The morning call., 1893-03-13

Peter 1fOOe1fNOfl'S Great surprise at ftnd-
ing His Opera Tucked Alcay in Book
Printed Forty Years ago.
quaint. Il would not have looked badly in
cid English type with the fall use of the
sans serif ''f'' for the IS" 1t was "ery quaint
and very jolly and it was an Original Comic
Opera.
But it rained and the sun shone and the
earth turned over twenty times and there
came man who said strange things about
the Original Comic Opera. One of these
strange things was that it was not original,
OF course he lied.
Does it not stand to reason that when a
man says an Original Comic Opera is not
original he lies?
OF course he was lara liar convi cted
ont of his own mouth,
What proof did the man bring that
Peters nlot was not Peters plot but some
other fellows?
None in the world. All he said was that
years and years ago he had read a story
called The Dukes Dilemma" and then he
had gone and forgotten all about it. But
when he went to see "His Majesty" at the
IiVnli the other night the whole story came
back 10 him-as if reeled of from an old
phOnOgraph sheet.
"Ah," he said. 81 recall it all now. Il
was that story in Blackwood's Magazine.
14ek sew nat u4u lHtH tdtl il G-- i ne
Dukes Omething-oT-other.
The next day he happened to be rummag-
ing about the shelves of bookstore and
ran across the title of the tale in short
Stories 1t was THE Dukes Dilemma"
"Ah," said be, "that is good story. I'll
have TO read it over again."
He read 1t. Then he told the men at the
club about his find. They shook their
heads
Impossible" they said.
Not at all" said the discoYerer.
'But it is"
"Why?"
How can an Original Comic Opera be
anything but original%
True" said the discoverer.
''True-true," said the clubmen.
~ never thought Of that" said the dis
coyeTer.
Then they smiled at him.
But the story got abroad. ItspTead all
over town.
Peter Robertson heard of it. 1t worried
Peter not Rt all.
Where can get a copy of that story ??
he asked, smilingly. Il would really like
to read it."
"Oh, you can find it at most any book.
store" was the reply.
Il would like to see one," said he.
Then be went out, invested % cents In
The Dukes Dilemma" and read the tale
For the First Time in His Life.
"Wen, we'll" be gasped; wonders will
never cease"
What's the matter9" asked the vice.
president of the club.
Just look at this
"Yss?"
Why, here's a story published in 1856
stolen from my opera written in 1898"
Thieves" said the clubman. "Plagiar-
lists. Those were reckless literary fellows.
those Englishmen of forty wears ago
WHAT do you suppose you can do with
ihem?"
Don't know. You see His Msjesty" i:
not Copyrighted in England and this story
was published before the internationa
copyright law went into effect anyway"
Then they will escape"
There's one satisfaction" said Peter, 'ol
at least one hope"
whats that?'
why. the william who wrote the story i:
probably dead by this time.'
Yes, dead and bured.'
That's something"
'Yes, to be sure"
Its really good deal when you come
70 t.ink ol H. rink now he may 0e roast.
Ing this very minute on turnspit"
That's So"
And, then all the clubmen laughed, and
Peter laughed with them
But there were people who did not laupb
They thought OF the blue cover and the
Original Comic Opera" sign on the outside
Oft
And they talked.
Peter heard of their talk and he sat down
and wrote column and half, in which 3
said that the story from Blackwood's Maga.
zine was mot original itsell": that Gilbert
who wrote Pinafore was not original; that
Sardou was not original; that the old Greeks
were not original, but that he himself
Robertson, the librettist, was original, anc
that as for his opera he could not trace the
inspiration oil 1t 10 anything l had ever read
or heard"
And, Of course, in his column and a hall
thls sentence fits in very neatly:
ieTbaps the strongest plea in favor oi
modern originality is that the alleged pla.
glarist has been generally successful"
AND then again he says further down:
There is so much literature behind us. So
many hylng leaves that have drifted into
odd corners and are overlooked till some
gust oil wind uneovers them and we pick
l,1l Iheln up 1et the dramstist, the poet. the
philosopher is as original, perhaps. as his
predecessor. He inveuts his play. dreams
his poem, elucldates his theories. alb initio
only, alas, other people have Invented
dreamed, eiucidated before him. And when
lie thinks, good, easy man, his bonors s1,re
are ripening, somebody hauls out PLAY, a
verse, chapter from the dim, dead pasI
ana hts him over the head with it,"
Strange to say, air. Robertson, in his artj.
Gle, Goes not accuse the BlackwoOd's man of
stealing from him. No, he is magnanimous.
It was only coincidence that THE Dukes
Dilemma" and "His Majesty" should bear
so strong resemblance to each other.
"a very curious coincidence" says Mr
Robertson.
Belasco has had his condolences, SO has
Pinero. and, going further back, there is
Lytton, and still farther back there stands
the champion cOincidentist. who pulled the
teeth out of every play aud stuck them In
his own-Shakespeare
Authors have conceded in The same way.
Where did Frances Hodgson Burnett get
"Bauntleroy"p Where did Twain get "fhe
jumping Frog?
Peter can crush his accusers with these
arguments.
He did not borrow an idea from "The