The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-06-30
lmUsEMEYTs IN SUMNER.
-.,.,mi- what IL Calculated TO Develop
Communism In New York.

M
I,ner coors and shades Of life are gone out Of
| Broadway "
A,sze like n bazaar and roar like n cataract. has
oisnguid and forsaken aspect. Union square
"a deserted by the actors. Sleepy men doze in
he hotel corridors. Amateurs fan themselves
-ooriy for hours in the dramatic agencies.
o,y the man who gets up complimentary ben
,e,s and the woman who volunteers are left to
ssye an air Of importance to the listlcss throng.
Al this moment the amusement pulse beats
,os or is suspended altogether in obedience to
che reathcr. Tho theatres MAY be said to bc
innsbruck. All the people who in the cool
m shs contribute to the gaycty OF the town are
eope They are distributed all along the coast
,pl M the river and on the mountans-hid-
Sen away in cottages and boxes wherever the
treae is strong and salt or the grass Ii green.
On that sunny plaza In Fourteenth street one
will meet nothing but Western managers and
rural tragedians. One celebrity alone towers
over the silence and desertion with summer
,oyercignty. 1t is BARLEY Campbell.
Somehow BARLEY Campbell belongs TO our
arid stretches. He comes with the dog killers aud
| ne ambulances. When the doors OF the theatres
IRE close shut and the local managers are far
away. he may be seen looming up on the dry
horizon with manuscript in either hand.
ready at the slightest provocation TO shed plays
neyery pore.
He grows luxuriantly on the sar de OF our
| vacation. But in that he IL not unlike several
ether Western plants. There are many theatre
nl germs that lie abeyant in the soil waiting for
he conditions OF Modification. Nobody ever
hears Of Lingard or Colville or tho fifty peer.
less beauties when all the roses are in bloom
md the garden OF amusement is rich with life.
Unseen and unsupported. they lie indestructl-
Ne in the soil biding their time.
You have seen the same thing in your garden.
There Is a stretch Of lawn which. for years. has
gown you It's close tapestry of clover. No weed
al squeeze into its compact texture. You have
rsiect confidence In the continuity OF its YER
Due. II never enters your head that under the
t.7cr roots are packed in regular and success
tnlayers all the noxious seeds. and that they
ca wait hundred years for their chance.
SINE day you stick spade into the lawn
b. green druggot is turned down. The clover
aappcars. and the brown soil is leveled and
rlcd.
What thenl Tho next morning the ragweed
k'oming through. II you pull il up. or turn
down and wait, 1t will DO followed by the
| tantain. or Canada thistle. When you have
cut down all your ancestral oaks have you not
been astonished to see a grove OF young larches
and Eastwood springing up2
The obvious lesson of nature is. keep your
n ground well covered.
II there was n Theatre Comique on the Sixth
4 venue there would not be any Buckingham"
4 Vim that neighborhoodl
The soil Of great city Is rich with all the
germs Of a rank vegetation. Something will
| always be sproutng. II you do not want this
ties and noxious entertainments. plant flowers.
The moment the daisy Montagues and the
difodilly Changers are torn up by the roots.
n
Nallack is transplanted and Coghlan is potted.
tpsprings Colville and BARLEY Campbell. No
poner does Modieska wither than Imogene
triycs. The moment Tony Pastor is reaped
he fifty peerless beauties stick their bleached
beads out OF the ground.
This is nature, 1 repeat. and need not tell
you that you will find more nature TO the square
Inch among - tho nifty peerless" than in Tony
PASTORS whole season.
Ihave come to the conclusion that New York
city urgently needs some kind Of summer
amusement which it does not get. Hitherto all
the attempts to provide it with seasonable enter
hnment have been wretched failures
| do not exclude Theodore Thomas's expert
ment from my list. because the mass Of wretch
ed men and women who are known to remain
! here when the few thousands who compose the
ritz proper are fed away from II do not regard
1 formal concerts rs amusement. Admirable as
those entertainments at Gilmores Garden are
10 musical sense they are not attractive in a
popular sense. In other words. they do not fill
| BE hiatus Of our summer
Nor does the attempt to combine the excur-
Ion and the variety show promise much rs at
present. conducted. The popular excursion has
be advantage Of a spice o. danger. butthe pros
pct Of fight or getting scalped in the High
hnds. with all the accomplishments Of breeze
-. III.
vie and seven children. think. on the whole.
rhe must have amusement or die. that he will
pefer to go 10 the peerless nfty." simply be-
ause he can get ashore at any moment.
Doubtless the amusement seeker OF New York
las nj this season every nducement TO become
trabid Communist. | can fancy him. sullen
nd miserable, standing before the closed doors
cone OF our theatres. animated with strong
hpulse to overturn the present order Of
hines. He asks himself. Whore are these pub
he servants who lay their hands on their
breasts and bow with 30 much humility to the
Npuar voice Hal They are driving in their
log carts at Newport, sailing in their yachts.
Ringing in their hammocks. making eXcur-
hons TO Europe. Poor actors. indeed Why
houll be deserted nj this season-left with
ny friends. left between the upper milestone Of
Thomas who says, Now I've got you. you
ignorant wretch. you must have your taste ele-
Taed, and can't help yourself" and the neither
milestone of the dance house. which says Now
you've got to come here, for there isn't any
who're else to go.'
II there is anything calculated 10 develop Com
munism 1t is the prepostorous attempt to ele-
tate public taste rs soon as the thermometer
Peaches the nineties. Public taste should always
be elevated say from November to March. One
thing alone is worse, and that is the attempt TO
tebauch II in hot weather. when everybody
knows that the proper time for dobauchery is
4 about the holidays.
However. let Us not ignore the relative merits
Of Barley Campbell He is not only Il drama
| list. but American, which is another summer
] Characteristic. and he means well. He marks
the season by his presence. When he IL here you
| know the time Of day. so to speak. Before he
comes there is nothing definite,
The regular theatres prolong thcir seasons
OF supplement them with entertainments that
belong neither to summer nor winter. John
Mccullough fingers in the lap Of tragedy. John
Raymond hovers indetcrminato on the out
skirts Of comedy. Benefits break out suddenly