The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1894-10-09
"A MILK WHITE FLAG"

Isn't Il strange that with all our civil
cation, our studies. our religion and our
tendencies, we cannot come to look upon
death as Joke? We recoIl stupidity
from the idea of assoclating amicably
with an undertaken; we eSclaim 'Sh!'
when any one OF a fIppant turn Of mind
utters Il death-j joke; in fact, we are la
mentally old-fashioncd and absurd.
Charles II. Hoyt who Is humorist-
with a capital HIS going to educate us
In spite OF the fact that he declared last
night at his pretty little spick- and-span
amusement house (nee Madison Square,
that he would not attempt anything OF
the sort In "a Milk White Flag" his
latest effort. which we saw last night for
the first time, he has waXed bubblesome,
effervescent, sclntillant, hilarious and
even uproarious on the subject OF death.
Why not? IT'S as easy to die as to be
born" says Bacon. After this all such
Jokes are not criminal. 1t Is merely
matter OF taste, as the old lady remarked
when she kissed her COW.
Two rival regiments of citizen soldiers
are the cause of the lugubrlous episode.
one regiment has a sumptuous funeral,
and the other, the Ransome Guards. de-
tcrmnes not to be outdone. Piggott
Luce, successful promoter" who
wants the 100000 insurance on his own
life. feigns to be dead-everybody supr
poses he is dead--and the RansomS.
Guards purchase his body for s62.5O from
his widow. In order to have a jolly, roll
licking funeral They want It at once,
for, as the Colonel says, corpse won't
keep for two weeks. They put poor Pig
gott on Ice, and he catches bad cold In
his nose. He Is laid out In his coffin
(why did Mr.. Hoyt prevent us from see
ing and laughing at that cofin?), and he
bobs UP serenely from time to time to
converse with the undertaken, who Is his
accomplice in the insurance fraud go
back to your box" says the undertaken,
skittishly, and at frequent intervals. The
widow-who never loved him-wants him
buried even deeper than six feet, so that
he can never come to the surface. She
rebels at the charge of $500. HE only
weighed lS2 pounds" she murmurs, land
I'm willing to pay so cents pound"
Even bottle OF embalming fluid Is in
troduced.
That there are people who will rebel at
this thing is pretty certain. Old folks,
who feel that their time is coming. will
be unhappy; recently bereaved theatre
goers will find old wounds reopened, and
offense may be given in other quarters.
You see, we have not been educated up
to corpse specialties, and they seem
little strange. That's all Better days
may be coming.
Apart from these death episodes-and
they unfortunately pervade the whole
playa Milk White Flag Is as bright
and witty nc could be desired. 1t is
beautifully staged. and 1t has songs and
dances that are even better than those
seen in "A Trip to Chinatown" The sat
Ire lavished upon the poltroon members
OF the two regiments is keen and bril-
liant, and the action of the piece never
flags. with a different humor- motive
Hoyt would have surpassed himself, for
he has never written anything of such
literary excellence as milk White
Flag" 1t is quite the best thing he has
done. II 1t does become popular It is ow-
ing entirely to Its gruesome POPULARITY.
l watched an old gentleman who sat
near me. Here Ia a synopsis of his sen
timents: Act 1.-The best thing i have
ever seen. 1t beats "A Gaiety Girl"
Act ii. Cuneasily)-"Beastly bad taste.
can't understand It," Act III. I'm the
lobby)-"Its too warm. shan't 60
back"
The cast did admirable work. Miss
Isabelle Coe was capital as the bereaved
widow. She really contributed a SPLEEN
did piece of genuine acting, in which
there wos no self-consciousness and no
flaw of any sort. l should advise her
not to sing, but to leave the field open
to Maggie Cline. Charles stanley as
the Colonel. Lloyd Wilson as the Major.
Arthur Pacie as the JudgeAdvocate.
r. A. Roberts as the departed, and
Frank J. Keenan, as the General. were
all good. The dancing of Miss Lottie
Moore and Frank Lawton must be seen,
and some Of the choruses We're surpris-
ingly good. Percy Gaunt deserves con-
siderable credit for his musical work.
The theatre rcdecorated. renovated
and renamed. looked exceedingly pretty.
Although It seems cruel to tear away
an old name that might become land
mark, New Workers won't mind II very
much. That also Is merely n matter OF
taste-a question for which there are nc
rules and regulations. ALAN DALE.
=.