70

Chicago Daily News

Nate Saulsbury was one of the most brilliant
comedians who ever ventured his talents in
farce comedy. He was then a clean-shaven,
neat, brisk young man, with the quizzing glance
and sarcasm of a character-student and a
mimic. He was a delightful after-dinner talker
and had the wit of current and classic literature
at his sharp tongue's end. He was
immensely popular and financially little
less than a marvel to the average
thespic fortune hunter. Now Mr. Saulsbury is
joint proprietor of Buffalo Bill's Wild West
and a millionaire--has ranches, rentals, lives
most of his time in a tent within shooting distance
of yelping Comanches and is finely aging
with deep-cut facial lines of calculation, a
hardy prairie complexion, square shoulders and
pointed whiskers. But he is not a whit less
entertaining. He is the greatest impromptu
story teller I ever knew.

He has forgotten that he ever was an actor
but the genius of mimicry and keen appreciation
of humor has never deserted him. I
caught him this morning in one of his most
amusing reminiscent moods. The encouraging
weather and the first boot-shine that conscience
really could approve since the opening of the
Wild West show had mellowed Nathan into a
mood embroidered with halos.

He greeted me with a smile worth one gondolier
pour-boire and enthusiastically offered
me the bouquet of tuberoses and cape jessamine
Col. Cody always has in his own tent. I
accepted the smile and waited for the celebrated
scout's arrival to add some permission
to the deed of flowers, then finally attuned
Nate's susceptible lyre into the serio-comic. He
hummed "Up Went the Price," "I Flatter
That I Stutter," and recited scraps
of heroic measure from the grander
dramatists, then fell into patriotic recollection
of his visit to Spain. Apropos the Columbian
Exposition he referred to that celebrated statue
of the venerated hero of this immediate hour
which adorns the Barcelona harbor. Nothing
more superb in sculpture has been contributed
to art. It stands looking out to sea with such
magnificent sympathy, reverence and pride expressed
that any wanderer must be arrested by
its grandeur.

Maj. Burke and Saulsbury landed as near the
port of Barcelona as foreign ships are permitted
to come. The harbor is quite a respectful
distance from the crumbling-walled vegas of
"balmy garlic and guitar," and the morning
the doughty major and Nate arrived it was
sultry, damp and threatening. Everything
was retarded by Spanish vigilance, their
show was in custody about eight
miles at sea and likely to stay there
awhile, Nate was hungry and had not been a
howling success in his divers efforts to "hablo"
at the surprised natives, so he was not quite in
tune with a patriotic vertigo which seized the
major at sight of the Barcelona Columbus.

"Yes," vigorously asserted Nate, "it's good,
the best I ever saw, but where is the hotel and
bill-poster?"

"Saulsbury," orated the major, lifting his
hat, "can't you drop the show when in the presence
of America's discoverer?"

"That's all right, Burke, but business before
the spread eagle."

"Well, sir," said the major with heroic
dignity, "if you insist upon shop interest in
such an imposing presence permit me to present
it to you in another light. There stands
our advance agent 400 years ahead of us!"

Nate has a small book of jokes laid up
against the major, but this was one instance
when the military gentleman had the best of it.

John Mackay gave Cody, Saulsbury and Maj.
Burke a dinner in Paris a year or so ago and a
party of tremendous swells belonging to the
Mackay set were there to meet the westerners.
The subject of Texas outlawry was broached
and the major waxed eloquent in the
defense of that doubtful state. "Nobody
risks any personal inconvenience,
sirs, in traveling through Texas. It
is the golden state of the union
and her citizens are both courteous and law-
abiding. Why, talk about necessary fire-arms!
I am a soldier and I went through the entire
state without anything more than a toothpick."

"Well," said Saulsbury, "that's all you
needed. You didn't do anything but eat."

Saulsbury married Miss Ray Samuels, a
pretty soprano singer, who had something of
a fortune left her by somebody. He has a
charming family of boys and girls and they all
travel wherever the energetic father goes.

May 15/93 * * * [......... .........?]