The record-union., 1899-06-17
THE RESULT OF HONEST CRITI-
CISM.

THE RESULT OF HONEST CRITI-
CISM.
That must have been a shockingly in
decent play in a San Francisco theater
which so outraged the sensitiveness OF
the metropolitan press as to bring from
them protest and seourging that at
tracted general attention and led the
owner of the property on which the the
ater stands to sue out a writ Of injunc-
ton.
The production of the play was stop
ped, Of course But mark the result,
perfect jam of people appeared art the
box office on the following night and the
managers, by promising to eliminate the
indecency secured a modification OF the
restraining order. Then the people were
admitted, packing the house in all parts.
The play went on, but shorn of its las
civious features it proved vapid and
dull, and before the thing was conclud-
ed half the people had left the house
growing in discomfort.
Now, what in reason do the theater
goers of San Francisco want? The dra-
matte critics warn them that a play is
too indecent to be witnessed by clean
minded people. Surely such duty do
ing by the critics ought to have been
approved, and the house have been de-
serted. But mark the outcome; the
dear public focked to the theater to see
for itself, and finding the shorn piece
absurdly dull and uninteresting, depart
ed, cursing the critics.
What does it all mean? That there
is such a volume of bad and morbid
taste in San Francisco that a mere an
is the best possible advertisement that
can be given to it? Assuredly that Is
the logical conclusion. Hereafter the
San Francisco critics should in such
cases hold their peace, not mention such
indecencies at ALL and let the public
have its run.
But, then, human nature is pretty
much the same everywhere, and we
doubt not that precisely the same re-
suits would have followed the same or
der of criticism in any considerable city
or town in the land After all there is
perhaps not so much Of condemnation
to be spoken of the public, since we
must assume that clean minded people
did not crowd the house to see the in
decency of the play; that those who did
go, simply represented the morbid
tastes of a certain current of life,
current everywhere found where there
is considerable congestion of population.
We have this of good record of the
San Francisco incident. namely, that
after the warning by the press the wo-
men of the city were very lightly rep
resented in the audience that went to
see the naughty, but nice" production,
which is off of piece with those things
that are dragging the stage down to the
level of the melodeon and the dance
hall. thanks to managerial greed for
coin and the enslavement of art in
bondage to the box office.
The hope that we were to be given.
a respite from pugilistic talk in the
press has been rudely shattered. Scarce
had the echoes of the battle between.
Jeffries and Fitzsimmons died away,
before we find ourselves plunged into
a sea of chatter and expectation about
a contest of fisticuffs between Jeffries
and Sharkey. There is just one thing
however to be said in something OF the
order Of the commendation Of modern
pugilism, namely that it reflects large
ly the growing humanity of civilization.
The ancient pugilist wore the cestus OF
iron and brass upon their knuckles.
and battered out each others brains
with fists padded with scrap metal
and sharp iron prongs. When that
barbaric method of pugilism faded
away with the decay Of Grecian and
Roman power there came on the equal
ly rude and cruel contests with clubs,
and later still the bare knucxle prize
fighting which falls within the MEM
ory Of some living men. Then, too, the
exertion was greater, the trial longer,
the respite from struggle less. Now we
have come down to the padded glove,
the restriction of blows to certain parts.
the limitation Of time in rounds, and
the rest allotted between rounds. Now
we do not demand that the combat
ants shall kill each other, disfigure
one another, or batter out eyes and
tear off ears. but we expressly provide
by rule that the contest shall be de-
cided by blows which may stun but
rarely injure and from which the de-
feated party presently RECEIVERS. So
that even in pugilism we find the hu-
name spirit to have prevailed, and that
civilization has made it's impress.
An exchange calls attention to the
fact, one not enough recognized, that
the combinations known as the trusts
are not very different in methods from
those used fifty years agosby a power
full business man to break down his
weaker rival. These methods belong TO
the old competitive system, not to new
methods which propose to supersede the
old
The London Times" says: LET Mr..
Kreuger grant the Uitlanders full citi-