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R:e*ei-ediirynd1-l-%j;-netTeni•)dNew York Applauds Miss Ada Lee Bascom’s Melodrama,“A Bowery Girl.”AT THE GEAND OPEEA-HOTJSE.The 44Gods” Were So Numerous That They Hung Over the Gallery.ters prevented her from making such good terms as she might have done.Miss Bascom is a bright, petite brunette, full of life and vivacity. She is fond of curling herself up in a corner of the sofa or on the floor and devouring books and plays, but when she launches out into conversation she does it with vim and she possesses the dramatic gift of making her hearers see with her eyes.NEEDS OF THE POTRERO.nd,nddntisi-i.isAnother California girl has made a hit on the stage in tho East. This time, however, it is not as an actress that a native daughter has stepped into sudden fame, but as a playwright.Miss Ada Lee Bascom is the young lady over whose melodrama, “The Bowery Girl,” the New York gallery boys have been howling themselves hoarse duringResidents Agitating for a Better County Hospital and Adequate Water and Light Supplies.Residents of the Potrero, particularly in the western portion of it, are agitating for a better City and County Hospital.The hospital question came up on Friday evening at the meeting of Nuevo Potrero Improvement Ciub. It was said that the present condition of the hospital is an eyesore to the property-owners and residents thereabout, and some discussion was had as to the possibility of the City ever putting up a better building in the place of the present one.Messrs. L. J. Dwyer, M. J. Hurley and others devoted themselves to the improvements needed by that vicinity among the speeches of the evening, particularly the necessity of a better water supply and the want of several more electric lights. As one of the speakers said:“This portion of the City has built up11Qi-rt-hei-LIO3nit.1aessifP\;|iifftli,JMISS ADA LEE BASCOM, THE CALIFORNIA PLAYWRIGHT, WHO WROTE“A BOWERY GIRL.”[From a recent photograph.]fiChristmas week, while in the higher-priced parts of the house “the moat vociferous enthusiasm” has prevailed, to quote the New York papers, for the critics are unanimous in praising “A Bowery Girl.”The Dramatic Mirror says: “The reception was most enthusiastic, and the play was a genuine success.” The Sun’s opinion is that “ ‘A Bowery Girl’s’ sensational scene goes with dynamic power,” and the New York Herald remarks:That “The Bowery Girl” continues to throw n spell about many West Side as well as East Side hearts was demonstrated last evening by the Immense audience which assembled to see her wiles exploited upon the stage of the Grand Opera-house. The “gods” were so numerous in the gallery that they hung over the rails and made the rattan man look foolish.But it would take columns to quote the praise that the New York papers have iven Miss Bascom’s melodrama. The ittle woman says that as she sat hidden away in the darkest corner of a stage box at the Grand Opera-house and saw thegallery boys hanging over the railings shouting, while thunders of applause came fiom the rest of the house and the curtain went up again and again, she was not rejoicing at her success, but was absorbed in trying to realize how it had ail come about that a little bit of a thing like herself had succeeded in being the cause of such a vast amount of noise and confusion.“The Bowery Girl” received its first metropolitan production at the Grand Opera-house. . It was only booked for a week, and as Clara Morris and her company had pre-empted the big theater Miss Baacom's work had to depart, though it was doing the banner business of the season. It was taken over to the east side for Christmas week, and as the holiday attraction at the Columbus Theater it has been repeating its successes won at the Grand Opera-house.Strange to say “A Bowery Girl” is Miss Bascom’s first play. She has another drama named “A Daughter of Uncle Sam” in reserve, which her friends who have read it say is better than her maiden effort, but she would not show it to any managers till “A Bowery Girl” had succeeded or failed in New York. There is likely to be some competition to secure her new play now. Miss Bascom’s friends here not a bit astonished at her success. They say that success is just what they expected she would achieve sooner or later, but it has come to her sooner than theyexpected.Her name, by the way, is Ada Lee Bascom Swasev. She is the daughter of Captain W. S. Swasey, who came here in 1846 and is a well-known pioneer, “Ada,” however, likes to write under her mother’s maiden name. Old Mrs. Bascom of San Jose, the grandmother of the young playwright, was a well-known character in the Garden City, where her word always passed for law among a large circle of friends. Indeed, not to know Mrs. Bascom in San Jose was to argue oneself unknown.Ada Lee Bascom, as she chooses to call herself, went on the stage some years ago. She played a child’s part in “Miss Moulton’ with Clara Morris in this City, and afterward, when acting with Frank Mayo in New York, she became acquainted with the beautiful and gifted actress, Laura Don. The young women formed a warm friendship, and Laura Don wrote a part for Ada Bascoin in her play, “A Daughter of the Nile.” Justabout the time of its production poor Laura Don was stricken down with consumption, and Ada Bascom, abandoning the stage, accompanied her to Europe, and nursed her till her death, which occurred on the Riviera.On returning to New York the California girl put her friend’s history into novel form, and published it under the title of “A God of Gotham.” George Gould was supposed to be very easily discernible under this title, particularly as he had paid marked attention to Laura Don, and gossip said he had been anxious to marry her. However that maybe, all the copies of Ada Bascom’s book were bought up, and it disappeared suddenly from the bookstalls.The rights of reproduction were sold for a mere song and, though a second edition was recently published under a new naAe, the authoress reaps no benefit from the present sale of her book. She has been more fortunate with “A Bowery Girl,” though her carelessness in business mat-very rapidly in the past year or two andhas now reached a point where the lack of water and lights and a need of adequate fire and police protection are detrimental to the further advancement of the district, besides working a hardship on the people who have already erected homes there.Petitions for the thing9 needed have already been filed with the Board of Supervisors.STRIKE AT THE BALDWIN,The Chief Cook and Assistants Suddenly Leave Their Posts.A New Staff at Once Engaged and Very Little Inconvenience IsCaused.The chief cook and five assistants at the Baldwin Hotel are on strike.Their grievance was against Manager Stanton. He found fault with the service of the chef and that distinguished functionary of tne hotel immediately removed his apron and his assistants did likewise. The difference between the manager and the head cook began on Christmas day, and as time passed the breach widened, with the result that on yesterday the men left their posts.The head cook was an importation of “Lucky” Baldwin and enjoyed the reputation of being thoroughly accomplished in his art.Mr. Baldwin brought him to San Francisco some twelve years ago along with a number of other cooks and placed them in his kitchen. The head cook, who received his training abroad, has remained permanently with the Baldwin since that time. His salary was $200 a month.An Italian chef was immediately engaged to succeed the retiring head of the department, and now everything is running as smoothly as though nothing had happened.The head of the laundry department of the hotel was discharged a few days ago, and other changes are also in contemplation by the new management of the hotel. The bakers are trembling in anticipation of the ax.“The difficulty began with Mr. Stanton’s objection to the manner in which the cooking was done,” said one of the striking cooks, “and the chef got mad. The chef knew his business thoroughly and refused to be dictated to. He received his education in Berlin and Paris and then came to New York, where he was employed at some of the leading hotels. Then he was engaged by Mr. Baldwin to come to this City, and has resided here ever since. Oh, he is all right. He saved his money and bought property and has a home, but the rest of us are out in the cold. Still we had to stay with our chef. We have all been employed at the Baldwin for several years.“The chef never did any work. He just superintended the cooking. On Christmas day Mr. Stanton complained of the manner in which the dinner had been served. The chef got mad. He said to Mr. Stanton that ‘the less said about that the better,’ but Mr. Stanton would not have it that way. He contnued to kick and the chef continued to get hot. Then he pulled off his apron and threw downhis cap. Then the men did the same and we all walked out.”managers of the Baldwin say thatthe strike of the cooks caused them verylittle inconvenience and the new staff isgiving entire satisfaction. They declarethat none of the old men will ‘be taken back.
Newspaper Details
San Francisco call
San Francisco, California, US
Sun, Dec 29, 1895
Page 27
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MD, USA 31 Jul 2021
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