OCR Text |
Show I "Billy" The Surprisingly Story of a Lad Who Became the Most Powerful The-I The-I atrlcal Manager In the World By Deshler Welch On tlio opening day ot tho Phlla-I Phlla-I dolphin Centennial Exposition In 187G, I stood on tho dais of tho great I Corliss englno In Machinery Hall, fl within a few Inches of General Grant H nnd tho Emperor Dom Pedro of Bra-9 Bra-9 zll. Tho contrasting appearance of M lif) two men I shall nover forgot. Sturdy and stern was ono, and tho M other tall and magnificent, with white M hair and handsomely trimmed heard. m Thero woro many other eminent peril per-il sons on that platform, and they ho-m ho-m held n tremendous concourso of pco-m pco-m plo struggling to get n nearer viow M of tho chief actors ot tho day, nnd J' ho in.nt tho moment when tho Presl-H Presl-H dent of tho United States was to j! start tho towering englno, and so of-I of-I flclally open America's first World's 'i Fair. '; It was a big thing then, and nmaz- ed everybody moro thnn such shows i do now. It scorns but a llttlo whllo 1 ago; yet that was tho first tlmo wo ? ovor saw Vienna broad and Often- tj hack, French waiters in long aprons I blazing rhodondrons and real nudo J art. Graham nell astounded mo 0 hy lotting mo talk Into a box that fi was to tako tho plnco of speaking 1 tubes nnd would reach further. Ho I said It was a telophono nnd offered mo stock in it nt a prlco within my h modest moans that had I accepted would havo mado mo a mllllonalro S today. I was In my lato teens then, A precociously observing nnd that lr-ropresslblo lr-ropresslblo dynamic nnd implacablo Charles M. Goodsoll, publisher of tho r W Now York Dally Ornphlo had appoint- pH dl mo ns n spoclnl hourly correspond- M cnt at tho Fnlr, and I was to bo on tlio Job, from early mom till dowy uB ovo. nmi thon lonEor. You aro to hw uvu, nnu inon longer, nm " " M bring mo huslnoBS," said ho: "write- H ups, as woll s anecdotal description. H All tho fancy stuff will ho dono hy H Ollvo Logan nnd Gcorgo Alfred W Townsend." So li wasthnt I stood H thoro that day and In order to mako H ood copy for my futuro romlnlscon- H coB I leaned down nnd touched tho I hem of Grant's long tallod Prlnco Al- bcrt, garment. Still in all that sea of heads that bobbed below mo I only chanced upon ono I recognized. It was tho round, pudgy faco of Billy a mcro boy, who was closo to tho steps, his oyes upturned to mtno In envious wlstfulncss. Tho day boforo I embarked on my joyful mlslon to Philadelphia (1 was ono of tho most envied ot people among my newspaper brethren), "C. M." said to mo: "I want you to tako Billy along with j'ou to follow you up. Evory tlmo you descrlho an exhibit, ex-hibit, Billy will seo tho people and In-duco In-duco thcra to buy flvo or ton thousand thous-and copies of tho paper containing your nrtlclo as tho case may bo. Sabo? I want you to look out after him; he's younger than you." "But who's Billy?" I asked. "Why -don't you know Billy? Why, ho's tho boy who soils tho papers nt tho front counter and collects tlio ro-turns ro-turns ho's nearly as smart as chain lightning. Thnt's tho reason I'm sending him nlong with yoir don't you seo7 You ought to mako u good team. You'll writo nnd hojll work." Then ho cnlled out, "Billy!" Billy camo to tho back part of tho office, nnd wo woro formally introduced. in-troduced. After a fow words of ex planatory advlco to both of us, Good-soil Good-soil said: "Now got out of hero tomorrowand to-morrowand got busy. Go to Wur-tele, Wur-tele, tho cashier, and get tho rocks you'll need." Billy was fat and small; ho had bright, smart eyes, nnd improssed mo as an lndofatlgablo youngster. Of courso, tho bettor ho did In tho work ahead of us, tho bettor would I stand with Goodsoll. Strnngo my youthful fear of that man! Ho was ovorwhol-mingly, ovorwhol-mingly, importnnt to mo as tho controller con-troller of a great metropolitan nows-paper; nows-paper; and now as I reallzo it all, ho was tho most npprcclatlvo friend I over had. I rcraomhor ho nlways had a rovolvor on his desk lri full viow. "Ho'd uso It too, If ho got a chanco," said Billy. Wo both hustled nt tho Fair. I may say that tho boy worked so hard that I had n difficult tlmo keeping my subjects ahead of him. Ho was oxtromoly modest, and seomod always to hold mo In a llttlo awe so much so, Indeed, that wo seldom mot out-sldo. out-sldo. Ho w..j wondorfully onorgetlc and absolutely dependable; hut his development lator on in Hfo, in tho lino ho choso, I never would havo considered. con-sidered. It was surprising. Our as sociation lasted until tho fall; then wo returned to tho Now York olllco as if nothing hnd happoncd. Ono day, Billy camo to my desk nnd said, "Would you llko to go to Havorley's Minstrels tonight?" Thoro upon ho produced n big bunch of tickets tick-ets for tho Fourteenth Street Theater nnd offered mo as mnny ns I would llko to uso. "How's this?" I nsked. "I'm going into tho minstrel business. busi-ness. My brother Dan's tho manager, mana-ger, nnd wants mo to trim tho houso for him nt tho opening tonight." "I'm distinctly flattered, Billy, but I think you aro making n serious mis-tako. mis-tako. You've dono well with Good-sell, Good-sell, and you havo a bigger chanco ahead than you will havo In tho tho- atrlcal business." But tho hoy only smiled, nnd looked look-ed ns though ho had determined exactly ex-actly whnt to do. That night I saw him nt tho show flying through tho aisles and go back on tho stngo. Tho noxt dny ho camo to bid some of tho men goodby. I remember them ns If 'twero yesterday Huchcson, Bunco, "Perk," Wurtolo nnd Grow. Ah mo, whoro ho their merry' Jests now Bunco was tho closest In his gcntlo wny with both of us. Wo used to call him "llttlo Bunco," for ho wns small, bluo oyed and n blond. Ycnrs after ho bocamo treasurer for tho Lyceum Theater, beloved by all; associates as-sociates until "no dlod. "Perk" stood for W. T. Perkins, who bonsted that James Lowls, tho great comedian then nt tho height of his popularity at Daly's, was his undo, I remember remem-ber that I was rather In nwo of Perkins Per-kins on that account. Ho usod to toll us wonderful stories about tho stngo llfo, ovldontly gleaned from "Undo Jlni." Then thoro wns Wur-tolo. Wur-tolo. Ho stood for n good doni in tho Ornphlo ofllco. Ho had chargo of tho caBh, and wns n very unsuspicious unsus-picious nnd generous gentleman. Any body who wns nt all roputnblo on tho wholo staff of tho papor could get Vis I O U cashed at Wurtolo's dosk nnd all ho did wns to smllo and say, "Do I ovor got this back?" Ono day tho polished and profes sor llko Samuel Elliott, ono of tho di rectors nnd auditor of tho company, oxclnlmcd vory loudly, "You young gcntlomon nppenr to think that tho Graphic Is n great golden gooso to bo plucked!" I mention all thoso circumstances becnuso thoso men all had a good deal to, do In fashioning Billy's futuro llfo I know they had Ho was very Impressionable, and ho subsequently subse-quently used to refer to them feelingly feel-ingly Thuro wcro n number of men in tho olllco that wo both detested, and I think thoy constituted an op-posing op-posing factor that tried our souls with heroic patlcnco. And so Billy left us for good. Occasionally Oc-casionally wo followed his Journey-Ings Journey-Ings by reading tlio Clipper's routes. Then camo n lapse of sovcral years Ono day whllo sitting In tho lobby of tho Colemnn Houso on n hot nft-ornoon nft-ornoon In midsummer, I noticed a tired out looking fellow half dozing on the opposlto settee, j "Billy-my goodness!" I Ho looked, Indeed, wornout and thin, but his eyes had not lost their sparkle "Yes, It did mo to a frazzle! . . ho oxclnlmod "I gavo up tho minstrels long ngo, nnd then went In for myself. my-self. I took out n hlg Breadwny success, suc-cess, but tho territory I hod In the West wouldn't stnml for It somehow. Yet I got tho conipnny hack homo two weeks ago I Just got horo." Tho next thing I heard wa3 that ho hnd bought tho Western rlghtB for Victor Durand, by Henry Guy Carlcton, which had mado an opening open-ing hit nt Wallnck.s Then during tho fo lowing fow years Billy's name J was frequently In tho papers. Ho , was making great successes on tho 'road with sovcrnl compnnlcs. Ills presentations had n trademark of their own that affected tho local communities to such a degree Hint It was synonymous with honesty, nnd n guarantee of Innocent merriment. I Next it wns given out that Billy 1 had rented n Now York theater. This seemed actually wonderful; then wo heaid that ho had rented nnothor. Ono day I wns feasting my oyes on 1 soino diamonds In 0'itto's windows I when I felt tho rather obtrusive con-'tact con-'tact of a man nt my sldo. 1 turned to nAnonlsh htm, when to my surprise sur-prise 1 saw that ho wns Billy! "I've been wanting to seo you." ho said, after I had oxprcsscd my deep Interest In nU his published doings. Tho critics had declared him a mnst- er of his art that his tastes were so I artistic that they extended nil over I tho anatomy of his hrnln, etc. "Will I you meet mo at Dol's tomorrow for I lunch' I wnnt to mako a proposl- I jtlon." I "Why not here, now?" I nsked. I ' "Well, I think you would ho In a I very attentive- and receptive turn of I mind over n cannpo I.oronzoz nnd a I partridge my, but you're looking I swell!" I I I was wearing n fashionable box I coat of tho period, with n. violet bou- tonnlere, and perfect top hat and boots I sny this for rensons that follow. I went to Dol's nt tho appointed I time, nnd found nilly nlready there I nt n cozy corner tnble, waiting. I remember to this day, many who wero In tlio room who now know tho great Billy. Somo who know both of us (I was then tho editor of Tho Theater Mngazlno) porhnps wondered whnt wo woro up to. I was fco'lng Hint my companion hnd a. name that stood for a great ileal. After tho wnltor had served us and stood away, Billy said, "I am nlmost nfrald to say whnt I wnnt, but I've been thinking of it for nulto n long tlmo. I I want to mako a loading mnn of you!" "Whnt tho dovil do you mean, Billy? In politics or In spouting tho slnglo tax theory you know I used to do that?" "I want to bo serious with you; I want you to go on tho stage. I can mako you n lending mnn In a year!" "Stuff and nonsonso! How do you know I could act?" "Because- I know It. I have- never mado a mlstako In my Judgment of such things t I'll pny your expenses for a year's propnrntlon. You'll then mako moro money than you will over get In tho writing business." Ho wns ovldontly much disappointed disappoint-ed when I told him It would not bo posslblo for mo to accopt his extraordinary extra-ordinary offer. Ho hung on to It for somo tlmo after that day, and I never nev-er could understnnd his persistency. I know I could havo acted bettor than somo actors do, but as for being a leading man, I thought thnt Billy was positively -out of his head. How would things bo now If I had accopted tho Job 7 Billy wns beginning to ncqulro moro theaters and moro peoplo for his compnnlcs on tho rond, nnd was holng called a theatrlcnl Napoleon. Nevertheless ho was tho samo modest mod-est and unassuming Billy that ho was In Graphic days. On nn occasion occa-sion when n forthcoming production was to mean ovorythlng to him, ho asked mo nlmoBt shyly If I would attend at-tend a rohearsai with him on tho morrow. "I want you to sit with mo nnd glvo mo suggestions. Tho fact Is, It Is a society piny, nnd I do not know much about social ethics at any rate, you havo good ideas, and know moro about thnt sort of thing, To tell you tho truth, I lmvon't got tho norvo yet to stand up and tell somo of thoso actors what I thinks- particularly tho awfully EngllBh taV- i lows " It was during tho snmo winter win-ter of this clrcumstnnco thnt I told him thnt thoro wns a very lovo'y young girl, absolutely unspoiled, n perfect Maud Mullcr, nt thnt tlmo playing a smnll part In Charles Hoyt's farco, Tho Midnight Bell, at tho Standard Theater, whom ho ought to seo. Ho did. Sho becamo tho most popular woman on tho stngo nnd tho best paying Btnr. Bl'ly started her out with most careful dignity nnd n full appreciation or tho unities, so to speak. No actress since tho chnrmlng Mary Anderson dnys mado such nn Immcdlnto Impression. Her name wns Mnudo Adams. His enterprises wero now becoming world wldo; ho wns controlling then-ters then-ters In nil tho largo cities nnd two or thrco in London. His own personal person-al oiperloncos and study hnd dono much for him; In his travels to the rnpltnls of Europe, ho hnd been deeply observing nnd through ills oontoct with eminent people In tho higher professions ho hnd Imbibed n great deal of tho general knowledge which ho always thirsted for. Tho story of Billy, as I have wrt' ten It here, Is as I told It ono night nt tho Lotus Club, to n number of nctors nnd wrltors. When I renched tho Incident concerning Mnudo Adams, Ad-ams, Maurlco Barrymoro stretched out his legs nnd with a Dick Swlv-clcr Swlv-clcr relaxation, as ho drained his g'nss musingly, said: "Hut say, old chap, who In iiell was Billy?" "Billy? Woll, Billy was tho nnmo I choso In telling tho Btory so ns to keep you guoBslng to tho vory end. Ills real namo was Charley ns I know him. Ho wns Charles Froh-mnn." |