Omaha daily bee., 1896-10-11
TRILBY CRAZE IN OMAHA
Came Little Late, but il Managed to
Catch About Everyone,
VIOLENT SYMPTOMS NOT NOW MANIFEST

! with One Execution Il Was the Most
! Popular hook In the Public Library
Little Social GntIcrinE starts
the Epidemic Ncrc.
The death OF Do moM!er closes one Of
the most remarkable careers in the literary
world though of course tho dca,h OF the
author of Trilby does not end thc life Of
his most famous work. 1t is as the author
of Trlby that he was principally known TO
the reading world, though strange to relate
the author himself considered that not by
any means his greatest work The public
however, thought differently, and through
Il ho won fame and fortune.
The passion for Trilby has amounted TO
a craze which has been contagious and
spread all over the world. II was little
late in striking Omaha, but the disease, If
such it might be called had assumed such
vigorous form when it did reach this point
in its travels that the people of this city
had most violent attack of it. Like a
visitation of measles or influenza in a
large family. they almost all had 1t and
many have not recovered, though there are
at present no violent manifestations of its
presence
The local craze for Triiby had its first
| starting point on the evening or october
| L. 1894 when Clement Chase and a rev
literary friends met and passed the even
ing in discussing the work. Among those
present we're: Messrs. Clement 'hase'
Louis Bradford, Joseph Lehmer j. r. Ring
walt c. s. Chase, II. w. Breckenridge,
Robert Patrick Charles Elgutter, j. L.
Baum +. c. Cradle. Victor Rosewatcr,
Martin Calm, II. Muenteferirg. Arthur
| Acheson, Thomas r. Kimball, G. Nj. Hitch
cock. D. II. Wheeler jr Alvin Krech.
| Henry T. Estabrook, Charles w. Martin,
Dr. Despecher, George b. Eddy, Edgar {.
| Snyder. c. win Hamilton, X. b. Peattie, l..
G.. Charlton Thomas ]. Kelly, W. NJ. RoS-
ers Frank L. Haller, Joseph Calm. Hans
| Albert. j. Laurie Wallace, Paul Charlton
and pr Baetens. During the evening the
following unique program was carried out
Paper-The Story of Trilhy..;.,.....,, e.
..i.'ii'd,'l Xn c,rc de In iune G the Absurd
| Old Nursery Rhyme. ................,.;
Mossrs Rogers. Charlton. breckenridge
PaneruBu aro w Mgnrfer. His Life and Work,
Ich Habe Gcliebt und GclebGt -.
.........................Ch Charles w. Martin.
Song-Nussbdum. Schumann, n Simple
German Damscl sitting Undera Wal
nut Tree..............D. II. Wheeler, jr.
Piano. Joseph Calm.
| Papcr-The French of Triiby and the
Quarter Latin; Paris of Which lie
Could Never Have Enough........ .
....,,..,,..............lDr DR.. 7. j. bCSpecnGr
Oh DO You Remember Sweet Alice,
''' Piano Piano solo, Marjin CAIN
| Paper-Thc Identity of the Artists in
| Trilbv, They Founded Schools In
stead of Following Any; y;.......;;..;,;;::..i,ii
vioiaa-Chanson de Printemps-Go Gounod,
And the First Part of the Concert
Was over, ,.';i,;;a.GhSn'eS ar;;n Char Bae'ens
pupCr-TrilbV'S Voice and Method, 1t
Was the Apotheosis Of Voice and
NlrtHoSity So, or"S he'y
This Great Historical Epic in Two
MessTs Sssn Rogers. Kelly, Charlton, Breck
enrdgc and McCaguc.
Psvcngaiii sVensolil S 20 sysnsal!'..'....,
Piano.Could Trilby ii BE Il succSssfuliy -
,p, Pram9tizGdi I,l,,ro The Charm r9S of Those
vioiinyovcrture to Rosamonde-schu-
hcrt-Rosemonde Was Prince Of
cypress Piano Joseph Calm h'' Albert
what Snail We ave the Pleasure of
Drinkin' After That Very Nice 'armony?
After the literary and musical portion of
the program had been disposed OF refresh
mCnts were served and the remainder Of the
evening spent in thoroughly Bohemian
| fashion.
SOON PROVED CONTAGIOUS.
| From that beginning II spread rapidly
and soon everything was Trilby. The firsi
| public manifestation of its presence was in
| performance of some speciality company at
| the Boyd, where n characterization OF Triby
| and Svengali was introduced and from thai
on Ben Bolt was heard at every turn.
The irst presentation of the dramatzaton
| of the work was at the Creighton on the
evening of September %, 1895, by the
| original A. NJ Palmer company. The COM
| pany was greeted by crowded house. and
! from that time ON the passion for Trilby
| took on new life and people who had es-
capped the first visitation of the craze were
affected. This company was followed on the
| 25th OF the following month by a burlesquc
| OF sthe same play at the same house. This
| caught the public also. as 1t had not been
| slow to appreciate the ridiculous extent 10
which some had carried their infatuation
with the book and everything which bore
its name. The original Palmer company
again visited the Creighton on January 7
of the following year ana the house which
greeted it demonstrated that the public
appetite for the piece had in nOwise abated.
From here the company went west and has
been touring Australia, and next week will
be at the Creighton for a revival of the
piece.
For the book itself there was an un-
precedented demand, and for a time the
booksellers were unable to supply it. Thou
sands OF copies were sold but the rush
has disappeared, and though there is now
steady demand for 1t, the sales are not so
large as to tax the ability of the dealers
10 meet them, and in fact Is not so great as
for many standard works. Dealers, how
! ever, anticipate that the death of the
author aud the comment incident thereto
viii revive the sales for time at least.
SECOND IN POPULARITY.
At the public library when the disease
was at it's height the attendants were kept
busy answering calls for the work. and
though the library possessed fourteen copies
of the book 1t impossible to meet the
demand. At present no such difficulty is
experienced however, though there is a CON
slant and steady call for the work. which
demonstrates that 1t has not dropped out
Of public attention. Many Of those who are
now calling for 1t are persons who read it
hastily and with little thought when the
craze was at it's height, and now wish to
digest it and get more intelligent idea
OF the real merits OF the work With the
single exception of Ben Hur" there are
moro copies of "Trilby' in the library than
any other one work designed for mature
readers. and OF this 1t required thirty-four
copies to meet the public demand
The Trilby infatuation was not confined to
the play or the book by any means. The
name was given to an infinite variety of