Theater: Death of a Conductor

Twenty years ago, passengers on the Gates Avenue, Brooklyn, carline used to ride past their destinations, beguiled by the vocal harmony which the trolley's crew furnished. August Van Glove was the motorman, Joseph Thuma Schenck the conductor. Later they bolstered their act with a piano which Conductor Schenck played; entertained professionally in the back room of a saloon, then in smalltime vaudeville houses (their first appearance was, perforce, in overalls), then in big-time vaudeville theatres as "Van & SchenckĀ—the pennant-winning battery of songland." Favorite Van & Schenck numbers: "When You're a Long,...

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