Often I avoided hall hire, sang in the open air, and took up a collection; and on a certain occasion I added the sale of eye-water, at ten cents a bottle, to my entertainment without any noticeable increase of receipts." Mr. Russell first came East with the Berger Family, and his impersonations of eccentric characters and imitations of John B. Grough attracted considerable attention. During 1867 he was connected with the stock company of William E. Sinn's Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, of which James E. Murdock was the leading actor. The next three years were spent as a monologue entertainer in variety theatres in New England and elsewhere. Mr. Russell's first appearance in New York was in 1871, at Lina Edwin's Theatre. He was then engaged for the Olympic Theatre, New York, of which James Duff, the father-in-law of Augustin Daly, was then manager. The stock company, which regularly played at the Olympic Theatre, was an unusually large one, and included a ballet corps and a numerous chorus. Two or three different plays were given every night; and sometimes, during the same evening, Mr. Russell was called upon to appear as a ballet girl in one piece and to impersonate one of the bearded ruffians in the next. The late James Lewis, formerly of Daly's Theatre, was also a member of the company.