The San Francisco call., 1898-07-31
.HERE are some peculiarities ;n

|" HERE are some peculiarities in
 the world of music and drama
 that would have puzzled old Ho-
 A ratio had he encountered them, for in our philosophy they are not ac-
 In this connection it may be asked: Why is it that so many of the famous actors and actresses of the passing generation who have not only won the profound love and admiration, but the good, hard money of the play going people, have either been ruth lessly thrown from their proud pedes- tals or relegated to the storage room for future reference, like a piece of furniture that has outlived it's useful ness?
 If there is any solution of the prob lem it may be found in the word fickle- ness. Most assuredly it cannot be said that they have been succeeded by their peers, or that it is a plain matter of the survival of the fittest-for in the case Of many of the great artists there is not only no one to succeed them, but few whose work gives evidence of the possession of the special qualities that even promise greatness.
 It may be that the creation of these Thespian geniuses is governed by the law of cycles, as i& appears to be in that of the masters of literature, music and painting; and if one indulges in retrospection such a theory can well be entertained.
 Take, for instance, the magnificent perfection of the genius of the elder Booth Can fhpra @ found the whole Anglo-Saxon race one upon whose shoulders his splen- did mantle should justly fall? It is not for a Frederick Warde or a Robert Downing, and with the latter name the list is exhausted. Going afield there is not observable on the face of this progressive" old earth a Keane, a Sheridan, a Moliere, an other Ristori Salvini or Rossi. Refer ring to Italian dramatic art, who has been put forward as the best represen- tatfYe of the once rich fountain of the Italian drama? Duse, a pigmy who might have served well as a walking lady to the grand artists whose names have been mentioned.
 Again, where is our acceptable sub stitutes for Joe Jefferson. Florence. Sothern, Mrs Siddons? In the lang uage of a local statesman they have Tnot yet came" and there is no indica- ton that they have started on their ca
 The musical world fares some bet t-t t,, nrre is not another Jenny Lind, Patti, La Blache, a Liszt, 't t....tr. a Eublnstein a Mendelssohn. a Mozart; but in their places are Alascagui, a Sullivan, degenerate Strauss, q De Koven and Sousa, who can write jingIing, catchy quicksteps; Verify the descent is deplorable and apparently fathomless.
 In the dramatic world of the present day there are further matters in line with this subject that make food for comment and speculation. The most eminent artists of the times, who have been before the public a generation or more must soon retire and become fond recOllections only
 Will some one, therefore, blessed with second sight, tell where can be found the riehtful heirs to their abili- ties? To Sir Henry Irving, Sarah Bernhardt, Ellen Terry. Mrs. Kendall, Fanny Davenport and others.
 While waiting for the answer that will not come. it may well be remarked that these interiors are not on the stage of to-day, and worse still, the roster of minor celebrities who were once public idols is growing rapidly and painfully less We have practically bidden adieu to such erstwhiIe prime favorites as Clara Morris, Rose Cogh- Ran, Kate Claxton, Sadie Martinot, Marie Jansen, Grace Henderson, Otis Wkinner, Louis James, J. H. Stoddard Ind others, who are either struggling on as has beens" or are tempting fate in vaudeville-taking the step that finally leads the legitimate actor to ob- livion
 In reply to the foregoing it might. with some degree of reason be said, that amusement seekers of to-day have developed new, a degenerated taste that does not demand the high stand