The evening world., 1889-05-31

the play as much AZ ever. The drama IN OF
course literature, and literature makes, az ithas
made, and will make the world ondurable. But
THE Old Homestead" has come In as so much
refrcshment. Aftor seeing IL, we can go back TO
our plays with renewed zeal. A the sorbot IL to
the dinner, pushing rs gently forward in the d.
rcction OF the royts and the salads and the des-
serts, 70 ycur. ~, HQMostead" has given Ms . new
desire for the dramp, and really spurred us on
to appreciate ven-ye even melodrama.
l remember that l saw . tank play just after
the visit to The Old Homestead And l pos
itively revelled in the tank. which, at another
time. l should have scornfully losthed. l en-
joyed this molodrama Just NS q country boy COM
ing from the dreamy inertia of his own native
hills would i~oyfully sit through-say THE
Mystery Of FeruloiRh Abbey or THE Boy
Tramp and His Maniac Mother" l felt az
though ! were indeed coming from q coun-
try nome where l had spent o delightful,
life giving time-and that country home was
Uncle Joshua Whitcombis.
Managers ought TO combine TO thank you, dear
uncle. Though yon have packed your own
theatre, l am convinced that You have also
helped to fill theirs. Contrast IN really the spice
Of life. Much that by itself would be intolerablo
is exquisite by comparison. A perpetual smile
becomes a hideous grimacc. You artistically
realized the force Of contrast when You sand
wiched q city scene between the layers of THE
Old Homestead's" pastoralness. The first act,
deliriously quaint, made me long for more. But
10! and behold, the second act was in the ordi-
nary everyday luxurious city. just az this was
beginning TO grow wearisome back you took II
to the country. and there you ended. sending us
HON with q bucolic flavor in our mouth or to
some dairy whore we could fondly imagine that
the milk tasted cow-y and that the butter was
no relation to cleo.
r,.tat,1,. th1a, ,,l,o la,n .lo,la.aI 80.
no actor, and made tho statement in a deroga-
tory manner. can never accuse you Of having
posed for one, dear Mr.. Thompson. Never once
during your long %soiourn among us have I bo-
held your form mingled with the frequenters Of
the Rialto; never once have / heard you declare
that you were !" simply great" or had made
1.-THE hit of your life" Never have you aped
little eccentricities or tried to force yourself Tile
ultimately. Your conduct, dear Uncle Joshua,
has been dignifed and unusual. You have never
even given MS q souvenir to throw into our waste
paper basket, or made q speech to thank us for
having accepted from you our moneys worth.
You have not even informed us that you were
Uncle Joshua Whitcomb for positively the two
hundredth time, or announced that the tenth
month Of this unrivalled imperSonation had Just
begun. Even our tickets, Uncle Joshua, you
did not seem to care much about. You know
very well that we love to believe that we are
obliged to buy them six months in advance.
And those eager crowds surrounding the
box-ofice," what has become OF them2
Alas! Uncle Denman surely you need a
manager, a nice. good consistent liar. You
have kept us in ignorance Of 30 much Of the
usual and expected. 1t must seem strange to
many that this has not hurt you, but 1t hasn't.
And now, dear Uncle, your Hdmiring nephew
wishes you q plenteous holiday. Educated
horses succeed you at the Academy. but they
cannot take your place, any more than the
trained monkeys that followed Irving ct the
Star could take his, The Old Homestead - can
plant itself securely once more in our busy me-
tropolitan Fourteenth thoroughfare while
Uncle Joshua. Aunt Matilda, Cy Prime, Seth
Perkins and Rickety Ann can all come and break
bread with us again. You, in your pleasant
Swanzey home, can think of ms being slowly
broiled on red-hot pavements, and rapidly re-
duced in the big city frying pan, and such
thoughts, by force Of contrast, may make your
country home all the pleasanter.
Tra-la. Uncle Denman. Think sometimes Of
your city nieces and nephews while you are
rusticating among your geese. I said Tra-la.
did l not Well. I meant du repofr.
ALAN DALE.