The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-13

engagement of three nights and a NATL
nee. The company has many successes
TO it's credit. 1t played the original
production Of MY Friend from India
for more than six months on Broad
way. 1t was seen here In that piece
and scored an UNREASONABLE success
In it. The announcement of their re-
engagement should be met with no lit
tie interest and an enthusiastic desire
to see them again in a new production.
Their latest play. which. according to
reports from other cities, Is al equally
great success with My Friend from
India Is a new comedy from the pen
of w. III. Allderdice. Mr.. A~llderdice is
q parsonage who Is attracting more
than the attention his authorship would
entitle him to just now owing to the fact
he Is a lieutenant in the United
States nav n was an active parti-
cipant In the naval maneuvers before
cuba In the war with Spain. 1t Is en-
titled THE Old Coat" and its reception
whe produced in New York city was
of a character to indicate that its sue
cess was immediate and convincing.
The consensus of the opinion Of the
New York papers seemed to be that II
was an exceptionally funny play. ex-
ceptionally well acted. Its successful
appearance III tlt III ldISG CllltC
have carried this out to the utmost sat
isfaction of the management, and both
the excellent reputation of the play
and the players should insure a hearty
welcome fer them in Butte City. Its
situations are excellent, and as one of
the New York papers says. $50 ludi-
crously droll hat one smiles in spite of
ones self" The complications OF the
plot all arise from the careless habits
of a couple of lawyers who use In com
mon a ragged office coat. pa
pers. ove letters and the like are placed
in the rockets of this old garment and
lost. and end in embroiling the prin-
cipal characters of the play into a snarl
of complications which simply defy un-
raveline. For a long laugh and a good
one. THE Old Coat" fills a most sue
cessful mission. The plan Is ludicrously
droll and presents an interesting origi-
nal story that Is bright and breezy
from first to last. The first act Is laid
in the lawyers office and shows how
the pockets of the old coat came to be
made the receptacle of an important
legal document. a letter compromising
to a pompous client Of the firm. n
couple of $500 notes, some love letters
ana other sundries. The legal docu-
ment concerns a lieutenant of the navy;
the thousand dollars represents the
capital the junior member of the
firm has set apart for wedding eN-
penses. and among the sundries Is n
harmless letter the latter gentleman
addressed to his mother. So freighted
the coat starts on its journey. A scrub
woman abstracts the thousand dollars
from the pocket. the young lawyers
fiancee visits the office and purloins the
coat to be used as a pattern for a
smoking jacket. When the loss Is dis
covered the four men are equally con-
cerned in its recovery and the scrub
N-ornan trinEan Joins I'm
the search that she may restore the
notes before the theft is discovered.
From the law Office to the home of the
bank president. which Is likewise the
young lawyers fiancee, the coat jour
news. The papers are scattered. The
letters fall into the hands of the bank
presidents wife and the attorneys
sweetheart and arouse Jealous fury.
Finally the coat is returned to the prop
er peg in the law office. The money
and papers are restored and only adroit
prevarications explain the incriminat-
Ing letters satisfactorily to the sus-
picious women into whose hands they
have fallen.
Leander Richardson has the follow
ing in his dramatic department of the
New York Morning Telegraph:
John Mcguire, for 20 years one of
the best known characters connected
with the theatrical business, has lost
his opera house in Butte. Mont. and
is. for the time being at all events.
out of it, This is a piece OF news
that wouldn't awaken more than the
merest passing attention in connection
with almost any other one night stand
in the Unled States But
everybody knows John Mcguire, and,
what is more. everybody likes the old
man and wishes him well. He is one
of the characters Of the calling-an old
timer from way back, a pioneer in
the amusement field OF the frontier,
and as kind a soul as ever graced this
earthly footstool. Some knowledge OF
the mans popularity may be gained
from the fact that when a few years
ago the citizens of Butte decided to
give him a benefit, the receipts were
pretty nearly the biggest ever known
in connection with uch an affair in
all America. 1 don't remember the
exact figures. but the takings were
clear up in the neighborhood of $50. coo.
1T was for many years the ambi-
ton OF Maguire's life to have a first
class theater i'm Butte. and one was
finally built for him by a banker of
the name OF Murray. 1 don't know
what the complications are that have
led up to his loss of the Mcguire opera
house. but IL has passed into the hands
OF Parks e. Mcfarland. managers OF
htAS Rtt sh,AAAs
1t must have pretty nearly broken the
old mans heart to see ....s property
slip away from his control, and j am
sure that every reader of these lines
who has enjoyed his acquaintance will
regret as sincerely as l 40 the roubl
that has overtaken gentle, sunny ma
tured old John Mcguire"
Some queer advertising lodges are
resorted to by stage people this side
OF the ocean. but il would be hard 10
find a scheme to beat the following,
exploited in a Paris newspaper:
A certain actress was billed to APP
pear in Paris. and nan stories were
circulated among Partisan ~playgoers
about her charms and her husbands
Jealousy. On the first night in Paris
her husband occupied one stage box.
and in the other opposite to him was
a Observation-Disclosures gentleman.
who was speedily struck by the lady's