Show SHOW BOATS ON THE GREAT MISSISSIPPI Floating Bands of Thespians Who Enliven Towns Along the River Riv r. r MANY GOOD COMPANIES In Old Oiti nn Jays s These h Ent Were r fl Fen Feature turn tur orO Profession lon Not the least lea t Interesting feature of n 1 the Mississippi U river and Its Is main maln 1 tributaries rles is the tho show ho boat boat Several Sev Sev- Oral eral scores corl of cabin boaters with wih Thespian Thes pian plait tendencies act regularly on board floating theatre The re flip Henderson on Is probably the best het known troupe troup of river cabin boat actors actor today toda I ITh Th They h have v a ho houseboat more more than lot feet Cee long and hd 20 feet Wide on which thy thoy render p pular anti and ant classic pla In in- style stylo So o- o large e and profitable is if this boat that a a af Hedged full f river steamer the Enos T Taylor Is employed to tow to it I from fr m landing handing to 10 landing The rho rh player live on the boat and of all al the actors who travel probably none have havo haye more comfortable c quarters quarters' There 1 Ii no packing up or unpacking of stage furnishings for Cor tho the theatre ro goes s everywhere everywhere every ever where with them The river shows are of ot various kinds ranging from ambitious efforts to render render ren ren- der dr Shakespeare down through plain modern comedy vaudeville le minstrelsy t butto buffoonery ner sleight hand and ancl mu musical music music- lc al entertainments entertainments The rho rie larger companies com corn com panics show only at the river towns to such uch as a New Madrid Luxora Hickman Hickman Hick- Hick man Lake Providence and ansi places of oC similar size where patronage Is liberal at tire the prices Irma charged charged rom from a a. dollar down to 10 10 1 0 cents cent The rhe largest l Situating theatre nn on the river ri C will wi seat nearly persons while i some ome In in-i cabin shows how are given ordinary boats hol holding ln at the most twenty or Ir r thirty pe persons ons The rue Poole Marion arlon combination com corn in a foot 32 boat boal claims to tomake tomake make 1 15 to 30 30 a l week each from froman an un entertainment consisting of ol old time lime fiddling hand of of ballyhoo bally bally- hoo and a Punch anti and ant Judy arrange- arrange merit mert yum they can not tot get mone money they the acc accept d chickens chickens' coon skins junk or anything else elst which Is saleable In the old ole lays days before railroads ds ha had l l rivet river and antI given built buit up the towns I rapid and sure sine transportation between citie th the leading heading actors of or the Ito tle da day ViC If at times hints obliged to have recourse to the tiit show boat hoat for opt opportunity to 10 tobe be hO ft senn I by hy the public Imbue Some onre ome of the theold theold old show how boat combinations were w r famous from rein St. St i Louis to X New w Orl Orleans an and not to 10 hav seen en the Chapmans on 01 their ark in tho the early 3 s spelled one out Of f select ec e society nit 01 the thc Ohio arid atul alli 11 William Chapman sr Rr r. r was wars a born bon I in iii England nd In 1794 antI and grew up tip among the vans nM of or Richardson's Richardsons t trawling traveling I theatre in Tnt 1 1827 S 7 ho ht came to t America when h he his a company which wa called ih this th i lan Chapman Family Chapman wal ld went l through gh th Ire WO wood lt I I I I here v Captain Brown nfl til nn Ohio river rl fr shipbuilder constructed m i n Ohl big theatre for 0 ci him while bo hR am flit QUI his hl I wert- wert wr occupying the dining room u of the Old OitI Ole Red Ull Lion hotel with will wih Gilt such Ruh plays as nR Tire The Stranger el Tho Time Chapman etc ete tc consisted of ot William Chapman sr st 1 William ol Chapman jr ju George GEorg Caroline Caro Corn line lini Harry and Therese e Chapman In Countless q stories of oC their thel adventure were current alon among the th professionals before the war Thi Chapman boat stopped at an Ohio Ohl rl river own one day ilay and nd all advertised ell ellA r oi aw and A A. crowd came amp down that thai night tho PIO price of admission was put at G ro roc c cents though tins this was an arhl rl nt price fixed by hy the lie looks of oC this the bank hank Several young oung men mn tried to ge gel aboard for a quarter When rhen admittance admit down m or orthe nn alice tance was refused they sat t the honk hank and hooted hoo t d for O Oa a time Thor Then one conceived a revenge The rho gang gans quietly slipped tIre the mooring tope ropes from the trees anti and ant stealthily shovel hov t the thi- boat boal into Inlo the lie tH cUI current nl The fhe resul fact that thai was wa all al they debited rh The rho New Ne toward the th bout was wa floating Orleans Orlean was not nor discovered for 11 hallan hall hail an hour and anti in that time tho the audience audi ence was ivas wa carried carrh more than three miles down lown stream mie N. N M I i. i Ludlow one of or the bet best N Valley aliey actors wrote known Mississippi i I boat in lii the of oC set seeing tire the Chapman lt early SOs SO's I L beheld bEheld he said a largo large boat with wilh a rude kind lend of ot house bunt bull upon it it having ha a ridge roof above o I. I which projected a stall staff taC with a flag lag attached upon which was plainly visible ble hIe the lie word vord theatre The Chapmans dropped down from town to to town to as ns far Car a as New Orleans Orleans I Then tho they w were r towed to back b by steamer to St S1 Louis Louls or Pittsburg to start again Their Ther success was so o great at that It J led to a host of oC imitators W. W M M. Chapman died dl In 1839 on onboard onboard onboard board his boat which was moored at t Manchester Miss 1 and was burled in inthe Inthe the local cemetery Mrs Chapman continued mx tn charge of the this craft until until un un- un- un til 18 17 18 when she retired from curt the he ti business in I easy circumstances Sol Sd Smith a aa us a r river ri er actor purchased mule pur chased Ill tile the remodelled anti and steam propelled floating theatre but it i came caine to grief on n his first trip down lown the lie the river rl There wa was a collision on 0 the th Ohio which cut the theatre boat boatin boatIn in two vo antI and time the Oi actors and actresses saved their lives with difficulty lw ft rite Tho earlier Carler troupes which ventured c Into Inlo Oi the 1 Mississippi 1 Vale Valley alley braved CI br dangers clangers unknown n in these days day ay When hn N. N M. M Ludlow Iud I 0 and anti his Iris company went down the Into the time Ohio and tire the Mississippi he Im c traveled d In a akeel akeel keel boat hoat which was controlled by b oars oars and poles tire poles poles poles-lw the actors lending a hand hanI occasional TIme The he rivers ue wI ivele e full of oC stings snags In iii every iOV el bend which h threatened Id td teal leal out the tIme bottom bottoni of tC lii boat and ont when whort th thoy y lied letl In nt at night lw care had to be ba taken to selecta select elect electa a U bank that Ihal would not riot cave on th the a boat hoat and sink it i They hoy passed tl Plum Pilm Point St. St St Francis liver and Montgomery Mont Mont- gomery Point with wih weapons loaded fearful h test sl a gang ot river of-river pirates at attack at- at tack them The TIme civil chU war broke up un tho the show showboat boat boal f business on the hi Mississippi 1 Cabin boating of oC every 1 kind was su suspended sus smi- along the river rJ r during those p years save Vt when an on occa occasional lonal river tr rat ral rl ran the tire Union Meet with wih medicines medi cines and amid supplies for COI the it-ic I at ates Mome of tH these lt hloI blockade runners Inn may st still 11 ill be hI found l on ni I the hue river In their cabin boats boals boalt otis ohe of at them being Dr Patti Pati who sells sels medicine and occasionally hires a a. negro banjo plaY r to attract custor customer r The Th medicine Ierne boat hoa I show is nowadays one no of oC tIme the ordinary rY f s fatum of oC river life e. e Following the hit war isar Wat tire the cabin boat re- re a great rat Impetus Tho rho steamboat steam boat traffic had been ben broken up and ant I ll tle h packets destroyed t Ducks Duck wild animals anti and other ees e eJ fur bt bearing had increased prodigiously game throughOut the valley save V where the the I armies had marched marched- t. t Following the hunters and trappers who flocked to I the tire harvest hurvel came produce whiskey and show shiw h w boats hont hut hurt the halcyon halcon lays days of or floating theatres Af on nit the Mississippi I Mis Mis- 11 hall had P parsed The lire rh legitimates o cil the tl theatrical pro profession lon either traveled tray trav trl by h steamer from cl city to city ely or took tok tir the railroads fr from m place to il place Stilt Still tiler wn was want an nn opening for toi little little- show how boats IC of which cabin boaters who viro could slug sing a clo clog or play playa a ci banjo or fiddle took advantage Some of or these boats were patronized ex- ex j clu h by time freed slaves s who paid palt their way with wih IllI chickens ns I eggs gs and produce i iOther Other Oilier boats boat catered to tn tin hit white I people of Ih the towns town and ana ant a as 3 1 ment Was as a seldom to be he hI had at th tin tilt places s too tou small to 10 offer oler inducements inducements' t tt to larger I troupes some of lh the little show boats hoat mal made money flirt But these show hott boats being without ah any kind I of Jr Il restraint b became come obnoxious anti WI Iele ordered order 11 away ft tnt time the tw landings at nt respectable communities I by n I 1 nant narit cl citizens with shotguns Un Kven Fv-en loven n If the boat bon t was waH riot not ot of Indecent nt charac- charac Lee tur I It I sometimes h happened that thal a gang gangIn an anIn In iii a second scent cabin boat huat w would uhl make a raid raM on the plantation hou houses es inthe In Inthe the absi absence absen nce e of the owners at the performance performance per per- stealing what they could coull arid and sharing harln the booty with wih the show folks folk This kind of work gave gave th river show how boats a reputation nm from corn which they are only just recovering leco although th the robber roh Hr gangs nn were sere broken brok e en err up Thug ago I Although the river actors actor are sd- sd seldom seldom sel sel- dom loin more than lion passable the river musicians are often otten worth going to hen hear The concerts are usual usually gIven given en by pairs of or river Ier nomads or trumps tramps who need the mone money They rhey P hn have no U schedule or Itinerary seeking a stand only when the they have reached reach reach- ed pd tl the limit of their re resources These rhe e emen men often ofen spend h hours ur over o el the riddle fiddle aoI anti and bow or picking a guitar Their music is a strange combination of ot classical anti and ant popular strains all al modified moth modi fled fied to meet the river spirit often ofen haunting the tire memory with wih strains of melancholy and loneliness The river musician a asserts ert that life on art the MIssissippi Mississippi Mis Mis- I softens a n fellers feller's music |