Show i TRAGEDY OF FATE Touching Remembrance of John MeCullough LAST APPEARANCE ON THE STAGE His Dramatic Return to the Wife He Had Wronged and the Fireside He Had Deserted it Didnt Pay For THE SUSDAT HERALD Copyrighted One of the most remarkable histories to be found in the annals of the American stage is that of the late John McCullough the tragedian In presenting memories to the public I am influenced by two considerations con-siderations First that the public may properly appreciate this gifted man whose personal qualities were so little appreciated by the masses he entertained and secondly to show a shining example of the truth of I the statement that a man may accomplish any object if Bits pursuit is backed by indomitable in-domitable persistency In the course of this article I shall quote freely from the advance ad-vance sheets of the little book which is dedicated to the members of the company who for the last three years of his life were his faithful employees followers and friends When only twelve years old he came to this country a fresn country boy from the neighborhood of Colerain Londonderry Ireland First ho obtained employment asa as-a chairmakerd apprentice Subsequently he became an bumble employe in the Philadelphia Phila-delphia gas factory and during this timo resolved to become a figure on the American Ameri-can stage ABLE TO BEAD BUT NOT WRITE he set to work assiduously studying Shakespeare and Chambers Encyclopedia of English Literature and to the latter worK he gives credit for his education His application was so intense and his private readings of the great English poet so impassioned im-passioned that his less intellectual companions compan-ions humble natives of the Emerald Isle significantly shook their heads and whispered whis-pered Sure that young McCulloughs clane daft Again and again has the dear old Governor Gov-ernor as we loved to call him told me of his early trials and tribulations With what unction he would relate an incident in which he had frightened a fellow workman work-man almost to death by an impassioned reading of the demand Richard III made for a horse during the battle of Bosworth Field Surrounded by a few congenial spirits he would give loose rein to his tongue and either send us into shrieks of merriment by a humorous description of some absurdity or plunge us in gloom by bis pathetic references to his parents whom he dearly loved His brogue it is notijenerally known was in his early days very marked For hours he has practiced speaking in order to overcome what he regarded re-garded an obstacle in the way of a publio performance As a member of the Boathe nian Dramatic association an amateur organization or-ganization of Philadelphia he achieved distinction dis-tinction among his friends HIS FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE was made in an humble capacity at the Arch Street theatre We all know his con stsntndvancement in the arthe had chosen t His path was not an easy one Be was forcer to hew his way for there are many others in the dramatic profession better i equipped with education and influence But if fortune was niggardly nature was r not notMy personal relations with Mr McCul lough began in the spring of 82 For three years previous I had been a member of the a Boston Museum Stock company under the management of Mr Field John W Nor d r a a r r SSS ton of St Louis wired me to see Manager William M Connor the McCullouch company com-pany and wishing to see the country I took advantage of Mr Fields failure to keep an appointment with ma and signed a contract with the manager of the then famous I fam-ous actor When first ushered into the Governors presence I was conscious of feeling and acting very awkwardly but I his hearty handgrip and kindly smile quickly reassured me and in a few minutes we were chatting together most pleasantly From that time I was an ardent devotee at the shrine of John McCulloughs greatness great-ness I was cast at once for lago Icilius and Cassius We opened our season in St Paul to the capacity of the I theatre The chief was in splendid condi I tion mentally and physically I was for tunate in winning commendation for Icilius but a much humbler member stuck in his lines and nearly jeopardized one of the Governors best scenes Now MR MCULLOUGH COULD SWEAR when he was in humor and no sooner had Wlost his speech through stage fright than the star in sotto voce was making the air blue with his royal wrath W flew off the stage into his dressing room disrobed with feverish haste flung his armor shield spear and tights to the four corners of the room much to the discom I fiture of the other occupants and made a I mad flight from the theatre to his hotel Reaching his room he sank exhausted on the bed where he was found by one of the company What did the Governor say asked W lugubriously when his friend entered en-tered Well replied the latter hes looking for you with his gladiator sword and armor buckled on and God help you if he finds youW W with a dismal groan sank back upon the pillow At the rehearsal next day W was missing and the Governor Govern-or stormed about making inquiries for the absentee Having been informed of Ws condition I spoke to the Governor Govern-or telling him all and adding You know this young man was the leading comedian with The Bankers Daughter company last season and won golden opin J ionsMr Mr McCullougb snorted and said grimly j Hell be playing comedy in hl if he goes on like this 1 But despite ws serious break he was reinstated and so kind was our star that he was prevailed upon by me to apologize to the man My boy said he laying his hand on Ws shoulder yon musnt mind what I said last night The scene has been i ruined so often I thought I had another stick and wanted to burnyou with my sul phurous anger Today Wls one of the best light comedians com-edians on the transient stage The season of which I write was very successful Mr McCullough worked hand in glove with HIS MANAGER AND BEST FRIEND William M Connor a fine cleareyed business busi-ness man with a heart as big as himself Captain Connor had faith in McCullough and the latter had the same belief in his manager and to the untiring energy of Connor the star owed much of his success The season was all too short for me as the company was delightful Thero was Edmund I Ed-mund Collier an excellent actor of the robust ro-bust school Miss Kate Forsythe who has won much favor from the American public Mrs Foster an exceedingly good actress John A Lane Harry Langdon and many others including J H Shewell a comedian of repute and Harry Vance a stage manager man-ager of much ability I must not forget Bob Pr1t hard for he was not only one of the family but Mr McCulloughs dresser and our comedian off the stage Bob had a wife and two precocious boys which reminds re-minds me of an incident We were booked to appear at the Fifth Avenue theatre in the metropolis There was a change of bill and Damon and Pythias was put up There was no child What was to be done Bob modestly suggested sug-gested his elder boy to play the classic child Damons son The youth had been reared in the precincts of the Bowery and was an artist in the use of the language of that district He was brought to rehearsal and being timid in the midst of the unaccustomed I unac-customed surroundings spoke very low After rehearsal heard Bob reprimand him severly for not speaking out At night when h the climax came the youngster observed the strict injunctions of his lather as to the pitch of his voice He forgot the exact words he was to deliver but remembered the idea they conveyed This was the pathetic pa-thetic line he was to say Will he come home soon mother J referring to Damon This was what he shrieked out at the top of his youthful lungs SOY WILL HE COME HOME SOON MUDDEB Mrs Foster the dignified Hermione nearly fainted the audience roared and Mr McCullough after the curtain fell observed ob-served Bob that should be tho last appearance ap-pearance of that youthful blossom on the stale The second season which opened in Denver Den-ver passed smoothly until Philadelphia was reached It was in the front scene of Virginiua that I first detected signs of approaching calamity It happened on Wednesday night remember the Incident The Governor when I addressed him as Idling hesitated in his speech To me it seemed as if his tongue was partially paralyzed para-lyzed The hesitancy soon passed The next night a similar incident occurred I did not then realize that these were symptoms symp-toms of a fatal visitation Following close again and again this terrible hesitancy occurred oc-curred in speech added to an alarming forgetfulness for-getfulness The company began to realize that all was not well and whispered comments com-ments were made as to his condition Captain Cap-tain Conner ever alert regarding hIS friends health advised an ocean voyage The Governor did not like the medical fraternity and afterwards said One never knows how much he pays for nothing until he calls in a doctor It was during this season wo visited Boston and we were entertained by Mr William Dunn a young physician of great ability There were present at this recep tion many eminent men of the medical and legal professions as well as statesmen and literary lights The Governor recited Stowaway a favorite of his I delivered Shamus OBrien and to the surprise and intense enjoyment of all Mr McCul lough related an Irish wake story that simply convulsed everybody His rich brogue and immense comic talent were never appreciated by many till then xor would the average person suspect the great Virginius of telling a story of this kind Tho love and admiration felt for him bv all who knew him was well exem plified that night Some of the gueStS assisted him to his coat hat and cane while one admirer regarded it an honor to buckle the tragedians overshoes At the close of this season the Cincinnati Dramatic Festival occurred and MR MCULLOUGH WENT TO EUROPE visiting Bonne Ems Carlsbad Stuttgart and Berlin The vigilant eye of hIS friend and advisor was not upon him however and when he returned Captain Conner strongly advised him to abandon his proposed pro-posed tour I It was at the country seat of Jobn Carson a warm personal friend that the fast encroaching en-croaching malady assumed a pronounced form Having been called to breakfast the family wan startled at the Governors aDpearance in his battle robe and pajamas The kindhearted hostess quieted him as only a true woman can Captain Conner was wired for and by a little ruse succeeded suc-ceeded in getting his friend to William Florences cottage at A neighboring seaside resort There the invalid wandered about in a dazed way watching the ocean lashing the shifting sands and cold gray rocks the scene no doubt carrying him back to his early days and when the waves of misfortune misfor-tune circled around him For the result of his noble repose in his characterizations of Virginius the Gladiator and Othello was no doubt due to to the sorrow that visited vis-ited him during his early married life and the struggle he had to win from others more intellectually endowed than himself the position to which he aspired Was McCullough a great actor To me he was as fine an embodiment of Virginius as we will see in this country in this character char-acter He showed both repose and splendid expression and was therein a most distinguished dis-tinguished success and the admiration and I love of every audience before which he appeared ap-peared Not oven our ideal Edwin Booth could boast more friends before the footlights foot-lights glare than did this modest Irish boy who in 44 stepped from the vessel of a foreign for-eign steamer and made a home among us and who in a few years endeared himself S to almost every one with whom he came it contact I HE WAS SO GENIUS and that was fortunate for him too perhaps per-haps Tact is better Genius without tact without the power to seize opportunity will often be pushed to the wall Genius is hard to understand thinks perhaps tool too-l t deeply is too intensely earnest Tact is superior in business it makes money and does much toward happiness on this so called peaceful sphere John McCullough was a great man as far as I can judge and a great actor I doubt if that grandest of all tragedians of the robust school Tomaso Salvinl could have excelled him in Vir I ginius and this one performance was enough to leave a name Who will not I revere the name of McCullough who have seen him play the Roman father He was a man take him for all in all Do not expect to look upon his like again Our third season began in Milwaukee We saw a cloud on tho horizon during the rehearsals at Vickcrs theater in Chicago Chica-go but the members of the company were faithful to their chief Virginius was the opening bill and so long bad we played together that it would have required a remarkably re-markably acute person to detect when the Governor halted in his speech No mishap mis-hap occurred during the three weeks we were out until the fatal last week in Chicago Chica-go although while in Milwaukee an incident inci-dent occurred that troubled exceedingly The Governor was invited out to the Soldiers Home by General Sharpe and I was included in the invitation The soldiers were all assembled in the hall to hear Mc I Cullough We gave his favorite THE QUARREL SCENE between Brutus and Cassius from Julius Cjesar In civilian dress he was not happy like many other good actors He was not quite clear in his speech and we did not cover ourselves with glory He recited The Stowaway in simple fashion and as the soldiers wanted something more he insisted I should deliver Shamus OBrien This pleased them apparently for the applause was loud The Governor took my arm said Come lets go home and led me to the carriage I asked if it would not be proper to see General Sharpe before taking leave to which he replied emphatically Kott His mind was troubled We sat in the carriage without speaking when nn broke the lien With Joseph will play for you tonight Ill give them referring to the Milwaukee I audience the performance yettt He did play Virginus that night better than he had in years We hoped against hope that we had been deceived as to his mental condition The first week in Chicago Chi-cago was devoted to Virginius It ran smoothly enough owing to the vigilance of the boys but it was plain that the end was drawing near On Thursday night of this week McCullough gave a performance the like of which I never saw before It was rounded finished and beautiful On the following Monday McCullough gave his final public nerformance The Gladiator Gladia-tor was the bill He entered the theater quite late looking strangely dazed He was dressed at about a quarter past S oclock All went well until that scene in the second act where the brothers meet in the arena Spartacus recognizing Phasarius They embrace at a certain cue The Governor gave me the cue I rushed to him and threw my arms about his neck He did not respond I looked up to see what was the matter The tears were in his dear old eyes He was trembling tremb-ling like a leaf and in accents broken by his emotion clasped me about the neck and said FOR GODS SAKE GIVE MB THE LINES I did so and where we were accustomed to receive five and six recalls received but two The Governor turned to me and said They the audience are treating us gloriously to night The next act came I as Phasarius was working up the scene preceding the delivery deliv-ery of the upeech regarding the crucifixion of the gladiators The success of this scene depended really on Spartacua The governor gov-ernor could not remember To keep the scene up I spoke his lines and my own He looked at me helplessly and said loud enough for the audience to hear My boy you are speaking my lines The audience laughed Some hissed I kept on with my speech grew hysterical and oak upon toe floor at his fjetjwUU T 1 a n these words Grasping headlong at air I Spartacus said I swear for this to make Rome howl and the tears were rolling down his sunken cheeks How the scene ended I never knew What next I remember remem-ber was a line addressed to him General you were best go to you tent Yon are unfit for battle I The audience applauded and laughed and hissea again at the appropriateness of this speech thinking it a rare joke to see I Americas favorite Roman intoxicated as they thought There the end was near Crassus John A Lane stabs Spartacus j Tho Governor did not fall until prompted i to do so by Mr Lane Again the audience I relieved itself At the closing lines Set forth saIswe abnllbein Thrace It your we in anon I the great actors tears fell like rain As the curtain fell for the last time on our dear I Governor Mr Lane assisted him to his feet The applause and laughter was boisterous bois-terous Mr McCullough went before the curtain and said Lacies and gentlemen I you are the best mannered audience I ever saw If you had suffered tonight as I have you would not have done this Goodnight Good-night I Although the company was notified the I season was closed Mr McCullough did not I know it and called a rehearsal the next j I day To the surprise of everyone he know his lines perfectly and I believe that rehearsal re-hearsal was a more beautiful performance than any the public ever saw Some time after HE WAS TAKEN TO NEW YORK It was shortly previous to this time that I was engaged to cteate the part of Robert Emmett for Dion Bouclcault and wrote to Mr McCullough for advice Here is a copy of his reply Ofl < A f r WO v u oc > t ViJf J rI Veu 1 tf1 JjfJ U 5b1 4 2lT I Jr J > J n4A 5 r 7 i 1i > i7a1 1 4 4YJ lz l ytpJ t Tim yam 4A m dJ J ld vtAA a Jr t > 7vr < U 407 I 0 0 1f a J tj J c l t n f 4 hA Jf 3 i I s NEW YORK June 29 ISSl MY DEAR JOEI received your sweet letter the other morning and thank you for It Never mind Mr Bouclcaults offer for Robert Emmett You must write your epitaph on something higher than that We will write our names on the Immortal pages of Shakespeare They i look better there and live a good deal longer Let me guide you up the dark steepy path to glory There are cone that can follow you JOHN MCCULLOUGH j After his return to the cut the goner i J nors powers were fast failing and he was sent to Bloomingdale After some months spent in this retreat he was removed to hIS home in Philadelphia at the request re-quest of his truehearted little wife then residing at 216 Thompson street They had lived apart many years but his early love for this woman came back as his intellect began to weaken and return to its youthful state However have often heard him express himself regarding her saying She thinks a great deal of me yet This happened once at the Christmas of my second sec-ond season with him Ho took me to his room and we talked of his early struggles of his marriage of his family of his wife He had a roll of black silk and pointing to it said That is a present for Mrs Mc Cullouch I am glad of that governor I replied for this is the season when peace and goodwill good-will should be the order He smiled sadly remained silent a moment mo-ment then said SHE WAS A GOOD LITTLE SOUL but she couldnt keep peace with me I called on her the other morning and after I had gone one of her neighbors asked Is that your great husband F j h i j J husbands t i I jjji i aJ irc r rf Itl l ll JOSEPH HAWORTH Yes replied Mrs McCullough with prideVellhe Vellhe has lots to do to come and show himself after keeping away so long I wouldnt have u husband like that Ah said Mrs McCullough I am prouder of his coat tails than you can be of yourhusbands whole body What could a husband be that he hasnt been to me Wnat could a father be that he hasnt been to my children end if I couldnt become as smart as he is it any wonder left me to mingle with others that God has gifted more than He did me It was all my fault observed the loyal little wife all my fault I should have worked as he did and he would have been only too happy to keep me with him I have never wanted for anything He has put my boys in business They were not like their father or they might have been successful How tenderly he was cared for by this I good woman has been time and time again printed in the papers throughout the country coun-try She was not strong herself and being attacked by some cancerous disease survived sur-vived her husband bat a short time After her husband was brought to her homo she had the pleasure of seeing him grow brighter and stronger every day It was TIlE LAST FLICKER OF HIS LAMP OF LIFE Havent you often watched a candle burn low and then just before its final extinction extinc-tion shed a little bright blaze of fading glory So it was with the dear Governor His strength was deceptive his appetite was always good and from time to time he would leave his sick bed and sit in an armychair He could not at this time articulate at all He frequently endeavored to do so but in vain I often think that when death approaches when our little course of life is nearly run how like a child we become in our helplessness helpless-ness How the old truth forces itself upon us that we are all dependent upon one another an-other and how generous we should always be to those who are nearly allied to us by bonds of faith and blood Well November 875 the dearest man I Y of all this world passed away peacefully to that bourne from which no traveler returns re-turns There was no struggle only a sigh for what might have been as he gazed upon his wife He was conscious to the last and many a glance at the diminutive form ho then loved showed he appreciated all she was doing for him It was his faithful old nurse William Nutt who first observed the fatal change on Saturday night Mrs McCullough who had just left the room hurried to the bedside and knelt J 1 r = J I is i vl i fli 1y t Ir 1 1 t a P MCULLOUGHS LAST PORTRAIT AS VIRGISIUS THE DYING MANS FACE was slightly flushed and bore an expression that plainly told the soul had tired of its earthly habitation and was almost ready togo to-go in search of immortality The little womans heart was breaking but she bora up bravely and never once after left her husbands side until his eyes were forever closed On Sunday morning as the church bells were ringing the wife was weeping softly It was the cry that whispers to the oerfraught heart and bids it break The husband had turned away his face to the wall bus feeling feel-ing intuitively his wife was there turnedtoward her His eyes were full of meaning and encouragement for her but he could not speak The tongue that had thrilled countless thousands was now unable un-able to articulate a word but the dumb eloquence of the master of art was there and that little wife understood what he lain would have spoken A look of questioning ques-tioning forgiveness lit his dear eyes a look that said Farewell thou good and faithful heart his eyelids closed his breathing grew weaker and weaker until the clock told the hour of 1 when Dr Engel pronounced pro-nounced The End John McCullough had temptations many They were like the weeds of summer that choked the flowers of virtues that bloomed in bL sunny nature His pride was flattered flat-tered by tho love of a beautiful woman Weak nature succumbed to passion and a scandal was set afloat I refer to the birth of a child who still lives and would do credit to a race of nobles There was little lit-tle actual vice in his nature after all that has been said and written of him So let X c us condone his weakness After all what > Is a mans will worth when in the world reigns woman 1 JOSEPH HAWOUTH |