The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-02-09

| picting New York life and showing some
of the types of low life as they then existed
| might have a success. His experience as
reporter served him we'll, and he got to-
gether in very short time materials out
of which he constructed two melodramas
which made him famous and put money
into his purse. He created certain types
which have been accepted as accurate, and
in doing this gave evidence of true dra-
matte ability. He was the predecessor of
Harrigan, although his dramas were full
of blood and thunder while Harrigan's are
pure farces.
In rehearsing these plays for the stage
DAILY discovered what he thought his voca
ton was. He abandoned dramatic litera-
ture to become manager, and a most
curious, secretive, at times unpopular but
on the whole successful manager has he
been.
1t was Daily who discovered the society
drama Bronson Howard, then a timid
and poverty stricken adventurer into the
fields of dramatic literature, offered him a
play in which the men appeared in dress
coats and the women had every opportu-
nifty to exhibit garments as fashionable as
Worth could make them. Fanny Daven,
port, then a young girl, played leading
parts, and most fascinating picture did
she make in her rich costumes upon the
stage. The success of this piece was really
the making of Bronson Howard, although
1t was some years later when his Bankers
Daughter" was produced before he knew
the delight of possessing two or three hun
dred dollars at any one time.
Another play which was eenteel farce,
and which was called the Big Bonanza"
gave the same opportunity for showins
rich dresses, and Mr.. Daily established his
fame as a purveyor of amusements for
what was then the Four Hundred of New
York.
He met with bad luck after awhile. His
theater burned dowSx there was some bit
ter personal feeling aroused between him
self and some of his company and he went
away to Europe, where it was announced
that he would return to dramatic compo
sition. Whether he did or not he alone
knows. He came back to New York some
twelve years ago and took a theater which
had been anything but fashionable. 1t
had been frequented by the lively young
men of the town, for there Lydia Thomp-
son and Pauline Markham and Eliza
Weathersby, when they were in their
glory, disported and burlesqUed. There,
too, church choir "Pinafore' companies
sang, and it seemed audacious for DAILY to
attempt to make this theater the home OF
the most fashionable people in New York
when seeking dramatic amusement. But
he did it, and now he is about to attempt
play of his own upon that stage.
Daily Is probably the best liked and the
worst hated manager in New York. His
discipline is reported to be that of a mar
tinet, and he rules his company with a rod
of iron Men and women who have won
repute as comedians have left his company
bearing away the most bitter malignity
toward him. Yet he has managed to keep
an organization which certainly is regard
ed in New York as the best company for
the representation Of pure comedy which
is in existence, and that seems to be the
opinion also in London, where he plays
every season.
DAILY in his personality is peculiar. He
is something of recluse. Most managers
are models of fashionable attire and are
Respondent in jewels. DAILY goes to the
other extreme, and seems TO be so alb
sorbed in his vocation as 10 care but little
for his personal appearance. He is some
times seen during a performance gliding
down the aisle near the wall, his long hair
tapping his coat collar and seeming not to
have been recently brushed His coat it
self bears evidence that it is worn for ne
cessity and not for display. His head and
shoulders have the stoop which character
lies student, and his face Is always sol
emn and his manner imperturbable
He has made and lost several fortunes
He has known what great poverty Is and
be has enjoyed the luxury of riches His
are with men of literary
culture. and he possesses perhaps the finest
private dramatic library in America 1t is
nearly thirty years since Mr.. DAILY began
his dramatic life, and although it has been
full of vicissitudes. vet TO the casual eye he
seems not a day older than he was when
his drama, The Streets Of New York
was creating great sensation just after
The war 4. J. EDWARDS