第116章

A Chinese play often lasts two months.Commencing at the hero's birth, it is cheerfully conducted from week to week till he is either killed or married.

The night I was there a Chinese comic vocalist sang a Chinese comic song.It took him six weeks to finish it--but as my time was limited, I went away at the expiration of 215verses.There were 11,000 verses to this song--the chorus being "Tural lural dural, ri fol day"--which was repeated twice at the end of each verse--making--as you will at once see--the appalling number of 22,000 "tural lural dural, ri fol days"--and the man still lives.

(Picture of) Virginia City--in the bright new State of Nevada.(Virginia City itself is built on a ledge cut out of the side of Mount Davidson, which rises some 9000 feet above the sea level--the city being about half way up its side.To Artemus Ward the wild character of the scenery, the strange manners of the red-shirted citizens, and the odd developments of the life met with in that uncouth mountain-town were all replete with interest.We stayed there about a week.During the time of our stay he explored every part of the place, met many old friends from the Eastern States, and formed many new acquaintances, with some of whom acquaintance ripened into warm friendship.Among the latter was Mr.Samuel L.Clemens, now well known as "Mark Twain."He was then sub-editing one of the three papers published daily in Virginia--"The Territorial Enterprise." Artemus detected in the writings of Mark Twain the indications of great humorous power, and strongly advised the writer to seek a better field for his talents.Since then he has become a well-known lecturer and author.With Mark Twain, Artemus made a descent into the Gould and Curry Silver Mine at Virginia, the largest mine of the kind, I believe in the world.The account of the descent formed a long and very amusing article in the next morning's "Enterprise." To wander about the town and note its strange developments occupied Artemus incessantly.I was sitting writing letters at the hotel when he came in hurriedly, and requested me to go out with him."Come and see some joking much better than mine," said he.He led me to where one of Wells, Fargo &Co's express wagons was being rapidly filled with silver bricks.Ingots of the precious metal, each almost as large as an ordinary brick, were being thrown from one man to another to load the wagon, just as bricks or cheeses are transferred from hand to hand by carters in England."Good old jokes those, Hingston.Good, solid Babes in the Wood,"observed Artemus.Yet that evening he lectured in "Maguire's Opera House," Virginia City, to an audience composed chiefly of miners, and the receipts were not far short of eight hundred dollars.)A wonderful little city--right in the heart of the famous Washoe silver regions--the mines of which annually produce over twenty-five millions of solid silver.This silver is melted into solid bricks--about the size of ordinary house-bricks--and carted off to San Francisco with mules.

The roads often swarm with these silver wagons.

One hundred and seventy-five miles to the east of this place are the Reese River Silver Mines--which are supposed to be the richest in the world.

(Pointing to Panorama)

The great American Desert in winter time--the desert which is so frightfully gloomy always.No trees--no houses--no people--save the miserable beings who live in wretched huts and have charge of the horses and mules of the Overland Mail Company.

(Picture of) Plains Between Virginia City and Salt Lake, (showing a carcass attended by various scavengers, with a building and mountains in the distance.)This picture is a great work of art.--It is an oil painting --done in petroleum.It is by the Old Masters.It was the last thing they did before dying.They did this and then they expired.

The most celebrated artists of London are so delighted with this picture that they come to the Hall every day to gaze at it.I wish you were nearer to it--so you could see it better.I wish I could take it to your residences and let you see it by daylight.Some of the greatest artists in London come here every morning before daylight with lanterns to look at it.They say they never saw anything like it before--and they hope they never shall again.

When I first showed this picture in New York, the audience were so enthusiastic in their admiration of this picture that they called for the Artist--and when he appeared they threw brickbats at him.(This portion of the panorama was very badly painted.When the idea of having a panorama was first entertained by Artemus, he wished to have one of great artistic merit.Finding considerable difficulty in procuring one, and also discovering that the expense of a real work of art would be beyond his means, he resolved on having a very bad one or one so bad in parts that its very badness would give him scope for jest.In the small towns of the Western States, it passed very well for a first-class picture, but what it was really worth in an artistic point of view its owner was very well aware.)(Next picture.) A bird's-eye view of Great Salt Lake City--the strange city in the Desert about which so much has been heard--the city of the people who call themselves Saints.

I know there is much interest taken in these remarkable people--ladies and gentlemen--and I have thought it better to make the purely descriptive part of my Entertainment entirely serious.--I will not--then--for the next ten minutes--confine myself to my subject.