The times., 1898-04-03

they were, both things were aosiced hy
the audience and, If only for that rea-
son, should not have occurred.
On Monday last the grand jury OF the
State OF New York determined that the
alleged Theatrical Trust had net been
libeled by Harrison Grey Fiske and imme-
diately dismissed the complaint against
him.
The coming engagement of Mr.. Richard
Mansfield at the Columbia Theater has in
il one advantage to which few people
seem to have given any thought The CO.
lunbia was built for especial purposes.
the extreme back wall of the house is
very close to the stage. and. as result.
detailed work appears to better advan-
tage there than in any other theater in
this country Mr.. Mansfield will never
have played in any house where his adj
mirers have had better chances for study
ing every minute purpose of mis- acting.
Nothing, from the quiver of an eyehd to
the movement of a finger, Is out of range
of the vision, and the celebrated player
will therefore. find himself confronting
an audience able to appreciate the finest
details of his art. Few men could sue
cessfully go through such a test in the
dramas presented by Mr.. Mansfield. and
the fact that it greatly improves instead
of deteriorating from his portrayals says
much for him
A unique thing about the present war
crisis is found in the excellent Judgment
and foresight of Thomas f. Shea. who
plays within a few weeks at the Grand
Opera House here. Long before trouble
with Spain was thought of. Mr. Shea con-
tracted with the author of The White
Squadron for naval melodrama, which
ffrr bad m in a
now-successful play, THE Man-'O-War's s
MAN.
The plot hinged upon difficulties with
England. however, and the actor, al
though an Irishman, was too fond of
novelty to accept such a production. He
accordingly went TO work upon new
story for the piece. He could find no
historical basis for his motive and so
determined to write IL in the future
prophesying what was to come rather
than telling what had. After conSidera-
BILE delay he settled upon Spain as the
country with which we were most likely
to have trouble and wrote his play in
that way. 1t was produced long before
the present complications, and those who
saw it then will remember that every
incident suggested has since come true.
This country came near fighting England
over the Nicaragua Canal and finally,
through interests on this continent. be-
came involved with Spain. That nation
sought an alliance with the European
monarchies and, in return, a union be-
tween this country and England was
proposed. War was finally declared. AL
| of these have come true, excepting the
! last which is in a fair way to do so now
| There were a number of details that have
also been folIOwed-in many cases de-
/ tails so small as TO be placed beyond the
! possibility of being other than coinci-
! dences. The purchase of a battleship
/ to be called tho New Orleans was one OF
/ these. And the strangest thing about
! the whole matter is that Mr. Shea re-
/ fuses to use the truth of his prophecy
as advertising matter and disclains all
credit in the matter.
! In last Sundays Times appeared the
! following paragraph:
Eddie Bald, the cyclist. sgoing to star. 1t is
also reported that in view of present necessities,
Mrs. Nelson WheatcrOft Is to give up her school
OF acting and open a divorce court and athletic
/ club in order to afford stage training.
/ It referred to the fact that Bald. al
| though in no way qualified for the stage
has decided 70 star, and, in order TO point
/ out to whaI pass of athleticism and SEN
sationaIism the stage appears TO be com
( ing, ii pictured, as a companion photo
/ graph the best-known and Iongest-es-
/ try continuing to fill the needs of the
stage in what is apparently the direction
the theater is turning. Several people
| however. seem to have understood that
| Mrs. Wheatcroft is realyl to- take charge
of a divorce court and The Times has
been asked to correct its statement. II
so doing, however, 1t might be well tC
say that while We are delighted 10 SET
how implicitly We are believed in such {
| necessity argues poorly. either for the
| writer's powers of sarcasm or for the
| readers common sense. The Times die
! not mean to infer for moment that tht
| American Government was really gOinl
to give Mrs. Wheatcroft charge of q
| police court or that an athletic club wa!
| exactly in her line-merely that it nigh
have to be if the public continued [,
thirst for pugilists and racers. We ar,
glad to be able to explain and promis,
10 mark In red ink all future efforts a
humOr Furthermore We are making
preparations TO open a school of wit ant
If the interpreters of the above para.
graph will join the first class they will
be admitted free because of their neet
for tuition.