New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-12
THE THEATRES.
GOSSIP OF THE WEEK.

"PIay pirates have been unusually active ara I'M
nuaent lately.n remarked A. NJ Palmer, and havo
lust had to send my business manager, Mr. ss'on out
TO Keokuk Iowa, to attend to case thcrc IN tho
United States Court / brought suit against Edwin
and Leila Stuart for playing stolen version OF Jim
the Penman,' and obtained a perpetual injunction
But that Is all the remedy have. 1t Is NO misue-
meanor to steal play and my only other recourse IS
a suit for damages. In ninety nine cases out OF
hundred thsso parties Lavo no money or properly
and II they have is in such shape that IL Is impo'
,ible to got at 1t. There IS a firm In Chcaso 'na'
steals all plays that they think Will be IN denano'
They employ shorthand writers to take thom oo"n'
and It almost impossible to detect them ID 'ho act
Tho old Madison Square repertory having boon so eA-
enslyeIy advertised and requiring only short casts
has been especially favored by the pirates Hazel
Kirke, Young Mrs. Winthrop Tho Private Secre-
tary and Esmcralda have received their particular
attention. They play of course, In only tho sman
towns whore It difficult and expensive TO Keep track
Of them No responsible resident manager will play
these companies, because he knows he VIII DO nable
to a suit equally with tho manager OF tho company.
II will DO one OF the first objects OF the Managers
Protective Association to endeavor to secure the
passage in Congress OF bill making piay-stealng
misdemeanor Nothing else will efectualy stop IT.
I have been fighting tho pirates ever since have
been a manager Our attempt to protect tho Two
Orphans cost over 5,000.'
The Casino management have also been serious
sufferers through the depredatons OF the play pirates
Edward Aropson, the business manager was iouhu III
a very jubant state ono evening last wooh- "o
have Just gained great victory" he Observed over
ono of the pratc,l crew. There are at present four
or five companies playing Erminle.' We have Deen
waiting for some Of them to get near New-forh Last
week VIC caught tho Baker and Moulton Company In
Jersey, and after q hard fight obtained perpetual
Injunction They wore playing tho opera under tho
title Of Robert Macalre,' and claimed they woro
only using tho published music and not our libreto
We brought witnesses to prove that their version was
Identical and that they had copied every bit OF our
stage business. They and some OF their employees did
very tall swearing but It d,d not avail ms Us
Baker IS said be financially responsible ,oo.,
"wo are making groat preparations Tor our loo,h
ment envelope fastened with satin ribbons. inside
will be a puifed. ornamental and pcrfnmed satln paa,
having on one side Watteau-lke picture OF INC
iGavotte OF the second act danced by Children ana
on the other the cast
Sydney Rosenfelds comedy "A Possible Case,' VIII
be produced at the Union Square Theatre on March
90 This young writer has many adaptations and
TRANSACTIONS produced, but "A Possible Case' Will be
his Introduction to the public original playwright
Manager Hill said to o reporter: 1T did not take ne
long to decide about doing this comedy Resented
read 1t to me afternoon, and before he ien tho
office | had bought the right l shall give as good
cast as is obtalnable, and the mounting Will be as
handsome If not handsomer, than any ever seon on
this stage The first act takes place In an exterior
in Mexico showing the piazza OF hotel at summer
resort with a view of into the oauntry As the hotel
Is supposed 10 stand on plateau, the distance com
manded is very extensive, and by a new construction
of scenery, think tho desired effect VIII be g@noo'
There will be dome used to cover the scene ana HsSh
the nlesp and this will aid in giving distance SIM
liar to that obtained in the cycloramas Inc second
act passes In the drawing room of New-York man.
sion and this shall endeavor to make an extremely
rich scene There Is also great chance for dressing
for the ladies' as although there only three acts,
most of theGi required to wear six dresses Tho
heroine appears In three different costumes In tho
second act and they arc all called for by the Incidents
and not merely put for the sake OF eXhlutlOh All
kinds of incidents and feelings go to mako up the
piece which is certainly original In style There are
bits Of comedy, of pathos, and of almost tragedy.
AT the beginning Of the story Violet Mendoza,
a Young widow, American by birth, has that morning
been married to a wealthy New-Yorker, LAWRENCE
Gould, Her first husband, who had disappeared some
vears before and was believed to have been killed by
priganus, Msviran. A midde-aged American
named Brinkerhof' the chief comedy character has
fallen in love with Violet and not knowing of her
marriage to Could which has been kept very quiet,
proposes While lie Is doing so Gould comes on,
and after a little scene OF explanation Brnkerbon
makes a comic exit Violet goes to put on her
travelling dress, and could is seized and carried
of by two detectives who arc looking for Mendoza
They have had Gould pointed out as Violets nus
band and not knowing OF the second marriage believe
he ia the man they want. When Violet returns
she becomes uneas, at her husbands Absence and Is
about to cause search TO be made for him, wn7n DICK
Hurtle,' ght-comcdy man, arrives and says nc sd"
two ru1lans CARRYING OF a body covered with cloth.
As they passed him the covering had been displaced,
and he had recognized the features of Could who
appeared TO be dead When no had recovered from
his surprise he tried to follow thcm but they haa got
into a boat and rOwed out OF sight
"The second act Is two years later in New-fork
Violet believing herself to DO second time widow,
and touched by PrnkcrhOts long devotion, has
that morning married him. But former wife OF his,
who had most strangely deserted him moro than five
years before turns up Now deSertion for five years
in the State of NcwYork gives divorce without re-
course TO the courts The old wife, Ethel sorrero,'
is the name She goes by, deeply attached to
BrnkerboG' but whom she left him She was only
eighteen and under tho entire control OF her mother
who had carried hci of to Spain because uncle
there had promised TO leave her fortune Of as 100000
If she would como to reside with him. She processes
her continued affection for her husband tells him that
her uncle Is dead and that she has returned with this
colossal fortune Just sho makes her ayowal ana
throws herself into her husbands arms Violet re-
turns and cries, Who IS this womanl' My wifeP
replies BrinkerhOH. Then, of course, there Is
great scene A lawyer in whom Brinkerhof relies
for advice all Subjects states the facts OF the
and Ethel' temporarily retires. Before long
Violets two previous husbands appear on the scene.
Mendoza Is an adventurer travelling under tho alias
of dc Vidas and sw ndling all he meets Could
tells how he kidnapped aud carried OF 10 PRISON
in spain, from which he hid, after much difficulty,
managed to escape Now here Is the compl cation
when the curtain falls one man has two wives, aud
one of these wives two other husbands 1t seems
pretty tough knot unravcl, but It is accomplished
In the last act Mendoza Is shown TO have been
guilty of felony In Arizona, and according TO the laws
there that fact In Itself constitutes divorce without
making any legal proceedings necessary Gould
having been alive al the time OF Vioets marriage
that day to Brnkerhon,' renders her union with tho
latter null and void, and She Is left free return
TO Gould and he TO Ethel There are several
other quite important parts, and In all there
teen in the cast Genevieve LyttOn Will play