husbands: first, Thomas A. Lyne, the tragedian; second, J. A. Carter, and third, Bishop Herrick." She read this notice to us and as she did so she grew very angry. She strode out of the hotel like an enraged tigress. We all wondered what she was going to do, but in about five minutes she strode back in again with a handful of poor Freeman's whiskers in her clenched fist and her parasol broken to smithereens over the offender's face and head. In explanation she said, "I don't care how much he criticises my acting but he mustn't meddle in my family affairs." Freeman took revenge for this upon the writer several years later in Montana, by giving him a red hot roast while playing in a neighboring town. He evidently thought that I had prompted her to the castigation act, which was not true, and totally unnecessary.

The season was ushered in very auspiciously with the "School for
Scandal," with Miss Denin as Lady Teazle and Mr. J. H. Vinson as Sir
Peter; Mr. Cogswell playing Charles Surface and Mr. Crosbie, Benjamin
Backbite, and the full force of the stock company in the cast.

Stock played through conference dates as usual and up to the 11th when Laura Alberta and George W. Harrison hoisted the stellar flag, which they floated for two weeks, opening in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which ran for three nights, and then gave place to other pieces in Laura's repertory. Then followed Fanny Cathcart and George Darrell for a week, presenting "Man and Wife," "Woman in Red," "Masks and Faces," "Black Eyed Susan," "Stranger," "Happy Pair," "Mysteries of Stage," and "Mexican Tigress." Eight different plays in one week must have kept the stock company out of mischief, one would naturally think. The reverse proved true, however, in this case, for the leading man, "Bill" Cogswell, from over-study (we had no understudies in those days), was driven to drink; Bill got on a jamboree and didn't care whether school kept or not, and the managers were in a dilemma. Their next star was May Howard, who opened on November 3rd for a three weeks engagement of legitimate. It was essential to have a good, reliable leading man to help May through such a long engagement. Both McKenzie and Lindsay were away and a new leading man was considered an all important factor in this emergency. So a Chicago dramatic agent, Arthur Cambridge, was wired to and he sent out the "brilliant young American actor, J. Al. Sawtelle." Sawtelle opened on Miss Howard's second night, playing "Armand Duval" in "Camille." It was a part well suited to him and he made a satisfactory impression. Miss Howard played "The New Magdalen" (opening night), "Guy Mannering," "Romeo and Juliet," and "East Lynne." Harry Eytinge rendered support in most of her plays—he being the lady's husband this was a very fitting and graceful thing to do. After three weeks of Howard and Eytinge, Fanny Cathcart and George Darrell came back as "Man and Wife," doing "Dark Deeds" and filling in four nights with a "Woman in Red," and doing funny things in "Masks and Faces."

On November 28th and 29th, an original historical play by Edward W. Tullidge, entitled "Oliver Cromwell," had its initial performance. Sawtelle was cast for the title role. "Jim" Vinson, the venerable stage manager, was greatly impressed with the merits of Cromwell and cast and staged it to the best of his ability, with the resources available, but it was far from being an ideal cast. Sawtelle, tall and slender, looked as little like Cromwell as he did Napoleon, and he was as far from the character in temperament as he was in stature. The play with so many historical characters, Cromwell, Charles I., Ireton, Milton, Vane, Bradshaw, Harrison, et al., was very exacting in its mental requirements, and was easily greater than the company, yet notwithstanding this drawback and the fact that nothing was done for the play in the way of special scenery or costuming, it met with very fair success. A strong local interest was exhibited and the house was well filled to witness the first performance of a great play by a local author. Mr. Vinson said it was the greatest play that had been written since Bulwer's "Richelieu" and told John McCullough on his next visit, that if he would take Tullidge's "Oliver Cromwell" and play it there was a fortune in it for him. McCullough would have made an ideal Cromwell, and Vinson recognized the fact that he was the man to make a success of it, but McCullough, like Davenport, who read the play and made a contract with Tullidge to produce it, had already passed the meridian of his fame and had not ambition sufficient left to engage in a new and venturesome undertaking; so Cromwell dropped back into oblivion. It was revived a dozen years later with the writer in the title role. The play this time was costumed correctly and the cast, although still weak in places, was somewhat better than the original. It was played again in the Salt Lake theatre, at Ogden, Logan and Provo, and met with a hearty endorsement by the press of those towns, but it needed more money to tide it to a financial success than the promoters had to invest, and so Oliver Cromwell has rested in honorable repose, waiting for some enterprising manager to unveil him on the stage as Lord Roseberry unveiled his statue facing Westminster hall only a short time ago; a late but fitting tribute to the genius of the uncrowned king.

Following Oliver Cromwell, Shiel Barry, a clever actor of Irish character, filled the week, December 1st to 6th. On the 8th and 9th Oliver Cromwell was repeated, this making four performances in all, which spoke well for the popularity of Tullidge's play. On December 16th, Kate Denin took a farewell benefit and made her last appearance for this season. Mrs. Frank Rea took a benefit on the 19th and on the 22nd Jean Clara Walters reappeared after an absence of about three months in the "French Spy." Miss Walters had not appeared this season until now, on Kate Denin's retirement. They were both stock stars and two lady stock stars keep not their course in the same orbit. Denin had been shining refulgently since the opening of the season, and Walters, although in the city, had not appeared, but now she burst again into public view resplendent in green tights and spangles. On the 25th Eliza Newton, as the bright particular star, appeared in the "Nymph of the Luleyburg," a beautiful spectacular piece well suited for the holidays. Close following the holiday production with its nymphs and fairies our old friend "Jim" Herne opened a three weeks' engagement on January 5th, 1874, in the now familiar Rip Van Winkle, following it up with a variegated repertoire, including "Bombey and Son," "Rosina Meadows," "Wept of the Wishton Wish," "People's Lawyer" or "Solon Shingle," etc. Herne, during his previous engagement, established himself as a great favorite with Salt Lake audiences, and now he added new laurels to his wealth of fame. Herne was a great actor. He excelled in eccentric comedy all the actors I have known. On January 26th, John McCullough began a three weeks' engagement in "Jack Cade." Annie Graham, herself an attractive legitimate star, was especially engaged to play the opposite roles to McCullough. This made a remarkably strong company and Mr. John McCullough had every reason to be satisfied with his support and proud of the engagement he played. In addition to "Jack Cade," a long list of legitimate plays were presented, including "The Gladiator," "Damon and Pythias," "Virginius," "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Romeo and Juliet," "Merchant of Venice," and "Othello." He exhausted his legitimate repertoire and drew on his comedy resources, playing "Dr. Savage" in "Playing with Fire" and "A party by the name of Johnson" in "The Lancastershire Lass." This was a notable engagement and was followed by another great celebrity, Dion Boucicault, the author of so many successful plays. Boucicault appeared as "Miles Na Copaleen" in his own popular play, "The Colleen Bawn;" also as "Shaun the Post" in "Arrah Na Pogue," and on his third and last night in "Kerry." His dates were February 16th, 117th and 18th. On the 19th Maggie Moore and Johnny Williamson of California theatre fame, opened a nine nights' engagement. We have no record of what pieces they played except one. They had a new play to exploit. They had feared to make the venture with it at the California theatre in San Francisco where they had been favorites, so they brought it to Salt Lake to "try it on the dog." This is a phrase thoroughly understood among theatrical people although it may savor of ambiguity to the uninitiated. It means simply that when a manager is at all dubious about the merits of a new production, he sends it into some comparatively obscure town to try its qualifications for pleasing in the metropolis. The origin of the phrase is obscure, but probably sprang from the similarity of trying a collar on a dog. Inferentially the play is a collar and the obscure town the dog. In this particular case "Struck Oil" was the collar and Salt Lake the dog. The collar happened to fit; the play was a howling success (no suggestion of dog intended here) and it ran three consecutive nights in the Salt Lake Theatre, and then with the Salt Lake stamp of approval on it the Williamsons, Johnny and Maggie, took it out into the theatrical world and made a fortune with it. Joe Murphy had the collar on us before with his "Help" and was successful, and that encouraged the Williamsons and others that have since come, until Salt Lake has won a reputation among dramatic people for being an easy and gentle canine on which to try the collar.

Now comes the prince of comedians, John T. Raymond, back again and stays a short week, during which he sprung on the actors and the confiding and admiring community the following plays: "Our American Cousin," "Everybody's Friend," "Toodles," "Serious Family," and "Only a Jew." In "Our American Cousin," Raymond starred as Asa Trenchard, the "American Cousin," and not in Lord Dundreary, the part Sothern won both fame and fortune in. In this instance my old schoolmate and present colleague, John C. Graham, was intrusted with the character of "Dundreary" and did himself and the company credit by his humorous and artistic rendering of it. Raymond was so thoroughly American (a Yankee in fact) that Dundreary was not in his way, while Asa Trenchard fitted like "ze paper on ze vall." Raymond as Major Wellington De Boots was immense, but it scarcely gave him the scope he was looking for so he was playing a half dozen different plays, none of which were making him any great fame or money. When "The Gilded Age" was ushered in by Mark Twain, people who knew John T. Raymond, on reading Col. Seller's peculiarities, were quick to recognize in Raymond the living counterpart of Mark Twain's imaginary hero. It was not long before Raymond was the only authorized stage edition of Col. Sellers and his popularity increased rapidly until it seemed "there was a million in it" for the genial comedian, but before he had time to amass a million or two "Atropos came with her shears and clipped his thread." "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio. A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." Miss M. E. Gordon followed, playing from the 9th to the 14th, opening in "Divorce." Miss Gordon was closely allied to Raymond. Whether they divided evenly the profits of the two engagements we cannot tell, but we know that in many other places they played in conjunction.

Katherine Rogers opened a two weeks' engagement on March 16th, playing
"Galatea," "Leah," "Hunchback," "Unequal Match," "Lady of Lyons," "As
You Like It," "Masks and Faces," and "Love's Sacrifice."

A series of "benefits" followed this engagement, beginning with W. H. Crosbie, April 3rd. On the 6th, Belle Douglass reappeared in the stock after a long absence. On the 7th Carrie Cogswell had a "benefit," and J. H. Vinson on the 10th. On the 13th Mr. and Mrs. Rea "benefited" with the play of "Rob Roy," and gave out satin programs as souvenirs of the occasion. On the 14th Miss Annie Graham commenced an engagement of eight nights in the "Lady of Lyons," and played legitimate repertory. On the 24th Asenith Adams (now Mrs. Kiskadden) had a benefit and played "Elzina." This was some seventeen months after Maude was born, A. J. Sawtelle had a benefit on April 27th. On the 29th H. F. and Amy Stone opened a two weeks' engagement in "Under Two Flags," producing besides "Elfie," "Pearl of Savoy," "Fanchon," "French Spy." On May 11th T. A. Lyne had a benefit, giving scenes from "Hamlet" and "Macbeth." On the 12th Victoria Woodhull lectured. On the 13th William Hoskins and Fannie Colville opened four nights' engagement in "The Heir at Law," "A Bird in the Hand," and "The Critic." On the 18th inst, there was a revival of Edward Tullidge's historical play, "Eleanor De Vere," with Jean Clara Walters in the title role, the character originally played by Julia Deane Hayne, and on the 22nd another play from the pen of Mr. Tullidge had its first production. The play was entitled "David Ben Israel." As the title indicates, the play is Jewish and commemorates the return of the Jews to England in the reign of Charles II. after a banishment of four centuries. John S. Lindsay played the title role, and Miss Walters, Rachel the Jewess. The play made a very pronounced hit and placed another plume in Mr. Tullidge's cap as a dramatic author.

On the 25th, W. A. Mestayer opened a week's engagement in "On the Slope," and with "The Octoroon" and "An Odd Trick" gave much satisfaction. "Bill" Mestayer for years was the heavy man at the old California theatre in its palmy days. As Jacob McClosky in the "Octoroon" he was simply great. On his last night he appeared as Don Caesar for the benefit of the Ladies' Library Association. On June 1st, George Chaplin made his regular summer appearance in the comedy of "School," from which he graduated in one night and appeared on the following evening as Count Monte Cristo. He played Monte again on the 4th. On the 5th George took a layoff as the Lingards, Horace and Dickie, got in on that date with "The Spitsefields Weaver," and gave one performance. Chaplin resumed with the stock company on the following night, June 6th, and played the week out, giving his services on the last night for the benefit of the Theatre corporation. The following week the stock company gave a liberal proportion of their salaries to the series of performances for the benefit of the corporation. Seven performances were given for this benefit. James A. Herne appeared in four of them, Chaplin in one, the company in all seven. Although Clawson and Caine were the nominal lessees and managers, they had associated with them before opening this season, several partners in the venture and the concern was known as the Salt Lake Theatre Corporation. Mr. Thomas Williams was the treasurer and presided over the box office during this regime, and with such peerless bonhomie as made "Tom" (everybody called him "Tom") the acknowledged prince of ticket sellers. It was evident from this benefit business that the corporation had not had the profitable season's business they had expected when they opened with such flying colors in the previous October. The truth was the corporation was very much in the hole, and this series of benefit performances were designed to lighten their financial burdens and did to some extent, yet the close of the season found them heavily in debt, and there were serious results threatening, but the leniency of the creditors averted disaster. The summer was now on but the stars kept on coming. Salt Lake was a regular resort for them. When they could do no business elsewhere, owing to heat, they made for the Salt Lake Theatre. It was the coolest place in the city in those days and before we had any summer resorts the people would go and see these midsummer night performances. Our old Hibernian friend, Joe Murphy, was the next in line, opening on the 15th inst. with more "Help," which he worked for all it was worth three nights and filled out the remainder of the week with a new Irish drama, "Maum Cree." This was Joe's debut in Irish character work and he had come to Salt Lake City again to "try it on the dog." He had good support and "Maum Cree" received a favorable verdict from the Salt Lake theatre goers and Joe Murphy was successfully launched onto the dramatic sea as an Irish comedian. Following Mr. Murphy came the Coleman Sisters for a week. They opened on the 22nd of June in Charles XII and played besides this piece, "Day after the Fair," "The Deal Boatman," and "Pouter's Wedding." In common with many others the Colemans flitted across our dramatic horizon and never returned. On the 30th inst. John S. Lindsay had a benefit on which occasion he appeared in the character of Rolla in the play of "Pizarro." The farce of the "Lottery Ticket" was played after "Pizarro" to make up a good full evening's entertainment. "Billie" Crosbie was the star comedian in "The Lottery Ticket." The stock played only a few nights after this, closing the season on the 4th of July.

On July 18th, Victoria Woodhull drew a large audience to hear her lecture on "The Beecher Scandal." The Beecher trial at that time was the sensation of the day. The lecture drew a crowded house and Victoria took occasion to fire red hot shot at Beecher and the clergy in general, getting in some hard blows on the perfidy of the men in general and the advantage they took of poor, confiding women.

It seemed impossible to keep the theatre closed for more than a few weeks even in the hottest portion of the summer, owing more to the anxiety of the "strolling players" to put in a portion of their summer in Salt Lake than any feverish desire on the part of the theatre patrons to see them. Companies going to and from San Francisco were always glad to get in a few nights at the Salt Lake Theatre as it broke the long jump between the coast and Denver and was pretty sure to be profitable. Accordingly the theatre was reopened on August 3rd with the Vokes family for one week. The Vokeses were great favorites here and did a very fair business despite the hot weather prevailing.

CHAPTER XIX.

SEASON OF '74-'75.

To open this season the stock company were brought into requisition again and played up to the 5th of September. On the 7th and 8th Howarth's Hibernica, a panoramic show with specialties filled in the time. The Vokeses returned on the 9th and filled out the remainder of the week, making ten nights and two matinees they got in during the heated term which was sufficient proof of their popularity. Close on their heels came the Hoskins-Darrell combination, consisting of William Hoskins, his wife, Fannie Colville, George Darrell and his wife. They were supported by the stock company and played from the 14th to the 23rd inclusive. Hoskins was an English actor of great and varied experience, and in high comedy roles was greatly admired. He was a man of sixty years of age and had been in Australia for a good many years. His wife, Fannie Colville, was very much his junior, in fact, it was a May and December alliance and apparently bore the usual kind of fruit. Fanny was not a great actress but was very pretty and attractive, in fact, too much so to prove comfortable to her much senior lord and master. The Darrells were clever and talented. The combination proved fairly successful. They toured about the country for a year or so and then returned to Australia with more experience than money, wiser if not richer. They wooed content in their former home.

The October conference approaching, the stock company were put in rehearsal for some suitable plays and the "Royal Marrionettes" were put in as an additional attraction for the conference season and continued for nine nights from October 5th to the 13th inclusive. The Marrionettes proved to be highly amusing and interesting entertainment and combined with the efforts of the stock company in drama gave the conference visitors the worth of their money and replenished the treasury to a considerable extent.

The next attraction also worked in conjunction with the stock company. This was Laura Honey Stevenson (now Mrs. Church), a lady of some celebrity as a reader. She was assisted in her entertainments by a brilliant young baritone singer, Mr. John McKenzie, whose singing proved to be quite taking and this conjunction lasted for eight nights.

It was during this last engagement that there occurred quite an exodus from the Salt Lake Stock company to John Piper's theatre at Virginia City, Nevada. Mr. J. A. Sawtelle and wife and daughter, a girl of twelve or fourteen years, Miss Adams (Mrs. Kiskadden), her daughter Maude, now two years old, accompanied by Mr. Kiskadden, Miss Carrie Cogswell-Carter with her son Lincoln J., then about ten years of age, and the writer went to Virginia City, all with the exception of Mr. Kiskadden and the children being under engagement to play with Piper for the ensuing season. There is much of interest connected with this exodus from Salt Lake. It materially weakened the stock forces, taking away the leading man, Mr. Sawtelle, the leading heavy (the writer), and leading juvenile lady, Miss Adams, and Miss Cogswell, the principal heavy woman; but their places were filled in a little while and the stock pushed along in the same old way.

The combination system, however, was now gaining ground and the stock companies throughout the country began to suffer correspondingly, their engagements becoming more and more intermittent as the traveling combination became more numerous.

At the opening of the season of '74 and '75 there were so many combinations booked that the managers of the Salt Lake Theatre could not offer the stock company a season's engagement, but only brief periodical engagements between the dates of the various combinations. It was in consequence of this that the above mentioned members of the company took a season's engagement with Mr. Piper of Virginia City. The Comstock was booming in those days and the theatre ran every night, Sundays included. At the close of the Piper season, Miss Adams went to San Francisco taking Maudie with her. There they made their home; Mr. Kiskadden having preceded them there and obtained a good situation as a bookkeeper with the firm of Park & Lacy. Mrs. Kiskadden played occasional engagements at the San Francisco theatres and there in due time little Maude made her first voluntary appearance on the stage, her first appearance which occurred at the Salt Lake Theatre when she was yet in long clothes, having been an involuntary one in which her feelings or inclinations were not consulted.

The writer's stay in Virginia City was brief. Receiving an offer from James A. Herne, who was managing stage at the Bush Street, San Francisco for Tom Maguire, and being anxious to visit the Golden Gate city, I got Mr. Piper to honorably release me by showing him how he could get along without me and save my salary. So, after playing a week at Sacramento during the State fair, I left the Piper company and went to San Francisco by steamboat which was running opposition to the railroad, giving very low rates—only fifty cents from Sacramento to San Francisco. Mr. Kiskadden, who had been with his wife and baby Maude since leaving Salt Lake, decided to take advantage of this low excursion rate on the steamer and go to San Francisco also in the search of a situation. "Jim," as he was familiarly called, was always ready for a little sport in the way of a game of cards or billiards, so as soon as the boat got under way, he got into a game of cards with some kindred spirits and although a crack player and usually a winner, on this occasion he lost every cent he had moreover he likewise lost his hat, a nice new summer one he had recently purchased. The wind was blowing strong upstream and a sudden puff took his hat into the river, leaving "Jim" bareheaded and dead broke; not a very desirable plight to be in going a stranger into a strange city. Moreover, to add to his discomfort, he was wearing a summer suit and as we approached San Francisco the weather was cold and foggy, and "Jim's" clothes were decidedly unseasonable when we reached our destination. Fortunately he had his trunk along and as soon as he got located he effected a change of costume, but he was in a dilemma for money to live on till he could find a job and he appealed to me to lend him a certain sum, which I was unable to do, having barely enough to see me through till I would have a week's salary due, but I let him have enough for immediate necessities, and he was not long in finding friends and a good situation.

My engagement at the Bush Street did not last very long. The house was doing a struggling business when I went there. Emerson's minstrels just across the street were doing a phenomenal business, turning people away every night, while "Jim" Herne at the head of a good company, was playing to very meager houses. "Zoe the Cuban Sylph" was the reigning star when I opened there and my opening part was an Indian—Conanchet, chief of the Naragansetts, in the "Wept of the Wishton Wish."

The Bush Street theatre season ended rather ingloriously soon after the New Year holiday. I had on the very morning preceding our closing night, received a telegram from Mr. Piper of Virginia City, offering me the leading business for the remainder of the season, but declined it, believing the Bush would struggle along. That night we had a new piece on, "The Circus Queen," and it proved such a failure that Tom Maguire decided to close, which he did without any previous notice, so the entire company were out of a job. Next morning I lost no time wiring to Piper to know if the engagement was still open to me and in a few hours I had received the agreeable answer "yes" and took the train the same day for Virginia City. I had been there about three weeks when I met T. B. H. Stenhouse, who was there writing up the Comstock mines for the New York Herald. He said to me, "They need you in Salt Lake badly; why don't you wire them? Katherine Rogers opens there Monday night for a two weeks' engagement and they have no competent leading man to support her." "Well," I said, "they know where I am. If they want me why don't they wire me?" "Will you go," said he, "if I wire for you and get you the engagement?" "Yes," I replied, "I shall be glad to go, for I am tired of this." So he went right off and wired, and the next day I left for home, but did not arrive in time to open with Miss Rogers in the opening bill, but got in on the second night and played throughout the rest of the engagement.

I had been absent from October 14th, 1874, to January 26th, 1875, a little over three months, during which time the following attractions appeared at the Salt Lake Theatre: The Wheeler Comedy troupe, October 29th to 31st. On November 2nd, Risley's Panorama "Mirror of England" opened for a week. On the 13th and 14th the Infantry combination. On the 16th Frank Mayo and Rosa Rand opened a week's engagement presenting "Davy Crockett" and "Streets of New York." On the 25th Agnes Booth and Joseph Wheelock opened in "Much Ado About Nothing," and filled out a week with "King John" and the comedy "Engaged." On December 2nd R. H. Cox, familiarly known as "Daddy Cox," among professionals on the coast, opened a four nights' engagement with "The Detective," which went for two nights. The other two nights he gave "The Bells That Rang Nellie a Bride." Daddy Cox had recently left Piper's theatre in Virginia City, where he had been stage manager for a time.

On the 9th, Harry Rickards, an English comic singer of great spread and self importance, opened for a week's engagement in conjunction with the stock company. Rickards was recently from Australia and put in a week at the Bush Street during the writer's engagement there. His singing and style did not catch on with the San Franciscans. He was too "awfully English, yer know." He did not prove any great attraction in Salt Lake. On the 21st a grand concert was given for the benefit of the Catholic church. On the 22nd, W. J. Florence opened for a week, supported by the stock company. His opening play was "Dombey and Son." He gave besides "No Thoroughfare" and the "Colleen Bawn." Each piece ran two nights, carrying the season through the Christmas holidays and the house closed with his last performance on the 26th until New Year's day. January 1st, 1875, the theatre reopened with the stock company, who, without the assistance of any stellar attraction, played two weeks when the house closed again until the 25th inst.

Of the people who had comprised the stock company the previous season, the following members had drifted away: J. Al. Sawtelle, leading man; Mrs. Sawtelle, general utility; John S. Lindsay, leading heavy; Asenith Adams (Mrs. Kiskadden), leading juveniles; W. S. Crosbie, comedian; Arrah Crosbie, characters; J. H. Vinson, first old man and stage manager; Buck Zabriske, prompter. The uncertain and spasmodic nature of the engagements this season, which had caused this strong contingent of the company to seek other engagements, also prevented the accession of new people to the ranks of the stock company, so that it was in a rather dilapidated and weakened condition, especially for the support of legitimate repertoire, such as Katherine Rogers presented for the patrons of the drama.

On January 25th she opened in "Romeo and Juliet." Mr. "Mike" Foster was the Romeo for the occasion. The "leading men" were all out of the way and this was sudden promotion for Foster one of those opportunities that come but rarely to the ambitious young actor, and nearly always bring new honors and distinction. "Mike" struggled manfully with his task, but he did not make an ideal Romeo. On the following evening the writer made his reappearance with the company, after an absence of three months. He played Master Walter in the "Hunchback" on the occasion and was warmly welcomed by the audience. Miss Rogers played in addition to "Romeo and Juliet" and the "Hunchback," "As You Like It," "Love's Sacrifice," "Pygmalion and Galatea," "Lady of Lyons," "Leah," in which the writer played the following characters respectively: Jacques, Matthew Elmore, Pygmalion, Claude Melnotte, Lorenz. Such a repertory, where each play ran for but two performances, put the company on high tension. Those who had new parts, and particularly if they had never played in the pieces, found it very exacting work. Fortunately for the writer, he had played most of the parts before, yet it was a busy time for him during that engagement.

Following closely on Miss Rogers with her legitimate plays, came the English comedian known professionally as Willie Gill and his wife, Rose Bain. These co-stars had recently been associated with the writer at Piper's theatre at Virginia City, where they played for a month or so in stock and it was a little of a surprise to me to find they had suddenly materialized into stars and were billed for a week at the Salt Lake Theatre. With sublime assurance, especially for a play writer, which Willie even then professed to be (as well as a comedian), he put up Mark Twain's "A Gilded Age." The piece had been but recently dramatized and had made a marked success with John T. Raymond as Col. Sellers. Raymond had played several engagements with us at the Salt Lake Theatre and was a great favorite, and was looking forward to another visit in the near future with his greatest success, Col. Sellers. Some one apprised him by telegram that Gill was billed to play the piece here and he promptly wired a well known law firm to enjoin Gill from playing it. The managers, Clawson and Caine, were also warned not to play it, so an emergency bill was prepared in the event that they should be stopped. The law firm had taken the necessary proceedings and just before "ringing up" time, as no change of performance had been announced, they appeared on the scene with the necessary officer and papers and the performance of "A Gilded Age" was formally and effectually enjoined. "All That Glitters Is Not Gold" was substituted. This was a lesson to the English comedian late from Australia which he possibly never forgot, especially as a few years later he retired from the stage and settled down in New York as a professional writer for the stage. He was a clever adapter and dramatizer, as his version of "A Gilded Age" bore witness, and he no doubt found plenty of materials to use in his craft, whose authors were not so well known as Mark Twain nor so particular in regard to their copyrights. Willie learned the truth of the axiom that "All that glitters is not gold," even "A Gilded Age" on that memorable night, for it materially injured the business during the remainder of his engagement.

"Built on Sand" was the next evening's offering and it was probably too suggestive of Willie's hopes in respect to "A Gilded Age" to be a good drawing card, so it only went the one night. The company had their work cut out here also; the next play was a new one with them; he called it Madge of Elvanlee; it was a dramatization of Charles Gibbons "For the King," a very powerful story of the Restoration period, and gave Rose Bain, his wife, the chance of her life to make a hit as a leading actress; but she failed to score any marked success, giving only a passable rendition of the character. Fortunately again for this individual, he had during his absence played in this play at the Bush Street Theatre. Jim Herne used it as the vehicle for the debut of a talented San Francisco' lady, who created a little ripple of excitement by her advent on the stage. I afterwards played the leading character in it at Virginia in conjunction with Miss Bain and Mr. Gill, so that it was comparatively easy for me in regard to study. This play was forced two nights, meantime the company had another new play sprung on them for Friday night. Miss Rose Bain was evidently bent on being the bright particular star of this engagement. Willie had failed in his Col. Sellers scheme, and Rose saw her opportunity and pushed it to the utmost. "The Sphinx," a mythological play, taxing the powers of no less an actress than Annette Ince (one of the greatest of her time) was the next offering to the public, and an exacting task for the company. Here again I was lucky, as I had only about six weeks before played a week in the piece with Miss Ince at the Bush Street theatre, and although I had now a different part, I was sufficiently familiar with the play to make my task easy, as compared with the rest of the company.

"The Sphinx" did not prove popular, owing largely to Miss Bain's inadequacy. So "Madge of Elvanlee" was restored for Saturday night, and so ended a very unprofitable week, both for "stars" and management. Willie Gill afterwards acquired fame as the writer of several successful comedy sketches. Rose Bain we have never heard of since. From the 13th to the 22nd of February, the theatre was dark, which gave the overworked stock company a rest they no doubt enjoyed, but cut off their salaries, which they did not relish.

On the 22nd, Washington's Birthday, the theatre was used as a ball room—the Firemen gave a "Grand Ball" and for the occasion the theatre was transformed, as it had been a number of times before, to accommodate an enormous crowd of dancers. The entire parquet was covered with floor made in sections, making the stage and the auditorium into one vast dancing hall. Hundreds who did not participate in the dance paid admission fees to sit in the circles and watch the dancers go through the bewitching and bewildering figures to the strains of a fine orchestra secured for the occasion. By the following evening, the floor was removed, the chairs back in place, and the theatre had resumed its normal appearance. On this date, the 23rd, The Alleghanians, a company of Swiss Bell Ringers and Vocalists, opened and played throughout the remainder of the week, five nights and a matinee. The company had now had a three weeks' rest and were anxious to be doing something again, so a series of "benefits" were put on. Commencing on March 6th, Clara Jean Walters took a benefit, playing Edward Tullidge's "Ben Israel," a very powerful play commemorative of the return of the Jews to England. On the 8th Mr. Lindsay "benefited," played "Jack Cade," and on the 10th E. B. Mar den, who had been in the stock for several years, took a benefit, playing Featherly in "Everybody's Friend." The theatre was again closed until the 22nd inst., when The Lingards came in and, supported by the stock, stiffened up business to some extent; continued until the 31 st. The April Conference being close at hand, it was decided to play the stock through the Conference in some of the old favorites, and they continued right along after the Lingards left. That is the marvelous part of it that they could do any business after dropping out a strong stellar attraction, but on they played through the Conference and on up to the 1st of May, when the season closed and with the season the management under the "Salt Lake Theatre Corporation" closed.

Their second season had not proved sufficiently profitable, although they had severely curtailed expenses by cutting down the company, to clear them of indebtedness, and the corporation quit badly in the hole.

The close of the Clawson and Caine management and the end of the Salt Lake Theatre Corporation was virtually the retirement of the stock company, which had been playing from the opening of the theatre in '62 up to the present date, May 1st, 1875, a period of 13 years. Of course a great many changes had taken place during those years in the personnel of the company, but a few of the original members remained, and the organization or ensemble of the company had been kept intact. Now, however, the gradually encroaching combination system made it impracticable for the managers to offer a season's engagement to those who were willing and anxious to engage. The necessity for a stock company became rapidly less from this time on, until in the year 1878 it had become defunct altogether.

Two entertainments were given after the closing of the stock company, before the corporation relinquished the house—on May 4th, Petroleum V. Nasby lectured, and on the 8th Mr. Mark Wilton rented the theatre and put up "The Ticket of Leave Man" for a benefit. To show the status of the company at this particular time, the program for the benefit performance is here appended:

SALT LAKE THEATRE.

    Salt Lake Theatre Corporation …………… Proprietors
    Clawson and Caine ………………………… Managers

SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 8TH, 1875.

Mr. Mark Wilton has engaged the Theatre for this night and will produce the great drama of

"THE TICKET OF LEAVE MAN."

Supported by the following

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

    Bob Briefly, a Lancashire lad ……. Mr. John S. Lindsay
    James Dalton (the Tiger) ……………. Mr. M. Forester
    Hawkshaw (a detective) ……………… Mr. Mark Wilton
    Melter Moss (a crook) ……………… Mr. J. C. Graham
    Mr. Gibson (a bill broker) …………. Mr. Harry Taylor
    Sam Willoughby …………………. Miss Dellie Clawson
    Maltby …………………………….. Mr. Logan Paul
    Burton …………………………….. Mr. H. Horsley
    May Edwards ………………… Mrs. Clara Jean Walters
    Mrs. Willoughby …………………. Miss Belle Douglas

This was the last performance given under the corporation managers and for some time the theatre remained without a manager; if any one wanted it, they had to rent it from President Brigham Young through one of his clerks. My record shows that the writer, on July 24th following, rented the house at the modest sum of one hundred dollars for the bare house. We gave Bulwer's five-act comedy of "Money" besides the farce "A Fish Out of Water" and a musical interlude, by Laura Honey Stevenson and John W. McKenzie, a popular young baritone from San Francisco. The total expense of this performance was $357.00, so it was a risk for an individual to take, but we pulled through clear and had a little left for our trouble.

About this time Mr. W. T. Harris or "Jimmy" Harris, as he was familiarly called, was installed as "business manager" of the theatre; he had succeeded in winning one of Brigham Young's daughters, Miss Louise Young, affectionately called by her friends "Punk." The Annie Ward episode was forgotten or condoned, and Jimmy had ingratiated himself so strongly in the President's good graces as to receive the hand of his favorite daughter, and in order that he might provide liberally for her, he was given the business management of the theatre. He assumed no financial responsibilities in accepting the position, but simply acted as the agent for Brigham Young, to whom he submitted matters of importance. He held down his job for two years or more, until some time after the death of Brigham Young, when the Salt Lake Theatre, which had been appropriated by the late President, (although built with Church means) in the settlement of Brigham's estate reverted to the Church. This brought a change of management and Mr. Harris was superseded by H. B. Clawson, one of the former managers.

CHAPTER XX.

SEASON OF '75-'76.

In the following chapter, no attempt will be made to give a consecutive and complete list of the attractions which appeared during the season, but a running notice will be made of the most important engagements, and especially of the new stars that appeared.

The combination system was gradually forcing the stock company from the theatre. Engagements with the stock people were now intermittent and uncertain, and for that reason the company kept dwindling until eventually it became a thing of the past. During this season, however, they were called in to support a good many stars. It took several seasons for the combination system to completely supersede the stock system.

On August 12th, Jennie Lee, who had been a favorite soubrette in the California theatre, San Francisco, and her husband, J. T. Burnett, opened a week's engagement in the play of May Blossom, supported by the stock. Immediately following, opening on the 20th of August, came Augustin Daly's company on their way to San Francisco. They played three nights, presenting "Saratoga," "The Big Diamond" and "Divorce."

Fanny Davenport was the "leading lady" of this company. It was the first dramatic company to cross the continent direct from New York to San Francisco. The fame of Daly's company had preceded it, and as a result they played to big businesses both here and in San Francisco.

On the 27th and 28th, the English Opera Company played to good houses.

On September 25th, the stock company reopened the theatre which had been dark for several weeks. Charley Vivian, who afterwards organized the order of Elks, opened in conjunction with the company, giving his clever entertainment, and this combination pulled through the October Conference, when there was another intermission. In December, the stock company made another spurt, headed by Clara Jean Walters.

They reopened with "Cherry and Fair Star," a spectacular play which had an unusual run; with this and other pieces they managed to keep going until January 20th, 1876; from this date to April 1st, there were occasional attractions but none of great importance.

On March 1st, John S. Lindsay, who had been playing leads in the stock, was tendered a complimentary "benefit," on which occasion he appeared in the character of "Jack Cade." To show the personnel of the company at this particular period of its history, the following program of the performance is subjoined:

SALT LAKE THEATRE.

W. T. Harris ……………………… Business Manager

GRAND COMPLIMENTARY FAREWELL BENEFIT

    Tendered by the Members of the Dramatic Profession, and Prominent
    Citizens of Salt Lake City to the popular actor

JOHN S. LINDSAY.

    On which occasion Mr. Lindsay will essay the great character of
    Jack Cade.

WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 1, 1876,

Will be presented Judge Conrad's celebrated tragedy in four acts, entitled

"JACK CADE, THE CAPTAIN OF THE COMMONS."

The entire Corps Dramatique have generously volunteered.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Nobles.

    Lord Say ………………………….. Mr. Mark Wilton
    Lord Clifford …………………… Mr. Emmett Mousley
    Duke of Buckingham ………………… Mr. Gus M. Clark
    Duke of Suffolk …………………… Mr. B. W. Wright
    Courtnay …………………………. Mr. J. C. Graham

Commons.

    Jack Cade }
    Aylmere } ……………………… Mr. John S. Lindsay
    Friar Lacy ……………………… Mr. John T. Hardie
    Wat Worthy ………………………. Mr. Phil Margetts
    Will Mowbray ………………………. Mr. J. E. Evans
    Jack Straw …………………………. Mr. E. Mousley

Bondmen to Lord Say—

    Dick Pembroke ………………………. Mr. H. Bowring
    Roger Sutton ……………………….. Mr. Wm. Wright
    Cade's Son (5 years old) ………….. Miss Edie Lindsay
    Marinanne (Cade's wife) …………… Miss Lina Mousley
    Widow Cade (Cade's mother) ………… Miss Sarah Napper
    Kate Worthy, betrothed to Mowbray ….. Miss Lizzie Davis

Lords, Officers, Peasants, Bondsmen, Etc.

To be followed by a musical interlude.

Song—"Give a Poor Fellow a Lift" Mr. Phil Margetts, Jr.

    For the last time, the great Specialty of the Mulligan
    Guards ……………. By W. T. Harris and H. E. Bowring

The performance will conclude with the side-splitting farce,

"A BASHFUL BACHELOR."

    Hector Timid ……………………… Mr. J. C. Graham
    Captain Cannon …………………….. Mr. Mark Wilton
    Dr. Wiseman ……………………… Mr. H. E. Bowring
    Thornton ………………………….. Mr. J. E. Evans
    Louisa ………………………….. Miss Lina Mousley
    Chatter …………………………. Miss Sarah Napper

It would be unreasonable to expect an audience to sit through such a lengthy performance nowadays, but such was the dramatic pabulum with which we had to entice them into the theatre "in that elder day."

The "cast" in the above program shows that the stock company had become decidedly weak, a number of amateurs were worked in, and the three comedians, Margetts, Bowring and Graham, are playing parts altogether out of their line. The lady assigned the "leading lady's" part (Miss Mousley) was a clever amateur and this was about her first appearance at this theatre. The "leading ladies" "seem to have been all in retirement." Mr. Wilton, "a serio-comic," playing the "leading heavy," Lord Say, and Mr. Graham playing" the "second heavy," Courtney, shows there was a great sparsity of "heavy men," and Margetts and Bowring both playing serious "character parts," plainly indicates the low ebb the company had reached. It was now a difficult, nay an impossible, task to adequately "cast" one of the great classical plays.

Such was the status of the stock company at this period, its efficiency having been gradually weakened by the steadily increasing innovation of the combination or traveling companies.

Many of the most popular stars had not up to this time surrounded themselves with their own supporting companies, but continued to flit to and fro across the dramatic firmament, pausing to shed their luster for a new nights wherever they could find a cluster of nebula (stock company) to shine among.

On April 1st a bright and attractive star appeared in the person of Mr. Edwin Adams. Mr. Adams made a splendid impression on his first visit to Salt Lake and a full house was on hand to greet him. The train on which Mr. Adams arrived was several hours late and the audience was kept waiting more than an hour after the specified time of commencing. It was nearly ten o'clock when the curtain rang up on "The Marble Heart," but the audience exercised great patience, and when at length Mr. Adams appeared as Phidias from between the curtains that concealed the statues, exclaiming "The man whose genius formed them," he received such a warm and generous welcome as must have banished any doubts or misgivings he may have had as to how Salt Lake would receive him. As he had not rehearsed with the company, some apprehensions were felt as to how the play would go; but, after it was over, Mr. Adams warmly complimented everybody—especially the stage manager—and declared it went just as well as if he had been here to rehearse it with us. This was a notable engagement, Mr. Adams playing ten nights in all, his engagement running through the April Conference. In addition to "The Marble Heart," he played "Hamlet," "Richelieu," "Rover" (in "Wild Oats"), "Narcisse" and "Enoch Arden."

Edwin Adams was destined to a career as brief as it was brilliant. After leaving us he went to San Francisco and played a successful engagement, then went to Australia. When he returned from Australia to San Francisco he was a dying man. A benefit was given him there, and he was wheeled onto the stage in an invalid's chair to acknowledge his gratitude to the San Franciscans for their kindness to him. This was the last seen of poor Edwin Adams by the public. Only a few days later and that dramatic genius that was shedding luster on the American stage was extinct. He had contracted quick consumption in the antipodes, and by the time he got back to San Francisco his friends realized he had not long to live and did what they could to show their love for him and ease his passing to the great beyond.

The next important engagement was that of John T. Raymond, who appeared on August 5th in "A Gilded Age," the play in which Willie Gill was enjoined more than a year before. As Colonel Sellers, Raymond was simply inimitable; Mark Twain might have had him in his eye when he created the character. It ran three performances, and if there were not "millions in it," it was at least a profitable engagement both for Mr. Raymond and the manager. Notwithstanding it was the hottest part of the summer, Raymond filled out a week with Major de Boots in the "Widow Hunt," and Caleb Plummer in "Cricket on the Hearth." Raymond's engagement virtually closed the season of '75 and '76, and there was nothing of importance until the commencing of the next season.

CHAPTER XXI.

SEASON OF '76-'77.

With the approach of the October Conference, which is always a harvest for the theatre, Mr. Harris got together as strong a company as possible and revived some of the old favorite plays, opening the season of '76 and '77 a night or two before and continuing through the Conference dates to satisfactory business. There was no "star" to share with, and the theatre reaped a handsome profit.

The next engagement of importance was that of Mr. George Rignold, an English actor, who was starring in "Henry V." Rignold had come from England and under the management of Jarrett and Palmer, "Henry V." was given a fine production in their New York theatre. For some reason or other, after a short but successful run of the play, a disagreement arose between those popular managers and Mr. Rignold. They decided to supersede Mr. Rignold with Lawrence Barrett. They notified him accordingly and at the expiration of the time for which he had been engaged Mr. Barrett stepped into Rignold's place and the run of the play was extended for several weeks. It was the intention to take the play to San Francisco after the run in New York. This change of stars threw Rignold out of the San Francisco engagement, much to his chagrin and disappointment. Not to be out-generaled the English actor quietly hastened to San Francisco. The California Theatre having been secured for the Jarret and Palmer company, with as much dispatch and secrecy as possible Rignold got a company together. Soon as it was known that Rignold was in San Francisco and was preparing to give the play of "Henry V" at the Grand Opera House, the news was duly wired to Jarrett and Palmer; not only were they surprised, but greatly chagrined, on learning that the English actor had gotten the start of them and was in a fair way to eclipse their Western engagement. Mr. Barrett and the managers, after a rather excited consultation, decided to close the run of "Henry V" with the end of the current week, and have everything in readiness to leave New York for San Francisco on the following Sunday. The manager of the California was telegraphed to announce the play for the following Thursday night. This gave scarcely a week for advertising, and it seemed incredible that the company could reach San Francisco by the time, but Jarrett and Palmer had at great expense made arrangements with the railroad company for a special train, that was to rush them through from New York to San Francisco in four days. Barring accidents, they would arrive in San Francisco on Thursday morning, in time to get their scenery in place and play that night.

It was taking desperate chances, but it was at the same time a great advertising scheme, for never before had such a flying trip been made across the continent, and every paper in the country had an account of it. "From Ocean to Ocean eighty-three hours." Rignold had arranged to open the following Monday, but learning to his amazement of the great coup that Jarrett and Palmer were performing to get in ahead of him, he got a move on too and decided to keep the lead, and open up at least one night ahead of them, which was as soon as he could possibly get ready. The fast train was the sensation of the hour, everybody was talking of it and awaiting its arrival with keen expectancy. This national advertisement gave the Jarrett and Palmer company a great advantage over Rignold; besides, they had much the better production, and the best company, as Rignold had to gather what support he could and very hurriedly in San Francisco. This was very sharp managerial practice; what especial reason Lawrence Barrett and the Jarrett and Palmer management had for this extraordinary coup to down the English actor we never learned. The rivalry of the two Henrys served to throw theatrical circles in the Golden Gate City into a feverish excitement, and the result was that both houses did a good business, as every theatre-goer felt in duty bound to see both actors, and then compare their respective merits. Until Rignold played "Henry V" in New York no American actor had ever attempted the character; Barrett who had in conjunction with John McCullough managed the California theatre during the first three years of its career, saw an opportunity to do some business there and win some fresh laurels in a new part. This in a measure explains the haste with which the thing was done. The rival Henrys, however, did not succeed in giving the play a permanent abiding place in popular favor. We think no other American actor has ever had the temerity to try it, until the bold and undaunted Richard Mansfield gave a superb production of it a quarter of a century later—1902.[A]

[Footnote A: The above account of the "Henry V" excursion is written entirely from the writer's recollection of the affair, having no available data. It may contain some slight inaccuracies, but the main facts were about as here related.]

After the Rignold date here, when "The Lady of Lyons," "Black-Eyed Susan," and "Henry V" were given with such support as was available, the stock played fitfully, interrupted by occasional novelties, such as panoramas and concert companies, minstrels and the like, along the holiday season and into the spring. On February 3rd, John S. Lindsay was the recipient of another "benefit," on which occasion he exhibited his strong predilection for Shakespearian roles by appearing as Hamlet, a character in which he had already won some local distinction. As on a previous benefit occasion, there were several first appearances, and the cast as a whole was not very satisfactory, but our friends were inclined to overlook many shortcomings on those benefit occasions. As if "Hamlet" was not enough for a benefit performance, we had to tack on the farce of "The Trials of Tompkins," in which Mr. Graham was wont to shine.

On the 23rd and 24th of February, Mr. E. A. Sothern, the world renowned Dundreary, filled his first engagement at the Salt Lake Theatre. He exacted a certainty of one thousand dollars in gold coin for the two nights. Mr. Harris very naturally had some hesitancy about closing an engagement with him on such exorbitant terms, so he made a canvass of his patrons, and after a careful consideration, "closed the deal" with Mr. Sothern. The prices were advanced from the usual scale of twenty-five cents to one dollar, to fifty cents to two-fifty. The house was well filled on both nights and the management, not having a very expensive company or any production to pay for out of its share, came out all right. There was much dissatisfaction, however, that such exorbitant prices should be charged for what at best was but an ordinary "show," especially the last night when David Garrick was presented, and by ten o'clock the play was over, and the general expression of the patrons of the theatre was "Sold!" Indeed so outspoken was the dissatisfaction with David Garrick, and so severe were the strictures of the press the following morning, that Mr. Sothern could not have gotten fifty cents a ticket for a third performance. As a natural consequence, it was a long time before he came to Salt Lake again.

On March 10th, Miss Annie Adams (Mrs. Kiskadden) who had recently returned on a visit to Salt Lake after an absence of three years in San Francisco, assisted by the stock company, gave a production of "The Two Orphans," Miss Adams appearing as Louise and Miss Colebrook as Henriette, the writer in the character of Pierre. This was the first presentation of this play at this theatre and it proved a great drawing card.

The next star attraction was one of more than ordinary interest. The anniversary of Shakespeare's birth (and death) on April 23rd, Adelaide Neilson, the world acknowledged Juliet, was announced to appear in that character. Miss Neilson was well-known to our theatregoers by reputation as the greatest Juliet of the age, and the demand for seats was extraordinary. The prices were advanced, but not to exorbitant figures, the prices ranging from 25c to $1.50. Every seat in the house was filled, and numbers were glad to stand on both evenings rather than miss seeing the beautiful and popular actress. There was no dissatisfaction with this engagement; everybody was pleased and delighted, and Adelaide Neilson's praises were on everybody's lips. She could have remained a week and played to full houses, but engagements ahead precluded a longer stay; she only gave two performances, "As You Like It" being the second bill. There was only one opinion as to her Juliet, that it was the perfect embodiment of the character, her rich beauty of face and form, her exquisite grace, her melodious voice, and the marvelous power of expression in her soft tender eyes, equipped her completely for the part. As Rosalind she was equally as charming if not as brilliant as in Juliet. The playing of Romeo to her Juliet, the writer cherishes as one of the pleasantest memories of his long professional career. A year later the beautiful Neilson was dead. Alas! for the mutability of all that is mundane:

    "She should have died hereafter;
    There would have been a time for such a word.
    Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
    To the last syllable of recorded time.
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
    Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
    And then is heard no more.
    It is a tale told by an idiot;
    Full of sound and fury; signifying nothing."

—Macbeth.

    "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
      And all that beauty, all that wealth ere gave
    Await alike the inevitable hour;
      The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

—Gray's Elegy.

The next stellar attraction was Ben de Bar. Ben was the manager of one of the St. Louis theatres when the writer was a boy, and my first introduction to the stage was at De Bar's theatre. A young fellow who was our neighbor in St. Louis induced me to go with him and go on as a super. The play was "Sixtus V., Pope of Rome." Mr. and Mrs. Farren were the stars. I made my first acquaintance with the stage in that play, as one of the mob, little dreaming that I would one day be cast to play Sixtus V., which I was some years afterwards in the Salt Lake Theatre.

Ben De Bar was a popular comedian as well as manager at the time of which I am telling, but for some half dozen years now he has been starring in the character of Sir John Falstaff. He was very stout, and well suited to the character and confined himself to it exclusively, varying the monotony, however, by playing both the plays in which Sir John is so prominent, "Henry IV" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor."

Ben had been to San Francisco and had just played an engagement there, before coming to Salt Lake. He opened here on May 17th in "The Merry Wives." He complained of not feeling well and it was quite perceptible that something was the matter; he was uncertain and forgetful. On the second night in "Henry IV," his lapses of memory were still more perceptible. In short, it was palpable to all the company, if not the audience, that Mr. De Bar was suffering from some derangement of memory to such an extent as to in places mar the scenes, and very much embarrass those who had dialogue with him. The writer was playing Hotspur on the occasion, and had but little to do with the boastful Sir John, but noticing his lapses of memory in several places and his consequent and apparent distress, kindly inquired as to his trouble, when he feelingly told me he had suffered in San Francisco the same way, and he felt no confidence in himself whatever. He said his memory was deserting him and he feared his professional career was at an end. After the play was over he called me into his dressing room, and said: "Mr. Lindsay, I have made my last appearance on the stage. I am done, sir. I feel that I have subjected the entire company tonight to a great deal of embarrassment, and my lapses of memory must have been quite apparent to the audience. No, sir, I can no longer rely on my memory, and I shall never attempt to play again. I feel my career is ended." His words were pathetic, and as it proved, prophetic; he never did appear on the stage again. In less than a year dear old Ben de Bar died of softening of the brain. Ben de Bar was about sixty years of age when he died. "What old acquaintance! Could not all this flesh keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell! I could have better spared a better man." Prince Hal in "Henry IV," Part First.

Salt Lake seemed to be an attractive summer resort for a certain class of attractions, and quite a number found their way here during the very hottest of the weather. On July 24th Robert Heller, a very clever magician and an excellent pianist, assisted by Miss Helen (his sister), entertained the patrons of the theatre for a week with his very clever tricks and fine piano playing. His second sight business, in which he was ably assisted by Miss Helen, was wonderfully clever, and mystified the beholders very much indeed. He was the first to introduct a second-sight business here, and was as much of a wonder as Anna Eva Fay has since been.

On August 6th, Rose Eytinge, then in the zenith of her fame, opened a three nights' engagement in the play of "Rose Michel" and followed it with "Miss Multon" and "Macbeth." The writer had some hard work during this brief engagement, the two first plays being entirely new to him, in both of which he had very long and arduous parts, and on the third night he had to do Macbeth. Rose Eytinge at this time was one of the best actresses and most beautiful women we had on the stage. Good gracious! that is twenty-eight years ago, and she is still acting! but she has to play the old woman now. When I played with her two years later in Portland, Oregon, she was married to an English actor named Cyril Searle, who insisted on playing Macbeth, but made me study Antony in "Antony and Cleopatra" on very short notice as the San Francisco papers had criticised his Antony so severely he declared he would never play it again.

On August 14th, the Richings-Bernard Opera Company played one night.
Played again on the 16th. On the following night, the 15th, Tony
Pastor with a fine vaudeville company, gave a great show the first
company of that kind to cross the continent and play in the Salt Lake
Theatre. He had a packed house, for his show was a great novelty.

It was a little surprising that with the love of the drama so universal in Utah so few contributions to dramatic literature were offered by local authors for representation on the stage. Those thought worthy of presentation by the managers we have already recorded. Mr. E. L. Sloan's "Osceola" (an Indian play), in which Julia Dean and George Waldron played the leading characters, and his "Stage and Steam," a later production, contrasting the old stage coach with the locomotive methods and results. By far the most important local contributions to the stage were the plays of Edward W. Tullidge: "Eleanor de Vere," played by Julia Dean and stock company, "Ben Israel" and "Oliver Cromwell," played by the local company. Now comes John S. Lindsay with "Under One Flag," a drama of the Civil War. This play was presented for the first time on September 13th and made so favorable an impression as to hold the boards for three nights. It was repeated on October 5th, during the conference season, and has been played by the author and his company in nearly all the towns and cities of the Northwest. These performances of "Under One Flag" virtually closed the season of '76 and '77, which had run intermittently all through the summer.

CHAPTER XXII.

SEASON OF '77-'78.

On October 5th, the fall Conference was provided for. The house opened for the season of '77 and '78 on this date with a reproduction of "Under One Flag." The stock played through the Conference date, reviving some of the old favorite plays, and continued playing until November 12th. On November 14th The Kellogg-Cary Concert Company opened a three nights' engagement and sang to big houses. Miss Louise Kellogg was one of the greatest singers of her day, and Miss Cary was equally popular, their concerts being very well patronized and highly appreciated by the music lovers of Salt Lake.

On November 23rd, Mrs. D. P. Bowers and Mr. "Jim" McCollom (who was
Mrs. Bowers' second husband) opened a week's engagement in
Giogametti's play of "Elizabeth," which was played for three nights,
and the week was filled out with "Lady Audley's Secret," "Married
Life" and "Camille."

Mrs. Bowers was beyond question one of the greatest actresses our country had ever produced. She was the first American actress to play the character of Elizabeth. After Ristori, the great Italian actress, had played this great character in a few of the principal cities of our country only, Mrs. Bowers took it up and starred the country with it, making a great success.

Mr. James McCollom was a very efficient support to her in the characters of Essex in "Elizabeth," Armand in "Camille" and Robert Audley in "Lady Audley's Secret." Mrs. Bowers achieved her celebrity as Mrs. Bowers and never changed her name to McCollom on the stage. Mrs. Bowers was supported by the stock company in this engagement.

On December 8th, J. K. Emmett opened a three nights' engagement in "Fritz," supported by the stock. On December 20-21-22, The Lilliputian Opera Company. Christmas Day the stock resumed operations and played through the holidays and up to the 13th of the month; they were temporarily retired again to make room for Ilma de Murska and her concert company, who gave scenes from "II Trovatore," "Martha," "Crispina," and other operas, remaining three nights, 15th to 17th, inclusive. De Murski was not only a great singer but a great actress as well, and her singing and acting were received with unusual enthusiasm.

January 18th and 19th, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Frayne were the attraction in the play of "Si Slocum." Frayne "was the fellow who won renown" by shooting an apple from his wife's head (a la William Tell), only Frayne split the apple with a rifle bullet instead of an arrow. After performing this and other dexterous feats with rifle and revolver many hundreds of times without accident, he did it once too often; he finally missed his aim and shot his wife dead. How confiding women are! Poor Mrs. Frayne! Thank heaven that did not happen here! Whether Frank ever found another woman so confident of his skill as to hold that apple on her head, we know not and hope not. He had a bull dog that played a star part in the show; he may have trained the dog to hold the apple after his wife's awful fate. Sad to relate, the stock company supported Mr. and Mrs. Frayne and the bull-dog.

On the 22nd and 23rd, Mile. Rentz's female minstrels gave Salt Lake another exhibition of musical extravaganza, the chief attraction being the free and lavish display of beautiful female shapes. A whole phalanx of voluptuous, rotund forms encased in a dazzling and bewildering variety of colors—moving in splendid harmony—keeping time, time, time, in a sort of runic rhyme. Why no wonder the baldheads crowded into the front rows and outrivaled all other spectators in applauding the bold and beautiful Amazons.

On February 22nd the community having recovered somewhat from the excitement of Amazonian marches, Rentz minstrel choruses, and the bewildering effect of so much female beauty, the present writer having accepted an offer to go to Denver to play a star engagement at the Denver theatre, summoned sufficient courage to take a "farewell benefit." The plays given on this occasion were "Evadne" and the farce of "Nan, the Good-for-Nothing." Soon after the "benefit" the writer departed for Denver, accompanied by Mr. Harry Emery, who had played with him in the recent benefit bill and on some previous occasions; his work being so satisfactory as to secure him an engagement in the Denver company that was to support me. Denver at this time had but one theatre; it was not nearly so large or so good a theatre as the Salt Lake Theatre; in fact, Denver was not then (1878) as large a city as Salt Lake. Nick Forrester was the manager, and his wife was the "leading lady" of the company, and insisted on playing all the leading lady parts whether suited to them or not. This caused Nick and the company a whole lot of trouble as she was already fair, fat and forty, and not suited to many of the parts.

My opening bill was "Hamlet," and she was my Ophelia, much to my dissatisfaction, as there was a juvenile lady in the company, Miss Baker, who should have been cast for the part; but with a woman's persistent inconsistency, in spite of my demurrer, she would be Ophelia, and Miss Baker had to do the Queen, which she was quite as unsuited to as Mrs. Forrester was for Ophelia. This was the "leading lady's" reward:

"Not all the artifices of the stage would suffice to make Mrs. Forrester look young enough for Ophelia, or Miss Baker old enough for the Queen."—Rocky Mountain News.

After "Hamlet," "Richelieu" was given (my first appearance in the character), then "Jack Cade," Bulwer's comedy of "Money" and my own play, "Under One Flag." After filling in three more weeks with the Forresters on their circuit, Mr. Joe Wallace, the comedian of Mr. Forrester's company, made a contract with me to play me through the state of Colorado, supported by the Forrester Stock Company. The season was over in Denver, so we went en tour. Before the tour ended we went to Leadville with teams from Canon City, and gave the first dramatic performance ever given in Leadville. This was in the summer of '78; the boom did not strike Leadville till '79. We were there too early to do much in the theatrical way—the population was not there. Emery and I got back to Salt Lake about the first of August. The next attraction at the Salt Lake Theatre after "Evadne" was the Union Square Theatre Company with Charley Thorne at the head of it. On February 12th, this company opened in the Russian play, "The Danicheffs," following it with "The Two Orphans" and "Pink Dominoes." It was the foremost company of the time, and of course gave great satisfaction. On February 22nd, Washington's Birthday was celebrated by a big masquerade ball in the theatre, given by the L. H. B. Society. This was a big affair, this masquerade. Hundreds of maskers were on the floor and the grand march, led by our late lamented friend Ned Wallin, and the writer, was a very fine pageant—and it was altogether a very successful revel.

Next came Fanny Louise Buckingham and her finely trained horse, James Mellville. They starred in conjunction for three nights in the play of "Mazeppa," supported by the stock company. This was the last performance the writer took part in before leaving for his Denver engagement. There was much more satisfaction in supporting Fanny and her horse than there was in supporting Frayne and his bulldog. Fanny was a beautiful creature, so also was her horse James; and although Fanny couldn't act Mazeppa very well, James did his part splendidly, and Fanny could stick on him in good shape, and James carried her through all right. The following week we were in Denver together, she playing, I rehearsing, so we saw a good deal of each other, and when she parted from us at Denver, she had established a reputation among us for a "jolly good fellow." She loved her horse James Mellville, and she loved a jolly crowd.

Next came J. Al. Sawtelle, who had been touring around in Utah and Montana, and put his name up for a performance at the Salt Lake Theatre. As he had only played there one season and had not been there since '74, he was almost a stranger. He played "Rosedale" on March 2nd. On March 5th, Denman Thompson opened a three nights' engagement in "Joshua Whitcomb." The 11th and 12th, Signor Eduardo Majeroni, a very clever Italian actor, played "The Old Corporal" and "Jealousy."

On the 14th, Ada Richmond opened for a week, supported by the stock, which also supported the three preceding attractions. On April 4th, 5th and 6th, Haverly's minstrels filled the time, giving the Conference visitors a taste of genuine minstrelsy.

The last nights of Conference, 7th and 8th, were filled by the stock, who kept it going until Oliver Doud Byron came in on the 15th and 16th to crave their help "Across the Continent." On the 19th Frank C. Bangs, one of the big four in the "Julius Caesar" production at Booth's theatre, gave a reading entertainment. Why he didn't give a play I don't know, the same old reliable stock was here and had just supported Oliver Doud Byron. The only reason I can assign is that he hadn't time to stay.

April 25th and 26th Ada Gray appeared in "Whose Wife?" and "Miss
Multon."

May 2nd Prof. La Mar, leader of the Fort Douglas Band, gave a band concert. La Mar was a very clever musician and had a fine band; he deserved to be well patronized for he was very accommodating, and volunteered the services of his band on numerous "benefit occasions."

On the 7th and 8th Dick Roberts in "Humpty Dumpty;" 13th and 14th, Sol
Smith Russell and Rice's Evangeline combination.

On the 27th and 28th Harrigan and Hart in "Doyle Brothers," "Old
Lavender" and "Sullivan's Christmas."

June 14th and 15th, Salisbury's Troubadores.

July 15th, Joseph Jefferson in "Rip Van Winkle."

September 10th, Henry Ward Beecher in lecture, "Wastes and Burdens." This was after the notorious Beecher-Tilton scandal and Henry had been studying social economy. The Mormons didn't like Henry very much, but he had a big house.

September 12th and 13th, entertainments were given for the benefit of the yellow fever sufferers in Memphis and vicinity. These entertainments did not "pan out" very well, and the theatre managers decided to get all the dramatic talent they could get to volunteer and give a popular play, in hopes to materially increase the charity fund. The "School for Scandal" was selected and given with a pretty strong cast, embracing Miss Colebrook as Lady Teazle, David McKenzie as Sir Peter, John T. Caine as Charles Surface, John S. Lindsay as Joseph Surface. Phil Margetts and John C. Graham were in the cast, and a number of others, I cannot remember. The play was given on September 16th, and netted a very tidy sum for the sufferers.

On the 18th, 19th and 20th, Calender's Georgia minstrels held the boards, and business was light. The writer and Harry Emery had but recently returned from their Colorado tour, and both were anxious to be doing something, so I got a cast together and put on "Richelieu," which I had recently played in Denver, and received flattering notices for, from the press of that city. I had given away my first appearance for the "benefit" to the yellow fever sufferers, so there was no other attraction than to see me in a new part and that did not prove sufficient to save me from disaster. I had a losing game of it, the receipts being some $75 less than the expenses of the performance. This was the only time I ever failed to make something when I had rented the theatre and taken chances, which was quite often. This performance, given on the 25th of September, virtually closed the season of '77 and '78.

CHAPTER XXIII.

SEASONS OF '78-'79 AND '80-'82.

The season of '78 and '79 was opened on October 4th by Haverly's minstrels, who filled the night of the 5th also, when the stock company stepped to the front once more, and filled out the remainder of the Conference dates with the "Lancashire Lass" and the "Hidden Hand." On the 23rd Susie Spencer was a beneficiary, playing "The Little Rebel." Susie's life was not without a spice of romance, and its chapter of sorrow. Susie Spencer was a very pretty little girl and talented; the managers found her very useful in parts where her petite stature was suited to the character, and such occasions were not infrequent. Miss Spencer was progressing nicely in her art and had already become a favorite with the patrons of the drama, when she met her fate in the person of Mr. Ed Marden. Marden was one of the Cogswell party who came from California by way of Southern Utah, and waiting on Brigham Young, informed him they had received a revelation (via the Planchette route) instructing them to come to Salt Lake and join the Mormon Church, as it was the only true and authorized church. The party were duly baptized and confirmed into the Church, and at once installed as members of the stock company. Marden became on very short acquaintance infatuated with the pretty Susie and laid siege to her young and guileless heart with that adroitness and dexterity which come from much experience, with the result that Susie soon became Mrs. Marden. Marden was a member of the stock here all during the "Jimmy" Harris regime. He and "Jimmy" were fast friends, they both came to Utah Gentiles, joined the Church and married Mormon girls. Soon after the close of the Harris management in '77, Marden drifted off and left his Susie a heart-broken little woman. He was through with Utah, and through with the Mormon Church, and through with his little Mormon wife, and cast them all aside as he would a worn-out suit. He never came back, and Susie, after a year or two of repining, found consolation in the affections of a better man. She became the wife of Mr. Rice, a well-to-do banker of the mining town of Frisco, Utah, where she lived happily in her new alliance until a few years ago, when she passed away from earth, still young in years.

The next stellar attraction was Mrs. Scott Siddons, a niece of the great Sarah Siddons, who appeared on November 22nd in a dramatic recital; with what success the writer cannot tell, as he was away again at this time. This lady had just closed a week's engagement at Portland, Oregon, when I arrived there. I met her at the hotel before her departure, and she impressed me as being an extraordinary woman and a brilliant actress.

December 25th, Nat Goodwin and Eliza Weatherby opened a four nights' engagement in "Hobbies;" they gave on the following evenings "Under the Rose" and "Cruets." This was Goodwin's first engagement in Salt Lake.

On January 10th and 11th, 1879, Alice Gates' Comic Opera Company played to exceptionally large houses.

Barney Macauley in "The Messenger from Jarvis Station" was the next stellar attraction.

There was a dearth of star attractions along about this time and the stock company had plenty of time to fill in, but it had become so depleted as to be unable to keep up the interest for more than two or three nights at a time.

On May 2nd, "Buffalo Bill," Col. Wm. F. Cody, gave an exhibition, assisted by the stock company. He called it "A Knight of the Plains." On May 8th, Annie Adams (Mrs. Kiskadden) and her daughter Maude, who were in Salt Lake on a visit, created some interest in her reappearance here, and that of Maude who on this occasion played her first speaking part in Salt Lake. Miss Adams assisted by the stock (what remained of it) and some amateurs, gave on the 8th, "A Woman of the People." This was the old French play of "Madeline, the Belle of the Faubourg," which Julia Dean had played some years before. Like many another good play since, it was made to do double duty by appearing under a new title. For the second night's bill, the comedy of "Stepmother" and the farce of "Little Susie" were given. In the farce Little Maude played the name part, "Little Susie." Maude was then six years and six months old, and had already played several parts in San Francisco, the most notable one, Little Adrienne in "A Celebrated Case," which she played in the Baldwin production of the play, and afterwards in Portland with John Maguire's production of it, for which she and her mother were especially engaged. Afterwards with the Maguire company en tour through Oregon and Washington, when "Little Maude" was featured in "The Case" and also in "Ten Nights in a Bar Room," her mother and the writer playing the leading roles in these plays. This second bill was repeated on the 10th inst., the probability being that Maude had caught the public favor at that early day.

The next attraction of note was Lawrence Barrett, who opened on July 8th (midsummer nights—no dream) for four nights, opening play "Richelieu" followed by "Hamlet," "A New Play" and "Julius Caesar." How the fastidious and exacting Barrett managed to cast these great plays here has never been explained to me. He must have carried his principal support with him.

In the fall of this year Miss Annie Adams revived "The Two Orphans" with a complete cast of amateurs, excepting herself and Jimmy Harris. The cast included Mr. Laron Cummings as the Chevalier, Heber M. Wells as the Doctor, Orson Whitney as Jacques, John D. Spencer as Pierre, John T. White as Picard, W. T. Harris played Frochard, which fact certainly denoted a great paucity of female talent here about that time. Annie Adams played Louise and Delia Clawson, Heriette, which is as much of the cast as we can gather from Miss Adams' own account of this performance. So successful was the performance as a whole and so meritorious the acting of the numerous debutants on this occasion that Mr. Bud Whitney who was managing the business end of the affair, proposed the organization of a "Home Club," which should comprise all of the amateurs who had taken part in "The Two Orphans." The proposition was readily adopted by those concerned, and out of this sprang "The Home Dramatic Club." The time was most opportune, for there was a dearth of dramatic attractions at the time; the old stock had dwindled until there were but a few of its members left in Salt Lake, and some new blood and talent was needed to give renewed interest to home productions. "The Home Dramatic Club," with great prudence and foresight, secured the ensuing April Conference dates on which to make their initial bow to the Utah public. It was a good long time to wait but they were sure of big results in a financial way, and it gave them plenty of time in which to perfect themselves in their opening play, which was "The Romance of a Poor Young Man." It was a good selection, well suited to the young people, and scored a success; only the older people in the community could remember George Pauncefort opening in the same play in 1864, and scoring a great triumph. The club had large and friendly audiences and their introductory play was pronounced a genuine success, both artistically and financially. It could not be otherwise than a good paying proposition, as Conference nights are always a harvest time for the theatre. So well encouraged were they that the club continued in the business of playing occasionally, whenever they could secure favorable dates, such as Conferences and other holiday times, for a number of years. "The Home Dramatic Club" averaged about three or four plays a year during their career of about ten years. The club being more of a society affair than a professional theatre company, they picked their times and opportune ones, and playing so seldom they never were subjected to the tasks in study and rehearsals and dramatic work which characterized the busy years of the old stock company. It was a talented company, however, and no doubt could have made good under different and more exacting conditions.

In March, 1881, the writer was back in Salt Lake after a two years' absence, principally in Portland and San Francisco. On my return there was nothing doing in the theatrical line. The "club" had been organized nearly a year, yet had given only a very few plays. There was a dearth of theatricals, and the writer with the acquiescence and assistance of Mr. Clawson, who was again manager of the theatre, got up occasional performances with such assistance as he could procure. The first of these was "A Celebrated Case," in which he had the assistance of Manager Clawson's daughters, Miss Edith Clawson and Mrs. Ardelle Cummings. Other performances were given in connection with David McKenzie, Philip Margetts and John C. Graham, with such support as we could muster from the depleted ranks of the old stock, and what new aspirants were in the field for dramatic honors. The "gallery gods" honored the three gentlemen and myself with the somewhat flattering appellation of the big four, the same title the New Yorkers bestowed on Booth, Barrett, Davenport and Bangs when these four stars formed the great constellation in the play of "Julius Caesar." These performances, however, like those of "The Home Dramatic," were few and far between, and to a person depending on acting for a livelihood, did not prove very remunerative.

About this time another project which interested the writer hove into view. Dr. D. Banks McKenzie, a temperance lecturer and reformer, had succeeded after a considerable effort in organizing a temperance club in Salt Lake City (a prodigious task to accomplish at that time). He had succeeded in raising a fund of some thirty thousand dollars in contributions towards the erection of a first-class lecture hall, with library, and various other nice accommodations for the society. The Walkers Brothers had contributed a building site where the Atlas block now stands, 50x100 feet. This was put in at $13,000, making nearly one-half of the $30,000 contributed. On being informed by one of the Walker Brothers of what was projected, the writer with some self-interest suggested that inasmuch as they were going to put up a building of such size and cost, that they might just as well make it a little larger, and make a theatre of it; that a theatre would answer all the purposes of the proposed hall, and often rent when the hall would not. The idea grew with them, and the Walker Grand Opera House was the result. It occupied a year in building. It was opened on June 5th, 1882, with a vocal and instrumental concert, with Prof. George Careless as conductor. As a matter of historical interest and to show the musical status of Salt Lake at that time, a copy of the opening program is here appended.

OPENING OF THE WALKER GRAND OPERA HOUSE.

Monday Evening, June 5th, 1882.

    Lessee ………………………….. D. Banks McKenzie
    Manager …………………………… John S. Lindsay

PROGRAM.

1. Overture—"William Tell" ………………… Rossini 2. Quartette—"The Night Before the Battle" ……. White

Misses Olsen and Richards, Messrs. Whitney and Spencer.

3. Flute Solo—"Concert Polka" ……………… Rudolph

Mr. George Hedger.

4. Aria—Il Profeta ……………………… Meyerbeer

Mrs. J. Leviburg.

5. Selection Favorite ……………………. Donozetti

Orchestra.

INTERMISSION.

6. Overture—Pique Dame ……………………… Suppe

7. Aria—E. Puritane ………………………. Belline

Mr. Robert Gorlinske.

8. Piano Solo—Trovatore ………………… Gottschalk

Mrs. Helen Wells.

9. Song—"My Own Dearest Child" ………………… Abt

Mrs. George Careless.

10. Selection …………………………………….

Croxall's Silver Band.

Conductor ……………………. Prof. George Careless

Thursday, June 8th—For Three Nights. Louis Aldrich Company in his very successful play, "MY PARTNER." Superb Star Company.

In the spring of '82, when the Walker was approaching completion, Dr. McKenzie hied him to New York to secure attractions for the new theatre, for the erstwhile temperance lecturer had developed into the sole lessee and manager of a $100,000 theatre. He had already chosen me to attend to the local management, for which I was to have 5 per cent of the gross proceeds of everything we played there, with the privilege of getting up local performances in the interims. I had worked eleven months, superintending the construction of the building and was quite in favor. "Doc" was very successful in securing attractions, his somewhat extravagant and florid descriptions of the Walker Grand, as they chose to christen it, and its superiority to the old theatre, caught the agents and managers, and he secured so many of the attractions going to the coast the ensuing season that he virtually had the Salt Lake Theatre out of business.

The first dramatic performance given in the Walker was the Louis Aldrich Company in "My Partner." The house was well filled but not crowded; there was a very strong prejudice against the Walker among the Mormon part of the community, and a malicious report to the effect that the galleries were not safe was put in circulation with a view to injure the new theatre. Such mischievous whisperings, however, only had a temporary effect.

One of the earliest attractions at "The Walker" was Haverly's minstrels, and the house was crowded to its utmost capacity; as the galleries did not give way on that occasion, the reports which had been so industriously circulated were seen to be "a weak invention of the enemy."

The new house continued to get the attractions to such an extent, that the Salt Lake Theatre was virtually out of the swim. This was accomplished by Dr. McKenzie putting The Walker under the direction of Jack Haverly. Haverly at the time was one of the foremost managers of the country. He controlled more companies and theatres than any one in the field of amusement; so he booked everything in his control at The Walker, and the house during his regime was called Haverly's Walker Grand Opera House. "What's in a name?" In theatrical business much; it is everything. So serious indeed was the situation for the Salt Lake theatre that Mr. David McKenzie, who was at this time the acting manager of the house, found it necessary to go to San Francisco and have a business interview with Mr. Fred Bert, who was Haverly's San Francisco manager.

The result of his visit was an agreement on the part of Haverly to play his attractions alternately between the two theatres, thus giving the Salt Lake theatre one-half of their Salt Lake bookings. In the agreement it was stipulated that the Salt Lake Theatre must also float the Haverly flag, and while this contract lasted the old house was called "Haverly's Salt Lake Theatre." Here was an interesting situation; both theatres flying the Haverly flag. Haverly's name at the head of every bill and program. It was not at all pleasing to the Mormon people to have their theatre, in which they took so much pride, pass under the direction and management of a Gentile manager. Many of them didn't know but what Haverly had bought it. The Walker Brothers did not relish the idea either of their house being called Haverly's; but such were the exigencies of the theatrical business. To the Walker it was a great advantage, as without Haverly's prestige the new house would have had a hard time in getting first-class attractions.

These circumstances go to show what an immense influence Jack Haverly wielded in the theatrical business of this country at that time. He was almost as potent then as Klaw & Erlanger of the syndicate are today. These conditions did not last very long, as the managers and agents came to learn that the Salt Lake Theatre was the only one that the Mormon people would patronize, and they being so largely in a majority of the theatre-goers, the older theatre gradually won back the great bulk of the traveling combinations, and the Haverly agreement having expired, his flag was hauled down, much to the relief of a great many, to whom it had always seemed a reproach to have Brigham Young's Theatre called Haverly's. Jack Haverly had too many irons in the fire; his numerous theatrical enterprises were managed by a corps of lieutenants, too numerous for Mr. Haverly to keep in line. Some of them proved shrewder, more adroit, and less principled than their general. He trusted them too implicitly, and this was his undoing. Some of them managed his enterprises into their own hands, while he was giving his personal attention very largely to his mining interests. These, too, turned out disastrously, and Haverly's star, which had been so prominent and bright in the theatrical firmament, began to wane and in a very few years was totally eclipsed. After all his great enterprises, he became a bankrupt in 1898, and he died poor in 1901 in a Salt Lake Hospital. He was reduced in health and circumstances to such a degree as to be unable during the last year of his life to manage even a minstrel company, and others paid him for the use of his name.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Retrospectively considered, the building of the Walker Opera House was premature. There was one good theatre here, and not half enough of business for that one; but it served to enliven things for a little while, and did its share toward liberalizing and metropolitanizing Salt Lake City. The Walker had a brief and rather checkered career; it was destroyed by fire on July 4th, 1891, after a performance of "Held by the Enemy." The audience were all home and the company had left the theatre; the stage hands were lowering a drop, when a gust of wind blew open the front door and sent the drop sailing against a gas jet; in a moment it was all ablaze. The stage hands lost their heads and made for the exit, when a little presence of mind would have saved the building. The house, especially the stage, was well provided with water plugs and hose, and it seems incredible that any effort was made to extinguish the fire.

Mr. Will Burgess was manager at the time it burned down. It is a remarkable fact that two other fine theatres burned under this same gentleman's management within a few years afterward. The Farnham Street Theatre of Omaha, where a number of lives were lost, and The Auditorium of Kansas City. Notwithstanding these very serious drawbacks, Mr. Burgess is one of the wealthy managers of the West today.

After the burning of "The Walker," Malloy's Livery Stable, directly opposite the Walker, was converted into a theatre, when it was decided to build an office block on the ruins of the Walker. For some time it was known as "Wonderland," and was a two storied show; the upper story being a sort of curiosity shop—or Wonderland with specialties and the lower story having a small stage was devoted to vaudeville, and short plays. Afterwards the two stories were thrown into one room, and converted into a theatre with capacity for about six hundred people. It was called the Lyceum. Here a stock company was run for about a year with varying fortune. Some actors who have since won high places in their professions were members of this stock, notably Charles Richman, Ed Hayes, Victory Bateman.

The Lyceum soon went into a decline struggled along for a few years against adverse fortune and finally yielded up the ghost. It was transformed into a handsome saloon and wholesale liquor house, from which a greater revenue is derived than it yielded as a theatre. Before the Lyceum went out of commission as a theatre another theatrical venture was launched. This was the Grand. This theatre was built (or partly so) by Mr. Frank Maltese and Mr. "Brig" Pyper. The story of how they projected, planned and built this theatre is told as follows: "Brig" and "Frank" made a winning in a "policy drawing." They held between them a one-fourth interest in a fifty-dollar policy ticket. In a sporty manner they bantered each other as to what they should do with their big winning of $12.50. One was in favor of reinvesting it in the next policy drawing, the other for trying their luck at the "faro-bank." Finally, in a lurid flash of imagination one (which one we don't remember, but we believe it was Frank), exclaimed: "Let's build an Opera House with it." The idea was so absurd, they had a good laugh over it; but the thought took hold of them, and one of them suggested, "Let's figure up and see how much more it will take." So on the back of the policy ticket they figured up roughly what it would take in addition to their winnings to build "The Grand." The result was no doubt staggering; but undismayed they went about to see how they could accomplish such a herculean task. They owned some property, or their folks did, and this they decided to put in jeopardy in order to carry out their designs. They secured the building site, and got the walls up and the roof on—and then they were stuck. They had reached the end of their financial tether, and were forced to stop until they could make some new deal by which to complete the building. Mr. Alec Rogers was the party who now came to the front and put up some $16,000 to complete the building. We don't know just how much interest the boys Maltese and Pyper had remaining in it when the theatre was completed, but we opine it was little if any. The Grand opened with the house in the possession of Alex. Rogers and sons, and John Rogers was installed as the manager. He secured a very good company for the opening, announcing a season of stock performances. The house was opened on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1894. The personnel of the company was as follows: Jane Kennark, Blanche Bates, Madge Carr Cook, Jean Coy, Howard Kyle, Tim Frawley, Charles King, Harry Corson Clarke, H. D. Blackmore, Fred Fjaders, Mr. Mannery. The opening play was "Moths." It was a good performance, and the company made a very favorable impression. The axiom that "A new broom sweeps well" had a number of exemplifications in this theatre. It was so with this first company, notwithstanding it was a talented and capable one. After it had been seen in a few plays, and the novelty of the new house, miscalled "The Grand," was over, business began to drop off and it was more than the manager could do to keep ahead with the expensive company he had.

Why this theatre was called "The Grand" we were never able to divine, as it was at the opening positively severe in its plainness. There is a great tendency in our country to buncombe, aside from the genuine patriotism that exists in it; this tendency leads many of our fellow citizens into silly extravagances, especially is this noticeable in the naming of theatres, hotels and restaurants; more particularly is this the case in the small towns. A man opens a little restaurant scarcely big enough to accommodate a dozen persons, and everything in it of the plainest and commonest kind, and he dubs it the "Palace" restaurant. "Opera House" is a much abused appellation. Nearly every insignificant, dingy, dismal, inconvenient, and homely theatre and hall throughout the land is dubbed Opera House. It is a dreadful misnomer—inconsistent and absurd in three-fourths of the houses to which it is applied. "The Theatre" is dignified enough and much more consistent and suitable. "The Grand" during the ten years of its existence has had a checkered career. We doubt if any of its half dozen different managers have made it pay. The first company, as already stated, was found to be too expensive, the business would not sustain the heavy salary list, not only was the salary list large, but Mr. Frawley made a demand for a percentage of the receipts in addition. This sprung a disagreement, and the company was after about four or five weeks superseded by another less expensive. The Rogers management was able, liberal and intent on giving the public satisfaction. After a fair trial of the business, lasting three years, they disposed of the house on a lease to Mr. Garvey of pageantry fame, who spent a few hundred he had made on the "Pioneer Carnival" on the house in the way of improvements, and then called it "The New Grand." Ad captandiun vulgas.

Garvey's reign was brief and unprofitable. Then Mr. Martin Mulvey took a swing at it, and made things lively for two seasons, but the supposition is that he did not make money with it or he would not have given up the lease. The last management, Messrs. Jones and Hammer, have seemingly had the most prosperous time with the house; they have profited by the experience of their predecessors, and yet it appears they have not realized their expectations, and so have re-leased the house to Denver parties.

Having brought the history of the Salt Lake Theatre through the first twenty years of its existence up to the time when the stock company was altogether disbanded, owing to the fact that the combination system had come so fully into vogue as to displace the stock system all over the country, I shall not attempt to give its history after this time, as my connection with it had altogether ceased. I shall only add that for the past twenty-three years it has kept the even tenor of its way, under able managers (notably Mr. Charles R. Burton and later George Pyper), playing the leading attractions of the country to a splendid patronage, keeping up the reputation of Salt Lake as "the best show town of its population in the world."

More than twenty years ago several attempts were made to establish a vaudeville theatre in this city; two houses were built at different times for the purpose, but they were short-lived, dying out for lack of patronage. Within the last three years, however, the city's population having greatly increased, no less than four have been started here, two of which survive and seem to be doing well.

During the early years of the drama in Utah, several of the towns besides Salt Lake had very talented companies. Provo, Springville, Ogden, Brigham City, and St. George each had fairly good theatres and many very capable players. It is somewhat remarkable, however, that out of the hundreds of persons who have "gone on the stage" in Utah, so few have drifted into the profession and left their homes to follow it; the percentage is very small. Miss Sarah Alexander was the first to drift off, and although she has not made much stir on the stage herself, she has chaperoned her niece Miss Lisle Leigh to fine success. Mr. James M. Hardie was the next to break away; then Miss Anne Adams, Mr. Logan Paul and the writer complete the list so far as the Salt Lake Stock Company is concerned. Later Miss Ada Dwyer and Mr. DeWitt Jennings. This is accounted for by the fact that, much as the Mormons love the theatre, they love their homes and their religion better. The theatre is a pleasant pastime with them, but the staying at home and building up of their kingdom is a religious duty, and unless they are "called on a mission," they prefer to stay with home and Church.

CHAPTER XXV.

CONCLUSION.

A few reflections on the theatre and its work in concluding this little history may not be out of place.

The cultivation and progress of the drama in connection with its kindred arts, poesy and painting, marks the progress of civilization, culture and refinement at any given period in any country. Without the aid of the theatre and the actors' art, the great majority of mankind would remain in ignorance as to the works of the most gifted writers; without those great reflectors of human thought, how many thousands there have been and are who never would have heard or read the plays of Shakespeare and other writers of genius, but who, by the assistance of the actor's delineations, have become familiar with the most sublime and beautiful thoughts and sentiments that adorn our language. I make mention particularly of Shakespeare's plays, as they are beyond all question the greatest and grandest compositions ever written. Among the thousands of plays that have been written during and since the great dramatic renaissance of Elizabeth's reign, they still stand out incomparable as models par excellence of dramatic composition, challenging competition, and as yet unrivaled after a lapse of more than three centuries.

That the stage is a great factor in our modern civilization, for the education of the people, no reading, reflecting person would attempt to deny. It is true that some pernicious things occasionally creep in that would be better suppressed, but they are rare and exceptional. The great bulk of dramatic entertainment is uplifting in its tendencies. The infinite variety of plays presented, showing human life in all conditions, and under every variety of circumstances, can not be otherwise than educational in effect upon those who witness them. However crude or devoid of literary merit a play may be, there seldom is one, however bald in plot or uninteresting in sentiment, but what "points a moral and adorns a tale."

In Shakespeare's day the theatre was even more or an educational institution than it is today. Books were scarce in that age, and the newspapers were an undiscovered medium of information, so that plays (especially historical plays) possessed a wonderful interest for the masses, who had little chance for schooling or the acquirement of knowledge from books.

The old chronicles and legends were freely used by the dramatists of the Elizabethan era, and the incidents of history were made so familiar to the habitues of the theatre that the common people acquired a good knowledge of history by witnessing the representation of those plays. To illustrate how much this was the case, Ben Jonson tells the story of a fellow who, having been taken to task on some question of history and the accuracy of his position being assailed and the authenticity of his assertions being called in question, replied by way of defense: "No, I confess I had it not from the histories but from the play books, and consider them the more authentic."

Many dramas have been written (and more especially by the poets) without perhaps having in view their exploitation on the stage, but like their other poetry, to be read, suitable only for the library, more poetical than dramatic.

Such are the plays of Byron, Shelley, Keats, Moore, and others. A still greater number have been written solely for acting purposes; and the majority of these may not lay claim to any permanent abiding place in literature. Others still are admirably adapted to both the library and the stage. Such are the plays of Sheridan, Knowles, Bulwer, Schiller, Kotzebue, and later of Heinrick Ibsen. Of such a character also are the plays of our gifted Salt Lake dramatist, the late Edward W. Tullidge. The present-day theatre-goers have little time to indulge in the reading of plays. The overwhelming mass of reading matter thrown from the press, keeps the general reader busy to keep abreast of the current literature of our times. So that plays form no part of the world's reading matter; here and there is one, some stagestruck soul who loves to get hold of and read a play, but the vast majority are content to let the actors read the plays for them, preferring to witness the acting of them. It is a fact and a very gratifying one that Shakespeare's plays are about the only ones that are read nowadays, and these are by no means so universally read as they should be. The masses have not time for reading Shakespeare, or other dramatists, so it is a fortunate thing for them that the theatres are so popular and accessible; here, they can hear the thoughts and sentiments, and see in literal action the characters of both ancient and modern times, and gather from the mimic scene suggestions of the tremendous throes and struggles through which the human race has passed.

During the forty-three years that the Salt Lake Theatre has been in existence, an almost infinite variety of plays have been presented and thousands of actors (as infinite in variety as the plays) have "strutted and fretted their brief hour upon its stage" and now are heard no more. It is a solemn reflection that in all probability more than three-fourths of all who have trod the stage of this theatre, both local and transient actors, in less than half a century of existence are "heard no more." The voices that have thrilled us, the animated and beautified forms that have called forth our admiration and praise, are stilled forever by the chilling touch of death; genius, mediocrity, incompetency, all alike go down, and the greatest names in a few brief years are forgotten; so transitory is the actor's fame. Yet it is not more so perhaps than that of other professions, and certainly not quite so much of a "will o' the wisp" as "seeking the bubble reputation in the cannon's mouth."

Out of the multitudinous dramatic pictures that have been presented on the stage of this theatre during its forty-three years of existence, it is interesting to know which stand out in bold relief. We need not hesitate to reply, the plays of Shakespeare, and those that are nearest akin to them, such as Bulwer's "Richelieu," Knowles' "Virginius," Banim's "Damon and Pythias." The Irish plays of Dion Boucicault, "Colleen Bawn," "Arrah Na Pogue," "Shaugraun," "Kerry," and even his "London Assurance," made very strong impressions, were very popular, and made money both for actors and managers. So with many other plays we might cite; but compared with Shakespeare's plays they have proven to be short-lived and their fame but transitory. They have never found a permanent abiding place in the world of literature.

There is a strange, a marvelous thing in connection with the plays of Shakespeare. In his day the theatre was not popular, as it is in our times. The religionists held it in reprobation; actors were looked upon by the good church people as little better than vagabonds, and the occupation of play writing was scarcely reputable. The Globe Theatre, the best there was in London at that time, was little better than a barn. The art of scene painting was unknown. Candles were the best artificial light they had, all the accessories of the stage were of the most primitive description. The art of costuming plays was crude in the extreme, and woefully inadequate and incorrect. In short, the facilities for staging plays were poor, extremely poor, as compared with those of our own time. The greatest drawback of all however was this. They had no women on the stage; all those beautiful female characters of Shakespeare's were impersonated by men. Woman had not yet asserted her independence and equality with man in this domain of art; and yet under these most adverse conditions, the greatest plays the world has ever seen were written. Three centuries have winged their flight into the past, and in all that time no other dramatist has arisen that can rival Shakespeare. The popularity of the theatre and the actor's art have steadily grown since his time until in our own day we have the most costly and elaborate theatres. In every city, and almost every town of the civilized world, there is some sort of a theatre; many of them are truly temples of the Thespian art; invention has racked its brains to supply original and costly adjuncts to the drama in the way of scenery and mechanical devices; realism has run mad in its efforts to produce novel illusions and startling stage effects. Woman has long since demonstrated her equality with man in the arena of dramatic art, and for more than two centuries she has adorned the stage with her beauty, grace and talents. There is an eager and expectant world of theatregoers waiting for some new genius to come forth and give to the stage another halo, to shed a radiance over its flickering lights, and fill the world with wonder and delight; but alas! no other Shakespeare has arisen; with the models he gave before them, in three centuries no dramatist has arisen that could write a "Hamlet," a "Macbeth," or a "Lear;" nothing in all that time to equal "Romeo and Juliet," "As You Like It," or "The Merchant of Venice."

There have been hundreds of playwrights since Shakespeare's time, thousands of plays have been written, the greater portion of them worthless to the stage, but a great number of excellent playwrights have flourished since then, and their plays have had a greater or less degree of success. We will just instance a few of the most successful ones. Otway wrote "Venice Preserved;" Massinger, "A New Way to Pay Old Debts;" Addison his "Cato," Goethe his "Faust;" Schiller "The Robbers;" Kotzebue, "The Stranger;" Bellinghousen, "Ingomar;" Sheridan, "The School of Scandal," "Pizarro" and "The Rivals;" Knowles, "The Hunchback," "Virginius" and "William Tell;" John Howard Payne, "Brutus;" Bulwer, "The Lady of Lyons," "Richelieu" and "Money;" Dr. Bird, "The Gladiator;" Judge Conrad, "Jack Cade;" George F. Boker, "Francisca de Rimini." I might instance many others, but these will suffice tor my purpose. Now these are all noble productions, and have won fame and money for both authors and actors; but it is questionable if any of them will live indefinitely. Already many of the plays I have named are waning in the dramatic firmament; some of them have already set. Why is it, let us ask. What is there in Shakespeare's plays that lifts them so far above the average of merit and sets them on a plane so distinctively their own? Other authors have certainly equaled Shakespeare in erudition, have even excelled him in the description of the sublime and terrible, surpassed him in glowing pictures of supernatural imagery. Why, then, does the world attach so much importance to the work of Shakespeare? Why are they so highly prized? It is because Shakespeare was the grand High Priest of Nature! He got closer to the human heart than any and all other authors. To him nature was an open book, and he was so thoroughly in love with it, that he left no page unturned or unobserved; from the primer page or the humblest creations of nature's lavish hand up through the countless and variegated specimens of her handiwork to the crowning production of her creative power, man—this son of genius penetrated all her secrets, delved all her depths, scaled her loftiest heights. The heart of man, that secret repository of so many contending passions; that cradle where the affections are rocked into life; that fountain whence so many varying emotions spring, that sea o'er which are swept the multitudinous passions of life, was also to him an open page; the last and greatest chapter in nature's wonderful volume. He understood life in all its phases.

No plays afford greater opportunity for scenic splendor than Shakespeare's, yet none are less dependent on the adjuncts of scenery and outward realism. Shakespeare put his realism into his characters and no inadequate surroundings can rob them of their wondrous charms; they possess such range of mental vision, such tremendous power of thought, such depth and placidity, such glowing imagination; his characters are living, breathing, speaking types of the age in which they lived, and he their creator stands out wholly beyond question or dispute, the most transcendent genius our earth has ever produced.

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