San Francisco Minstrels

“The crowded houses which nightly greet the troupe of which Messrs. Birch, Bernard, Wambold and Backus are the leading lights—or shades—leave the cosey [sic] hall of entertainment at 585 Broadway the happiest looking gatherings of humanity that one could well wish to meet. The humoristic extravagances of Birch and Backus, the beautiful ballad singing of Wambold, the exquisite playing of Donniker on the violin and Brimmer on the banjo, continue to be fully appreciated; and the meteoric showers, as shown by the company, are so exceedingly ludicrous that even Professor Loomis, despite his intense disappointment at the occurrence of the original shower, would be obliged to unbend, could he be induced to witness them and join in the irresistible storm of laughter and applause with which their recurrence is nightly hailed.”