New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-20
TILE ELETATLON OF TIE STAGE.


1t is Notifying to be compelled to admit
that insufficient attention has thus far been
bestowed upon a recent utterance of Mr.. Will
lam A. Brady. Of the Coney Island Athletic
Club Referring to Mr. Jeffries Immediately
after that gentleman had caused and duly In
spccted for the space Of ten seconds the finish
of Mr.. FltzsImmons, Mr.. Brady, being still in
state of intellectual and moral exatation
consequent upon the spectacle which he had
witnessed, gave expression TO these remarkable
sentiments: "Jeffres is the most versatile man
"ln America. He Is q fighter, bicycllst
baseball player, and when he learns to talk
from his stomach he Will be an actor" Thus.
apparently without effort and perhaps without
a complete realization Of the magnitude Of his
achievement, Mr. Brady has solved problem
upon which many of the most ingenious men
and women of this generation have layished
labor and money for many years. We scarcely
need to say that we alude to the elevation OF
the stage.
1t would be impossible TO compute the num-
Der of persons who have started out with the
intention of cevatng the stage, and full as
surance OF their ability TO accomplish that In
dlspensable object. and have either returned
from their alluring mission in poverty and dis
trcss or never been heard of again. 1t has been
a mystery how so much zeal and talent could
be assduously employed without result. but
Mr.. Brady has suddenly made the matter clear.
The trouble has been that students and ex-
pOnents Of the dramatic art who have been
solcltous TO elevate the stage have heretofore
failed to perceive the Imperative necessity OF
talking from the stomach. Other parts OF the
human frame have been subjected 10 the most
painstaking consideration. and all such sup
posed concomtants of hlstrionic distinction as
ranent railroad accidents, jewelry press no
tees. hotel fires and divorce suits have been
labOriousy tested Not one OF them, nor all Of
them in combination, could elevate the stage a
quarter Of an inch. Meanwhile the key 10 the
problem was, we had almost said in plain
sight. and the clew to its location was actually
dangling before the eyes Of the searchers.
We believe 1t was Dlonysius. the tyrant OF
Syracuse-thOugh il may have been George
Aldridge, the tyrant of Rochester-who an
nounced the proposition that the stomach, not
the heart Is the seat Of the emotions. II he
was right, and he has never been successfully
refuted ii is obvious that the stomach is the
organ to talk from at all times, and especially
whenever an attempt IS made to elevate the
stage And yet this simple truth has escaped
the attention Of everybody engaged in that in
dustry excepting only Mr. Brady. In all prob
ability 1t would have been overlooked by Mr..
Jcffrles. Notwithstanding the fact that he is the
most versatile man in America, If the immortal
Brady had not given him the pointer at an
opportune moment 1t seems to be the destiny
of mankind TO owe nearly every step In It's pro
gressve advancement to a sudden illumination
derived from comparatively obscure source.
So it is in this instance. II Is only ten days
since the prize-ight but Jeffries has already
begun to talk from his stomach, and the stage
is as good as elevated.