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

Isn't 1t strange that with all our civil
zatiOn our studies, our religion ana our
tendencies, We cannot come to look upon
death as joke? We recoil stupidity
from the idea of associating amicably
with an undertaken; we exclaim " Sh!
, when any one of a filppant turn of mind
utters IA death-joke; In fact, we are la
mentally old-flshioned and absurd.
Charles H. Hoyt, who Is humorist-
with capital HIS going TO educate us
in spite OF the fact that ne 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 MIX White FLAG" his
latest effort, which we saw last night for
the first time, he has wlxed bubblesome,
effervescent. sclntillant, hilarious and
even uproarlous 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 a
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 Ransomc Guards de-
tcrmincs not to be outdone. Piggott
Luce. IA successful promoter" who
wants the 100000 insurance on his own
life, feigns to be dcad-everybody sup
poses he is dead-and the Ransome
Guards purchase his body for $3.50 from
his widow, in order to have jolly. roll
licking funeral. They want It at once,
for as the Colonel says, a corpse won't
/ f.,. nj
gott on ice, and he catches n bad cold in
his nose. He Is lal out In his coffin
(why did Mr.. Hoyt prevent us from see
Ing and laughing at that coiiinD, and he
hobs up serenely from time to time to
| converse with the undertaken. who Is his
accomplice In the insurance fraud. &c
back 10 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 5000, He only
weighed 1S2 pounds" she murmurs land
I'm willing to pay 30 cents a pound. It
Even bottle of embalming fluid is in
troduced.
That there are people who will rebel at
| WIS 'iiihb - pretty CtTlulIl. VIA IOlkE,
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 bee, we hnve.not been educated VI
to corpse specialties, and they seem q
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 as could be desired. 1t is
beautifully staged. and II 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 different humor- motiv,
Hoyt would have surpassed himself, fol-
he has never written anything OF sucl
literary excellence as milk Whit,
Flag" 1t is quite the best thing he ha.
done. II It does become popular 1t is ow
ing entirely to Its gruesome POPULARITY
] watched an old gentleman who sa
near me. Here IA n synopsis of his sen
timents: Act 1.-The best thing | hav,
ever seen. 1t beats "A Gaiety Girl
Act III. uneasily)-"Beastly bad taste.
can't understand IT," Act Ill. lin tn,
lobhy)-"It's too warm. I shan't &,
back"
The cast did admirable work. Mis-
Isabelle Coe was capital as the bereavec
widow. She really contributed a spcn
did piece of genuine acting. in which
there was no self-consciousness and n,
flaw OF any sort. | should advise he
not to sing, but to leave the field opei
to Maggie Cline. Charles Stanley a
the Colonel Lloyd Wilson as the Major
II. A. Roberts as the departed, anC
Frank ]. Keenan, as the General. wer
all good. The dancing of Miss Lotti
Moore and Frank Lawton must be seen
and some of the choruscs were surpris
ingly good. Percy Gaunt deserves con
siderable credit for his musical work.
The theatre redecorated. renovate,
and renamed. looked exceedingly pretty
Although 1t seems cruel to tear ava!
an old name that might become a land
mark, New Workers won't mind 1t yer!
much. That also is merely matter o
taste-a question for which there are n
rules and regulations. ALAN DALE.