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Show "JOSH WHITCOMB'S" COUSIN Relative of Origlnnl of Famous Character Char-acter in This City. At the Knutsfortl yesterday, of the Mat-stem excursion .party, were Mr. George I. Whlt-coinl, Whlt-coinl, hl wife anil Ills d.iURlitcr. Kdlth Wlill-conib, Wlill-conib, all from West Svnncn, N".' II. Tlie nnme Itself Is reminiscent of ""Tlio Old JJorne-stend." JJorne-stend." Denman Thompson's fa mo 11 n ptuy, but to ndd Interest, Mr. Whltcomb happens to bn a cousin of .ono of .tho character which furnished the typo 'out. of which tho diameter of Joshua Whltcomb una created. Mr. deoruo E. Whltcomb. who I9 alinoRt a type himself of the shrewd, huinonius, thrifty New England farmer, explained t'niphlcnlly, though simply, tho evolution of thf old vaudeville vaude-ville play of "Joshua Whltcomb'" Into tho modern version known ns "The Old Homestead." Home-stead." Many yenrs. -ubo Denman Thompson, who was then a young actor In Boeton, spent ono of hln summer vacations In the ; town of West Swansea. N. H There he mat- a cer-tnln cer-tnln Otis Whltcomb. ono of the now extinct types of, the ruBced, shrewd, humorou?, horse-trading, horse-trading, ncqulsltlvo Yunkees, and his counterpart, counter-part, a man named Joshua Holbrook. They were Intimates and friends, and many a battle bat-tle did they flpht during Thompson's vacation, with ncf other woajwns than their natural wlu The atmosphere was delightful to Denman Thompson, and he absorbed It like a bdoiiko. according to the Mr. Whltcomb who l-j now here. Out of the quaint humor of the two. and It was moro or lus? common to tho neighborhood, neigh-borhood, and In lovo with his temporary environments, en-vironments, Thompson created tho character of Joshua Whltcomb, the name bclnc a com-olto com-olto of tho two principal characters from whom ho had received his Inspiration It was from tho quaint Hayings of the two that lw received his Jnnplrntlons of humor anil tho peaceful surroundlncs of West Swaimea In-i.plrod In-i.plrod him with the beautiful rural trlm-inlnKS trlm-inlnKS that he has udded to his production. |