The Rhode Island American, And General Advertiser

FROM THE NATIONAL GAZETTE.
One of the most remarkable instances with which we are acquainted, of the illusion produced by theatrical exhibitions, occurred in a small town in Maryland, several years ago.
In the evening of a day on which a militia muster had been held at the town, Othello was performed in a barn by a strolling company of players. A piece of canvass was let down before the door, and a sentinel, one of the train-bands, stationed at it with a loaded musket, in order to prevent a gratuitous gaze from the outside, and the irruption of unruly persons. The man contrived to put his head in from time to time and to catch thus the intrigue of the play. He was observed to be occasionally much agitated during the third and fourth acts, but the cause was not suspected. Suddenly, just as the Moor is about to stifle Desdemona, he turned impetuously in, levelled his piece at the actor and shot him dead, exclaiming with fury "no d-n-d negro shall ever murder a white woman in my presence, if I can help it." We have this anecdote from an eye-witness, a gentleman of unquestionable veracity, who attests that the poor sentinel was not intoxicated, and had the reputation of good nature and good conduct.