The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 51

THE NEW YORK TIMES. SUNDAY, MAY 19. 1907. 11 i i i il iiiiiSliiKl TfABE li Oil flow Wise G'mittees of rarmers Choose Vaudeville Acts Which They Jest CaPlate WillDew" Up the State Why Table d'Hote Vaudeville Game Into Vogue. BOUNTY fairs, don't -Jest grow." like Topsy of literary Immortality.

Before their wonder burst on the delighted gaze of rtnun Four Corners or t-. tr. Krndernook they are Seuse of much'blgh and protracted thinking behind the dome. So wearW beard, and put Wal. I front of air their remark.

Ind no feature connected with the create of county fairs engender, more Bp-SUte meditation than the hiring of the vaudeville "act." destined to add rayety to the Juit now New Tork City Is filling up with of farmers, sent here by the man-er of the various fair, to be held Bummer. These" Cmittees ere trovld-d with more or less ample funds, to the size and Importance of the fairs they represent. And anybody who thinks them green like the waving fields of their homes 1. badly mistaken. For they are very wise; Whatever they disapprove of in the vaudeville line is not worth putting on the stage at all not even between the witching hours of 5.30 and 7:30 P.

when audiences t'oop forth and dinner table, give up thrir bread. When Slla. and Ebenezer strike town on their, great annual mission are not to be fooled by any tteond-rate acts. "Lebanon Centre knows reeflned voddyvlll when It sees Silas to the obsequious agent. What special line do we want this year, hey? Wal, I guess a cultivated monkey act would jest, about dew.

Lebanon Centre Is a eonnosseer of eJJIcated monkeys. Ef we can't git monkeys of a versatile and promiscuous Intelligence, Sir, we will turn our attention tew elephant, and death, yes, Sirree And he promptly looks with the real critic's eye at the latest photographs snd prospectuses of Signor Rodolfo's Marvelous Performing Apes. "I guess them little beasts Is up tew Lebanon Centre's standard," announce BUas. Sighing with relief; the agent at once draw, up a contract. And you may be sure that Signor Rodolfo "Is more than pleased at the compliment paid him.

-This year' says Hiram stroking hi. beard, Our Fair Is to bo conceived and ezlcuted on a sur-prlsln'. and monnimental scale. Me and Jedediah Rickey, her come tew town with $10,000 tew spend on classy vod-dyvlIL Lion tamln' attract, u. strongly at present, also any acrobatic, of a sensational nature which you may have In your catalogue.

I tell yeou, me and Jedediah hev come here with the Intention of breakln all record, in the matter puryidln' Instructive entertainment for the Wissahlppock County Agricultural and Hens in General Fair. Tea, Sirree, tew Moses! Now trot out yer prospectuses of sensational developments in high-class voddyvlll. No Sir. Kinderhook is most dls- crimlnatin' In it. point of view regardln the theatre.

It don't want no Dutch dialect or knockabout act. thet. hevn't been spruced up sence the Kinderhook Inglne house wuz built. No, Sirree. All seen old kin stay right here on Broadway, where people will stand for It.

What Kinderhook want. 1. "Yes. Sir, says the agent deferentially. And he lay.

before the sage c'mltteeman his most tempting Summer acts. Ethelberta, the Bearded Lady: the Clngralese Twins, fresh from their triumphal tour through the royal palaces of Europe; Dombo, the Dauntless Lion" Tamer; Napoleon Bonypart, the Human Skeleton all are respectfully brought to the notice of the sage of Kinderhook. When a man has $10,000 Intrusted to him for the securin of reeflned voddyvlll." says that Individual solemnly, "one must jedge slowly on the merits of the reespectlve acts. My feller-c'mlt- teeman, Jedediah Rickey, Is now at-tendin' a performance at one of yer leadln' Broadway theayters, watchln Signor Trombono play a' whpl orchlstry' with hi. feet, and a rifle with his left hand tied behind his back.

Jedediah will also cast his artistic eye on Glngeretto's Original Waltzing Walruses. Ef he find, them act. up tew the standard of Kinderhook. Mr. Agent, we would like you to slcure them for u.

for the Wissahlppock County Fair. August 5th to 17th, inclusive. And kindly tell me where I may jedge by personal observation of the merits of Madamuzi sells Mewsetta, the human anaconda." you may be sure that the committees sent from the county fair, know their business," 'said one of the agent, who supply such fairs the other day." "It take, a clever man to -fool them. Do we do a big business In this line? Weil, I should think so. 'There are hundred, of fairs held In the copn-try districts' every summer, usually in August.

Some of them give their representatives large sum. for -the hiring of act. and do not hesitate to secure some of the most high-priced performers goingi High divers, loop the loop-er, dipper, of death, and the like are the most popular performers at county fairs, largely because they may perform In an open place where they may be easily seen by thousands. Do the people up country know good vaudeville? Better than New Yorkers do. And the old fellows who come here to arrange for the hiring of the performers insist on getting their money's worth, too.

They dicker about having the agent stand the cost of transportation, advertising, everything. And they hire song-and-dance acts, for, instance, they try to have It specified that the performers be bound to do a different act afternoon and evening, in order that the people who drive over from farms to spend the whole day on the fair grounds may have variety In their vaudeville fare. Some fairs, of course, being smaller than the big county fairs, cannot do things on such a lavish scale. For these one of the vaudeville agencies In New York has evolved a special scheme. It makes up a regular vaudeville table d'hote combination one course of elephants, one of acrobats, one of jugglers, dessert of Once-I-was-on-a- smoklng-car stories.

and then maps out a route for the -combination, so arranged as to take In success- slvely several fairs held on different days, and within convenient railroad distances of each other. In this way a number of little fairs To (Drdee in TMew Yos (3 El 7 "JEST LOOK AT THE NOTICES I are enabled to use the same combination of vaudeville acts, with everything included, even advance press Naturally this costs them considerably less than if their representatives came to New York and made up special programmes with the agentfor their particular fair. This table d'hote arrangement has become very popular with fair managers. But sometimes, of course, the cut-and -dried combination, programmes meet with the disapproval of some one on a Sprattvllle," said, an old farmer recently, hes alters had sumthln' In pink tights. I don't see no pink tights on this here combination." In vain the agent pointed out to him the extraordinary merits of Egbert, the Banjo King, and of Yip and Yap.

the Youthful Yodlers. He was inconsolable. They haven't pink tights." he said. At last." said the agent. we transferred Signorina Fiametta, the dare devil Neapolitan Trapeze Marvel, from a combination due at Saugus.

to the one playing the Sprattvllle Fair, for the simple reason that we remem- i I WOT KINDERHOOK WANTS IS NOVELTY." The Lay of the Last of the Old Minstrels a ISAAC ODELL. who was famous as a minstrel in the early part of the last century, walked into Thb Times tfflce a few days ago and made inquiries for John Slmonson, who under the taae of John Herman, was a member of the original Christy Minstrel Troupe. Mr. Odetl said that he had not seen 6Rioneon for sixty years or so, but was tnxlous to meet him. He wanted to know how ho could get into communl-ction with Slmonson.

who, he said. as somewhere over on Long Island, at present engaged In the hotel business. Mr. OdeH said ho had dropped into the Actors Fund Fair, but had not made atmself known, for the reason that the tag folks who knew him had all died Tears ago. "There's very few of the old minstrels left," he said.

Ed Christy committed uldde back in the sixties. Eph Horn led a few -years ago over In New Jersey. Dan Emmet's gone, so is Frank Grower. Earl Pierce died in England in 1S59, and Ben Mallory passed away the year at Savannah. Qa.

Charley "White, my bosom friend, died la New" CWeans seven or eight years ago. Jack fcynor died out In Jersey, pretty well fixed, and Fred Buckley cashed in In Boston In 1864. In fact, all of the old-time minstrels are dead. Jerry Bryant at during the war of the rebellion. nd his brother Dan.

died since then. third brother. Neil Bryant, died bout two years ago. They buried Dan from the old Cathedral In Mott Street. At Dan funeral I met several old mln-1.

but-they have since died. Of Jnoee who were on the New York stage the forties only Slmonson and my-trekft "Old Tom Rice was the father of ne-mlnstrelry in this He went the stage In Kentucky In the thlr- mad a hit at Louisville. 1r he acquired a good negro and learned to Imitate the Kithern darky to perfection. Coming to TTDrk he opened up at the old Park tre, where he Introduced his Jim impersonaUng a negro a song. I Turn About and and each night com-wed new verses for it.

catching on he ptfbuc and maklnr a great for himself. New Yorker, prac- the regular theatrical to see Rice la his Jim Crow mln-ct, aaj raanjr comediaas la Tart-. Interesting Reminiscenses of Isaac Odcll, Who Was Burnt Cork Artist Sixty Years Ago. ou. part, of the country gave up their customary work and picked up Rice's stunt.

Rice went away for a while on the road, but returning to New York opened up at the Melodeum on the Bowery. He had set the country minstrel mad, and circus clowns, Jig dancers, and acrobat, became negro comedians. In nearly all the playhouses at least one minstrel appeared on the stage, but there were no regular bands or minstrel troupes until Dan Emmet. Billy Whitlock, Frank rower, and Dick Pelham got together and organized the original Virginia troupe, which opened up at the Chatham Theatre. At the same time Ed Christy, who had been in the show business In various parts of the country, organized a minstrel troupe In Buffalo.

That was back In 1842. Tom Rice was then in the prime of life. He was 34 years old. tall and and a great deal on the build of Bob Fltzsimmons, the prizefighter. He was Interesting In telling stories about George Washington, who had been a friend of hi.

father, and he frequently told roe amusing tales about our first President. Tom was always sorry he had not been born nine years before, so that he could, have seen President Washington. But Rice was playing at the Melodeum. and when he got me Interested In the minstrel game and after Ed Christy had organized his troupe, Ed came to New York and opened up at the Palmer House on Chambers Street. It was there I joined Christy's Minstrels.

Ed Christy had taken a great interest in George Harrington, a young man he had put on the stage as a Jig dancer, so he took George Into the minstrel troupe and gave him the name of George Christy. He made George an end man. and taught him to play the bones. Being a good Jig dancer George made a hit as a negro wench, dancer right off the reel. But Christy's was a great minstrel troupe.

In It Tom Bohen played the banjo, and Johnny Donnlker played first violin. John was the man who first Introduced bagpipe imitation on the fiddle. He could play the banjo In good shape, too. and imitated various things on It. Every Sunday morning John would we'd sit on the curbstone listening to the chimes of Old Trinity Church.

John always had his banjo with him. and practiced with It until he got the chimes imitation perfect on the banjo. Later he made a hit with the chimes in the minstrel show. At that time Dick Hooley was a member of the troupe. Dick afterward became the owner and manager of Hooley's Opera House, at Court and Remsen Streets, Brooklyn.

Jack Raynor was our baritone, and Charley Haalem played the cornet. It was Haslem who taught Jules Levy his cornet business in later years. Earl Pierce, who played the tambourine, made a hit in eccentric characters, while Ben Mallory. famous as a somersault Jig dancer, was also considered a big drawing card. We had an Italian with the troupe, too.

He did a negro act. Master Eugene they called him, and there was none better as a wench dancer in those days. Harry Huntington was also a member of the Christy troupe, and Ed Christy was the middle man. or interlocutor. While we were drawingvblg crowd, to the Palmer House on Chambers Street Charley White was making a great hit playing an accordion in Thalia Hall on Grand Street.

In those days accordions were the real attraction to the public. Charley White did a negro act In connection with his accordion playing, but he decided finally to open up with a minstrel troupe, too. so he opened at the Melodeum on the Bowery with White's Kitchen Minstrels. The money was flowing in fast to us. so we did not mind opposition.

Ed Christy held his men together by strict rules, which he nforced to the letter. One of his rules was that no member of the troupe could laugh at a Joke cracked on the stage. So when i a joke was cracked we all appeared surprised and puzzled over the matter, and this added to the success of the for It amused the audience." Mr. Odell was asked if the old Joke, "Why does a chicken cross the street?" was the oldest in the negro minstrel game. Not at all." he said.

The oldest minstrel joke is the one about the ship. George Christy told the story about his trip across the ocean in a1 take me down to Rector Street, whers clipper ship. XI declared that, al though the ship was six weeks crossing, still he had a fresh laid egg every morning for breakfast. And no chickens aboard one of the end men would ask. Not a chicken," replied George.

And then when the crowd of minstrels would ask in chorus how he got a fresh laid egg every morning for six weeks on an ocean ship with no chickens aboard George would explain by saying: Waal, yer see, I'd go to de hatchway every morning and wait until the ship 'ud lay to. And when the ship 'ud lay to I'd take one and give the other to the That's the oldest minstrel joke on record. The next oldest was as to who should be saved In a boat as the negro would say. wife or mother. The minstrels would always declare it was the duty of a man to save his wife.

Whereupon the end man would remark that they were all wrong, because it was the duty to save mother first. as you could get another wife, while you never again could get another After springing this joke in our troupe George Christy would sing What Is Home Without a Mother? My favorite songs were Uncle The Grocery Silver Shining and I'll Throw Myself George Christy's favorite was 'The Old Folks at referred to as The Suwanee It was the original minstrel song. But another song that made a great hit in New Yorlt seventy years ago was The Jockey Hat and The women folks at that period wore jockey hats with feathers stuck up in the side of them. Then we moved from Chambers Street to Broadway, opening at Hope Chapel, which was almost opposite Waverley Place. In the meantime Dan Bryant had joined Charley White's Minstrels, playing at the Melodeum.

Dan had been a dancer at Vauxhall Garden, but had toured the South and came back full of negro songs and Jests. He made a hit with Charley White'. for they coined money on the Bowery, but, like the rest of the successful ones, they longed for Broadway. Dan Bryant's brother Jerry had made his debut at Vauxhall Garden as a ballad singer, so after having made a tour of Europe he came back ripe for the minstrel business. The third brother, Nell Bryant.

Joined Jerry on a trip to Australia, after Jerry had made a hit in the Surrey Theatre, La London, with Dumbolton's bered the Signorina always risks her life in tights of a vivid and convincing pink. Of course this meant sending Coper-nico's Thinking Rhinoceros to Saugus on two hours notice, but every one has to put up with such sudden shifts in this business even' a thinking rhinoceros." While the tale was in progress vaudeville performers of all kinds wandered In and out, leaving memoranda of their open time with the agent. Or else they sat on a bench, waiting for an In- terview with that magnate. Where'd I see yer last? they asked feilow-per-foreners, and Did yer go to Oswego? and Wot do yer think of this Summer's fashions in back somersaults?" Jest look at the notices I got." says one. No Harrisburg paper never paid seen compliments before to a.

reeflned clog dance." Oh, Harrisburg Is cultured, very cultured," remarks the man who plays The Palms on the bells. I haff 'neff ef had no roasts In my life." observes Herr Pugg, the dog trainer. Nothln' but braise has been meln lot." Whereupon he draws from his pocket a bunch of newspaper clippings and forgets the world. "Was you In Easton last week?" asks the Florentine Troubadour, in his inimitable Dublin brogue. "No, Easton don't appreciate eJJIcated cats," answers a sad-eyed man disgustedly Then a dignified performer stalks in, straight up to the office boy.

"Tell Mr. Harrigan that I'm here," he orders nonchalantly. "Who'll I say?" asks the boy. Tell him that Johnson is here," answers the dignified man, carelessly turning aside to light a cigarette. Presently the office boy returns.

I told Mr. Harrigan, but he doesn't seem to mind," says the boy. You Just tell him Johnson's here, he'll know," persists the other, leaning airily on the railing. "I told him, but he DIDN'T know," shouts the boy, getting excited. This puzzles Johnson.

For a moment he is lost In thought. At last he concludes to be Insulted, and stalks away, doubtless to be managed by some other magnate, who, he will tell you, has been waiting for the chance through long, weary years. This goes on all this month and next, until the county fair acts are all booked, and the c'mlttees have gone home satisfied. But the agent's work is not over then. Some of the performers are new; others have come to the agencies brimful of conversation about the merits of new acts especially invented for the Summer season.

Sometimes." remarked the magnate who had remained unimpressed at Johnson's visit, vaudeville performers burst In here with such eloquent word-pictures of their new acts that the agent is convinced he Is in the presence of a dazzling Idea. At once he makes an appointment with the performer in order to see the wonderful act rehearsed. But it often happens that when such an act is transferred from the glowing vocabulary of its creator to the cold boards of the stage-is turns out to be rotten absolutely rotten. "And then, again, some awkward, stuttering Individual will blow in here and give a sad, colorless description of some idea that has come to him In the still watches of the sleeping car. It sounds like a dramatized desert.

To get rid of the fellow the agent will tell him to drop around to the theatre on rehearsal day, and give a performance of the mournful skit. "Well, over and over again It hss happened that a melancholy specimen of this kind slouohes on the stage, and proceeds, without make-up or scenery, to convulse the, agent. Of course, the new act Is at once Included among the agent's most tempting delicacies for the season. You never can telL See that lady Just going out? Looks quiet and unassuming, doesn't she? Well, she has originated a dancing stunt that will be the talk of the State next August. "What's that? Who's Johnson? Cdi, rata! Johnson, is a fellow who never sees a- joke until somebody else has boen springing it for a couple of decades.

Then he come, to me with a bunch of such derelicts, and tries to prove that he has the only copyrighted laugh-grower for 1907. Yet he's clever as a feeder if he only knew it." "What's a feeder? asked th questioneer. Why, the man who says the things that give tne other re now bis chance to be funny. It takes lots of native ability to be a good That's where Johnson shines, but somebody In Indianapolis told him that he was funny back In 1883. and aU the audiences in the country have been unable to disillusion Johnson." At thjls moment a bearded c'mlttee" from up the State entered.

The agent at once jumped up and rushed to meet them. Musical seals? Certainly, certainly," he said, in answer to an anxious Inquiry from within a dense beard. The questioneer realized that the agent had no more time to devote to him now that the up-State sages had arrived. So he weut away. TAT LIBERTY." Minstrels.

Then some of the boys went to California, but got homesick and came back to New York, where they found minstrel troupes springing up like mushrooms all along Broadway. To get back to Dan Bryant, he was with Charley White's troupe, while his brothers were traveling. Among the others with White were many who had dropped vaudeville to get Into the minstrel swim. Tony Pastor, who had made a hit at Vauxhall Garden, soon got the minstrel fever, and Joined a troupe that played In Bamum's old Museum at Ann Street and Broadway. Later Tony Joined a circus troupe.

Tony Hart was also a minstrel for a while. But after Christy's Minstrels moved up to Broadway. George and Ed. Christy got into several scraps because George was drawing too much money from the box office. George had an arrangement by which he could draw whateverhe wanted, eo he drew heavily when business got big.

Toward the end he drew as much as $2,000 a month. That made Ed. Christy sore. George left tbe show In a huff, and this resulted In the formation of a new troupe, known as Christy Wood's Minstrels. Ed.

Christy Joined with Henry Wood, who was a brother of Ben Wood and Fernando Wood, who became Mayor of New York. They bpilt a hall on Broadway, near Prince Street, and there Christy A Wood's Minstrels flourished. The day the Seventh Regiment started for the war Ed. Christy and I were standing on the curb watching the regiment marching down Broadway. That was the first time I noticed anything wrong with Christy.

Ed. turned to me and remarked that the poor fellows in line, the members of the Seventh Regiment, were leaving New York never to return, adding that the South was going to win out in the war. and that tho Southerners would then come up to New York and confiscate roterty. Ed. said this worried him.

and that it made life hardly worth, the game of a struggl, Ho went home and committed suicide by Jumping from the second-story window of his house, on Eighteenth Street, landing in the areaway in the rear and dying two days later. That- was the end of the man who first Introduced the minstrel game to the New York public In the shape of a big minstrel band. Ed. Christy had acquired much wealth, and was a familiar figure driving a spanking team up Broadway every day. Everybody in town knew Ed.

Christy, for he had two coachdogs that always followed his rig. and the children along tbe line' were In the habit of shouting to him when he passed through the streets. "It was shortly after this time that the Bryants branched out with their minstrel troupe. Old man Buckley had organized the troupe known as Buckley's Serenaders, and had opened up at 585 Broadway, where he was doing a great business. George Swayne Buckley was the end man with this troupe, playing the bones, while Dicky Buckley played the tambourine.

Fred Buckley was the first violin. George had a laughing song which always made a great hit, and they made money at 585 Broadway. But the Buckleys are dead more than forty years, so we'll pass on to the Bryants. The three Bryant. Dan, Neil, and Jerry got a theatrical troupe together in lSTQnd opened up at 472 Broadway, calling their troupe the Corkon-lans.

They were there for about three years. Jerry Bryant, who never did know how to memorize a song, got Into the habit of filling in with words of his own. and this took with the. public, who made Jerry a great favorite. The one song tht he did learn, and which he sang" with great success was My Another of his song hits was The 14 Boatman's Dance.

After Dave Wambold Joined the Bryant Minstrels, Dave proved to be the drawing card. Dave had come to town with a great record as a ballad singer. He had sew; Ideas. One, for Instance, wow to take up thea church hymn The Sweet By and Bye and sing it on the stage at the minstrel show. That proved a decided hit.

Another of his songs was Nellie Blye However. Dave Wambold later joined Christy A Wood's Minstrels, and when the Buckleys quit at 585 Broadway Wambold got into business for himself, organizing the Ban Francisco Minstrels at the old Buckley stand, with Billy Birch. Charley Backus, and Billy Bernard as his partners. Fel-loiwes, who had a troupe at 444 Broadway, did not make it a go. But tbe San Francisco Minstrels -became the real thing in town.

Billy Bernard, who' was a great favorite with the public, was frequently made the butt of Impromptu Jokes. I remember one occasion when a fire occurred in Billy NIblo's saloon across the -street from the minstrel show. Shem 'Campbell was member of the troupe' at that time. The end man started to tell Campbell about the fire in NIblo's saloon and recalled the fact that Billy Bernard was Niblo's best customer and one who had more credit In the saloon than any one else. much Jesting about Bernard's credit the end man Campbell, you ought to have been at that What happened? asked Campbell.

said tbe end man. BUI Bernard was crossing the street to get hi. accustomed drink, and rushing through the crowd he shouted: Please. Mr. Fireman, save a life." The fireman asxeo, how, ana sni shouted: Play your hose on Niblo's slate." That made a great hit, for every one knew that Billy Bernard had a long drink account on Niblo's slate.

But poor Billy Bernard Is dead with the rest of them. Lew Dockstader, Thatcher, Primrose, West," and the others who came along so many years later 'are practically young men In like to find old John.