146 HISTORY OF PASADENA. 



They were members of our literary club, and the drama did not exhaust 

 their intellectual repertoire by any means."* 



" Yes, and there was our minstrel troupe," remarked the first speaker. 

 "The Pasadena minstrels were known throughout the county. There was 

 Col. Banbury, now the worthy money-bags of the county. He did not dis- 

 dain to play the flute in said orchestra, no more than the proprietor of the 

 Acme, J. H. Baker, stood on his dignity in the matter of twanging the 

 tuneful guitar. Then there was Judge Eaton. One wouldn't think he, 

 too, could blow witching strains from the flute, but in those days he used to 

 do it with the greatest eclat and all that sort of thing possible. C. P. Brown 

 played the viola, and a violinist from Alhambra, whose name I have for- 

 gotten [John Burns], gave us first-rate music on the violin. Whatever 

 reputation Charlie Bell enjoys as a singer and character delineator he mostly 

 gained as ' end man ' in the company of distinguished artists who were 

 wont to delight the entire population of Pasadena in the old school-house. 

 Local gags and songs were generally entrusted to him, and I happen to 

 remember a verse or two of one of the latter that he got off to a rollicking 

 plantation tune in commemoration of a certain hunting episode. It doesn't 

 read very smoothly in cold-blooded print, but as a song with chorus it used 

 to bring down the house. It ran about this way : 



" Have you seen our rifle team ! 

 Have you seen them shooting ! 

 Markham and Watts make very good shots. 

 But Gilchrist he makes nothing." 



CHORUS. 

 " Then Baker went to the mountain side, 

 And when he got there — 

 ' Hush ! hush ! tell no one else. 

 And I will kill that bear.' " 



baker's bear. 

 Many of the colonists had such a keen relish for ftm that they were 

 much given to turning jokes upon one another. One time it was reported 

 that bears were making nightly visits to a bee ranch up near the mountains. 

 Now, to shoot a bear was the crowning ambition of every man who could 

 hit a barn door at fortj^ paces; so here was a chance to go on a night hunt, 

 loaded for bear, and a company of three or four was soon made up, with 

 J. H. Baker as one of them. They found shelter in a little cabin near the 

 bee hives and lay down to rest until Mr. Bear should begin to disturb a 

 hive, or they should hear his sniffs and footsteps. The rest of the boys had 

 got an idea that Baker was braver in talk than he would be in action, 

 and they planned to have a little fun on that line. So after waiting quietly 

 for some time, and all were apparently dropping into a doze, there was a 

 noise outside, as the boys had planned, and Baker raised up, moving and 

 stepping as softly as a cat, and said iu a muffled whi.sper, " H'sh ! h'sh ! /'// 

 ki/l the bear !'''' 



*Other performers in dramatic and minstrel entertainments not named in this list were : F. M. 

 I.ippincott, A. L. Carr, W. L. Keith, Jerome Reehe, Geo. and Fred Mnehler, K. H. Heidenreich, C. Swan, 

 W. O. Swan, Jr., and H. Jones. Miss Velma Brown (now Mrs. W. B. Clapp) was the " Jenny Lind " of 

 those days, and one of her popnlar songs was " What do birdies dream of? " 



