The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 21, 1901, Page 3

THE SUNDAY CALL. \\\ HARRY \ \\\ < OURTAINE »5 TALSTAFF lowed by the previous ter and the Bian- there was a sical enterta ng of 1880 when the terlor town n San Francisco. ® . g rest in dra- wever make J. H X k s engagement fitable at the erican, where he staft in while rry Perry's fing n of “Oth » Lyceuld nly successfy There was on the imposing array of legiti mate confronting the grand . ma operas, many of which were € or the first time in English Y nent dramatic people wero and George Ryer, J (Just returned Mrs. W. C. all of whom ot} Davenport Mr. and ocourred in the variety this time, owing to the s Melodeon in the hall ed, on the corner of streets, the “Gaieties” established some time on Rowena Granice and a the entrance of the old which was known as “The s Academy of Music, which opened February 15 at the northwest cor- ner of Summer street and Montgomery, was devoted to concerts, lectures, pano- Tucke: ramas, etc., became very popular, while iall under Billy Birch's m agemer alrly at 181 Mont- gomery street April 22, but lasted only a few weeks. Music Hall, which had been destroyed 23, was replaced by Pick- jall, which was in turn destroyed | mber 2/, Andrew Torning, well | in the profession, ha € been se- | ! injured at the fire Harry Pl i-known and | populer character, who had been connect- | hall on Bush street, buflt | on Montgomery, between | d Pine. A handsome and com- orium and & fine class of | ments made it the fashionable e city, its opening concert on 6 having been repeated the next | mportant event was the opening | & Co.’s Museum at Third and but “The Apollo,” on opposite Kearny, | public favor, al- it appears to have been located | r out of town,” as they salid in | se days. i compan; consisting of John | rst mentioned as stage man- e Lotta, Emma Howard, lin, W. H. Hamilton, Charles good old John H. McCabe, e house under the most promis- | but it was not a great ason lasted less than of the same name, lo- | fic street, was running in the Is in 1860 were the Marsh I Rice, the Pratesi ndel and an unknown from the East. or advertised a model uary 17, 1860, at The house was d a prepossessing door had taken in passed through the e the leader of s to play until he got rst tableau and softly re back door. About nce began to motice no visible prepara- formance, and there were . It need mot 1 had faded from or that there was an exhibition of ‘Y.d lofty prc ity by the audi- worth the price of admission. Louis Aldrich, the well-known actor, | who 1s the prime mover in that noble charity, the Actors’ Fund, was a member of the Marsh Juvenile Troupe alluded to, s also Jennie Arnot and other youngsters who afterward became noted pla Robert Y. Marsh, the manager, made San Francisco his home for many ye It was the custom in early days to make valuable presents to such visiting players as had clever agents qualified to work up a scheme of that character, Large amounts of monny were frequently thrown on the stage to favorite perform- ers, and many of the ladies who found speclal favor took away with them spien- did souvenirs of the “days of gold" made from the precious metal the discovery of which started Californla on a grand march of unexampled prosperity, No regularly equipped theaters of im- portance were built in San Francisco dur- Ing 1860 or the first half of 1561, Dramatic performances had been crowded to tho wall by opera on one side and circuses on the other, so that the period mentioned above was a hard one, and the circuses which cropped up frequently everywh and anywhere, occupying on many occ slons the theaters of San Francisc were themselves confronted by dismally drenching rains. The first hypnotist—then called an elec. tro-blologist—appeared at the opera-house June 24, 1861, but as this is primarily a theatrical history, only his name, Profes- sor Bushnell, is mentioned. It was believed that the opening of the second Metropolitan, which occurred or July 1 the same year, would boom theat- rica but although the attraction was Joey Gougenheim, a very pcpular actre: t returned from Australia, the lessees John Torrence & Co., retired from the maragement of the handsome new theater in less than a month in favor of Charles Tihbets, who presented stars and combli- nations for some time thereafter. There was no opera this year, but many irtéresting concerts of all kinds were for the benefit of the California vol- the ci s apparently striving tv disorove the as the Paeific ( tion that the people were lukewarm in ast luyalty to the Union ihe destruction of the Lyceum by fire on Novembe 7, 150, had removed a popular theater, but there seemed to be no great need for another, Misfortune and disaster came rather to the players than the manager Soeveral prominent theat- rical people died, and there were some shocking accidents, Signor Angelo Chiar- ini, while doing a tightrope specialty at Hayes Park, a new competitor of Russ Garden, located in the valley on the cor- ner of Hayes and Laguna streets, fell to the ground and was killed. R. A. Bafly, agent for Miss Gougenheim, while trying to,board the steamer for Aus- tralia from a emall boat outside the heads, was drowned, and poor Harry Perry, a favorite actor, who had only been married to Agnes Land a few months, died early in 1:62. One of the important arrivals of that JOAN MECULLOVGM tima was Joseph Jefferson, the now fa- mous actor, then a comparatively un- known comedian, whose firat bid for Cal- ifornfa indorsement was made at the opera-house, on Washington street, July 8, 1881, in a burlesque entitled “Mazeppa; or, The Flery Untamed Rocking Horse." It was not a brilliant success, but the actor took a benefit on the 25th and took very lfttle else but benefits during his short engagement in the city. Five of them in less than four montha were as many as the most exacting manager could ask a self-respecting actor to stand, so the gentle Joseph, who up to that time had not struck the Rip Van Winkle bo- nanza, crossed the ocean to capture the canny kangaroo. McKean Buchanan, the eccentric trage- dian, who on the occasion of his first visit here refused to finish a performance = of “Pizarro” because Rolla's child, who had been fed green apples by the property man, cried with a pain in his equator, came to us again, bringing his own “chelld,” Virginia, who made her first ap- pearance as Virginia in ‘‘Virginius.” The lack of opera in 1861 was more than atoned for in 1862, when there was a par- ticularly vigorous revival, so enthusia tically received as to make the manage: of dramatic enterprises look very serious. For the present It will be passed to note the number of new places of amusement which fell into line with bids for public patronage, The places which were rented for con- certs, lectures, panoramas and amateur clubs became 8o numerous that they also must be passed, in most instances with slight mention, A boom in what 1s now called vaudovilla but was then varlety business occurred in 1862, and for a short time after March 21 the opera-house, on Washington street, was_ called “The Varletiea." 'The Jenny Lind Melodeon, on Commerclal street, between Montgomery and Kearny, came into the ring March 24 with a spec bill, and prices of admission were down to hed- rock, In addition to Russ Garden, which was nearly destroyed by fire the previous summer, and the Turn Verein Hall, lo- cated on Bush streot, near Powell, the German_socleties found a r{vlun-nm resort at The Willows, on the old Mission road, very near where the old Wiliows Brewery now stands. Variety performances were also given at the places named, and the great pa- tronage for this class of entertainment brought into prominence Manager E. . Bert, father of the well-known theatricai family, Fred, Charles and Edward, who were Intimately assoclated with amuse- ment enterprises on this coast for many years and are responsible for much of its theatrical history subsequent to the perlod already mentioned. 4 Dashaway Hall, built for and by " the Dashaway Association, the first temper- ance organization, came into prominence about this time. It was located on Post street, just above Kearny, and was a well-appointed hall, fitted with a stage and scenery, which' were made use of by dramatic and operatic amateurs for years after its formal opening in the summer of 1862, The ecity was now growing in all direc- tions so rapidly that a need for more the- aters seems to have asserted itself, and, after the usual amount of preliminary talk and preparation, work was begun on the Kureka, which was completed with dlspateh and opened under the manage- ment of W. H. Lelghton on December 18, it The Eureka was located on Mont- gomery street, between Pine and Califor- nia, where it now stands, having been used as a stock exchange for years. It was devated to hurlesque for meveral woeks before Julla Dean Hayne began an engagement In high class drama, It was in this thoaler In February, '63, that Sallle Hinekle then a beautifu! young actress, made her first appear- ance in the part of Sarah In “Night and Morning." This lady is still a resident of San Francisco, where she retired to pri- vate life many vears ago after having en- foved a long roign as a footlight favor- te. The same year witnessed the opening of the largest hall for public entertainment yet bullt In the progressive city. Penn- sylvania Steam Fire Engine Company N 12, on ril 30, 183, inaugurated Union Hall on the south slde of Howard street, a short distance from Third. Owing to its great size and its distance —% HOW 1 WAS MADE ] Continued from Page One. flicted. That is why the Emperor is so desirous of being allowed to mix with the populace and to have their expressions freely published in the newspapers. In this, as in all of the other reforms, the mandarin class saw an infringement of their prerogatives, which allow them to use the tortures of the law for enforcing the “squeeze,” by which they wring the hard-carned money of the poor to add to their hordes of wealth. It was this reform of the crimiral code more than anything else which set the ruling classes against t nperial reformers and has since kept them poisoning the minds of the people as 1o the sincerily of their intentions. Free public schoois of Western learning renk next in importance. It was not in- tended by the kmperor that any sudden change should be made, by which the study of the classics should be swept awzy, but rather that to such part of them as could be profitably studied thers should be added those useful sciences and moadern arts which are necessary to a ccmprehension of recent inventions. This would be doing no more than following the evolution of society itself, which demands of all its members that they should know ho e the contrivances which P invented for @ts weifare and ccmfert. The necessity for these schools is shown by the fact that at the present time nearly all of the viceroys and many of the mandarins have sons or members of their families studying in the universi- ties of America. Notable among these are the Princes Sung, grandsons of Li Hung Chang, who are now at Vanderbilt University. Japan has provided her own colicges of Western learning with such far-famed names as Lafcadio Hearn and Sir Edwin Arnold among their faculties. Speaking of the freedom of the press, when_there were explained to the Empe- ror all of the worst things to be feared from their unlicensed publications, he sal “There can be no harm in the truth; let every newspaper seek to find all of the truth and publish it all. While they publish_the truth they shall be free from 2ll hindrance in my empire. It is only through a free press that the voice of the peoplé may be heard, and it is my first reguirement that I should know what my eople want, for, witheut that, how can Pelve them those things which their hearts desire There was a terrible distortion and mis- apprehension among the literati in China as to what were the Emperor’s intentions in regard to the reform of the literary ex- aminations for official promotion. It was untruly said by those who desired to in- jure him, and innocently repeated by those Who knew no better, that he would by one edict abolish the entire course of exam- ination in classical literature as a means of qualifying for public office. This was untrue and unjust, yet was taken as the truth by many who were friends of the Emperor's reforms. Tle disturbance raised by this state- ment can be imagined when you remem- ber that there were then nearly 3,000,000 students in China who had spent lengths of time varying from one to seven years in preparing for a classical examination, and a sudaen abolition of the prize for which they had been striving would have been an injustice. The intention of Kwang Su was far from this. It was to continue the examinations as before, but to add by degrees to the course of studies each year a little more of modern science, and to eliminate, bit by bit, the less useful parts of the ciass- ical course, following the methods of the American universities, where, without any -revolutionary methods, they are substi- tuting practical mechanics for dead lan- guage classics. In regard to railroad extension in China he was, of course enthusiastic and pre- dicted that the opposition of the people to the roads would cease when the period of construction was over. That while the roads were being graded they could see only a senseless tearing up of farms and cemeteries, but that as soon as the con- veniences of transportation were afforded them they would be as enthusiastic advo- cates of the extensions of the system as are now the people of Japan, who bid eagerly, town against town, to secure the passage of a projected road through their districts. The imperial Chinese army has hereto- fore been under the immediate charge of the viceroys of the separate provinces. Each of them has been required to fur- nish a certain quota of men. The con- scription and maintenance of these has been in turn farmed out by the vViceroy in the same manner as were the taxes. A general would be given, for a considera- tion, the power to levy say 25,000 men. The pay of these men, amounting to $5 per month each, Mexican (about $2 50 gold), is paid to the general; that is, It is supposed to be paid to him, but, as a fact, the vice- regal treasurer would find many legal technicalities in the way of paying the mcney, on account of red tape on the vouchers, unless he were allowed to take out a liberal squeeze after the manner of all of the officials who take their cue from the court at Peking, where, until the relgn GENERAR IN of Kwang Su, corruption has been a virtue. The gerieral, having received his dimin- ished appropriation, takes out another iib- eral squeeze as a recompense to his feel- ings and divides the balance of the money among the regimental commanders, who, knowing that the general, having put his neck in the noose, dare not spring the trap, again raid the army chests and turn over to the company captains a pitifully small sum each to pay the men under them. The final result is, as I have been told, in nearly every instance where I have in- quired of the rank and file, that they do not_receive on_the average more than $2 each per month. Out of this sum they are required to maintain their own mess and pay all living expenses except transporta- tion, uniforms and equipment. In'many cases, the superior officers, not content with squeezing the pay of the soldiers actually employed, resort to another device to stea). Instead of re- cruiting the entire number of men re- quired, they will maintain a garrison of only half the number. and when a re- view is ordered, coolies from the neigh- boring villages are hired at 10 cents per day to carry guns and wear uniforms. I have again and again saiied up the river from Canton without Jeeing a single sol- dier on garrison duty at any of the Bogue stone forts which line_the banks, but let it be known that the Viceroy is to make a progress of inspection, and immediate!y the forts are filled with men, bearing their guns and banners awkwardly, and wear- ing their uniforms with that sense of novelty which shows to the most inex- perienced that they were not even raw recruits. But everything goes without question under the old regime. It ‘was the way of olden times, they say, but the ways I fear havs buen much corrupt- ed; and the times get the blame for it China has been through such a lons era of peace with the exterior worl that war methods have degenerated into merely the spectacular, which is neces- to impress uvon rioters the fact that the authority of the government is thereby represented. It is an army of banner-bearers and drum majors, weil up in calisthenic exercises, but lacking ‘lgy idea of drill or factics as we know em. I have now been in China nearly an entire year In inspection and organization of_the Tmperial Reform army. During that time I have found that the people are intensely ratriotic, and in every village 1 was well received, so well, in fact, that unless I was desirous of addressing the people themselvcs through my interpreters, I found it best THE GRINESE ARMY. to remain outside of the walls and send for the elders of the piace to come and see me. The reason of this was that the people having in many cases never before seen a white man, were prolific in their salutations, Inquirfes and statements of advice. Did I merely wish to inquire the road and the distance to the next village, thete would be such a multivhicity of differert answers and so many gcod-natured dis- putes as to the best way tp go, and how long it would take to get there, that I might have set out and been half way be- fore the different members of the assem- bled crowd would have settled upon an answer to my question. This was particularly true of villages where there were no missionaries. In towns where they were settled, I found them usually occupying e best housc in the place and living ir. style, which, by its luxury, made unpleasant comparison with the painful economies of the na- tives, who lived about. In these places there seemed always to be more distrust of me, and I was geveral times stoned as a Fan Kul (foreign devil), until I had a chance to explain who I was. The difficulties In_massing and drilling troops are great. In town and country both, every available fuot of land is put to some use. The houses encroach upon the streets until there is but room for the basket-bearers t> pass. In the country the farmers plant their crops up to tha edge of the traveled paths, and none of them are wider than .s necessary to ac- commodate the traffic. A lack of knowledge of recent events on the part of many of the people also ren- ders long and tedlous cxplanations nec- essary, for they are without exception fond of details and minfitiae, but with a patience for listening that is consoling. From the good opportunities which I had of observing the Chinese under fire, during the time I was in the North of China, I consider them idcal fighters, pro- vided always, and this provision is all important, that they have leaders in whom they place implicit confidence. ‘With officers on whom they have learned to rely, they go anywhere, caring no more for death than does the mosquito that calmly loses his life to get a drop of the enemy’s blgod, but, unlike the Americans, ‘who often don’t wait to see whether their commanding officer is coming or not, the Chinese demoralize as soon as their im- medfate superior no longer offers himseif as a rallying point. ‘This is but a natural result of their way of life. Always living in villages, even through the farming communities; never going into individual enterprises, but al- ways in partnerships and companies; keeping their families by them, while they work in field or factory, interdependence is so inbred that a few months’ military drill cannot shake it out of them. As ‘to_the other reforms the Emperor has planned, it is bard to say which are the most important. Almost any one of them will open the way for and assist the others. Carried out simultaneously, they would operate to gradually put tha coun- try on a footing of prosperity and raise the people from the abject poverty in which they have bean sunk for genera- tions, although industrious and deserving. The pictures which illustrate this article show well enough the necessity for some of_the reforms. Not so avparent is the reason why the examination system should be changed, until it is known that there are 11,000 of the little boxlike houses, similar to those shown in the photograph of the examina- tion grounds in Canton. These little buildings are each about four feet by five feet and seven high. There is absolutely nothing within them but two boards piaced across from wall to wall. one at the proper height for a seat and the other in front of it to serve as a desk. When the examinations are to take place the 11,000 students file into the grounds and are distributed in the houses, each one of which bears a number. Every student carries his writing materials and sufficient food to last him for three days. After they have gome into their littie boxes thev are not permitted to leave them. Sentries pace in all of the alleys for the purpose of keeping watch. After spending three days in these cramped places, with no chance to sleep or rest, they are then dismissed for three days, after which they return for the second examination of three days, then three days’ rest again, after which comes the final examination of three more days, As to the quality of literary work, it ranks entirely by the amount of classical ?uouuom The more quotations the bet- er. It i a long breakaway from officers qualified in this manner to a Government on modern lines, but I predict that the release of the Emperor will be immediate- 1y followed by a modern and almost rep- resentative Government, for which the people are more nearly qualified than would be supposed. Heretofore any at- tempt on their part to express their opin- jons has ended in the manner of the ex- ecutions shown in the picture. Notwith- standing this, there have been thirty re- :lelllonsnlnh!he &rovl&u of Kwangtung one. shows that the people are read. for a change. 4 from thescenter of business it was soms time before Union Hall became a popular temple of amusement, although for years great throngs of people gathered within its walls on memorable occasions. Tts de- struction by fire some time after Manager Walter Morosco moved from it to tha Grand Opera-house {is still fresh in tha memory of the San Francisco publie. The opera companies which renewed In torest in high class music and broke ths long vacation were piloted, as it were, Uy the Estrella family, who presented a Spanish dramatic operatic and ballet company at Tucker's p\(‘ad«mf, without making muech of a sensation In soclety but the real thing commenced when Mm Riscaccianti, Lizzle Parker and Schweg erle opened with “La Sonnambula™ at thy Metropolitan for a short season. Then came the Blanchis, who had been to Aus- tralla, and with them Mme. Herrman, Blgnors Enrico Grossi and John Gregz, 1 at the Metropolitan May 11 ‘6. al short seasons were played, during_ one of which Harry Courtaine vang Flgaro tn “The Barber of Bevilie: Grand opera also alternated for & time with minstrels at the opera-house, and many notable performances were given by each company On one occasion Manager Maguire took a benefit, the peformance being mixed Itallan opera and negro comedy, which was #0 successful that two more nights were devoted to the same mixture, and still the opera survived and kept right oa. a season having opened at the American in_January, 1863 Occasional performances were also giv- en at the Metropolitan and, reinforce ments having arrived from South Amer- ica, the management inaugurated the custom of giving operas for matinee per- tormances. During this period of operatic excite- ment, while there were many accessions and secessions advertised from time fo time the management found frequent oc- casion to utilize the local talent hereto- fore mentioned, and the names of Jacob Stadfeldt, then a fine barytone singer, and Mo Charles, an excellent tenor, ap- pea: frequenily. Both gentlemen are still in the city, Mr. Stadfeldt having held a fine position in the Mint for many years, while the latter, as M. Charles Morel, is teaching the French language in ©Oakland schools. The first Turners had their hall for ex- erctse in the old brewery on the corner of Washington and Stockton, and when their new hall was built where California Hall now stands it was frequently utilized for grand concerts. The Mechanles' Pavilion, which then stood on the northwest corner of Post and Stockton, was afiother com- modious and convenient place for large gatherings. Notable arrivals of the period here cov- ered were the Orrin family, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dillon, the first troupe of native dancers from Hawalil, the Hanlons, J. H. Taylor, the well-known tragedian; Ed- ward Hermann, th> magician, the Mas- sartis, Signor 'Parudi, Fanny Morgan, Adah Isaacs Menken and Frank Lawler. About the last important managerial enterprise with which Mr. Lawler was connected was In_company with Barton Hill and General Barton at the old Call- fornia Theater in the late seventies. Mr. Lawler, who had been an actor-mangger for many years and at one time w: a great favorite in the Eastern States, de- veloped peculiar mental weakness 8007 after his unsuccessful venture here and the theatrical world was surprised to learn that upon his own earnest solicita- tion he had been admitted to the Edwin Forrest Home for Actors, where, after a few years of melancholy inactivity, he died. General Barton went to New York and with Robert Miles, the veteran Cin- cinnati manager and old-time equestrian actor, assumed muyement of the Bijou Theater in New York, where Henry Dixey made his great run in Adonis. Bar- ton Hill, still a hale and hearty old actor, was last seen here professionally as a member of Nance O'Neill's company. He was manager of the old California in its palmiest days, under the proprietorship of John McCullough and Lawrence Bar- rett, and his extremely honorable conne: tion with the theatrical history of Call fornia is too well known to need more than a passing mention at this time. The year 1364 was an eventful and In- teresting one to the citizens of San Fran- cisco. It marked the beginning of a period of great activity in theatricals and astonishing enterprise in many other lines of business. The great development of the mining interests kept the city busy taking care of the pilgrims who flocked to this coast, and speculators found a productive fleld for amusement enter- R“'f.' almost apywihpre in the Goidea ta