The times., 1899-11-19
THE. PASSING SHOW.

torrtd zones, or Indian wars by the use ot
lop-sided braces. A year back, the the
atregoers of this city were asked to act
as the hosts of delegation OF no fewer
than five comic opera stars within a fort
night, late in September a similar conven-
ton OF Shakespearean transformers was
quartered here, and now We are 10 be NOR
ally perverted and incidentally amused
by Il long succession OF French faTces.
Really, Klaw & Erianger, or whoever else
is responsible for this condition, must have
= system in direct initiation Of that old
one which suggested the efficacy OF con
trast
As has been stated in these columns fre-
quently, The Times does not wish To de
clare itself for or against the so-catled
| trust. 1t has little sympathy with those
art-loving oppositionists who became re-
signed TO loving their art in the lines of
the enemy Immediately upon that enemy
| Offering suitable inducements. And the
! combination in question. being on the
precipice Of prosperity, needs no sympa-
! thy. Briefly. The Times has arraFed il
! self with the playseer and attempts only
| such fayoTitism as may appear to te2eat
] that collective individual. 1t does not
care to meddle with the busine CT any
translator, besides feeling its utter in
I
before mentioned great and good syndi-
| cate. But the paper does insist hat lt Is
| doing Klaw a Erlang5r, or the whoever
else, a kindly turn by pointing o1t The er
| ror of their present way, and IL IS wiling
| to forego weil-earned gratitude Tor a con
sciousness of duty done.
Tersely. then. this sheet would modestiy
record its opinion that there are better
| means of getting folk into the local thea
frsae f0r Pr in Of
by filing the town 80 full of those same
attractions that one has no choice between
! them. For the average Washingtonian has
his own comfortable regtster-siGe, and
when surfeited with laughter or tears and
| unable to change about may remain at
home. OF course, such an action is loss
| to him, but il also is likely 10 be a loss
20 the proprietors Of visiting shows.
| When the denzens OF the Capital had Frank
! Daniels Della Fox, Jefferson &c Angels,
and De Wolf Hopper as a sort of COM
! posite they did not exercise the prerogattye
| described. When the syndicate, WITHIN
/ fortnight, generously bestowed upon them
Louis James. Kathryn Kidder, Charles 3.
| HanfOrd, Creston Clarke, ard James
| O'NeilI against Robert Downing and Har~
rison J. Wolfe, they did ErUdite parsons
| in the confidence and employ of the alleged
| trust had on hand an excellent excuse for
| the fact that the city was maze "A dumping
! ground for all these devotees CT the Bard.
! They proclaimed tbat the great and good
| body to which allusicn has been made was
anxious TO exterminate a bslHgerent man
! ager. But the claim did not help amuse-
! meEt-IoyeTs or stars or those a whose
! houses The stars appeared.
| During the next three weeks history may
and history may not profit by Shakesps2res
| example anf avoid repeating Itself For
! tunately. every oEe OF the pieces scheduled
/ for presentation comes with The reputation
! Of New York success aud critical assur-
( ance Of admirability. These facts prob
| ably VIII guarantee certain number Of
| big audiences for each. But this number
cannot gain BY ne truism that in the
! space OF month Washington VIII hays
/ had In Paradise" The R0unders." The
| Girl in the Barracks" Mile Fiji The
| Cuckoo" The Girl From Maxim's" ana
! Dear Old Charley all farces; mosI Of
them farces advertised to contain a certain
amount CT saggestiVeness. In agvance
/ nothing can DE urged for or against aay
! Offering on tine list. As has been said, there
is strong likelihood that those which
! are TO come in common with those which
! have gone, are possessed OF merit so ex-
/ traordinary as to offset the effect CT heir
/ dement's. Two or three works Of the kind
/ doubtless would draw appreeiatiye assem-
! bag5s il spread over the calendar g,it1 a
leaf or so between each And it is ogiv too
bad that the whole bunch" racing term
is allowed to pull against itself
The Times must refuse positively to
| consider the excuse that such condi-
ton is unavoidable. The condition might
be unavoidable were there no such great
and good body as The syndicate Though
only rarely were there such clashes be-
fore this syndicate came into existence.
! A firm so powerful and resoureefaI as is
that Of Klaw & ErIGngsr should have no
| difficulty in dividing attractions up in
proper shape When backed by maguates
CT the aifluence aESTibad to the remainder
I of the concern by the New York Ts!e-
graph booking ought to be a constant
source Of pleasure The aforesaid ffrn-Cr
the whoever eIse-shoGld be able to send
the attractions CT its clientele about as a
clever player sends his chssgmeu. II il can
not do this. The chief reason assigned for
the existence Of the great and good body is
not reason at all. And, surely no one
viii wish that admitted.
We're this the first occasion on which
every farce or opera or Shakespearean
drama in the cCIutry had been collected in
one city, the affair might be termed an ,ac-
cident. II is not. Consequently. the ac-
! cdent Genes nearer TO Dave WarfeId's
| definition OF a misaap given after he had
| been told five times Of man falling out
of a window: It is a habit" 1t is i habit
| that bids fair to iniura the local reputa-
tiCn Of the supposed trust But. OF course
that is the business OF no cle outside
CT the booking agents mentioned This
paper is speaking only for the persons
likely to be injured-aulusement lovers and
| stars and those at whose houses the stars
| are appearing.
The Girl From Maxim's." by the wav.
| scored heavily IN New York The critics
Of the metropolis said all sorts of kind
things about it, This being true, would il
not be a good idea for Charles Frohman
10 replace the printing on which his own
opinion Of the farce is conspicuous and
which now adorns Washington. with some
giving the verdicts OF GOtham's reviewers?
Not that Mr. Frohman's opinions are less
valuable than those Of the journalists. but
that, in this case. they are apt to be more
biased. No sane person can have the faint
est doubt CT what the Napoleon Of the
drama thinks of his own attraction
| Speaking of criticism. on Wednesday
night, at the Lafayette. the performance
party consisting of a man and two women.
In the pathetic scenes Of the offering. the
younger Of these women wept copiously,
while her companions giggied in evident ig-
uorance of the sympathy of their friend
who sat almost behind them The trio
was an interesting one to many observers.
Each Of its members apparently was a per-
son of intelligence and experience And yet
! he 1,.ap ,f tf,a inc