The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 26, 1902, Page 11

SO BROTGHAM IUDGE DEzOs LT few ‘equals and her small voice sh aged with consummate over ong of o Wood ous depart they got days we over During the summer fashionable place to visit was the littie Eureka Theater on Montgomery, street, where Bil d b the attrac &ad one of them named Tucker, who rather “took in” the ~well-known broker, William R. Garrison, familiarly known by his friends as “Billy"’ —and then openly boasted of what he had done. Billy Birch. who was alwa to the latest thing, turned this to ac- count and night after night all Billy Gar- rison’s friends went to hear and laugh over the fcllowing dialogue between tie interlocutor, Sam Wells, and bones, Billy Birch: . Billy, and where have you been?" e been up in the moon.” “The mocn, and what did you see pere?” saw John W. Tucker.” “And what was Tucker doing In the i w‘o'zzokml for Billy Garrison to sell him some more Wide West"—the name of the (stock in question. 2 o [RPAY 2T grrr T T AT T e rre Tt was nect long 11 Garrls the fun o one night Gar- elf behind ends oce he time itely turned looking ud at T don’t know a O whereupon a went himself bea to hear him t nnd them lenca, § circle ar 3 people known rl fashion, even the gallery holding z fair proportion unable to get scats elsewhers was ‘‘Money,” McCullough tak. rt of Alfrcd Evelyn, and a cor- 1l reception was given to all the play- ers as they appeared; but during the first entr'acte scmething occurred tc bring dowr the house with a roar. The orchestra was playing the popular “Anvil Poika,” arnd thinking the music too good to be lost Mrs. Dr. Shorb and Ben Holladay Jr., who with several oth- ers occupled one of the stage boxes (which was an exceptionally large one, almcst a small room) indulged in a dance in the ound to the frantic delight of tke gallery and intense amusement.of the Test of the house. On being discov- ered they withdrew behind the curtains, and when they, reappeared after the cur- taln went up on tho\:econd act they were greeted with thres cheers and a tiger. John Raymond, who was one of the company, had a mania for matching half dollars, ‘and on more than one occasion he was seen to match them during the “business” of his part with friends in the THE SUNDAY CALL. Another funny sight abcut this J even later was to see Ch: whio was leader of the e3tr baton and fiy from the house t tap of the fire hell to join the to which he belor he being h bly ““Cor] o { Emiiy unch of violets on enter- 2 el the flowers on the i front. from mhich a hasty movement efi her part dfalodged them and th 1 into the hestra some Al ng forware 1 a lond exelama- looked ¢ rs and to them as 3 e calied e back man the g the ] to d the box, zain at his feet. This mes ere it S h id the appl. made on this “the wild a y annot compete in s me t 3 h the nation’s capital” Were people more prudish in tha old days is modesty golng out of fashion in these, ropcunded, that costumes c 1 the thing now would not then h; tolerated, and a greater proof of thig as nnot be cited than the way in little Blise Hoit, the Engl wias roceived on’ her at the California the held more brilliant n being_the benefit Neil ¥ A D 3 Deb ported by McCullough, mond, E: 4 Edward Viola Crocker and Emilie Melville. second t of the programme was “Lucrezia Borsia, M. Grande Doctress.’ A t see her was at fever heat. £ danced upon the stage.*however, cos- tumed as in the accompanying photo- graph, society caught its breath and in less than five minutes all those ladles who could get out of the house had disap- reared. It was only those whose seats were at the Inner end of the horseshoe who remained. Her costumes were con- sidered immodest and the house the sec- ond night was a dead frost. Under these circumstances Lawrence Barrett deemed it best to cancel the en- gagement. He requested Miss Holt to make some changes in the “business” of the play, and when she refused the parts were calied In and the California saw her ng more In abbreviated skirts. Apropos of risque'plays, the reputation of “The Black Crook,” which had such a run in New York and which preceded the pro- TAREFETT Anp D PALMERS IIGHTENING ductfon of the play here, was sufficlent to scare ladies from patronizing it, and the night { first seen at Maguire’ April. 1867, men only filled the seats a woman being present. It was a dreadful thing after all—in fact it s0_‘good” it was a comparative fail One of the excitements of the day was the arrival of the lightning express train which brought Lawrence Ba t and his party to play “Henry V Rignold had been originally. engaged to play the part at the California, but when he broke the engagement and went to the Grand Opera-nouse (or Wade’s, as it was t alled) to play that character, the management of the graphed for Barrett, the centinent was ma derful time of four and vs. Ba relt was a. nervous man, and he after- ward said that sooner than return East at the same rate of spced he would walk the entire way. arrival of the party was made the on of a great demonstration, guns fired, a *ban& of music played in 1d of the Palace Hotel, where t was given, at_which Mayor Eryant presided and speeches were made ail the notables present. As a conse- quence the opening night of “Henry V' at the California June 5 1876, was a jam. But in spite of the excellence of the per- formance there were many funny sights that provoked smiles in the audience. The S of Fenry V were made for who was a larger man than Barrett and the King's crown kept slipping down over Barreft’s nose; the legs of his armor were several inches too longz, makinz it appear as if he were w ing sh : his'royal mantle he uncomfortably ge, and as a kisser rett was not a success. Much of this was remedi fter the fi performance, but the play after a comparatively short run was withdrawn. A scene not down on the bills occurred Czlito in- August, ven and ctt ‘'was one cf those who vol- unteered. Tt must be remembered that John McCullough, who was at that time he lessce of the theater, had been a protege of lidwin Forrest and was - for his leading man. Massejt, " had in his rep toire one of Forrest, which was more of a urlesque than a personation. This he be- an on the oceasion in question, but when McCullough learned what was going on he crdered the curtain lowered, which was done in the middle of Massett's per- formance, It is only of recent date that theatrical and musical celebrities have been re- ceived socially by the swim. There have been, however, “exceptions and among them may be cited the dinner given by Mrs. Ben Holladay Sr. to Lawrence Bar- rett, In 1368, and the numerous suppers at which Heller, the magician, figured as star guest. Heller came well supplied with letters to_our best people, a good many of whom invited him to supper parties after his evening performance, at which he very obligingly did a number of sleight-of-hand tricks. At one of these parties, given by Judge H. A. Lyons, there was a scarcity of spoons suddenly noticed, whereupon Mr. Heller commenced to draw them from Judge Hoffman's pockets, collar of his coat and even his shoes, much to that gen- tleman’s embarrassment and final anger, Californla tele- d the trip across in the then wo: al; B dz LAy amid the merriment of the rest of the company, who knew Hoffman's dislike at being made a butt. Theater parties, which are now so fa- yorite a form ' of entertaining one's , were not known in San Francisco ate in the sixties, unless an excep- made in the case of one given by A. C. Monson, who dled last week ork at the ripe age of fourscore. Judge son was a_law partner of Mil- ton 'S. Latham in Sacramento prior to that gentleman's election as Governor of the State; he was the great beau of the capital city and noted for his inability to pronounce the letter R, On the occas- fon referred to Judge Monson brought down a party of a dozen friends on ths steamer from Sacramento to take in the first appearance of James Anderson at the American Theater, their entree creat- ing quite a sensation. iss Kate Baldwin,| daughter of Judge J. G. Baldwin, an afterward the wife of John B. Felton, an! early day legal luminary of the San Fran- cisco bar, was the beauty of the party. About 1868 a young man from Boston, who cut quite a swath as a soclety beau here, John M. Glidden by name, may ba said 'to have inaugurated them by giving a theater party of fiffy guests at the operatic performance of Mme. Parepa Rosa in “Linda di Chamoun!,” at the Met. ropolitan Theater. ~The entire party, which consisted of the very cream of the goclety of that day, were driven after the erformance to_'the residence of Mrs. loyd Tevis on Taylor street, she having placed her house at the disposal of Mr. Glidden for a cotlllon, followed by sup- per Fonr 11 D ARRISON) A LI2 Grums FleveL. <