, 1877-11-11
Opening OF a New Organ at the
Cathedral Of the Holy
Name.
News Of the Week at Home
and Abroad.

" IL 4 10 ~ ii Ell =
SOME ANSWERS TO EoUt1CArLT's QUERY.
Dousicat,:t' 5 roauIs!v1u,. t'What is Comedy?
has bccn travelling Iii over the country begin
:or 4 solution, hut Vi, TO date no sltisfae:or
:uswer has hccu received. The Ngw Y0r
Hc,d.d sent L reporter 10 explore the ntcrio
If the brains t,i several eminent literary mv1
un the subject and they a'l gave ii up III despair
Dion himself has ::ot yet tccn put upon tb
stand, rave III o,c instance. by Detroit man
and then lie neatly cvnied tic question by be
: wail:nE his Success. a,ld :lti:la1;n@ that he wa
onc OF the most miserable men uu earth. Now
that WIGS good answer to his owl, question
*sThc sorrows Of BouciGlult'' written By him
self would make i comedy.
Nehayc becn making some inquiries into thi
matter here, not to be bchiild other cnteroris:ns
journals. aud ": fluid wonderful variety o
opinions
Richard Hoolcy SAYS hc could not rernembc,
the Greek definition Of the word, bu: he could
give an idea Of what Wits meant by comedy it
plain English. s'Whcn 4 man puts his hand
into his pocket aud finds dollar bill there that
be did not expect to find. that" said Mr..
Hoo1ey, s:appears to t,e to be i comedy situa-
ton in the best sense Of the word. Again, whel,
you 20 to store wit, that same bill and dis
mclodrama. But you'd better go aud see
Quiulan, perllaps:''
Jack havcrly said: IA comedy is that which
pays expenses, because, you see, comedy must
always involve happy termination. When 1t
ceases to pay expenses, it becomes tragic right
away. When it neither paws nor loscs,-that is,
when it's kind Of staud-oI between 4 Success
and failure,-I call it farce. It's neither fish,
&]a ~
is-it is-''
*his question:
"What is Comedys" said Bart!cy. ssComc
up to my roon, III the fremont House and III!
show YOU" lie opened large trunk and pro-
ccedel to pull out manuscripts. -Herc is
sTate,' PERIL Risks Hearts, Women
sWiyes,-hcrc is the sVirgnians,' here is-''
*.Hold on, BARLEY, this is too much. What
5 Comedy! Come now, iu brieE''
'sYou want a recipe, I imagine. Well, have
One which l have found to work admirably. OF
course take it for granted you have scissors
and pa=tcpot- Very we'll; take dozen or more
heroic sentences, stew for three hours in q mild
mixture OF masculine aud feminine driyel sea-
son with one villain Of confederate tendencies,
and one female who might be immoral but for
lack Of strength Of purpose. Take several sticks
Technically called lctors} to stir the cruel WITH
then serve it up at 81 per plate-50 cents for re-
Served seats.'
Mr. McVicker thought that ''Pink Doninos"
was the finest answer to the question he could
command. He had never known what real Gu
joyMent was till he witnessed that play He had
not missed single representation for two
weeks, aud he was only sorry that, owing to the
blindness Of the public, who refused to see the
lofty moral inculcated by the piece, he could
not keep it Oh all the season. "As to comedy
in the abstract.'' said he, ''1 define it in this
way: One walking lady At $50 week: one SOU
brette at S25; leading man at all uncertain
salary; prompter {no. can save that by TAX
artist,-Howard Rogers is tue best in the coun-
try,-and tilling-up with four or five moderate
priced old men and women. There you have 1t
in nutshcll.;'
I" Mr.. Jake Murray, what is comely?'
There is no such thing Is comedy 1
started out the Other week with an educated
goat and aeomcay. In three days the latter
h:d turned into an uupaid board bill. have
that board bill get, aud it shows no SYMPTOMS
OF returning to its original shape So pre-
sumo the transformation is permanent I went
out last year with comedy. It turned into i
Constable who attached by trunks. When the
Constable dies Ec may return into my comedy
aud conc back.n
Over ir the Dizzy Actors Retreat two come
dians fell into a dispute on the question. Said
one, can play baes fifty times as well as you
You're liar" said the other, land can
prove 1t-''
The first speaker Immediately lifted q pop
bottle and struck his brother comedian over the
head with it.
That was comedy.
4 very amusing comedy was played behind
the scenes BY tho Evaugel1nc party the other
day. Singleton ticklcd Eliza Weathcrsby somc-
where about the wings just as she was waiting
for her cue Eliza didn't seem to mind it, but
Nat Goodwin went for Singleton and kicked
hi:. all round the stage and down stairs There
was some pure comedy in that
Neither WIS that bad illustration OF what
comedy Is when Hess spat in Daly's face the
other day: and DAILY took out his handkerchief
and mcckly wiped it OIL
After a1i' however, the question is still open
to discussion, like the question what IS ,,octry.
Or tnat one over which youthful debating clubs
hase pondcred for centuries whether the horse
Or the COW is the most useful animal, Eatc
Fisher thinks it Is the horse.