The San Francisco call., 1897-06-27
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The management OF the AIcazar mas no,
divulged the process 1t used to reduce tia,
champion tear-ex tractor, "Bfack-eve;
susan" % the length of curtain-7aiser
10 precede The. First Born" To Judge
from re ults. however, l should imagine
tnat the Stage director procured a block, q
meat-ax and alta pe-measure, and, retreat
ing to the privacy Of his ot1ice, chopped
chunks out Of the good old nautical
drama, regardless of the context, till he
had hewed II down TO measure the re.
Qulredannmber Of yards and inches Then
ha Qleced the remains together and pro
q deced them in the fond, but alas! delu-
sive hope that "Black-eyed Susan" would
compel the tributo.y lear as of yore.
Unfortunately in this massacre of the
innocent Susan most o. the heart-tnterest
was hacked ont. 1t IS entirely my own
suppOsilion that the mutilated fragments
were strung together by the AID Of yard
measure, but tue mlsfrs, where the
unks had been chopped out, gave pretty
strong circumstanuaI evidence that some
dark deed OF the sort was perpetrated. Ye
gods! If Douglas Jerrold's departed
Ego" as our friend, he Bramacharin,
would call it, were lowering round in the
vicinity OF the Alcazar any evening last
week what:waiing and gnashIng of teeth
and win ing OF hands there must have
been.
1 read the other day that a society had
been formed in Chicago win the object OF
laying wreaths on the graves of celebrated
authors and musicians. Floral tributes
are all very well but the departed egos"
OF those distinguished gentlemen would
no doubt be more gratiied by the forma-
ton OF a society TO protect the works OF
deceased authors and musicians. AT
present every writer, from Shakespeare
downward, who has been dead a certain
number OF years, is at the mercy OF any
one who comes along with a meat-ax.
The works Of writers need protecting
more han tAeir tombs, and a society for
the protection of deceased authors and
composers might at least create a public
sentiment srong enough to see that if
unprotected works are daliIed with at all
the daliying shall be done with meet and
due reverence. An immense amount of
b ckercng would. be raised. o. course, bat
a-}9t hftlg worth doing is worth bckering
aROur--at least, taat seems 10 have been z
rule frequently observed in matters OF art
and rekslon.
1t is mourn ful reflection that deceased
authors and composers, who may he suf-
1ering- the in nos pitalities of worlds so
vlyidly descri bed by the lamented Dante
.Aighieri. may have 10 endure as part OF
their penance the knowledge Of how their
w 9yks are being treated here below I'M
CINE the rude shock to the sensitive
Frederick Chopin if his departed ego"
were mace TO listen to the second move
nenf OF his. Funeral March," rearranged
IS waltz aHi eXetuted ona nj lodeon or a
jewsharp. Most OF US have heard the
melody played, con brio by street per-
formers in that way. Beethoven's agony
would probably be worthy of Dante's pen
II be were condemn ned to ear contin ually
the skiing of Banjo Virtuosi' thrum out
his sym phonies en- that chosen instru-
menl5 and Doug as Jerrold-well, If
Douglas Jerrold had assisted at the Alca-
zar last week, he might have remarked:
There's destiny that shapes our ends.
rough hew them as we m y, but it ALTO
gether too roug n to hew 'B!ack-eyed Susan
as Alcazar destiny has done"
Abbreviated as DOUGLAS Jerrold's
comedy was, by the IL dd4e of the week
every mem ber of the company had net
laAen. the precaution to learn his lines.
Fortunately Carlisle, the new leading
man Of. the Alcaz4r, is not iarrying on his
way here. The company is virtually
without a leading man at present, and
George. Osbourne, who can BE- warranted
TO step into any sort of breach courage
6usly,. filled the gap last week. This is
noU:th & first time lately that Mr.. Osbo urne
has played Juvenile role, and though hi.
.ca.reeT- OF usefulness on the stage is far
from being over, it is useless TO hide the
TACT t hat in a young, dashing part like
that: of the heroic sailor, William, in
i'Black-e eyed Susan" he is entirely out of
place. One of the most pathetic scenes in
the*>rlay is where Susan and William COM
pare their. recorlections Of childhood, be-
Fore the sailor. hero is led forth to be
ha1ig from tie yardarm. Unfortunately
the:meatiax spared this scene, and, unde-
terred hy:any ammo dOmgnt considerations,
William told Susan how in infancy they
had sat together beneath the qulyering
aspen tree. Not a responsive tear be-
dewed the house. There were even indi-
cations of stifled inclination to laugh,
for to tell the truth. the fond souvenirs
we're ludlcrous. No record stretch OF the
most elast imagination could imagine
William as the contemp Jrary of young
woman of such destinations that men fell
mad!y, passionate!y in love with her at
first sisht. Ii Black-eyed Susan and Mr..
Osbourne really walked throu n child
hoods days hand in hand Susan must
have been as wonderfully preserved an
old lady as the famous Rinon.
Some players have possessed the art OF
looking in their teens when they were