SMITH HUBBARD & TICHENOR

GOLDENGATE’S

!!!

for March 31, 2013

RESURRECTION

John Wilkes Booth

EASTER EGG !!!

And.. … ..

WHAT SPECIAL MOTIVATION DID JOHN WILKES BOOTH BRING to HIS PORTRAYAL of

OTHELLO, MOOR of VENICE? But first …!!!

From the desk of …. HAPPY EASTER!!!! & Welcome to our NEW & EXTRA-SPECIAL

RESURRECTION issue!!

In Easter Colors!!! Wowee!!!

And in which a few things find their RESURRECTION Among them – in particular, as you might guess, the unique dramatical method of John Wilkes Booth!! As well as a few other things …. Welcome back, by the way!

I know, I know: It doesn’t seem entirely appropriate to Easter !!! Where in fact is the RESURRECTION in that topic? Well. You know. It’s one of those things that WON’T HAPPEN unless we MAKE IT HAPPEN!!! And .. yes .. Yes I did!!! Indeed .. I had had a more suitable subject set aside for This Week’s Issue – namely the question of …..

Precisely Who was Fortunado in Edgar Allen Poe’s Tale, “The Casque of Amontillado”?

COOL!!!! Yes!! Really!! No Kidding. Something like Elmendorf’s original P.Y.M.™ PUZZLER on the true historical identity of the “fictional” character “Legrand” in Poe’s The Gold

Bug!!! But PLAYERS: it was not to be!! No – not This Week, anyway: for I had some trouble coming up with the graphics for This Week’s S.Y.M.-Zonia™ !!! Let me give it to you straight!! Yes: the “Amontillado” thing was going to be perfect: I had it all planned out as early as Wednesday!!! Perfect, because it would have allowed YOU, Players, to “liberate” the real man behind the Masque of Fortunado from his tomb of anonymymity, so to speak, and to have “resurrected” him – whomever he really was – to eternal and everlasting fame as a self-detstructive lush !!!! That would make [Oops – Ed.] you like a little GOD, and Fortunado like a little Jesus trapped in the tomb !!! And then you open his --- Fortunado’s -- tomb, and resurrect his real identity!! Except Jesus didn’t need any help from GOD [That would be you – in this analogy – Ed.], but could lay down his life and take it up again single-handed !! Self-actuated – to rise from the dead!! Which was quite a trick indeed …[Players: don’t try this at home!! – Ed.] And an inventive way to go about saving the human race, to boot !!! Wowee!!! RESURRECTION!! A catchy concept for sure … What a mind !!!! So I wanted to copy that model …

And [Oops – Ed.], the Fortunado idea was the best I could come up with. Just think of it!!! Who was Fortunado? Wowee!! Who[m] [ Case is optional at the reader’s discretion, if you ask me. I mean, why make a thing over it? We’re not in Cambridge!!! See Strunk & White, 7th Ed. – Ed.] is he? Who[m] [See preceding note – Ed.] could he be?

Well, Players – THAT will have to wait, perhaps till our Next Easter Issue, or perhaps until the “BUNG” Issue, or the “UNCORKED” Issue, or maybe the “SOTTO VOCE” Issue, which refers to the sound of poor Fortunado’s panicked voice, as -- inaudible from the surface -- it goes entirely undetected, unnoticed .. … in the eternal present of FICTION!! As he cries out desperately for help, once he awakens from his drunken torpor!! But PLAYERS!!!! Like I said, I couldn’t find the graphics for that topic, and so adverted to this … back-up Easter topic on John Wilkes Booth as OTHELLO … and his play-acting of the murder of DESDEMONA !! Then to make up for it, and continue the RESURRECTION theme for EASTER, I’m starting this new campaign to ….

RAISE the DESDEMONA …!!! YES!!!

The bark Desdemona that is … OKAY? Now THAT …. is a nice Eastery idea, for sure … See below! But first …. !!!

FURTHER… NOTES on MacARTHUR-BARTLETT RECONNOISSANCE of the WESTERN COAST of the UNITED STATES

SKETCH SHEET NO. 3

or....

“THREE SHEETS to the WIND” !!! [ My idea … -- Ed.]

Players!!! YOU may recall -- Two Weeks ago, in the GROUNDED issue, [March 17, 2013 – Ed.] -- that as I was scrounging around in the old Mailbag, much to my surprise, I dug out an old and overlooked piece of correspondence !!!! from Titular Leader herself, Stephanie Beckon, in which she posed a question concerning the appearance on one of the earliest U.S.C.S. charts of the Pacific Coast (1850-51), of some unexpected nomenclature, tagging onto some of the rivers on the central Oregon coast, as they had been surveyed and marked for those charts by Lt. William P. MacArthur, U.S.C.S., and his able associates, such as

Lt. Washington A. Bartlett -- in particular, she was asking about the identify of the Neckas, or Nekas, river: “Neckas” being a term which is no longer in use !!! PLAYERS: I did my best to investigate this urgent matter, and after some cross-checking and mental contortions realized that an entire section of the coast was … jumbled!!! And a number of rivers had been … MIXED UP !!!! Indeed, the rivers in question ran from about Cape Lookout on the Oregon Coast, down to about the mouth of the Alsea River!! And, to make matters worse, and not only had a number of the names been

jumbled around, but also the latitudes of the same rivers had been incorrectly

determined and erroneously set down in the Table produced by the Survey !!! It was quite a shock, to think of these agencies of the Federal Government being subject to … gross error resembling incompetence!!! Well, PLAYERS …

I threw the question out, putting it “up for grabs” – so to speak, to the general public, but worded the matter in such a way as perhaps to catch the attention of S.Y.M.-Zonia’s ™ own Native American Anthropological specialist UNK-KNOWN ….

And … IT WORKED !!!! What do you think, except that I received in This Week’s mail, a certified letter from Unk himself in this week’s mail … which

follows… Q.V.

FROM THE MAILBAG

3-20-2013

Goldengate:

Answering in response to the confusion you displayed in your last … [Viz: the GROUNDED issue, March 17, 2013 – as I said – Ed.]

We have the name for the river … we have it from reports and there are maps at WTF of the Tillamook coastline with all of the Tillamookan names of points and

rivers. I have photos but they did not come out that good. I will send one with this. Tillamookan

name for the river is very simple

Nachicolcho -- [Must have been shortened by the Whites, to “Neckas” [ -- Ed.]

[ PLAYERS: This makes perfect sense: It happens all the time in American history, that immigrant European-American population interpreted – or mis-interpretted -- Native American place names, in the easiest manner possible, and the complexities posed by pronunciation of the Native languages, were over-ridden in the demands of day-to-day business of pioneering and settlement. Hence for instance the well-known name Yamhill [As in Yamhill County, Yamhill River, and the City of Yamhill (Oregon) – Ed.] does not refer to a mound of sweet potatoes !!! but derives from the more complex Native phonetics of the word Che-am-el Che being a pre-fix -- meaning “place of” ______ ? The settlers dropped or elided the “ch” sound, leaving homey “Yamhill.” And what about the “Long Tom”?

Like Champoeg – Che-am- pooeg—which means “place of the sweet wild onion.” This delicious little bulb, almost extinct now, beats wappato hands down!!! At least raw…. It can still be found growing in a few pockets around Oregon – Ed.]

Unk-Nown continues:

INDIAN REMOVALS IN 1856-58

“Yes: at the close of the Indian Wars of 1855-56, most of the Indians were taken by U.S. Pacific Mail Steamer Columbia from the U.S. Army fort at Port Orford, up the coast to the Columbia river, then upriver to the Willamette. Because he had refused to surrender, Chief John and his son Adam were not aboard these steamers, but two years later had to walk the 125 miles to the Siletz Agency [See below – Ed.]

“The steamer Columbia then moored at Oregon City, and the Indians were debarked there at the Willamette falls – a traditional Clackamas Indian fishing grounds at the Falls, which had been preservered to them by Treaty, negotiated personally with Oregon’s first Governor, Joe Lane. Goldengate: this treaty, as you know, was negotiated following the ARSON at Willamette Falls, in August, 1848 – which destroyed the Indian dwellings, their permanent plank lodges, and their food stores for the oncoming winter. I wrote to you about this late last year … [See the INJUNS! Issue – (Nov. 22 , 2012) – Ed.] However, by this time, in 1856, there were already very few Indians fishing at Willamette falls.

“After debarking from the Columbia, the Native Americans were transferred to the steamer Enterprise, for the upper river trip: from Canemah on the upper Willamette [Just above the falls!! – Ed.] to Dayton, on the Yamhill river. Then, at Dayton, they were debarked from the Enterprise and made to walk to the Grand Ronde Reservation [In Yamhill County – Ed.] The Indians were delivered to Grand Ronde Agency and most remained there. [Click on Unk’s hi-res Image to Enlarge! ]

“The nearby Siletz Agency of the Coast Reservation that you mention … [Up the Siletz River -- or, as we just learned, the Nachicolchos River – Ed. ] was not even in existence yet: it did not open for business until 1857. So the steamers could not have stopped there — even if they could have crossed the shallow bar in a steamer carrying 700 passengers. [Players – see the inset photo of the map Unk sent, [Preceding page – Ed.] which shows “6 or 7 feet on the bar” of the Siletz, at low water ..!!!! – Ed.]

“Then Grand Ronde got an executive order to remain a reservation. There were at least two different removals by steamboat of about 700 people each time, [Players -- This receipt Unk sent along, from the WTF archives, shows two such trips from Port Orford, to Dayton, in the summer of 1856: the first in June, carried 710 Indians, the second, in July, carried 729 Indians. Can you say “overbooked”? – Ed.]

“And there was a third removal, by land, which included Rogue Chief John and his son Adam -- the same Chief Adam who had tried to marry the young white woman, Josephine Rollins.” [Players!! See the amazing Napoloen & Josephine story serialized in many issues Last Year: to wit, How Did Josephine County Get it’s Name …including the FLASHPOINT!! Issue (April 22, 2012), the DETOURS II issue (May 13, 2012) and the LOST CITY Issue (August 5, 2012) … to name a few in that series – Ed.]

Unk concludes:

“In this third removal, the tribes were marched up the coast (Siletz Trail of Tears). It is apparently these folks removed by land, that ended up settled for about a year on the coast and they helped build Siletz Agency. There was a fourth removal, by land from the Table Rock reservation and Umpqua Reservation, essentially up the Applegate trail to Grand Ronde (Grand Ronde Trail of Tears). There were also several mini-removals of Kalapuya and Clackamas-Chinook tribes to Grand Ronde as individual tribes. And – at the very beginning, before the steamers were sent – there was what we call the Grande Ronde Trail of Tears … But that’s another story …

[Signed]

Unk-Nown, PhD Native American Anthropologist

Thanks, Unk!!!

That clears up a lot of things.

Players: I have a couple other observations to make:

OBSERVES …

SO, … from a more careful look at the original Sketch Sheets from which the final charts were engraved, it was easy to see, that one of the party in the Survey, had plotted the approximate course of the U.S.S.S. Ewing as it navigated up the coastline from San Francisco to the Columbia; and then -- after spending quite some time taking detailed observations on the northern Oregon coast and in Puget Sound [Areas now within the territorial waters of Washington State – Ed.] Lt. MacArthur, the officers and crew of the Ewing appear to have moved to the main object of their commission: and conducted the extremely meticulous and important survey for the U.S.C.S. Chart of the Mouth of the Columbia.

Then and only then, did the Ewing run down the coastline almost at breakneck speed, for these surveys that resulted in the “Three Sheets to the Wind” series !!! So the Ewing’s course southward appears in red, and each anchorage is indicated, along with the date and approximate time of anchoring. So there was evidently only enough time invested to grab the coordinates of the Ewing itself, as it hung offshore, and it does not appear that any of the party went onshore to enable triangulating of the Ewing’s position, or of the position of the mouths of the rivers !! In other words, it look like they were kind of “eye-balling” it, as they beat it down the coast!!! The charts show three to four anchorages each day, which barely leaves time between sailing, to pull out your handy-dandy Burt’s® Solar Compass and take a measurement!!

Add to this, their evident haste, another circumstance of which Lt. MacArthur was to complain: namely, that, upon leaving San Francisco at the very height of the Gold Rush, he was only barely able to hang onto his crew -- lured as they were by the promises of infinite Golden Riches, up the canyons of the tributaries to the Sacramento River – and you can guess we’re lucky that there was anyone competent left aboard the U.S.S.S. Ewing to correctly take the coordinates of even one of these rivers – the Neckas – which is actually SPOT ON for … the actual SILETZ …. the Neckas …

So WHERE does the name SILETZ come from … And now ….

A SURPRISE EASTER EGG !!!! From your favorite …. UNK!!!!

PLAYERS!!! Speaking of the tribe of the Che-am-el Indians … that is, the Yamhills -- UNK

Few people know, that they Che-am-els themselves had built a large and nearly inaccessible STONE KEEP -- a fortress, high up in labyrinth mountains of the Oregon Coast range, from which they commanded a view of much of the southern valley of the Yamhill, and so guarded the valley of the Yamhill river. AT THIS TIME, players, many, many, hundreds -- or even thousands --of years ago, there was a prehistoric lake, Lake Willamina it is called here: high [Very high, by coast range standards --- Ed.] in these mountains, and profusely abundant in fish!! So abundant, in fact, that -- combined with plentiful game along the shores of this lake – the perimeter of this ancient lake was highly desirable for habitation -- and premium real estate !!! PLAYERS!! You may remember how the Molallas were anxious to start a war, over the chance to have access to waters of Wappato Island !!! [See, the WAPPATO WARS! Issue – Ed.]

A SECRET CITADEL? A LOST CITY!! ??? Yes, There’s one UP THERE! Somewhere. Yes: the lost stone fort of the ancient Yamhills!! Wowee!! Players: S.Y.M.-Zonia™’s own field researcher, Randy Kajtushka and … some others have already tried to locate it … NO SUCH LUCK!!!!

Unk has advised me: “We know where this is …” But so far, PLAYERS! ..... He’s not talking.

Remember: I said, he doesn’t tell all he knows… !!! !! But … well… just be patient!!

And now ….

PLAYERS:

TIME’S UP!!! Put your pencils down …

TIME for the SOLUTION to…

How Could the Wreck and Peril of the General Warren …. Have Been Prevented?

Players – if you read with at least ONE EYE OPEN through the story of “The Wreck and Peril of the General Warren” as I ran it Last Week, you perhaps could not have helped but notice the KEY DETAIL that I tried to alert you to, even point you straight AT, in my afterword to the story itself!! Did you observe it? Did you find it? DID YOU GET IT?

Of course, the answer was , that the Captain -- A.C. Gilman -- who had been designated to sail the General Warren from Astoria to San Francisco and who arrived at the Astoria (Oregon) docks on the day of the voyage, reporting for duty…. but … HE DID NOT SAIL!!!!!! Gilman was, as was reported in the opening of the story, a crackerjack machinist, and as such was highly trained and quick-witted … But …. Players: That does not mean he was a wise-cracker ! - He was observant with a keen and practiced eye, for all of the mechanical particulars that might contribute to making an ocean-going sailing voyage a successful one, or a watery disaster. Think perhaps of a seafaring Chesley “Solly” Sollenberger, who safely ditched that Airbus A320-214 in the Hudson River a couple years back !!!!

IN this case, as Portland newspaperman Fred Lockley gives the story, A.C. Gilman reported at dockside, and ran an inspection on the General Warren, presumably checking not only its sails and rigging but in this case, especially its draft – the level or depth at which it was riding in the water – and could see that it was seriously overloaded. Inspection of the cargo hold, showed Gilman that the wheat in the hold was fungible – not bagged, but loose – and that it would thus tend to act like a liquid and shift in the hold as the vessel pitched, and rolled, and yawed … [ THREE PHYSICAL MOVEMENTS!!! – Do you know them all ? – Ed.]

This slippage, or pouring, of the wheat would of course, accentuate – or aggravate -- any of these ship movements as it crossed the Columbia River bar, tending to create greater than ordinary structural stresses against the waves – and risk exposing the ship to water coming in. And THAT -- with a cargo of wheat – could be deadly!!! And so it was …

A.C. Gilman declined to take the General Warren out on that trip. He refused. Captain Thompson was instead recruited to the task, and he paid with his life – and the lives of 41 others: consigned to Davey Jones’ Locker.

Capt. A. C. Gilman was – so it would seem -- later recognized, professionally, for his foresight in standing down from service aboard the General Warren, in that he can later be observed serving … as an inspector of ships at Astoria … He not only continued as a sea captain running between Portland and San Francisco, but also worked sometimes as a river pilot. But perhaps more to the point, he became an inspector of vessels both at the Port of Astoria and the Port of Portland – and certified their readiness to sail… See, The Live Yankee, 420 at 421 Deady’s Reports of Federal Cases, (1868). HOWEVER … that being the case …. Well …

PLAYERS! You may RIGHTLY ask: why did not Capt. Gilman alert Capt. Thompson to this clear hazard? And, if the risk was so clear to Capt. Gilman, how or why did the Astoria (Oregon) Collector of Customs, Gen’l John Adair clear the General Warren for San Francisco? Does not Gen’l Adair himself , in his official capacity, bear some responsibility for these unnecessary deaths? Indeed, one would think, that the natural sequence of action, would have Capt. Gilman warning Capt. Thompson off the voyage, and certainly Gilman advising Collector Gen’l Adair of the unfitness of the General Warren to sail – overloaded as she was. Why did Adair clear the General Warren for sail?

PLAYERS -- This wreck of the General Warren – in January, 1852 -- was a tragedy that occurred fairly early in the history of the Astoria Customs House, with Gen’l Adair fairly recently appointed to the post, as the first Collector of Customs there, and arrived in Astoria (Oregon) on March 30, 1849. His own home was the Customs House !! As Collector of Customs, he was … well, undermanned and underfunded by the federal government back in Washington City, and received comparatively little support from the Oregon Territorial government!!! YES: it’s an old story… UNK knows the details.

SO, PLAYERS!! Do not JUMP to CONCLUSIONS or presume to MISJUDGE Collector, General John Adair! For he was not only a battle-hardened veteran of the Mexican-American war, but his father, General John Adair before him, was a controversial figure, and veteran of the Battle of New Orleans, during the War of 1812 – who – after seemingly courageous and loyal service in that Battle -- had been personally maligned in a vicious attack by none other

than Commanding Gen’l Andrew Jackson!! Later, President Jackass. Jackson. [--Ed.]

In addition, General Adair (the younger) was also a veteran of a serious EARLIER INCIDENT at the Port of Astoria – and either of these crises in his life may have scarred him psychically, in such a way as to limit his willingness to intervene in the voyage of the General Warren.... I speak, of course, of …

GEN’L JOHN ADAIR and The INCIDENT on

the EMILY FARNHAM

Which we ran ONE YEAR AGO!!! in the scarce, almost unobtainable, inaccessible nearly CLOSED CIRCUIT Issue! [From April 1, 2012 – Ed.] [APRIL FOOLS!!! That’s exactly ONE YEAR AGO tomorrow!!! --- Ed.] and now…

Yes… You’ve heard about it …

NEXT WEEK …

S.Y.M.-Zonia™ RE-OPENS the

CLOSED CIRCUIT !!

But first ….

YOU ARE NOW ENTERING

WHAT SPECIAL MOTIVATION DID JOHN WILKES BOOTH BRING to HIS PORTRAYAL of OTHELLO, MOOR of VENICE?

PLAYERS!! ALSO!! And too!! As you will recall from Last Week, and from the SHIPWRECK! Issue, that S.Y.M.-Zonia™ was well ahead of the curve on the outbreak of the crisis in CYPRUS, having taken lead with a direct approach into Venetian machinations on the Island, targetting comparatively innocent citizens like DESDEMONA – who, while not the model of feminine virtue, or any other type for that matter – nevertheless hardly deserved DEATH at the hands of OTHELLO, the MOOR of VENICE!!!

All this talk about CYPRUS and OTHELLO & Desdemona has us thinking of the great performances in the leading role of Shakespeare’s Othello, that is, Othello, himself, and the great tragedians who have played this part and so brought honor upon themselves and upon their names !! Of course, Number One among these is perhaps the most famous tragic actor of the 19th C., none other than John Wilkes Booth – member of the renowned family of tragic Booths, including his famous father Junius, and his brother Edwin, and -- last but not least -- himself.

PLAYERS: In the original lithograph [See below – Ed.] behind the hand-tinted image shown here and on This Week’s Cover [Above –

Ed. ] it’s clear that lithographer W.S. Herrick was present for a dress-rehearsal, as Wilkes Booth was engraved without his black-face makeup which he wore in paid performances, to help him more completely represent the figure of Othello, the Moor.

Here, the so-called black –face make-up was hand-tinted onto the image, after printing. PLAYERS!! During the 19th Century, even in the Northern United States, it was almost unheard of for an African-American to appear onstage before a fancy audience of Whites – even in the role of a black character like Othello !!! But, in the 20th century, the overmastering talents of Paul Robeson gained such respect, that he overcame the prejudice [Generally soft-peddled as “the color barrier” -- Ed.] that had foreclosed this opportunity for blacks – and Robeson became identified with Othello. Meanwhile, as I said, to complete the effect for Booth, finished printings of Herrick’s lithograph work have been beautifully hand-tinted, showing Booth in black-face – or maybe dark-brown.

Who was W.S. HERRICK ??

PLAYERS!!! Can you find OTHER lithographs by the talented and accomplished Mr. W. S. Herrick? PLAYERS: Start your Gargles!!! Better get going too… !! Seriously … [I’ll pay cash !!! – Ed.]

OR!!! You might be able to SEE one somewhere with a spiffy new pair of those Gargles !! Yes – the ones you wear on your nose !!! Good luck.

On the COVER, then, the stylus of lithographer W. S. Herrick captures a critical moment in the dramatic action of the play Othello: Moor of Venice, in which in Act I, scene 3, when Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, about to exit the hall, turns to Othello, and retorts:

Brabantio – Look to her, Moor! Have a quick eye to see; She has deceived her father; and may thee!

Which brings Othello’s effective oath --

Othello -- My life upon her faith! -- Honest Iago, My Desdemona must I leave to thee. I prithee, let thy wife attend on her, And bring them after in the best advantage. Come, Desdemona, I have but an hour Of love, of worldly matter and direction, To spend with thee. We must obey the time.

PLAYERS!!

Herrick’s original untinted lithograph also give us the chance to appreciate his uncanny aptitude for portraiture in lithography: an art-form which hybridizes strict portraiture, with some selective physiognomical exaggerations usually seen only in “grotesques” like cartoons or caricature.

Here, it is clear the Herrick was showing no other actor than the great John Wilkes Booth!!

Let’s take a closer look!!! Turn the page …

John Wilkes Booth in Performance as Othello, contemplating John Wilkes Booth (in Performance as Othello).

PLAYERS!!!

Here we can see the uncanny work of W.S. Herrick, who, with just a few carefully executed lines captures so much of the pysiognomy of J.W. Booth!!! From the angle of the ear, to the wide sweep of the jaw, and the slightly aquiline nose; the strong forehead, the slant of the eyebrows, and the … vacant, cold-fish stare. It’s all there!! Only, as I said, very slightly exaggerated for a rendering in lithography.

PLAYERS: This Week, --and This Week only -- we’re RESURRECTING the work of this great lithographer!! Find the rest of Herrick’s amazing aurevoirvooverouevrere-re-re online at Gargle !!

OR – make your own lithographed portraits at home !!! Just stop by your local craft store!!!

OKAY … Players:

So, John Wilkes Booth had particular, though not unique, approach to dramatic performances. Let me recommend Staples’ book “Lust for Fame” for a thorough going-over of Booth’s acting career.

There is a well-known and revealing incident in the acting career of Wilkes Booth, and it took place during the performance of Othello. Of course, in the tragic climactic scene, the character of Othello launches himself on the figure of Desdemona, supine on the bed, and grabbing a pillow, suffocates and kills her. This scene was usually set, with the bed “upstage” near the back of the stage and away from the audience; and in its performance, Othello would “cross” in front of the bed on which Desdemona lay, and -- turning his back to the audience and thus obscuring the bed, Desdemona, and his actions from view – he would smother her with a pillow. Usually the grisly deed was inferred by the audience, from the very stillness of the actors … Asphyxiation … The audience always held their breath…

HOWEVER, Players!!! Wilkes Booth had a more “sturm und drang” or “shock and awe” approach to drama than many of his contemporaries, and when he performed this scene – at least, at the peak of his career -- he saw to it that Desdemona’s bed was positioned “downstage” near the edge of the stage, at the proscenium, and then he would “cross” behind the bed, and taking the pillow, he might launch himself on the actress playing Desdemona, in such a way as to startle her, in order to encourage the “authenticity” of her struggles!!! “John Wilkes booth was known for his erratic behavior, and it is said that his Othello would once have actually smothered the actress playing Desdemona, had not he been thwarted by concerned actors rushing in from the wings…” Swindall, “The Politics of Paul Robeson’s Othello” p. 17. [Gargle Book] In another instance – or perhaps the same incident with different details -- it is said that Wilkes substituted a scarf for the pillow, and actually pushed the scarf into the mouth of his co-star to achieve the desired “suffocation” effect. Here, or here again, “Desdemona” was rescued by other members of the cast…

Asphyxiation … It was almost a 19th century version of “snuff’ Shakespeare … PLAYERS …

WHAT SPECIAL MOTIVATION DID JOHN WILKES BOOTH BRING to HIS PORTRAYAL of OTHELLO, MOOR of VENICE?

PLAYERS!!!

WELL – that about wraps it up for another week in S.Y.M.-Zonia™ !!! HAPPY EASTER!!!

We haven’t solved all the problems on the Island of Cyprus – but we have learned at least ONE thing: namely, that sometimes an accomplished actor is only PRETENDING to be acting …

THE PLAY’S THE THING!!!!

PLAYERS ~ !!! The dramatic text, and its performance – the PLAY!!! – is the thing …

And, for great talents it’s often referred to … as the vehicle …as to their stardom !!! And thus, for the talents of a great actor like John Wilkes Booth, Shakespeare’s Othello, Moor of Venice is, or may become, his …

STARVehicle !!!!

But, PLAYERS – to really take control of a vehicle, a great actor like Booth has to… seize the reins, or grab the wheel through finding for his character a powerful …. MOTIVATION…. Right ? Generally, such a motivation is one the actor will intuit, or infer, or somehow find in his mind, for his character, as in, for Othello, as if it were somehow hidden in the text of the drama – in his script –and often readily discernable there…. but only if he just “reads between the lines.” !!!

BUT!! in the case of a STAR actor, like Wilkes Booth, maybe the character, and the character’s motivations, and the play -- the PLAY’s the thing!! -- and even the Bard himself -- are merely star vehicles for the actor’s own MOTIVATION … His MOTIVATION for …. Himself!!! Wowee!!!

Booth was said to be an actor like that. Sort of like the Angelina Jolie of the 19th century!!! Notice, for instance, his fine, floor-length dressing gown in the engraving by Herrick.

YES – Players!! Sometimes the read-through -- the “going through the script” line-by-line, scene-by-scene, act-by-act, until the climactic moment ; and the staging – such as arranging the set furniture and props; and the blocking -- the positioning of the actors, and the designation of their movement across the stage; and the rehearsals of the actors and then even the PERFORMANCE ITSELF, is only

a façade….

The play, only a pretense of a play: like a Potemkin village at the brink of Niagara Falls. Behind which lieth, not merely an intent to … to stage a play – but to stage a play as John Wilkes Booth would do it… as a Masque for Murder!!!

BEWARE then, the next time you see a play staged – a play set in CYPRUS … a play, for instance, like Shakespeare’s dramatic tragoedy [Sic – Ed.] Othello, the Moor of Venice …. And you think… you’ve seen THAT play before … they stage that all the time. That’s the one where the main character, Othello the Moor, throttles Desdemona in the end, on the bed, with a pillow … They stage it all the time. BUT …

THIS TIME the play, and everything about it is, is also a MASQUE for Murder. And the spirit of a great ACTOR has taken over the play to make it his vehicle and animate it throughout with his own MOTIVATION: meaning that THIS TIME throughout it all there is an actual intent to “flip live” with the climactic scene, and commit murder: for

real !!!! WOWEE!!! Now wouldn’t that be something ….. Shall we run through it … ….. one more time? EXEUNT

PLAYERS…..

This really does bring us to the end of This Week’s special RESURRECTION S.Y.M.-Zonia™ in which we have tried to raise –as if from the tomb!!! – a handful of things, like the buried reputation of this excellent lithographer W.S. Herrick, for instance; and the LOST STONE FORTRESS of the YAMHILL INDIANS, and maybe even the fame of Capt. A.C. Gilman who perhaps would have saved the lives of the passengers and crew of the General Warren had only he intervened with a little more force, at the Astoria (Oregon) Customs House … that is, if Gen’l Adair had actually had any forces stationed there, to prevent the General Warren from leaving port … [More on this Next Week – Ed.]

But then, on the other hand, there was the S.Y.M.-Zonia™ I was originally going to run for EASTER!!

Precisely Who was Fortunado in Edgar Allen Poe’s Tale, “The Casque of Amontillado”?

YES! Unfortunately, due to complications with locating the graphics files, we were unable to RESURRECT the true identity of Fortunado who thus remains entombed in the back of some catacomb, where Montresor mortared him into a niche, he having succumbed to the effects of his beloved Casque of Amontillado!!! Alas!!! But, in fact, Players, as Mr. Fortunado is merely – in that context -- a fictional character, who, unlike Desdemona, cannot suffer bodily asphyxiation or suffocation, he can probably stay in there a little longer, crying SOTTO VOCE, and be none the worse for wear.

But DESDEMONA must be rescued NOW!!! And by the cast !!!! That’s how the play goes!!! PLAYERS!!! And that’s YOU!!! Yes, All the World’s a Stage, you know, and you are all … PLAYERS!!!! YOU ARE THE CAST !!! Run quickly now to downstage center !!! We must help DESDEMONA to get some AIR!!!! She is being asphyxiated!!!

,

The bark DESDEMONA that is!!! Yes!! under Desdemona Sands in the Columbia river !!!! That one …

PLAYERS: In order to HELP YOU to make this rescue possible, as I mentioned, we at Unit D-37 are ANNOUNCING the launch of our own RESCUE CAMPAIGN & PROGRAM in the public interest -- under the aegis of our non-profit, public benefit corporation, suitably organized under the laws of the State of Oregon and – thanks to the CARELESSNESS and INCOMPETENCE of Our Sponsors at Smith Hubbard & Tichenor, LLP [SH&T, LLP for short – Ed.] at 4th & Garrison Sts., Port Orford (Oregon) who accidentally named the new corporation after this magazine S.Y.M.-Zonia, Inc. -- A PROGRAM TO… yes … … there’s no other way… … WE MUST !!!

And you must help ….

DETAILS ARE …. …. COMING SOON !!!!

Until then …

YOU ARE NOW LEAVING

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