Show ON THE ROAD of an indomitably ind advance agront how an unfortunate company oc 0 actors aitra cled alth hl Adver adversity alty uncertainties talu that beset the travel ing troupe avlin the bent of ones impulse is irresistibly irresistible btag eward it is of time and cloquet e c to warn that against al 1 the heartbreaking heart breaking uncertain t fintics tio of a career it I 1 is not as rested that grief and disaster are arc inevitable results of theatrical undertakings butt licy most assuredly arc tho the lot of a laige majority of traveling companies tho the following anem bel lislie lishco d narrative of actual experience rhods what difficulties aro are encountered by the peripatetic actor two seasons ago after a prolonged struggle for existence exit tence a well known repertoire company took a blind fouth in the hope of retrieving their fortunes and playing the I 1 season out it was however but a casc of out of tho the frying an into the fire firc ns as the third week vech found them at little rock practically pi ac ati strapped Mone money yand and credit exhausted and all advertising material nv was Ls used up in this extremity tho the agent was riven carte blanche to go ahead ild and dochat do what lie could to keep tho company moving ArI arkansas cansas was a zt stranger ranger to him and lie he proceeded to interview ter view in rapid succession the theater managers railroad men hotel proprietors prie tors bill posters attaches of theaters and bo on in the faint hope of digging up a in mascot ascot lie finally gave it up and settled on the very ancient town of Ark arkadelphia adelphia where to move the company from little rock the management secured enough money to got get him thero there tho the next point was to obtain paper to bill with an interview with the lithographer gra and general factotum of tho the capitol theater disclosed the fact that lie he had for years been in the habit of saving a dozen or more lithographs of every aar who played in the theater mr hr agents persuasive tongue easily casily won him to give civo up tip three liLlio lithographs graphs of each kind making a total of about three hundred gleefully returning to his abode the agent trimmed air oit all printed mattery both top and bottom from the lithographs and with tho the bles blessings sinIs 0 and prayers of the well wall nic nigh gh stranded players proceeded ou on his way to Ark arkadelphia adelphia with tho assistance of a few stray nod and apparently lost inhabitants of the place lie he finally located the opera house 11 it was ivas a sight A very plain cheap wooden structure when built probably thirty years before time had bad dealt hardly with it covered with moss it leaned towards the great west and somehow suggested by i its s general appearance that it was holding its breath in a last rally not to give up the clap and collapse entirely the little narrow entrance door leading to the ste epand steep and primitive steps was locked and the agent rushed into the thick of the town and finally located ho he marshal lie ilc was informed that mrs blank owned the opera house and lived out of town about two miles after jollying 0 the marshal aud and promising him sev cral 11 comps for I 1 his I 1 is in 1 fluence and assistance in negotiating for the opera house they started on foot to seek the owner a vehicle being b ing out of the question as money was now to the agent but a memory arriving at the house lionso the colored attendant ushered them into the parlor where after almost an hours wait the lady ehdy appeared A three cornered talk now eli ensued sued as the lady would not do business directly but through the marshal the agent talked to tho the marshal the marshal to tile the lady and so on bade back to the agent after an houra bours confab tho the opera house was secured on the following extrom extremely ply liberal terms for tho the owner rent kent including light heat and one sange assistant twenty dollars payable to tho the marst f before tho the curtain rose this was exclusive of all amounted state county and town including collection fees to eighteen dollars and twenty five cents also pay payable we before the curtain went up A little leg le keary the agent returned to town and dashed into the ipe print mi i i 7 t omec where to his furt birther fir ther lier hind hindrance ranco and dismay ho found the editor and his entire octaff of ono one person the devil busily eng engaged raged in working the liand hand press running on the weekly edition the promise of three dollars payable before the cut cm tain lim i ose stopped the press and the alie editor t ic devil and the agent got their head boad together in devising a stunning r date lie which after many trials they in netting up and running off it fc announced a grand production of our leys boys by the same company of twenty artists playing that week at the capitol 11 1 1 theater little idock A half column collina local followed from the agents pen tile the editor obligingly patin 8 3 r it up tip and lifting a patent medicine ad out of the form on the alic press lie inserted it in its stead and ran it in the alie remainder of the edition his datelines date into lines secured tho the agent hustled to ilia his hotel and with the aid of a borrowed bottle of mucilage attached the dates to the lith litho and then supplying 1 himself ditl wild 11 stickers tacks and a small harn hammer mer lie he proceeded to lithograph the town out of sight never even when iid A ver tided the place for little rod had ark arkadelphia adelphia been so eo extensively or richly billed the main forcel looked like a rainbow a rather strai bt raight 4 lit rainbow bo but still about the ony only 1 thing it rc resembled cabled darkness had n now w act et in and the very tired agent souI sought lt his oliell couch at seven next morning 0 lie ho was again at NN work as lie he still 11 biad aj a dozen sheets and four bac big aa stands of paper in ill his possession session and i it was root hog log or die in arkadelphia Ark adelphia v ith liis his attraction he determined to pi t it all up lip by the issuing of two mole moie comps compsy he secured one side of the leading drug deurr C store the side bein being r built of 01 clapboards very old and warped no was to be had and the agent after much eipl anition ann tion mad i 1 I I 1 1 in with the one restaurant man odthe town to malce make flour paste at the rate of two bits bit per pail payable in tickets ticket at their full value no suitable bui Emi table brush was to be found and an old broom was waa finally filially pret prec sed into service next two bm buiu ill boys were hired on oil a promise also of n u ticket apiece and mounting a ludder ladder the indefatigable agent beepat acred himself from licad head to foot in putting up the paper it was hurd hard work and before night liis his bad W was 13 nearly dearly br broken olcen lie he had the doubtful honor bonor however of being followed about by nearly the entire colored population of the town who gaped in admiring wonder at the gaudily colored paper and the agents ta ingenuity in utilia utilizing utilising uti lising n 13 the old broom the paper up the reserved leaf sale was arran arranged b ed and the town dod dodge 0 red cred with small email bills this brought on P another night C the next morning morning n was passed by the agent in bed as lie was wa 3 almost paralyzed with weariness arising ing at noon lie proceeded to t talk shop the only method now left him to further excite the populace lie talked nil all afternoon rapidly and incessantly to anyone and everyone who would listen to him until at night ho ran across tho the leader of the town band with whom he be made a dicker to have the band play in front of the alie opert opera house in consideration of their being admitted free and one extra ticket apiece the following day at noon tho the company was due and at eleven the agent reached the depot a mile out of town and scaled in the midst of a wilderness of cotton bales waited dy by the time the train was due his thoughts were suicidal as after mentally summing up the companas comp anys expenses in the town and comparing the sum with the probable business lie ho could sec nothing 0 but overwhelming disaster forthe for the loomed doomed players on the other hand rose the uncertainty of their coming as lie he had left them playing to very small houses and the chalcea were that they could not raise money enough to leave little rock however to his unspeakable relief the train finally pulled in with two members of the organization saluting him through P the windows lib his doleful misgivings were partly realized when but eight members of the company s stepped off the tram train they explained that thai our boys could be done with eight people rind and As as a clincher they added that no DO more of company could haic come come anyway as getting the eight there had bad been a pinch proceeding up 6 and striking the main street the company were greeted by bytho tho extensive and gaudy billing the most novel their eyes ever rested upon man alan tolf alt davenport barrett rose coghlan mccullough alvin joslin julia marlowe sothern annio annie ward tiffany an mary anac andason son oneill ON cill benc R Robs rhea sully stilly and a host of others equally well known staled them in the face from every point of vantage all to appear in our boys that evening the sale at avon tevon amounted to six dollars and a half hraf with pi ices ices at fifty cents and one dol dollar lar proceeding after an caily sup or to the temple of last report the company arranged the stage t and tho pooh bah of the theater to light up this was a simple affair as footlights foot lights hide lights and all other r lights consi consisted of tallow candles the manager k and agent took their stand at the lead of the ancient stairway ky and awaited the publics pleasure two rickety chairs and an old iry dry gooda box comprised the box off lice the discordant tooting of the bund band without distracted any r cad ad or apprehensive thoughts 0 i they havo entertained as to the future and at bla p in forty four dollars had accumulated just about enough to baut all dc debts b ts C of f th alie C agan rr o ing in the town outside of 41 1 l bills and ichuin trip to little uc rc k V they we aci e dobli obliged ei to go alicade t disappeared back upon th re oe and preceded tho the entertainment I 1 ill car ing in front of tho cult curtain airl i 1 d I diplomatically mati cally explaining giov i ii li it opened eliat twenty al were billed v nud ud but beight ciet would vou id appear after thoi hughly mystifying and mudd muddling linc the alie audic ence lie retired made up an and d our bobb 11 was presented I 1 arrival Ar arriving at the hotel botel after the performance for mance a coull council cil of war wm wai held helcl their total cash consisted of not quite seven dollars toils total being made up from their slight pocket change ind and the few dollars remaining of the alie door receipts of ali the night they had after breal fa st next morning morning 0 when they hoped to leave for little rock an eight iollar dollar board bill to meet then camo came the difficulty of railroad fares not much to be sure but they had it not at alii gloomy hour the agent baidden ly ie covering aiom a brown study darted from the room and shortly re tui guined ned bringing with him the marshal to whom in the presence of the entire company lie he appealed in a long and affecting speech relating to their pecuniary standing D i the inars marshal lial never weakened until the agent pathetically referred to tho the ladles ladies of the company three in number when lie ho prod one half of the rent money ten dollars and gave it to the agent on behalf of the company good natu undertaking to see sec the matter explained to the owner next morning at about MOM 1030 the company after paying all indebtedness departed for little rock where their tale talc of woo was soon told to the reina remainder inder of the now nov stranded players A ack eck passed and the town knew them no more inside pockets were delved into and this oils took away the ladies and about one third abird of the men the first day some going home and others to the various dramatic agencies in new york and chicago A half dozen more kept the wires hot in appeals to friends and relatives and in a couple of days one half the others had disappeared by pawning r jewelry all but three of the company managed to get away what became of the three they aliey may bo be there yet detroit free press |