Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-06
THEATRICAL GOSSIP.

Among the many curious things owned
by members of the theatrical profession
and priced for their eccentric value as well
as for associations sake none is more
quaint or richer in history than the small
dagger carried By Odette Tyler in the first
act Of Anthony Hopes "Phroso" The
weapon is short. The point is made 10 wave
not unlike an oriental kriss. The handle
is curiously incruSted, and in the end OF
the hilt is set "a perfectly oval moonstOne
of remarkable clearness. The mconstore
and the dagger form together two singular
historical links. The stone formerly be-
longed to Arab Pasha. and he wore it to
fasten the aigrette on his feZ. y legend
says that it belonged at one time to a IA
vorite slave of an heir apparent of an
Ameer of Afghanistan. Be that as is may.
Arab wore ii when he made captive
by the British, who sent him to retirement
with his harem near Port Said. He was
taken there the transport Egyptian
Monarch of the old Monarch line of Lon
don. The chief engineer, Cameron. became
a favorite with him, and Arab made him
a present of a moonstone. Cameron lost his
hfe by trying to save the life of one of his
fremen in the Red sea. and the stone after
considerable knocking about, reached Chris
ties and was purchased by Baroness Bur
dett-Coutts. The very early history of the
dagger is not known. Legend in this case
says that it was purchased because Of its
foreign design, for the use of Charlotte
Corday. This cannot be authenticated
however, but what is known is that for "A
long time 1t was in the imperial apartments
in the Louvre. and on that terrible night
when the eX-Empress Eugene left Paris
lpcagnitn in the carriage Of Or. Evans the
famous American dentist of the French cap
ltal she carried the dagger with her de
tcrmined never to be taken a prisoner by
the mad Partisan mob. Years after she
gave the weapon, with some other curiosi-
ties to the baroness
When Miss Tyler was playing in London
in Secret Service the aged baroness
whose philanthropy has made her name a
household word throughout Christeudom
evinced a great liking for Miss Tyler and
frequently entertained her socially. one
evening after dinner familie at the
Coutts mansion in Mayfair the baroness
gave Miss Tyler the moonstone set in the
hilt of the dagger That it is one of the
most priced of this talented artists posses
sicns may readily be believed.
Plays, as rule, are written first. and
named afterward. Authors and managers
hold consultation after consultation, and
the plausibiity and virtue of many differ
ent titles are discussed. 1t not infrequent-
~ occurs that managers of a coming pro-
duction advertise in the newspapers for a
fitting title, Offering a prize for the one
selected from the many submitted This
idea was originally conceived by Manager
Lederer of the New York Casino. 1t is not
an unusual occurrence that a company
has been organized and rehearsals were
well under way before the actual title of
e
times the management has gained an in
spiratiou from some incident occurring in
the plot, or possibly. even, some chance
speech on the part of one of the actors
The FOUNDERS was named in this way
1t had almost been decided TO call the
work wild Oats when, during re-
hearsal of the third act, the call was made
for Dan DAILY, Thomas Q. Seabrooke and
Edward ID. Tyler TO rehearSe The Round
erS,' scene and song Manager Lederer
who was conducting the rehearsal imme-
dlately turned 10 Mr.. Harry b. Smith the
llbrettiSt, and said: There is the title for
the piece. Let's call it The Roundersr "
And so the newborn baby was named. In
this connection it might be stated also
that many of the best catchlines of a
piece and speeches which have succeeded
in gaining much fame for various actors
and with which they remained Identified for
years, have frequently been discovered ac-
cidentally by some inadvertent remark
For instance. a line which creates possibly
as much merrment as any other in The
Founders, and which is frequently in
terspersed in Thos @. Seabrool1e's part. is:
Il may be wrong-1 may be wrong,' This
was not in the original libretto. but was
added during one of the rehearsals. when
Mr.. Seabrooke was taken to task by the
stage manager for the apparent misconcep-
ton of some of the stage business in a
certain scene. The entire company were
on the stage at the time, and although Mr.
Seabrooke mildly insisted for while that
he was right, he finally changed his mind
and remarked in his droll way: Il may be
wrong-I may be wrong," His manner of
expression at the time created much mer-
rment. and a general laugh resulted in
which the whole company, including the
stage director, Joined. The latter at once
suggested that Seabreoke keep this catch
line in, and use it as a characteristic speech
throughout his part.
Sixiurr Hin, r.,