Sunny Side of the Late Stuart Robson
hwii wii itiw Aroenran stage
jjji I have lx-en more universally be-
- ' " ' " ....... ' ... 0 man
Stuart Robson," Bald one of the
late actor's associates, quoted br
the New York Sun. "It Is not surprising
to those who knew him well that there
Were no public services In this city after
his death. The burial was conducted very
much, perhaps, as he would have had It
had the details been of his own arranging.
"It Is, pretty generally conceded that two
of the results of acting aro irascibility and
an Inclination to display temper. Some
of the men who are regarded by the
theater-going public as most lovablo
rhurariers are no cordially hated by the
people who are obliged to work for them
that the wondir of It is that the crimes
of the day are not monopolized by the 1(0
and $TiO a week actors who have been
humiliated by their stars.
"'Only onue did I see Stuart Robson lose
his temper. We wore rehearsing some
changes In the pluy 'Oliver Goldsmith.'
In Memphis. A prominent actor associated
with the company hud thoughtlessly and
needlessly annoyed him by Interruptions
and unsteady performance. Not a word
would the 'Guv'nor.' as we called him, say.
not a word would he let his manager say.
although the actor gave an example of
poor discipline to the rest of the company.
"Hut when we began rehearsing this
morning In Memphis, K started his
tomfoolery. The (luv'nor stood it for a
while, then, growing red In the face, he
sliimmrd the prompt bonk on the table and
said: The rehearsal Is off. I'm tired of
this damned business. You have gone far
enough. K . I won't stand your ungrate
ful tricks any more,' and he walked off the
Inge.
"That was all. It doesn't sound very
strong, but his voice was breaking with
rnge. nnd those who heard knew that It
was the accumulated anger of months.
Half an hour later K received a letter
of apology. The guv'nor was sorry he had
lost his temper. He should not have spoken
as he did; he realized it and hoped K
would forgive him. And let me say that
from that time on tnis actor caused the
guv'nor no more trouble, and none In New
York today mourns his loss more than he. -
"Ifnfler equally trying circumstances. I
saw him exhibit the utmost good nature.
The Gadfly." produced at Wnllark's theater
several years npo. wns a disastrous failure.
During the two weeks it rnn. the audience
kept growing lcs.i and lets until Robson
got In the hnblt of unking before the cur
tain went up If 'he' was 'out there yetr
"It was bad enough to have the critics
rosst the play. It was bad enough to be
Inalna. thousands of dollars on the produc
tion, but It seemed to me to be rubbing It
Remarkable Development
r i ii . ii i
I construction and operation ha
I t.u, rt . 1 1 ' ill. -..... iritml f r-i m ...... m
to year by pilvate agencies, and
since the besinninc of sn h con
struction in 1K30 the country has never had
to wuit moru than a year for pretty ac
cuiate statistics of what was being done in
that field of investment and enterprise. No
private agency that we know of has under
taken any such statistical record In rogard
to street railways, and accordingly roport
on the subject by the United Blatea census
bureau for the year ending June 30, liWJ, be-'
cones of unusual interest.
In that year it Is found that 1U.M8 miles
Of main track of street railway were being
operated, and lTS of single track; and tbx
earnings from operation were $241,684,697 and
operating expenses $l39.0IJ.fW4 (68 per cent)..
The operating companies paid dividends of
$15,508,210 and carried about as large a sum
to swrplua They employed t7 o mesial.
With aggregate salaries of $4.63.015; 4,301
Character in Smoke Wreaths
I v.. vyju.invj xv m mini manner of
I smoking you shall know him, ts
nifDriiiLri . .
... iun un ui a K.en oiuerver
Of habits and character! jtlca.
Iet him gnaw at the end of hi
cigar and roll It between his llpj and you
may depend he Is cynical, likely ta look
always on the wrong side of human nature
and not to trust any one completely.
The man who smokes with his clgnr
tilted upwards has the tralU thnt mukb
for success. Is brisk, aggressive and likely
to triumph over Interference with hU
Wishes.
Ths smoker who guards his cigar Jeal
ously and will smoke It almost up to the
point of charring his moustache or burn
ing his nose Is a tactician, scheming, self
seeking and with an Intense desire for
power.
The cigar tilted toward the chin denotes
the day dreamer, the person who may hava
Ideas and ambitions, but seldom the prac
ticality to carry them out.
The cigar held steadily and horizontally
Indicate a callous, ' culculutlng' nature,
strong traits, but poor principles, the sort
f man who could be brutal with indlffur
auoo should occasion arts,
In when a well known actor formerly asso
ciated with Robson came to his dressing
room one night and after watching him
make up as the boy In the first ext. say:
" Hob. you're a fool to play a part like
this. Why don't you try Hamletr
"The guv'nor pursed up his lips In the
familiar 'Bertie' style and said, with a
slight laugh. 'By Gad. I will if Vhey get me
mad!'
" 'Oh. he can't help that. he said, when
this Job's comforter had left the dressing
room. 'He's always doing that. After I
had lost $30,030 on Bill Nye's play, "The
Cadi," he came around one night nnd told
me that on the night of Its first production
he sat beside one of the best known critics
In New York, nnd before the curtain went
up had told him that he was sure the play
was going to be a failure. Now that was a
helpful, friendly suggestion to a critic,
wasn't It T
The Saturday night when 'The Gadfly'
had Its last production, he was In a very
jocular mood.
" 'Think of It,' said he. as he stood In
the wings preparatory to going on. Think
of It! It has cost me $1.0C0 every time
I played this part. (The loss for the threa
weeks was $30,CO0.) Talk about your public
spirited citizens. Where do I come In?
Where Is my monument? And look how
calm and Indifferent those fourteen of
the lost, strayed or stolen are out there
over the honor that Is about to be con
ferred upon mo. You'd think from the
way they fit that they didn't know It costi
me almost $100 apiece to entertain them.
Look at that fine sample of respectability
over there, with the red whiskers and
Kdum cheese head think of spending $100
to entertain him".
"All through the entr'acts he was In
the liveliest moods. 'I have a good mind
to make a speech, he said, after the
first act.
"He assumed a mock threatening attitude.
'Yes, sir, I've a good mind to go out and
tell them that they don't know anything
about art a la Mansfield. What the public
wants Is a a talking to.'
"At the end of the next act he cam
In and said: 'I've relented they look too
Innocent.' -
"The idea of Stuart Robson playing Ham
let will strike most people as very
ludicrous, and yet frequently, when he
was telling some story of Forrest or Booth
or his most Intimnts friend, Lawrence
Barrett, ho read tlie lines with absolutely
none of the exaggerated Intonations that
made his stage work so funny, nnd fre
quently with a great deal of beauty. Peo
ple often asked about his voice If lie didn't
lisp off the stage and if there wasn't a
break In It? It would surprise many to
clirka, with aggregate salaries of $2,S73,!)3u;
nnd 1.11.133 other employe.", with total wages
of $77,437,324. They ca;Tied 4.813. ktt.001 fare
passengers, employed 07.199 cars and killed
1.2H1 persons and injured 47.4'Ji. The capital
stock, exclusive of 73S miles of sine track
which failed to report, aggregated $1.36.277.
9M. funded debt $91.9.38 0W, and floating debt
91,8X8.371. The total capitalisation, bonds
and stock, including an estimate for the 739
miles, exceeded $2,tO0.O0O.C0O.
Such comparisons as ere possible with the
census statistics of 1X9 followed:
VK! 1W.
nw s 7Kt
?;& $ in
21,!W 1.1(11
2S 6.K.1
f 4i
Main line mileage
Single track mllenge..
Klwtrlc power mileage
Animal power
ruble
Steam
1 Til
Honried debt $ flJS 358 fiSt! $151.R7J.iK3
HiuwnKwii carried ... 4.X3Mntl 2 0:3 mo SkJ
Capital stock $1,216,277,989 $ill,77.7'J4
Tho later statistics ore probably more
complete than the earlier, tut in a general
way the changes from twelve years ago
aro accurately preset) led.
The man who. after lighting tils cigar,
holds It not only between leech and llpj.
but with two, three or four ringers of bis
left hand Is fastidious and possessed of
much personal pride. Such a smoker will
often remove the cigar and examine the
lighted end to see If it is burning evenly
and steadily. 8uoh actions indicate care
fulness, sagacity and a elm racier worthy
of confidence and esteem.
The smoker who sends forth smoke from
both corners of the mouth in two divergent
puffs Is crotchety nnd hard to get along
with, though he may have good, mental
faculties.
The spendthrift, sometimes the advent
urer. Is declared by the act of biting off the
end of a cigar. Lack of Judgment, di.slika
to pay debts and not over-niceness of hab
its are declared by this practice.
The pipe smoker who grips ills pipe so
firmly between his teeth that marks are
left on the mouthpiece is mettlesome, of
quick, nervous temper and likes to bo
tenacious of his opinions one way or an
other. The pipe held so that It hangs some
what toward the chin Indicates tha lim-
ambltlonluas person, who might stand
know that In his ordinary conversation
his voice was rather deep than otherwise
and that when It 'broke' It was nearly al
ways, so It seemed to me, a conscious
break, for the accentuation of the point
of some funny story that he was telling.
"He early learned the value of his voire
and I think it rather hurt him a little
that. In all the criticisms of the 'Gadfly'
nothing was said about the fact that it
was a different voire If not a different
personality. For three acts he went
through a part that was most serious and
although the same public had been accus
tomed to see him In parts that were the
acme of the ludicrous, accustomed to his
squeaky voice and Jerky gestures, little
was said about the epparent disappearance
of what he knew the public regarded as an
Inseparable -part of him.
" 'And they came all prepared to roast,'
he said, which was. In a way, the truth.
There was a strong undercurrent against
the play and the actor. The Idea that
Stuart Robson should play anything seri
ous was an Insult and yet, although they
came to mock and stayed to condemn, I
cannot remember that there was any one
there who ridiculed.
"One of the reasons of Robson's pop
ularity was the deference he paid to the
opinion of every actor, no matter how un
important. Ills dresser surprised him one
night by suggesting a change in his lines,
and whether It was to please the man or
rot. he tried the change at rehearsal, after
notifying these present to whom belonged
the credit for the suggestion.
"He was interested, too, In the outside
life of his actors, an un frequent occurence
among Btars of either the old or the new
schools. Once, In New Orleans, a queer
little comedian, known along Broadway ns
Jimmy,' received a tearful letter from
his wife In New York. Evidently he paid
no attention to It, for he received another
In a few days, saying that If some money
was not sent to her at once she would sell
his dog. as a mxn next door had offered
her a dollar, probably Its full value.
"Jimmy, now thoroughly arouaod to tha
seriousness of the situation, came to the
manager and begged for an advance. He
was too old an offender, and he was sternly
turned down. In tears he went to the
Guv'nor. He got ten.
" 'A man would be without humanity,'
Robson said afterward, "who could listen
to Jimmy talk over the possibility of losing
that dollar cur and not shed tears.
"Ho was very fond of telling how onco he
'barked' for the show when he was playing'
In Chicago. He was coining over from the
hotel to the theater ono night, and as he
reared the entrance to the theater three
of the Street
It will be seen that street railway mile
age has been nearly tripled; that nearly all
of it is now operated by eloctric as con
trasted with horse power only a dozen
years ago; that passengers carried have
more than doubled In number, and that
capitalization has been Increased out of
all proportion to the Increise in mileage
reflecting in part the increased cost of con
struction and equipment for electric as
compared with horse roads, and in part the
inflation schemes of syndicates and pro
moters. Public attention in the last few years
haa beeu especially directed to the vast
quantity of securities thrown upon the In
vestment market by the trusts. Specula
tion and Investment have centered largely
upon these Industrial consolidations,
whereas in former times of great specula
tive activity steam railroads have led In
. tho storm of inflation and new capital com
mitments. But it is shown In the abov
statistics of street railways that this field
of Investment has been broadening to an
Irrational and without the capacity to put
their powers to use.
Men of quick vivacious temper hardly
tout It the tip of the cigar with their teeth
and after taking two or three whiffs will
remove it and hold It in their hand In absent-minded
fu;hion. They are men who
change their opinions and ambitions often
and require the spur of novelty or necessity
to make them exert their best powers.
Men who let their cigar go out and then
try to relight It. also those who, after
smoking for a while let tho cigar go out
Slid then throw It away, are likely to be
up to such responsibilities ss come to him,
but would never seek them or strive for
high place.
The man who fills his pipe hastily, hap
hazard fashion, and emits Irregular puffs
of some Is of Incautious, generous Impulses,
the sort of man who is a good comrade
and haa powers of entertaining, bat whose
friendship Is not likely to be lusting nor
to warrant implicit confidence.
The mun who rills his pipe slowly, nnd
methodically and smokes mechanically and
'regulurly ts likely to be reserved, prudent
and a good, dependable friend, wldle not
of showy exterior.
people looking at the lithographs blocked
tils way.
'"I wonder If that show la any good?
said one of the men. evidently a country
man In town for the night.
" 'I understand It Is a very good show,'
said Robson.
" 'Seen It?' was the inquiry.
" 'Sure.' he replied, 'a dozen times.'
" 'Guess we'll go,' was the conclusion.
And the actor left them on his way to the
box office.
"'Just added $6 to the receipts,' he ex
claimed to the treasurer when he reached
his dressing room. There's business enter
prise for you. "Stuart Robson, barker!"
how does that sound T
"No man loved more to swap stories of
old times, and when he and old Henry
Weaver, who played the part of Samuel
Johnson, got together, there was a fund of
anecdote let loose that held for hours those
fortunate enough to hear It. His stories of
the times when he was a page in the house
of representatives, his memories of John
Wilkes Booth. Kdwin Booth. 'Lawrence Bar
rett, Forrest, Cushman. all well told and
enlivened by his keen humor, would make
a book of the most Interesting kind.
"The pleasantest memories that many
have of him is, however, as he appeared at
his summer home at the Highlands of
Navesink. During the three or four months
he spent there he would probably not move
oft the porch more than a dozen times.
He was there for comfort and rest and ha
took It, smoking big black cigars all day,
reading, copying passages out of favorite
books and sticking them up on the walls of
his library, and. what pleased him most,
listening to the specious arguments and the
recital of adventures of his 8-year-old boy.
"Thert was hardly a one-night stand that
we played in the west or south that the au
dience did not call on him for a speech.
He had several In stock for occasions like
this, and the or.e he liked best was In part
something like this:
" 'When I was a little boy In Baltimore
I was very found of drawing a picture of a
big house with a large room, which I
roughly indicated as In the front and in
which I hoped some day to play with my
boy companions. That dream was never
realised.
"Time went by and another little Stuart
Robson came and he, too, had dreams and
those were realized. For the house waa
built not quite as big as I had imagined
it and it has the room in the front down
there by the Highlands of Navesink. The
curly headed little chap is playing there
now, and I hope he will live long to enjoy
it, for it was his dream and my dream
and perhaps some day his boy will pluy
there, too.' "
Railway
amazing degree and without attracting
general attention In comment upon the
financial situation. It is made apparent
that within a dozen years almost $iX),
OOC.COD of stret railroud securities have been
manufactured and sold, which is about
oqual lo the amount of new steam railroad
securities put upon the market during that
remarkable period of speculative expan
sion and inflation extending from 1867 down
to the panic of 1S73. Yet this marketing
of $2.CC0.OC0,fX0 of street railway stocks and
bonds has figured as little more than a
mere incident in the general capital com
mitments of the time. It can probably be
aid with entire safety that the financial
and industrial capitalisation of the country
per capita of population has never before
been expanded so greatly 'within an equal
period of time as during the last half
dozen years.
Last of the Mary Ann
(Continued from Page Thirteen.)
gale at sea or was wrecked on some iron
bound coast to the north and every soul
perished.
No sooner had the body of the lata cap
tain been given burial and the ship's paper
overhauled to find its port of destination
than it was headed for the port of New
York to be delivered up to the consignees.
It was a short-handed crew to work such
a big craft, but every man tried to do two
men's work, and It was recorded on the
log that Nancy Hopewell steered her tricks
at the wheel and kept lookouts with the
men. While they had been despoiled of the
"Mary Ann", they were to find themselves
largely the gainers by It. After a run
which was bare of event the derelict wiia
safely moored In New York harbor, and
Captain EUisha bade Nary remove the tar
from her hands and slick up to meet com
pany. It Is of the long ago I have written.
The tombstones of both Klisha and Nancy
are moss grown in the old cemetery, bqt
the salvage money received from
"Vorne" gave them years of comfort and
happiness. People sometimes wondered
that In their old age there waa no abate
ment of their affections, and JCHsh would
always answer them with:
'Then, by Josh, it's because Nancy ia
the bravest and best woman on earll., and
I don't care who hears me say !"
