< Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 4).djvu
This page needs to be proofread.

66 /177

rama of the funeral of the Duke of Wellhing- ton. Alkin did the horses, and Sala the hundreds of figures. They worked at 1t for six months, l)ut the fumes ol the ucicl acting on the steel plates so injured Sala's nor nmlly weak cyes that he was compelled i infinite 1001(1(111,1011 of spirit to give up the craft he so dearly lov ul——nthu wise he would have gone blind. He stll retains the needles he worked with, and the very paper- weivht to be seen on his study table 1s a cop punl e on which he had worked morce than forty years ago.

“In 1820, continued the journalist, 1 renewed iy acquaintance with Dickens. [ had written an article called *'The Key of the Street ' for Flousehold VWords. [From 185010 1836 I made £ 200 a year out ot Dick- ens's paper. 1 did A hittle in the dramatic line with a aear, dead bro-

ther of ming, Charles. 1 wrote L panto. called

  • Tlarlequin Billie

Tavlior, under Charles lkean's management, re- ceiving £ 100 for the ()pcnin()' and £ = a picee for the comicscenes. Then I did a translation ol * The Corsican 3rothers’ for the

Surrey Theatre,

and g Yy oA o uinea a I'rom a Photo. byl

muhL for 1L It ran

1zo nights. Many other picces followed,

~oneofwhich was a burlesque m 1809 at the Craicty, called *Watt Tyler, M.PLin which Toole }ld\ul the titular part. 1 was suc- cessful - cnough, though the late John Oxenford, in a criticism in Z2e Z7mes, said that my plays were *evidently the pmdm— tion of a novice in theatrical matters !’ Poszibly: Oxenford had never heard of thu 125, a4 week engagement at the Princess's, “Inoa8zo I went to Russia for Dickens. \We had a row about the travelling ex- penses, so I owent on to Zhe Hlustraled Z7mes. On the staff were James Hannay, I'red and James Greenwood, Sutherland Edwards, Bdmund Yates, EKdward Draper— a5011L1L01‘ who did the law and crime—and

STNANL

MK SALATS

MAGALINTY,

Old White, the doorkeeper of the House of Commons, who uscd to divalge the seerets of the House ! My turning-point, however,

camce a year later, when (he proprictors of The Dadly 1e then a voung paper, sent for me. 1 was paid two guineas a lcader, often writing two for three guinceas. Since then 1 have been all over the world —in times ol peace, war, and revolution. | have often been challed because Toncee said,

in the preface of a book, that the pmpnctoh oA The Daily Telegr oave me *the wages of an ambassador and the treatment of a ocentleman.” That which 1 stated was the precise and lteral fact. Litigating jour- nalists often have proposed to subpoena me

WRITING TABLE, [I5iioth & Lra. with a view to testifying as to the custom and Tuw e journalism. My answer invari- ablv i, 1 can give no kind of testimony as to lew or custom, inasmuch as I have never had any written engagement with Ze Diaily Lelegrapl, who can dismiss me, or [ could leave them, to-morrow. Their ar- rangements with me, both as regards home service and forcign missions, have always been ol the friendlicst and happicst character.”

A\ fresh sample from a box ol the choicest [Tavanahs having been lit, the clouds of smoke from the weed gave rise to many a merry recollection, both of a personal character and alzo associated with people whom M, Sala bhas met. The day T spent

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.