The evening world., 1893-10-11
THE c~oRNcRACKER r."

II seems almost impossible to believe
that the same man wrote blue jeans
and THE CorncraCScr. yet joseph Ar
tnur has been popularity supposed to lie
the author Of the former. aId the pro-
gramme at the Fourteenth street Thea
,rc last night set him down az being
responsible for the latter. Mr. Arthur 5
fr.,i.ds viii think " him In connection
H.tA Blu, Jeans his ercmics can DO
nothing more cruel thau mutter Corn
cracker"
New York is treated to strange and
cer.c theatrical entertainments. Each
aeason is ful, Of them, for everybody
who has dramatic wares to display
rushes 10 the metropolis. The Corn
cracker is us remarkable as my of
them. II ia as incomprehcnsIble as the
prosrame offered by "Loie Fuller's Ce-
lcbritics," and as mysteriously unfathom-
able as "A play I once saw at this same
theatre called IAN Iron Creel.'
The Corncracker" is not a drama,
or a melodrama, or 4 tarce-comcdy, or
IA farce. or a comedy. or a burlesquc,
or an extravaganza. 1t Is a chowdcr,
filled with chips OF everything. When
you hear OF u missing viii and a long
lost mommcr you think you have
alighted upon Il drama; when Nancy Nall
Is pushed into the drinking trough your
thoughts turn to Hoyt aid farce-comedy
when six irrelevant girls burst upon the
scene and sing an irrelevant song you
wonder II IL Is extravaganza and sigh
for "l492:'' and when Eleanor Carey
and Matte Earle indulge in a cosy little
strangling match you begin to believe
that you are undergoing Bowery melo-
drama treatment after all. Then there
is IA hsticuf episode and n tarring and
%feathering ARRAY, and at the end of the
third act a very mild sort of a sensation
furnished by the falling OF an elevator
with red fire accompaniment.
Mr.. Arthur has jumblrd all these In
cidents together. THE Corncracker' is
simply chaos. Ever the ingenious lit
tie gallery boy will be able to make
| nothing Of It. He will hear OF the ele-
vatoi accident. and wait for 1t. bu
he will be disappointed, for 1t Is very
tame, and not worth seeing after three
acts Of twaddlc. The word Corn
cracker" seems to signify a Kcntuckian,
who places extreme reliance upon him
self, and makes his own whiskey. In
some lnexplicable way he is woven into
the talky labyrinth at the Fourteenth
street Theatre. and perhaps he enjoys
himself. We must hope for he best
IN the cast was Miss Judith Beroldc,
who wore "a couple of neat frocks. and
one pensive air. She made u very Wig
orous speech, in whici she said: M
love you can never have. you coward
]scoundrel ard liar!' or words to that
effect. She seemed to be very veXec
about somcthing-quite put out, AS II
wcre-but the audience didn't know
what it was. and, consequently. couldn't
sympathizc. Miss Eleanor CAREY, as Z
long-lCst mominer, who is recognized
By a chrome for which she Is supposed
to have sat, tried to make something
of her part, and Miss Matte Earle con
tributed a dialect sketch-the dialect
| consisting of the use of the word "pus'
SON for person" William lngersol
pla yed the leading male role, and wore
4 lovable little brown velveteen suit.
Mr.. Arthur's agent n short time age
seat out the priceless Information tina
the rehcnrSals Of '"rhe C~orncracker'
were conducted behind barred doors. Mr.
Arthur might safely drop his mi
script on Fourteenth street. Nobod!
would pick It up. ALAN DALE.