The evening world., 1894-05-10
THE CHECK-BooK."

1.-THE Check Book" produced at the |
Madison Square Theatre last night by |
Rose Coghlan, was nasty. and nothing |
else. The well ll-dressed audience laughed |
a little at the second and third acts, but |
they did II simply to dissemble their
chagrin and uneasiness. A laugh COW
ers multitude OF miseries sometimes
and every laugh that ventured into the
Madison Square last evening found plen-
ty OF misery business to attend to.
We all know that there are women
who buy their husbands as they do their
brlc-a-brac and bonbons. and we like
wise know that there are men who
make n profession OF matrimony. be-
cause the work Is light and pocket-mon-
ey comes easy; but we don't care to
have these disagreeable things con-
stantly dinging in our ears or blottng
our vision. There Is no harm in poking
fun at the dollar-mark domesticity of
this class Of people but to take them
| seriously, and to ask the public to look
at and enjoy them in 1bsenesque bald
ness for two hours and half is very
much like inviting friends to a reccp-
tion In honor OF "A carbuncle on the back
OF ones neck or the debut OF small
pox pustule on the bridge of his nose
A pleasant pillorying OF Cupid's pen
sioners would not hurt anybody, but
naturallsm applied to such personages
and their environment Is nauseating.
Charles Coghlan. who Is the author of
" The k-Book.' shows us a cring-
Ing, whining. begging, dependent hus-
band. whose disgusting position is best
described by his wife when she says
that all she has to do Is to put her
hand on her check book. when 10! there
he Is, just as the genial din responded
to Aladdin's rubbing Of the wonderful
lamp. The panegyric of this delightful
creature Is pronounced later on, when
his wife, who is desperately greved
over his absence. takes up her check
book and writes: Pay to the order of
Thomas Pringle one thousand pounds!
One thousand pounds! One thousand
pounds!" she shouts. waving The check
aloft. while she looks around for Tom
my, and then seeing that the bank note
incantation doesn't work she tumbles
herself upon a promiscuously cushioned
lounge and moans, He must be deadn'
With his wife's money he buys a dress
!. for another maIried woman. with whom
he is platonically involved, and the ar
rival Of this dress in his rooms, where
} his wife first gets It, furnishes the only
, complication Of the evening. II we except
the Cool Burgess way in which Joseph
Hollands side whlskers become tan.
, gled over his bump OF reverence in the
, last act.
: Mrs. Pringle, the husband-owner, the
part played by plump. dumpling- cheek ed
| -. 4. IN
cently-almost galoptiously, as a Kan
sas belle would say-starts out to be a
woman OF advanced IDEAS talking OF
, man as IAN undeveloped product Of a
paleozoic age" and of woman as 1.-THE
, record-breaker OF civilization" which
| latter was deemed sufficiently smart
| saying to be made the tag of the
first act: but after delivering herself OF
this hunk Of buncombey brilliancy she
, forgets all about her fln-de-secle intel.
lectuality and settles down to writing
. out checks for her snivelllng but dar
e ling Tommy. Miss Coghlan was exceed
= ingly interesting in all she did, and ex
= ceedingly good. too. The way she leapet
4 over furniture, vaulted across a three
quarter brass bedstead and crawlcC
@ under n grand plano in her chase afte
I Lord Whifletree was uproariousl.
: thrilling
l. The company missed none of tn,
@ points OF the play. but gave cleve
It performance. Eflle Shannon's time wa.
a wasted In the small and colorless par
e allotted to her. If 1t had not been tina
3 she had three rigid folds In the back o
e her dress which stood out very asser
>. lively and gave the impression that sh
It was wearing a hustle about three inche
y wide, she would not have attracte,
l. much attention. Joseph Holland
e Whiiiietree was In his usual pleasing
It vein. and furnished the last two act
II with all the animation they possessed
Charles Coghlan will not grow roun
" shouldered carrying the literary honor
l. that Will accrue to him from "Th
n Check-Book." There are some smal
= and snappy bits in IT, and one or tw
risuue remarks. but 1t would require
chemical analysis to find anything pos
t. lively clever II It is there. The only reli,
n from the doddcring dreariness Is II
n realistic cigarette -money-husband. wh
ID keeps the audience interested becaus
ha tnll