The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-04

Maxine Elliott, = stage beauty Of striking pres
delineation of tender femininity, were others.
The Academy Of Music had a melodrama last
evening that originated In London. and reached
New York after a two months stay in Boston.
II was THE Cotton King" in I'VE long acts.
written by Sutton vsne. In one character II
was quite different from the plays Of
its class. for its hero was an American
who had returned 10 England to in
crease q fortune made At home that was
large enough to earn for him the plays title as a
nickname. But his trials were from the same
old list and were divided on the dear old plan
that is. one per act. His companions, too. we're
familiar. The chief Of the brace Of villains.
II is true. neither wore a monocle or a
cape coat nor smoked cigarettes. but despite
his lack OF these badgesof his position, he was
the typical swell villain, and not a word was
needed on hts first entrance to disclose his pro-
fessionsl calling. His plotting was as mean as
IL was incapable Of outwitting. to the audience,
but the hero. was the same virtuous Ounce who
has stacked up against this type OF
permitted himself to. be drawn into all sorts OF
trouble. Much, OF his suffering might so easily
he fairly loved 1t. But that Is customary enough
with good stage folk who, people melodrama,
acts seem long was the scarcity Of incident.
Because OF the entire freedom with which
tinkers in nelodrama repeat episodes and scenes
OF their output have been chock full Of action,
and the first three acts Of The Cotton King
r.. cause q some degree, q this: fSr
formance until nearly midnight. But the
,Stses soaf SsU Cf the of .t ss1sy) pic T , s snSu sSs m hi
wait that preceded it 70 promptly pass away. It
ground at the left OF the stage there were
four printing machines, Each one had a
OF the alley that ran between them, and
directly over this gassagewey there was an ad-
over ali these drums ran strips Of prints Of gay
that turned in accord with the big. ones. Mill
t nsna' a6 Oiet others 'R Bundled Sier roii. OF OF the %sn goods
toward a freight elevator that was in
nns Gssaa' was OF to an an ap sSsss; gns ]perf i g
capable Of hard service. On IT depended the big
refused the villain three times and scorned him
on other occasions, the heroine had come to that
e sSiI m Thsre HAY w'S s hest s sSsSSFTSSing d aq him o e , The
hooks" as the comic lover expressed it. To
that end she was thrown into the elevator shaft,
laden. AT the point in its drop where it COM
PEELED the heroine to fall to her knees and then
was a very good one. taking in more than is usu-
ally included In such attempts at realism, for,
besides the whirling wheels and shafting OF the
printing machinery and the quite untheatric
lift, there was at the right of the stage a view OF
the factory's office. wherein a. woman clerk
were three other sets that were elabo-
rately. planned. and one Of them in
cluded a sky darkened by thunder
clouds that were splitting rain upon the
back ground hills. AS a CLEAN Of hope shot into
the gloom that surrounded the hero-this was
in the first act when his job was not n promis-
ing one-an effect of a beam of sunshine cleaned
through a rift in the dark masses in a rather
novel way. To the critically inclined the effect
might be somewhat married by the fact that the
rift had been in that very spot for the preceding
fifteen minutes. but the device seemed to be adj
mired.
In one OF the waits there were ballads from
a singer placed in the gallery, an innovation
that was greatly approved bv those seated on
the tier with the singer. Members of the cast
who eIcelled were Eben Plympton. Dominick
Murray, Dan Collyer. MAY Wheeler, and
Amelia Summerville. once the Merry Little
Mountain Maid,'