An American Hobo in Europe: A True Narrative of the Adventures of a Poor American at Home and in the Old CountryGoodkind, Ben
General
An American Hobo in Europe: A True Narrative of the Adventures of a Poor American at Home and in the Old Country
Goodkind, Ben
Glasgow (Scotland) -- Description and travel; New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel; Ocean travel; San Francisco (Calif.) -- Description and travel; Tramps; Voyages and travels
The line was growing longer rapidly, and before the doors were opened a
couple of hundred people must have been on the street waiting. As soon
as the doors were opened there was a grand rush and scramble to secure
tickets. I held my own in the push, though I was nearly suffocated and
squeezed flat, but managed to secure a ticket after a little while, for
which I paid twelve cents--six pence. Cheap enough if the show is any
good. I rushed up the spiral stairway after the crowd, but before I got
half way up I was obliged to stop and blow off steam. The steps were
many and winding. I did not notice anyone else stopping for a breather
which led me to conclude that the Scots are a long-winded race. Two or
three times did I have to stop before I reached nigger-heaven, my
destination. The gallery was so high up and so close to the ceiling that
I could have touched the ceiling with my hand when standing up. Below,
clear to the orchestra seats, or "pit," as it is called, was gallery
after gallery. Some of these were divided off into queer contrivances
called "stalls." To me the stalls seemed like huge dry-goods boxes, with
the part facing outward, toward the stage, open, from the middle to the
top. The lower part was boarded in. They were queer-looking
contrivances, and the people in them looked as if they were caged. The
stalls were supposed to be private and exclusive--in a word, private
boxes.
Some little boys in livery were wandering about on the various floors
crying out "Program" with the accent on the first syllable, and as I
wanted one, I hailed a boy who gave me one and charged me a penny for it
(two cents). Printing must be dear in Glasgow, I thought, to charge a
fellow two cents for a printed piece of paper. I said nothing but
scanned the program. Here is what it said:
No. 1--La Puits d'Amour, Balfe; Band.
No. 2--Mr. John Robertson, Baritone Vocalist.
No. 3--Drew and Richards in their specialty act, Old Fashioned
Times.
No. 4--Mr. Billy Ford, Negro Comedian.
No. 5--The Alaskas--Ben and Frank--Comic Horizontal Bar Experts.
No. 6--Mr. Edward Harris, London Comedian.
No. 7--Miss Josie Trimmer, Child Actress, and the Forget-me-nots,
Vocalists and Dancers.
No. 8--Selection, Yeoman of the Guard.
No. 9--Sallie Adams, American Serpentine Dancer.
No. 10--The Gees, in their Musical Oddity, Invention.
No. 11--Collins and Dickens, in their Refined Specialty act.
No. 12--Mr. Charles Russell, Comedian and descriptive Vocalist.
No. 13--National Anthem.
Quite a lengthy program this and it looked to me as if it might be good,
especially the Serpentine Dancer, who was a countrywoman of mine, and
the darkies, who were probably countrymen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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