The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-06-04


Professor Heilprin in Popular Science
Monthly: A community of this klaa
Oawson) must necessarily have ITS
dance halls and places of amusement.
The latter consisted at the time OF my
arrival of four "theaters" Or opera
houses''-the Combination, Monte
Carlo" Mascot and Pavilion, TWO
, of which suspended or closed up peIofe
the season" had fairly opened. Oroi-
: narily, the price of a drink at the par
of entrance paid for admission to the
performance with seat, and many VIII
agree with me in believing that the ad-
mission was fully paid the acllng
need not be worse at any theatef, anu
the singing could hardly be surpassed
in it's eccentrfcities; yet the perform
ances appeared to satisfy a general de-
mand, as ordinarily the houses were
packed to their full capacity evening
after evening. Needless is it to say
that the performances are not intended
for women in good standing, unless
heavily screened behind the curtains of
the "boxes." The plays are all of
low order, but the worst is not much
worse than some of the plays that are
tolerated in all their nastiness in Some
Of our own legitimate theaters. 1t IS
singular and interesting as showing the
influence of necessity that sacred sun
day concert in aid of the fire depart
ment was successfully carried through
in the capacious halls of one of the most
notorious dancing resorts
From the London Mail: yictorien
Sardou, the author of "Robespierre,"
which Sir Henry Irving produced at the
Lyceum recently, has now written plays
for over forty years, and since the
death of his brother playwright and
bosom friend, Dumas fils, can be I'M
hesitatingly crowned king of drama
fists. Although a man of great indi-
viduality, Sardou's personality is al
most unknown to those English aud
|. fences which have enjoyed Perl"
Diplomacy "A Scrap Of Paper" La
Tosca,'' "A Mans Shadow and numer-
Gus other adaptations from his facile
pen. Victorien Sardou member of the
French Academy, is now nearly bS
years of age, having been born ON
September 5, 1881, in the QUARTER ST.
Antoine, Paris His father was a
professor of history and the editor CT
numerous classics. His son Gone never
IedQS VI diiy OlilSl CiflluA CHI NSS tai GU
in the midst of highly educated circle.
and was finally turned into the medical
schools of the Quarter Latin in order
that he might graduate as a doctor.
But Sardou as a doctor was not a sue
cess. Lodging in a garnet with an
other student, they endeavored to keep
life together upon a three-sous break
fast and a six-sous dinner Like the
picture very idealized thought drawn
by another dramatist in Our Boys"
they wrote cheap articles for dictionar-
les and tried to gain subsistence by
journalism. AT last Sardou wrote his
first play, and La Taverne des Etudi-
ants appeared in 1854. AT the end
of the first act it was doomed At this
sefd of the second its unhappy author
rushed from the building. vowing never
tc enter 1t again. In 1858 he married
Mile de Brecourt, who had considerable
green-room influence, and, at the earn
est solicitation of the famous Virginie
Dejazet, he took up his quill once more.
In 1860 was produced at the Gymnase
Les Pattes de Mouche,'' and his future
fame was assured. This play, now
transferred to the permanent repertory
CT the Coincide Franchise, is well known
in England as "a Scrap of Paper" with
Mrs. Kendall in the leading role Sar-
dou's physiognomy has been compared
to those of Dante, Voltaire and Napo-
leon Bonaparte. He is small, thin.
wiry, with sharp eyes and mobile
mouth. He is perhaps best described
as being a good lover and a good hat
err" His plays have brought him in
enormous sums, and he keeps a country
establishment almost regal. Indeed
the chateau and park at Marty -le-Roi,
near St. German, and overlooking the
valley Of the Seine, TO merry belonged 20
Louis XIV. Gossip reports that it was
originally purchased with the royalties
accruing from La Famille Benoiton,"
a very successful drama of the early
sixties. No matter whether the play
wright be at Marly-le- Role or in his
gorgeous Partisan fat near the Church
st. Augustin, he is always a tremendous
worker. How many plays Sardou has
written Sardou only knows. Awake
and about at o'clock from January
to December, at he commences 10
write AT II he has a slight lunch
unlike most Frenchmen of genius he is
not great FEEDER, then scribbles away
until 3. If writing has been finished
for the day. work has by no means end
ed He has actresses to interview and
managers to argue with. Woe betide
the man who stands up against Sar-
dou upon question of archaeological
detail for the dramatist's learning is
almost universal. For thirty years he
has been noted as a spiritualist and me-
dunn. HIS views upon Shake pesre e
more those of his prototype Voltaire
than of the generality of French au-
thors In a republican country he is
an unbending monarchist, which may
be accepted as one explanation why so
many OF his plays (Thernidor, for in
etance) have brought down such tor
rents of journalistic abuse. In one re-
spect at least Victorien Sardou strongly
resembles Sir Henry Irving. Both are
famous for their charity; they are ever
willing to assist the struggling or fall
len in a calling noted for its ups and
downs In Paris the king of dramat-
lists bears the same enviable reputation
accorded in London to the head of the
English histrionic profession.
t SoEs YoUR