The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-12-01


tomahawks Asroely; but O'Rsilly gave .
Tippersry war whoop, brandished his shillelah,
and all the tomahawks went down like the As
syrians under Sennscherib. The head sachem,
Misther Peter AsoSweeny, cleared out alto
gether-fairly cut and run. Having thus taken
the last stronghold Of the "inimy," Misthsr
O'Reilly balanced his shillelah neatly in the
middle, in the true Donnybrook style. tucked
his bundle Of newspapers under his arm,
cooked his hat on the side Of his head, and
retired, swearing by all the saints. from St.
Patrick down TO st. Sambo, that O'Roberts
and O'Gorman would carry the day. -
Immoral Drsnas Ca .sna on she Thea-
tracaI stsge. =, II
A domestic drama of most painful interest
was recently performed before the court at
New London, Connecticut and another, Of .
,stiH mere -sevoltiag oharaster. 4 asw. being
developed before jury In tAis' city. The
criminal features Of the Harris divorce case
were sufficiently disgusting; but those Of the
Strong divorce case present Us with an even
more terrible picture Of degraded human
nature. The charge in the case now on trial
here is that Mr.. Strong's wife was guilty Of
adultery with his own brother; and growing
ont Of this accusation ia another charge that
Mrs. Strong connived at the murder of an
unborn infant, because she was really unable
to tell whether it was the child of her husband
or of his brother. As to the facts of this awful
affair we express no opinion at present, since
the trial is not yet concluded; but we call
attention to these divorce cases in order TO
inquire as to the origin of the immortality which
they reveal.
The most of the theatres of this metropolis
have been for a long while gradually degenerat-
ing. Their management has fallen into the
hands of q class of men whose characters will
not bear investigation, and the plays produced
by them have been impure and corrupting. 1t
was our knowledge of these facts and our de-
cided effort to reform the places Of public
amusement that led the theatrical managers to
conspire against us. We selected one Of the
worst of the show-shops-an establishment
which was a notorious and scandal0us nui-
sance-a place where the most depraYod Of
both sexes oongregated- we refused to
permit it to be advertised in our columns. The
conscience-stricken managers Of some Of the
other theatres took the alarm at once, and
openly avowed their design to break down the
HERALD. Their fright, their endeavors to raise
up new issue, their attempt TO forestall pub
lie opinion, led us to examine into their mo
tives, and we find that they attacked this jour
nal because they feared that their vices had
been discovered and were about to be exposed.
was therefore, the cause Of the difficulty which
has created so much comment; but fortunately
for the community the managers have revealed
their own weaknesses, ana now we shall not
rest until The reform which we have inalgura-
ted is fully completed.
A London judge once declared that he could
tell when Jack Sheppard was being played at
the theatres by the number of youthful cul-
prits brought before him. A New York judge
could know when to anticipate seduction and
divorce cases by keeping the run Of the plays
at our theatres. There can be no doubt in any
reasonable mind that the people are democrat
lied by such representations of vice in its worst
and most attractive forms as have lately dis
graced tie metropolitan stage. The object of
some Of the plays seems to be 10 teach men
how 10 seduce women and to make popular
heroines OF those women who allow themselves
to be seduced. Theatres when properly con-
Quoted refine and elevate the public taste and
inculcate lessons of morality and Of patriotism;
but If this be 30, 1t is equally true that when
the theatres are improperly conducted they
have precisely opposite effect. This position
must be conceded, or else the theatres have no
influence whatever. We complain, not Of the
existence OF theatres in our midst, but or
their disgraoeiul management n some Of
those conaected with the theatres practise in
private the evil lessons which they teach in
public; Il the audiences have their moral sense
so weakened that some Of then give azaAeur
the stage; If what are called our "best" theatres
are transformed into designation houses, es-
pecally at matinees, tho press can no longer
be honestly silent, nor should the clergy re-
frain from warning the people. Broadway and
the Bowery are now fairly overrun with i'm
mural sMuscucueoy nuuy no - hutuIui COuSe-
quence. there is more crime in the city this
winter than ever before. The concert saloons
are no worse than the theatres and the theatres
are no better than the concert saloons. The
managers bring over hero their foreign notions
Of morality and try to vitiate the American
public. The whole system needs thorough
reformation, and we shall continue to insist
upon this fact in spite Of al cliques and
combinations, until we see evidences Of new
era in theatricsls.