THE BIT THEATRE. 



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ever hear of this girl again. She became a popular actress ; 

 generally, on account of her small stature taking juvenile 

 parts, which she still continues, although over forty years old. 

 Her mother still accompanies her on her tours. Her success 

 has been great, and her fortune is in the hundred thousands. 

 She is called Lotta, and her name of Crabtree is still kept sub- 

 dued. A beautiful fountain bearing her name— her first name, 

 remember — ornaments the city where she made her successful 

 start in life ; a gift from her to the city whence she made her 

 start to fame, if her questionable notoriety can be so called. 



The performance was over, and by this time the lights in 

 the vitiated air were burning blue. Odors at variance with 

 those of " Araby the Blest " filled the air from the floor to the 

 ceiling. The attentions of the waiters on their guests had had 

 their natural eff'ect. The drinking part of the audience was get- 

 ting uproarious. Omens of a continuation of the evening per- 

 formances were making themselves manifest, and, thinking a 

 bed in a hotel preferable to a muss in a place like this, I left 

 the " Gaietie," and, passing through the thronged bar-room, 

 emerged to the silent and gloomy world without. 



Such is a description of an evening's entertainment at a 

 " Bit Theatre," one of the institutions of San Francisco. Con- 

 ducted and patronized by a class less reputable than those 

 belonging to places of amusement of higher pretensions, 1 will 

 say that at this particular theatre there was nothing said or 

 acted on the stage of an off'ensive nature, which is praise, 

 even if of the negative kind. Furnishing amusement to their 

 miscellaneous audiences through their very incompetencies, 

 the actors philosophically bore the indignities heaped upon 

 them, probably finding consolation in the maxim : 



A shilling often for a kick atones ; 



And what's a drubbing so it breaks no bones ? 



