The _Era_ (New York), June 15, 1873, said: “One noticeable feature about the performance was the gorgeous dress of Mr. W. H. Rice, prima donna of Bryant’s company. The dress could not have cost less than nine hundred dollars. The workmanship was far superior to anything we have yet seen upon the stage. Neither Morris, Davenport or Ethel can boast of such rich apparel. * * * * * Rice deserves great praise for his painstaking endeavors. He is an excellent singer, and conscientious actor, and would only acquire the distinction he has already made but by application and study. To-day he is without a peer in the profession, and undoubtedly one of the best that ever appeared upon the minstrel stage.” An advertisement in a Liverpool, England, paper, of Hague’s Minstrels, July 20, 1874, reads, “Second week of the star Burlesque Prima Donna of the world, Mr. W. Henry Rice, whose success with the Hague’s is unprecedented in the history of minstrelsy in Liverpool. Each night at the conclusion of his performance Mr. Rice has received a most enthusiastic _call before the curtain_, an instance of popularity seldom equaled.” The _Times_ (Philadelphia), of December 17, 1901, said: “Wm. Henry Rice again made his appearance as a special member of the Dumont troupe, in the Eleventh Street Opera House, and duplicated his hit of last season in a new skit, “Roosevelt’s Reception,” in which he gave a grotesque feminine impersonation along the lines long ago made familiar by him. He is the best and one of the very last exemplars of an older style of burnt-cork fun-making than obtains to-day, and was wholly successful with last evening’s audience.” Frank Dumont, in an interview in the _North American_ (Philadelphia), Dec. 29, 1907, said: “* * * To my dying day I will not forget his scene where Camille writes to the father of Armand that she will give him up. Talk about acting! Why, he had Bernhardt beaten a mile in that scene. It was the purest burlesque I have ever seen. For more than twenty minutes he would keep the audience in convulsions of laughter. No end man ever equaled him as a genuine comedian. “I really think he ought to be classed among the greatest of actors. I mean the really great ones, for his work was as much of an art as that of the most classic actors that are world-famous. * * * He deserves to live in the traditions of the stage. * * * ‘Bill’ was too fond of Philadelphia to remain long away from it. Here he wanted to live and die; and he had his wish.” Wm. Henry Rice was born in Philadelphia, June 1, 1844; he died there December 20, 1907. * * * * * Frank Cushman’s life’s ambition was to be associated with a minstrel company in his native city. He died as it was about to be realized. * * * * *