It was taking desperate chances, but it was at the same time a great advertising scheme, for never before had such a flying trip been made across the continent, and every paper in the country had an account of it. "From Ocean to Ocean eighty-three hours." Rignold had arranged to open the following Monday, but learning to his amazement of the great coup that Jarrett and Palmer were performing to get in ahead of him, he got a move on too and decided to keep the lead, and open up at least one night ahead of them, which was as soon as he could possibly get ready. The fast train was the sensation of the hour, everybody was talking of it and awaiting its arrival with keen expectancy. This national advertisement gave the Jarrett and Palmer company a great advantage over Rignold; besides, they had much the better production, and the best company, as Rignold had to gather what support he could and very hurriedly in San Francisco. This was very sharp managerial practice; what especial reason Lawrence Barrett and the Jarrett and Palmer management had for this extraordinary coup to down the English actor we never learned. The rivalry of the two Henrys served to throw theatrical circles in the Golden Gate City into a feverish excitement, and the result was that both houses did a good business, as every theatre-goer felt in duty bound to see both actors, and then compare their respective merits. Until Rignold played "Henry V" in New York no American actor had ever attempted the character; Barrett who had in conjunction with John McCullough managed the California theatre during the first three years of its career, saw an opportunity to do some business there and win some fresh laurels in a new part. This in a measure explains the _haste_ with which the thing was done. The rival Henrys, however, did not succeed in giving the play a permanent abiding place in popular favor. We think no other American actor has ever had the temerity to try it, until the bold and undaunted Richard Mansfield gave a superb production of it a quarter of a century later--1902.[A] [Footnote A: The above account of the "Henry V" excursion is written entirely from the writer's recollection of the affair, having no available data. It may contain some slight inaccuracies, but the main facts were about as here related.]