The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-05-17
DRAMATIC AND LYRIC.
John S. Lindsay on Actors
Memorials.
AIMEE IN ENGLISH COMEDY,
The Poe Monument-Materna and
Thon,as-Stephens' Last Concert
The May Blossom CODY"

The unwilling of the Poe monument,
work so largely contributed TO by the
actors and actresses of the country, is
commented on by the thoughtful critic
Geo. Edgar Montgomery in two col
umn article in The Mirror. In the course
OF the article, appears the following
which viii be read with interest by Mr..
LiRdsay's fellow townsmen.
The following letter, by the way, has
been sent to The Mirror office and has
been handed to me. 1t presents an old
argument and one that actors may be
willing to heed:
Editor Gc,0 York Mirror:
The article on the Poe Memorial by George
Edgar Montgomery in the last issue OF The
Mirror has sprung thought into my mind
which would like to express. yield to no
enc IN admiration of the genius that be-
9ueathed to US 1.-The Raven" THE Bells,
'An1abel Lee" etc, and am fully in accord
with the very commendable work the dram
attic profession will have accomplished
when the Poe Memorial is unveiled. Yet
il strikes me as somewhat remarkable that
the profession should be so liberal IN Its ana
to peTpetuate the memory OF one whose
genias, though kindred to that OF the stage,
the stage cannot claim, while 1t IS so neglect
ful OF the genius which shed its lustre DER
the dramatic horizoR. During a recent visit
to the art galleries of New York and Wash
iRgton, j was forcibly struck by the lack OF
anything the painter or sculptor has done to
perpetnate in the memory OF mankind the
genfas of the stage Why not erect memor
isl b JURius Brutus Booth? whose unrivaled
genius was wont to electrify, and hold in
breathless edmiration thousands OF delight
ed auditors. Forrest should live in marble;
Charlotte Cusiman should be kept green in
our n5mories; Davenport, Adams, Hackett
and others are worthy of inches in the
temple OF fame. omy thinking it would be
most fitting and appropriate for the dramatic
profession, as body. TO adopt some mea-
sures fer transmitting to future generations
some little knowledge of these great lights
OF the stage.
The works of Poe and all great authors are
in I en1selyes memorials more enduring
than the glowing canvas or polished marble;
and while their works continue in existence
they will be nicbed in the great, throbbing
heart of an admiring world. Would that
the fame of our great actors were so well
SesEredi Alas! it is not so. Be he never so
great, the idol of his time, the actors fame
is feeting, transitory, eyanescent. HE
struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and
then IS heard no more" his form faded from
Our eyes. his voice from our ears, how soon
he IS forgotteni In another decade how
BrutRs Booth an Edwin Forrest, or a Char
0tle CuEhman? They are but memories
aOW; lei US cherish them aud keep them
green
propose a Dramatic Memorial Fund, to
perpetuate in art and sculpture the genius
If oBT stage.
Respectfully,
JOHN S LINDSAY.
Louisville. KY. April 80, 1885.
Itmight be said. in answer to this let
Ter, that the actor is not forgotten after
his work is done. His work is not
wasted Hpon- one or two generations.
On the contrary, the genius of great
actor who lived century ago seems
larger, nobler to us than it seemed,
probably. 70 his contemporaries. It is
idle TO pretend that the fame of Better
ten, OF Kean, or Garrick, or Siddons, or
any of the other celebrated players, has
Itiiyes in the records of the
stage aud IN the memories of men.
Nevertheless, Mr.. Lindsay's PROPOSE
ten may be commended to the atten-
ten NE actors.
fGBoReE EDGAR MONTGOMERY.