The morning call., 1893-01-22
ale Demi-MOrde."

Since Dumas wrote this play in 1854 it
has been produced with many adaptations
and under several titles. The Crust Of
Society is one. "Decep tion" another, and
a third. "The Fringe of Society,"" is now
being played with immense eclat at the
Criterion, London. The famous speech,
which is given below, is always received
with deafen!ng cheers, and the situation
that brings forth the lines is as follows:
The painter wants 10 warn his young friend
against his (the painter's) former paramour.
His sense of honor reyolts from the idea
of bluntly telling the name of the woman,
and so he cOntriyes that at small dance
which be arranged the woman and her
peculiar GRID Will be present. Then, while
the music In the next room is playing, the
painter and lis friend stroll in. The latter
heaves love sigh and sinks into a chair.
The painter. with a dTOll smile, catches
mold of the back Of a chair, and, swinging
Idly back and forth, begins his speech:
Do you Ike peaebes-Yes? Well some day
60 into one OF tie fashionable fTulI-shOps aud
ask the proprietor Tor some of his best peaches.
He Will show YOU superb basket of limit each
peach held apart from The others by fresh leaves
so hat they may not touch one another. ASK
bin he price and lie Will perhaps answer. zone
shilling aUiece." LoOk about YOU and You are
pretty sure 10 find another basket full Of peaches
quite as fine as the first IN Appearance bur
packed closely together so that you see Only one
side OF each peach and not all OF that. These
have not been offered to you You say TO lie
shOpkeeper, And low much are these? ?" He
will answer. ''SXpence." Naturally you viii
ask him how IL bapleuS that these peaches, as
fresh, as iine, as rlIe and attractive, far as
you can ser, tie others, cost only half as
much. Then he VIII pick one out holding il
gingerly between thumb aud forefBgeT; lie Will
turn Il over and show you underneath a ltle
black spot, the cause Of he reduction. In this
house, my dear fellow, you are in the basket OF
peaches al slXpeuce. The women around you
have all a stain In their past; they herd
closely together IN order that you may The
less. OF The same origin. with Tie same appear
ance, the same preiudces OF women IN good
society, they no longer belong there, but eonsIi-
tute what we call the demimOnde, which drifts
like an island upon the London sea, gathering
up tile debris from the mainland aud the ship
wrecked who come from the unknowB. They are
a modern invention. When The husband, by
virtue OF The law, became enabled to eliminate
from the family the woman who has forgotten
her vows, cOnjugal life underwent change that
has brought new society Into existence. All
these wOmen-dsbonorrd, TepudALed. soiled-
organized IL. The first wife driven from home
hid her shame and her tears In the most obscure
haunt she knew. But how about The second
one? The second went to look for tie first, and
when there were TWO Of them they agreed to call
their sin a misfortune, their crime error and
TO excuse and console one another When there
were three they held a dinner party; when there
were four quadrille. Around these women all
sorts OF other unfOrtunates raj ed. To-day they
constitute world OF their own.