RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD NEW CHUM.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 46, Issue 14126, 25 May 1920, Page 2

RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD NEW CHUM.

(By ONE OF THEM.)

THEATRICALS.

The other Sunday 1 was sitting toastjng my toes by tlie (ire —it was in the gloaming, and too dark to read, too eai]y to light the gas. While sitting there L began ruminating on things present and past, and I .round myself wondering why Maslertoii, with a. pop* illation that has trebled itself, while its inhabitants have better conditions and infinitely more leisure, docs not possess an amateur theatrical society better,; than she possessed 2a or 110 years ago. On the face of it she ought to. There are more to pick, and choose from, and more leisure for practice now than in the old days. Is it because the younger generations have lost the talent 0.. their father? Or is it due to the deterioration of public taste, which is now satisfied by the dumb show of the picture entertainments? But so 4 seems, whatever the cause. I well remember the old Operatic and Draru&ti" Society, of Mastertou, prjducino- sudi high-class entertainments as 4 'Bint'fore. ’ ’ “The Pirates,” “Patience,” “Trial by Jury,” “LeCloches do Cornville,” and that most beautiful of r.i: operas, • “Maritana.” k'kr'it ( |ca,jM 4 f ; v/as roprosiMitinl by such productions as ‘‘The Colleen Bawn, M We:.riiu of the Green,” “Con the Sbeughrum,” and “Charlie’s Aunt. Bet me here say that both singing a a'-tirg compared very favourably with rumv professionals that came round, and" their name was legion in those days. I would also like to state that the foregoing and following criticisms arc yearelv from the point of view on the onlooker as I was never a membci of these societies, despite my fondness for the stage. The dramatis personae of. these societies, —alas! scattered, and most of them gone for ever —consisted of such then well-known names as Robert Gant (a fine singer and most versatile actor), Mrs Smytheson (a first rate actress, who played under the stage name of Basic Beaufort), Mr and Mrs Tom Wrigley, Charlie Marter (who died recently in Sydney), the late I. Cr Moore (a. basso pfofundo oi note), Mrs Crane, Mr Grans, Geo. Armstrong, G. Coker, Seymour Tailored, A. M. Bradbury, Coleman of the Bank, \\ alter Rapp, and many others—much too long a list to ,r ive their names. The lastrecalls to my mind a good story illustrative of the free and easy way business was transacted in those days, and which came immediately under my personal notice. I went to pay an account to Rapp and Have (a business that was conducted where the Cosy Theatre now is, and was merged into that of John Graham and Company). In the oflice I fount Mr Rapa, to whom I paid my account, and entered into conversation with him. He told me that one of las men had sold a saddle, and had neglected to take the name of the purchaser, ‘ so, said he “I just entered it up in the accounts of 'all those who were likely to buy one, and leave them to dispute it; and already we have been paid six times for that saddle.” . I can recall the first entertainment I ever witnessed in Mastertou a nigger minstrel performance, but can only recall the names of three performers— Clayson, a baker, whose shop was m the Star block, Tommie Thompson (mine host of the Taueru Hotel), and his brother jack, both sons of kie” Thomson, of the Prince of Wales . Jack Thomson had a silver tenor voice, beautifully clear and melodious. He was Mastertou’s exponent, of the noble are of self-defence, and I remembered he once offered me a quarter’s tuition free if I could'touch his face with the gloves, each of us to toe a chalk line—he with his hands strapped to his side. He had a wonderfully quick eye and dodged my blows by ducking his head this side or that, or bending so far back as to place his face quite out of reach without ever removing his toes from the mark. Of course I was bound m like manner from advancing beyond the line. How he managed to avoid my blows when I made a feint with my left while I drove with' the right, I can’t say. Anyhow, it was beyond me to reach his smiling'face, so did not gain mv free tuition. I can recollect the Good Templars giving a conversazione in the same old hall. Songs, recitations, readings and addresses were given. Mr William Cullen (formerly of this town, and at. that time just returned from a trip t.o the Old Country) introduced to those present a new luminous paint. I at once perceived the possibilities of such an article and bought a tin from him. Out of some cardboard I cut out a lifesize skeleton, which I painted, putting the parts together like a. child’s Jumping Jack—pull a string and legs and arms • move up and down. With two empty reels I contrived to make pulleys to <rive the string a downward jerk from a distance. I then invited some natives to come over to the school one night. Opening the door, I drew their attention to it. by pretending fear and asking what it was. It was glowing with a. beautiful phospho v esceiit light. Suddenly I gave the string a jerk, and up went arms and legs, and with a yell the natives tied. In the morning I showed it to them and explained the joke; but one old fellow, pointing to it with a finger of scorn and with the eloquence of antipathy said, “What good that? That no good. The Maori, he no like; might be flightened. If he (lightened he angary; might* be kill you!” Thereafter I reserved the joke for those of my own race, and more than once had the satisfaction of hearing some of them draw breath with a sharp intake. The Davids, of which I was then an active member, gave a series of tableaux vivant, under the management of Arch ?Draid Quick, a tent-maker who had a shop underneath the old Foresters Hall, assisted ,by myself. Caractius and Boadicea, with wild Britons, were introduced, suitably attended, by Druid priests and their victims for sacrifice., as well-as Roman soldiers. Every detail of dress was gone into, even the sandals of the soldiers. I know it took me every night for a full month making round shields, short swords, spears, n Pnfnrfi the show was considered

fit for presentation. Another entertainment I must mention before closing was one given by Mr Alexander, F. Martin, known as “Sandy” to his intimates. Ho afterwards went to the Straits Settlements, and there became Surveyor-in-chict. When 1 knew him first he was very hard up. It was midsummer vacation, and I invited him up to tho school, where we had a good time reading, writing verse, and sketching in colours. He was the best ventriloquist I 'ever heard —a veritable Valentine Vox. I remember walking with him in Queen Street one evening ,before I knew he was so gifted, when someone, apparently on the opposite side fo the road, repeatedly accosted me; but each time on turning in that direction saw no one. That night, on going out, to Te Ore Ore, he suddenly stopped and said, ‘Listen.-’ I listened* and heard a dog barking, seemingly far away on tho hills at the, back of the pa. Presently a man began calling the dog to heel with a string of lurid adjectives that would have shamed a. Billingsgate orator. It w-as not until ho gradually brought the voice down from the top oi the chimney to the level of tho mflntelpieeee, and sent it back/again till it was lost in the distance; that I ‘‘tumbled.” He amused the natives, who called his gift, “rupu rovero, or belly talk. At mj instigation he decided to give a public entertainment in the old Theatre Royal, and so raise the wind; but I am bound to say he was not nearly so good behind the footlights as in the open, though one part of the 'programme brought in his full powers as a mesmerist ? The old Theatre Royal was leased at one time by Foley and Berkley, professionals of no riiean order, giving entertainments of the Great .Me Cube type. Another time by Georgia Smithson and' dim Holloway, a circus clown, who, with the assistance of the amateurs produced several plays, including “Dick Whittington,” a pantomime. Geo. Coker, who 1 have already mentioned; was also leasee and was instrumental in bringing many good actors and companies to Masterton, amongst whom was Walter Bentlv, "the Shakespearian actor, who also played “The Bells;” Fairclough, the best Hamlet I have ever heard,, and .many others whose names come crowding to my memory of the past but must be .withheld for the present'. ,