The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 13, 1898, Page 25

24 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 1898. GOOD STORIES By Marcu 8 X0 308 00 300 X0 0 O g HE other day in running over reminiscences of famous stars of the stage Marcus Mayer of im- the follow- presario fame told ing stories: “Adelaide Neilson and Sarah Bern- hardt were among the jolllest of the -dt was the greatest lot. Sarah Bernha money-maker. Who was the easiest to handle? Well, as a general principle, the greater the star the better I got along with him. Mary Anderson, for gome reason, was very difficult to han- dle. The most genial was poor, dear old John McCullough.. All in all, though, they were a great lot. Fancy handling the business of such people as Adelaide Neilson, Christine Nilsson, Sarah Bernhardt, Adelina Patti, who is now a bona fide widow; Booth, Law- rence Barrett, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, John McCullough, Coquelin and Jane Hading, Etelka Gerster, Mary An- der: , Joseph Hoffman, the boy pian- 4st; Sarasate, d'Albert, Gerardy, the “cellist; Stavenhagen, Olga Nethersole, Langtr Albani, Scalchi, Marcella, Sembrich, Tamagno, Mapleson's Her Majesty's Opera Company, and—don’t jet me forget her — the Menken, the atest Mazeppa the world ever knew. Menken is somewhere in the here- I wouldn't like to say where. she was a wonderful woman. aacs Menken! In her day she noted men on ruck up with her . and from the mo- her appearance there, the i to play It was way back ir e been bu t who got the hes Booth. She with it. awful tion was N who is now one of the Salvation Army Jassies of Booth's London forces. But the Menken. she was hand- f un- none of them ¥ like Adah was as : and yet a woman common menta; nd an actress of amazing power. he was a Loulsiana <irl, born about 5. She was a beau- ¢, with the whitest, pearliest teeth, rOus ey red lips and be: *iful dark, w r. At 20 she a ballet danc she w a f fledged traged ind at 24 she was V. t time. Her husband She Menken. hich she made famous with that noted al giant, John C. d him at Rock Cot- house in New York, x months from the date of her ion from Menken. They were for a little while; a boy was and Hee then left her. Heenan was jus -paring for his great fight with Sayers, when ‘the fenken’ returned to the stage and appeared at the Bowery under the name of Mrs. John C. Heenan. The big pugilist was mad with rage, but he couldn’t trump her . She went through the rth as Mrs. Heenan. The pugilist soon after sailed for, land, and during his absence she ed her third alliance. This time s chose R. H. Newell, the ‘Orpheus Kerr’ her promise that she would quit the stage. This she did for six months, nd then she was back, playing ‘Ma- eppa’ and ‘The F ch Spy’ befc California miners at $500 a night. She appeared for sixty mnights, and the journalist couldn’t stop her. e sepa- rated from him and took up with Ji Barkley, the gambler. He was fiu ‘She soon fell in fighter and Heenan. S a for happy born to them, C. of old-time journalism. He made [t etet ot -3 8-8-3-2-2-2-3-3=3-3-1-F=3-§=-F-3-F-§-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3=3-3 =} 4 OF THE STAGE. s Mayer. fegeRegegegegegagel 30 08 306 300 1008 200 000 0 I N RN 306 308 300 10F 20% 0¥ 30 106 0% 308 108 Y08 0% 300 308 308 X0F 043¢ California engagement, which I man- aged for her, netted $30,000. Then she was stricken with the European fever, and, with Barkley, set out for London. Kerr went back to New York a discon- solate, broken-down man. “I met Menken afterward at the ‘Westminster Hotel, London. There she and Barkley gave dinners to Swin- burne, Dickens, Charles Reade, John Oxenford, Fechter, George Sand, the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Edin- burgh, the Duke of Hamilton, Jenny Lind, Watts Phillips, Belle Boyd and a host of lesser lights. Swinburne be- came the warmest of her adorers; Dickens praised her literary skill and edited her poems for her, which were produced in Europe afterward in half a dozen tongues. She had her team, with liveried coachman and footman, and for a crest she used four aces, sur- mouhted with a horse's head. They called her the ‘Royal Bengal Tiger’ in those gay days at the Westminster. At Astley where Boucicault had just failed, she drew enormous houses, and she was as equally successful in the provinces. She came back to this coun- try only twice after that—once to get a divorce from Kerr—it was an Indiana divorce, I belive—and another time to visit Barkley, who had returned to his gaming tables. He was still fond of her, and showed it by marrying her. He gave her a house on Seventh avenue, New York, which she called ‘Bleak House,’ in honor of her friend, Dickens. Then she went back to Eu- rope to conquer Paris. A French ver- sion of ‘The Pirates of Savannah’ was made for her, and the ‘Gaite’ was her stamping ground. “The Princess Jerome and Luclen Bonaparte fell in love with her, and so did the elder Dumas. Everybody went to see her, and the Third Napoleon be- came so smitten that Eugenie grew jealous. It became a matter of com- ment before many days. Dumas made the actress _a companion of his pet daughter. But she was like the rest we wot of. She died penniless, after having squardered an enormous for- tune, and the leeches of her prosperity did not even follow her to her lonely grave in Pere la Chaise. Barkley, the gambler, and Ned James, an old friend with little money, had_her disinterred and buried in Mount Parnasse, under a granite monument. I come back to America to renew old and tender friendships,’ was one of her stock phrases, delivered with that ingenuous franknessandsweetness' that made her irresistible. Mme. Patti was always well received here. It has been said that her alliance with Nicolini was looked at askance with society, but I remember several ladies calling upon her at the Southern, among them Mrs. Joseph Garneau, who was a beautiful young matron then. “The first time she came over here she sent a Frenchman, named Franchi, to arrange her tour. He made a holy mess of it. He engaged halls, and placed the price of tickets at $10 a piece. A couple of concerts convinced the diva that she was in bad hands, and Abbey managed her and I became her front-of-the-house man. No, Ni- colini never was a favorite. His man- ner was always constrained. But he was Patti's Nicolini, so let it go at that! “As a rule, Pattli was a good na- cocec G ce co0cnc0s 80 i'-uoooooooo C o o0o© ocooc ©0ooveooce FLORENCE WOLCOTT AT THE TivOoL! tured star, and easy to handle, but there was a time when she did get into a rage. Mapleson, who had her in tow that season, had an operatic war on his hands, and overslept mm- self at his New York hotel on the morning when his song bird was ex- pected to arrive. The Gallia steamed up the bay and Patti was landed on the wet docks, pattered around, looked for a carriage, and stamped her little No. 2 foot. Nicolini, dragging a brown Senegal monkey by the collar, shouted down the wharf for a car- riage. ‘They stormed around for a while, and finally were bunched into a friendly hack and driven to the Wind- sor, where Mapleson was still snoring. There was an explosion when he awoke and found what he had done, but things were soon arranged and peace restored. “I had just one little ‘tiff’ with Lang- = Mi5s GERTRUDE, FOSTER, AT THE ALCAZAR. try. It was mild and genteel. You know we providecd her with a private car._She occupicd it during her stay in St. Louls, and invited Freddle Geb- hardt to be her gue: There is an un- written rule in geland, which for- bids guests to be invited by stars. I informed Langtry very quietly and polite ou know, I couldn’t be anything if I wanted to—of the rule. A up immediately. y car!’ she said. % “‘No, our car, madam,’ I remarked. Gebhardt v the point, and, like the gentlem was, withdrew immedi- ately. t was her charm? Her per- sonality! There is no question about that. 1 S F_{ v : e £ w a% jf—_{ cut , fig-ure, Just watch dis fly young nig-ger For catch him spark-in, wid la - dy, Im re-mark-in’ Ise 1\ = = < i & A == L4 s = o —wh g 7 de new - est thing thgt’s now in sight. =4 I to wipe dat nig - ger off dis land.- =% When de gals giv - i out all craz de priz . es, De time coons will all for trou'- ble s « feel ha N = G b You can bet dis . - When dey see me walk coon will be a -cross de e floor, roung, y —— TO PUT THIS SONG IN BOOK At the Theaters This Week. Poor John McCullough! Genial I was with him on the night of his breakdown in Chicago. It was the only time in my life I cried, and I am not ashamed to say that I-did shed tears then. Kate Forsythe, his lead- ing lady? She lives in London. /I saw her last summer at a dinner Mary Hartland gave to a number of sister actresses, Kate has grown very stout. She is rich and lives off her money. Most of it was made in California min- ing stocks. At that dinner, to which I asked that she be invited, she wore dia- monds that were worth at least $50,000. Fanny Ward, who also lives in the English metropolis, and was a guest of Mrs. Hartland, sparkled with $40,000 worth cof gems. Yes, Blanche Walsh and Geraldine Ulmer, now Mrs, Car- roll, were among the guests. Fanny ;Vaxl—g has an elegant home in Hyde ar! “It wasn't very long ago my old nd Ed Buckley died. He was as- sociated with me in the old California days. I had gone back to the Alta, of which paper 1 was city editor. Just to keep in line, I conducted a little ny, of which Buckley ‘When I came home dead weary for sieep, was my roommate, »* at me until Iwas ntic. One day an actor,named ound to the office. He been directed to me to fur- super who could play small . 1 immediately thought of Buck- d recommended him. Buckley -d to go, provided I went along— amateur comy was a member. from the office, Buckiey, who agr the company was playing a number of towns in the State—and I went for the fun of the thing. We made the jour- ney on the boat, and I remember there was no supper, much to the -disgust ‘of my friend Buckley. When we arrived at our destination, I had to loan him half a dollar to patronize one of the booths along the wharf, where he filled up on coffee and cakes. Buckley was engaged at $25 a week. The first night he played a small part, on the sec- ond night he was cast for the heavy villain, and at once struck for higher wages. That was the beginning of his career, and he was in his glory when he traveled with the Booth and Barrett combination. - “That sweet little song bird, Etelka Gerster! She was the wife of Dr. Gardini, a swarthy faced Italian. He has a fine place at Sasso, not far from Bologna, and the former diva is run- ning a singing school, I believe. She was well liked here in the old Maple- son days. Yes, Campanini, Valleria, Larrarini, De] Puente and Castlemary were with Gerster, and at their best then. “I had a time to keep Del Puente away from sentimental misses, who de- luged him with billets-doux and bou- quets. The handsome baritone had a very tall and scrawny wife, who was Jos. HoLLAN D E Rl QUITA AT THE. SHUTES m frightfully jealous of him. She nearly rfléed thye jrool off the Lindell Hotel one night when the singer disappeared in some way before she could lay hands on him back of the stage to conduct to the hotel. hi‘r‘n"l‘his will never do, Del Puente,’ I said the next day. ! something to let the girls know tha you've got a wife, who will not toler- ate interference with her rights.” “ Al right,’ said Del. ‘Tl fix that.” “The next night he had a part which permitted him to get away from the theater before the close. I was in front of the house and saw Del Puents stalking outside the Olympic, taking a piace between the lamp posts and lean- i against the bill boards. won't be through for half on 1 answered, dimly divining that hou 1] he was up to some trick, for on his arm, with her shoulder nudged against his, was Madame Del Puente. ‘Thera they stood in plain view of the audi- ence as'it filed out. When the last pretty girl had driven away in her carriage, he velled at me. ‘I won't walt, Mayer; it's cold out here, and the ma- dame wants to go home.’ I understood. He was showing off his wife, and the sight of her was enough to discourage any love-struck damsel who had a grain of sense.” .~ AT _THE BALDWIN. e ‘ = Bt 15 ‘_F‘ AF "}' . fin - est a - dy, I tell yer, shes a ba- by, And fair - ly boun-cim, To have a “go” with John-son, Oh, LF T q““‘? e de col - 'ored n'g - er Ise ger, a dis fo coon ‘a - throw yer gal gwine dores. down. “You'll have to do', y v