The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-06-17

II
they present the old piece and wind up
Lneir engagement.
Fred. Marsden, the dead dramatist.
used to say that he would rather at
tempt to write tragedy than a news
paper article. But once at the request
of The Mirrer, he wrote some epigrams
for publication. Here they are:
A good fellow-One who hesitates be-
fo,e some obstacle in life, helps another
chap over and gets kicked tor his pains.
Antiquarian-A human crab. facing
the past and walking backward to the
future.
An old woman who paints-Age hold
ing up q flag of truce to time
Jealousy is SO much part of woman's
nature thai there can har dly be a doubl
that Eve inspected Adam in order to
assure herself that he had given no
more ribs TO any other woman.
Dreams-Indigeslio
Love-Dreams without the indi-
gestion.
Marriage-Indigestio without the
dreams.
Lies but span within Fate's keeping;
Weseize brief joys while Care lies sleeping
| It's but q dream where fears and hopes
| abound;
Death SOUNDS the waking, and the truth is
| found.
x*x
It may interest the young yeopIe who
have raised so great iurore Of late
with the Bohemian Girl. to know that
they have committed very grave mu-
steal solecism up ameng those who are
truly classically and ne plus ultraly
educated, it is not counted good form
to rave GOV Bsl e, and even the Ency-
clopedia Brittapica says he never
seems to have studied Systematically
the fundamental principles of his arr,
and this want of rudimentary training
has left the stamp of imperfection on
all his orks." This refers, we supp ose
to you'll Remember Me-" and "rhe
Heart BoW'd Down. The trouble with
Bale seems to have been that be was a
brilliant, erratic genius, something like
| Byron, disdaining to be bound by
| TRADITIONS that had been worshiped
for years. Then he was an freshman,
which may have had more 70 do with it.
In 1885, while singing in Venice, he
undertook to Improve" some OF the
compositions of Rossini, Donlzetti and
| Meyerbeer, but his changes were so
| little appreciated that be retired before
the public Indignation and came back to
| England, He produced the Bohemian
| Girl, his chef d'OeuVre in 1874, since
which lime, despite the lack OF "stand
ing' of its author it has probably been
| rendered and enjoyed more than any
O. her work of equal age ever pi cduced
| Mr.. Charley, an eminent critic wrote
TO speak of Balfe as an artist is eitser
to misuse the word or to permit its
meaning to depend on temporary sue
cess, no matter how acquired" a yer
dict which the BrittGnicd says is stern,
but not unjust. However, we suppose
the composer does not turn in his cotfin
at such estimates as these. and for US
who are left to listen to his melodies
the reflection is apt to arise that the
man who could write the Bohemian
Girl, had no need to fight for the name
OF artist. Byron's fame does not suffer
beea use he is denied place in West
minister.
Bale died in 1870, at the age of 50
years.
Milton Mobiles has addressed the fol-
lowing interesting letter to the Mirror:
In the New York Tribune of Sunday
last appears an interview. or more
properly a little chat with Lawrence
Barrett, relating principally to the re
cent BoOth-Barrett tour. The great |
financial success of that tour is matter
Of history, but Mr. Barrett makes one
statement which deserves attention as |
a matter of general interest to man
ayers. local and travelling l refer to |
Mr.. Barrett's remarks that local man
agers who received only 10 per cent. of |
the receipts on their engagements.
made m Oh more money owing to their
enormous receipts, than on an ordinary
attraction from which they received 40
per cent.
This would appear to the ordinary
obse rver to be simrle statement of a
self-evident fact, and from the Booth
Barrett pc Mt of view it is probably en-
tirely satisfactory Mr.. Barrett is.
however. most toe shrewd manager
not to have inwardly smiled at the
d msy sophistry of this remark while
making it,
Let rs look at this subject from the
standpoint of the local manager and the
dt large. Ibis Is an era OF
trusts" and combines" and the
Booth-Barrett tour was q mamuotb
trust" and the local managers and
more humble attractions have been the
victims. 1t is simply matter of bust.
ness, OF course. ANY of US would prob
ably do the same thing if we had the
pulP'-but We haven't. AS a matter
of fact, the Booth-Barrett tour swoored |.
down upon the profession at large after
the manner of cyclone or a stroke of
paralysis. Throughout the country
par icuarly. the one and two nigh,
stands-they simply killed the business
for six or eight weeks in the midst of
the season.
The coming of this great combine"
was known months in advance. 1t vas
an event that no theatre-goer could
think OF mis- ing. The theatre. as I
have had occasion to say in your
columns, i supported by the indu trial |
classes. The clerk, book keeper. artist
artisan, and small tradesman. with in I
comes arging from 5000 to 50 600 or t
- 600 a year, are the main support of I
me drama. They allow themselves a :
'ertaln amount of money during the
leason for amusements To see the
8oQth Barrett combine" cost them
Gst five times what it would cost to see