The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-12
In GOTHAM.
Some Successful Pro-
duCtiOnS.
"The White Heather" Has q
Strong Cast--Piner0's New
Play at the LyCeum.

New York Dec. 10.-The most preten-
tious production Charles Frohman has
ever made in New York is The White
Heather at the Academy of Music. 1t
was written by the authors of THE
Sporting Duchess" but its scenes are
on a much more elaborate and extend
ed scale than are those of the latter
piece "The White Heather" is full of
striking stage pictures, each of which
Mr.. Frohman presents in the most ef-
fective and convincing way made pos
sihle by modern stage art. An idea of
just what he has done in the matter of
scenery and costumes may be had when
it is known that in the reproduction of
the famous Duchess of Devonshire ball,
given in London just previous to the
queens jubilee, the manager secured
exact copies OF the elaborate and ele-
CANT costumes that were worn at that
event by the cream of English nobility.
There are nine other big scenes. One of
them deals with Battersea park, where
hundreds of bicyclists are shown riding
and breakfasting; still another picture
represents the pandemonium that
reigns at the Stock Exchange, and
there is an extraordinary submarine
view. The cast is one of the strongest
seen in the metropolis. Rose Coghlan
is at the head of it. She appears in a
rollicking comedy part which runs
through the entire play. With her are
associated Miss Olive May and Miss
Amelia Bingham Francis Carlyle heads
the male contingent of players. and
there are besides Harry Harwood, for
merly of John Drew's company; r. F.
Cotton and S. Miller Kent
The White Heather" tells of Lord
Angus Cameron's secret marriage to
Marion Hume and of a son and heir.
Lord Angus needs large sum of mon
ey to carry out one of his schemes. He
goes TO his brother, the Duke of Shet-
land, and asks him to cut off the en-
tail of the family estates for the pur-
pose Of raising the needed FUNDS. The
duke hesitates. He is a man of senti-
ment and justice. and if he knew that
his brother had a son he would not con-
sent to interfere with the entail OF the
estate of the latter. AT this juncture
Lord Angus son is accidentally wound
ed at a shooting party This incident
brings ABOUT a position of affairs by
which the father is confronted with the
necessity of either acknowledging his
wife and boy or disowning them for the
sake of his ambitions. He prefers to
sacrifice them. Thereupon the charac-
ters in the play become divided into
those who believe in Marion Hun,e's
honor and those who pin their faith to
Lord Angus. Old James Hume. the IA
ther of the girl, is a stockbroker. He
speculates madly in order TO raise funds
wherewith to begin a legal fight TO es-
tablish his daughters virtue. This
leads up to one of the big scenes of the
play. the interior Of the Stock Exchange
during a sudden panic of Kaffirs. These
are the securities in which Hume is in
terested The market goes against the
cid man, and he drops dead on the
floor.
The heroine undergces many tribula-
tions after this. and incidentally her
life is placed in jeopardy. The legal
proofs OF her marriage are on board her
husbands yacht. the White Heather.
but the craft has foundered off Flam-
borough head Representatives Of the