Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-11-05
THE DRAMA.
- One Hundred Wives ut the Ouera Hou

o"e nonoreu wives ut the Opera House.
A fair audience greeted the production
by the Gosche-Hopper company, at Fulton
opera house last night, of the new play
"One Hundred Wives,'' the professed
point and purpose of which is to develop
the methods by which Mormonism is
nlaintained-the decoying OF women from
foreign lands to Salt Lake City,
and there debasins them to the
infamous purposes of that religion.
The heroine of the piece, whose
wretched situation furnishes the ground
work of the plot, is one among large
party of deluded people brought over to
tins country at the instance and under the
direction of the Mormon emissaries. She
hat been induced to leave her home under
false pretenses by the suppression of the
truth and the suggestion of what is false,
and once in Salt Lake City, it is Il physical
lmposslbility for her to return. The dra-
matte Incidents of the work arc provided
i'll the search of the husband who believes
his wife to have wiifuily deserted him and
to Lave carried off their child, but who
the events Of the piece serve to prove is 4,
good pure woman who fell into trap. The
Danites or Destroying Angels play con
spicucus part i'll their efforts to accomplish
the death of the husband who has come
all the way from England to reclaim his
child, and whom the wicked Mormon elder
desires put out of the way in order that he
may marry the deceived and distressed
wife. 1t is cheerful to cont emplatc the
successive escapes of the wronged Eng
llshman from the devilish traps laid for
him by the willy Be-um, which is the Nor
mon elders name, and who is certainly
bad citizen viewed from the standpoint of
non sympathy with Latter Day preccpts.
Everything terminates in u beautiful
manner. husband and wife and child being
reunited. and the curtain droppin, ON
scene in which the bad Be-un
ana his accomplices are represented quail
ing before the rifles of Il squad of United
States soldiers, who have arrived just in
the nick Of time to prevent the consumma-
tion of his evil designs. The comedy
business OF the play is provided in the
scenes between Contucius McGhley, Il
strapplng six-fOOtcr and doubtful convert,
and his wife Sophronia, who is an enthusi-
astlc believer in the faith, and whose chief
ambition is to secure her husbands hap
pIness ant her own glory in the future
world, by making the number of the wives
sealed unto him as large as possible. lie,
however, objects to thus increasing his
happiness, finding one wife more than he
can manage comfortably, and the fun
grows out of the disputes between the
-M Ginleys on this delicate subject. MIR.
DcWOlf Hopper, in the part of .MtGinley,
gives u capital representation of the biz
good natured husband, who doesn't care
TO conceal his aversion to the religion
which lie has nominally embraced lust
to satisfy his wife, whom he per
mits to brow beat him and torment
HIM almost to death, but who is
withal warm hearted little woman, whose
impulses have run away with her ju,l--
ment and caused her to become securely
bound to the false faith. The latter part
was very neatly done by Miss Helen Gard
ner, u VlvaclOus young woman with Just
the snap and dash about her to make the
character what it was designed to be by
the author of the piece. The other mem
bers OF the cast were satisfactory in their
respective roles, the part of the schemin"
Mormon Bezum being well done by Mr..
Alex. Fitzgerald, and Mr.. Frank Bu iwOrth
Us Hung III furnishing Il Chincc of the
re sulatlon pattern and consequently quite
amusing. Deserving of especial praise was
the performance of Viva Ogden, q little
Siri OF eight or nine years, whose acting
was marked by perfect naturalness and
intelligence seldom witnessed in children
Of her tender age. She became iavoritc
With the audience at the outset and her
ways and unstudicd manner con- /
firmcd the favorable impression with
"hich her 1lrst appearance was received.
On the whole the performance may fair
ly DC said to have been satisfactory and
the play is "gOod of its kind" The frc-
4ucnt and proiusc display of "shooting
iron" and other dangerous weapons that
marks the unfolding of events serves to
give highly sensational cast of the gen.
eral character of the composition, though
there is no blood spilled, and perhaps it
would be impossible to give faithful
portrayal of life in this region without
hesc fierce looking Accomplishments. There |
is probably more truth than fiction in the |
'tory,a as philippe against disgrace
hat is permitted to flourish upon tic ter
rltory of the United States government !
md i'll defiance of federal statutes cxprcss-
y forbdding it, the piece is certain to claim
he pnblic notice aud Inayhap tend to the
adoption Of effective measures to eradicate
practices that are in open violation of the
Avs OF the land and OF public morality.