The times., 1899-10-22
FRIENDS OF LAST WEEK

fhlENDS UF LAST HEEk
It's. when one pauses to consider.
very singular thing that the rsformsrs
who have so much to say regarding two sv.
I treue classes of theatres. should be uste-.
iy silent about the sort between. Nearly
everybody Ia the country, from ministers
up 10 newspaper men. condemned The
! Turtle. over in CaEada the authorities
have a way Of occasionally. sendIne TO Jail
the managers Of offending burlesqus cor.-
panies- And yet rarely. il ever. has word
/ been said against When London sIes7s
which has just been shown at the Academv.
The observer may assume. with a sign q
reason, that the Intelligent women who
80 to the Columbia and that the grown
men VINO visit Eerran's are capable at
looking after their own morals without as
slstance from others But this is NOT auir.
true Of the variety OF people who Ba17onizs.
not Manager Rapley's downtown house
but Manager Wallicks dowu-toned meI0-
drama These individuals are principally
poor shop girls ard small boys. with a
spFinkling Of labCFcrs thrown In for good
measure. What they see in When Lon
don Sleeps OF ITSELF Is probably ros 50
tad as IL is disgusting But the very fact
that they go TO witness piece because thar
piece IS supposed 70 be nasty is psruIcious
in its influence.
When London Slesps' is not althv-
even though the spectator is uauseated By
the apparent efforts to make one acf 80
1t Is only cheap and silly and elap-trapy. II
the foolish women who attend perform
ances OF the play do not realize this fact
their escorts must. There is nothing alIur-
ing or even vicious In the scene in what ia
alleged 70 be q place OF bad repute. Several
Of the most awkward shambIing. dirtv-
faced supers Imaginable stroll about in i'll
fitting, unbccomIng evening attire. tryius
their hardest TO look at ease Some dozen
homely females sit at small tables and
drink cold tea from water glasses One
actually smokes a cigarette And because
Of the uHgraceful. Disconnected maneuvres
OF this squad When London Sleeps has
been profitable for several seasons. Barr
ing the cigarette smoking. an observer
might see the same incidents al a church
social. When London Sleeps Is disgust
ing It IS partially disgusting because suca
a play and so played 1t is chiefly disgust
ing because idiots attend its rendering II
the police are to have anything to do with
the American theatre they would do wen
TO begin operations with When London
Sleeps"
And. by the way. while New YorkerF
are determining that they do not care for
rhe Hebrew drama, would it not be a good
idea for Washington TO begin impressi1g
upon the managers Of local vaudevils
houses the fact that the Hebrew comedian
is becoming de trop2 There was some
excuse for this individual when he first
appeared. just as there was some excuse q
for the tramp and for the c0lo-ed gent O.
man IN the WOmans waist All three
were novelties. After Walter Jones stop
ped locking like a 'profuse'' Illustration
of a temperance lecture and wills Sweat
man had returned his costume to the wash
lady, from whom it was borrowed their
imitatOrs started TO work and the lie OF
the man who earns his salary BY attending
the theatre became a burden 20 him. Dave
Warfeld, who was the only impersouat0r
of Semitic types who did not make one
wish for he repeal OF the law against a.
sault and battery, has not yet cut ont his
specially. but he must do SO soon and
then viii be the time for the public TO see
that the histrionic history OF former years
does rot repeat itself
Jordan and Weich, who were heard last
week at the Grand recalled to mind tEs
fact that no one OF these acts has ever
differed from the other in the slightest.
If the performer is a uolo'0EisJ be juva-
riabIy makes his appearance from ri1i
semi-circle Of inEy whisbers- Fis hat
is pulled over his eyes. two or three OF his
teeth are bIacEed out. his coat IS long AMI
shabby and his shoes are dus5y- Re
ways reaches the centre Of the stage and
folding his bands. tells about Eebeecd AMI
Isaac and Cohen. If there are two per-
formers things are twice as bad. B0t1
dress as does their single brotze-. 30 h
take the middle Of the boards Iesr ar the
audience, shake hands ard hen g0 az eacd
other. The jokes never vary T1ere is the
Jew who has set fire to his store AM the
Jew who takes his son To the depot that Be
may see the cars come in and the jew Who
did not want the police officer to shoot a
thief i'm the legs because "dc pzn.s be CIg
to me- What jests are rot used fin the
are put in bad English.
wretcbsIly rhymed ard sung in cracked
voices 20 the tune Of some popular song.
This regime is never altered. and it has
become uulearabls- The Hebrew iuper-
senator IS an insult TO the Jewish race
To the Christian he is an 050-iferous. uau-
seating. cye-wearyiug ab-u.nation. AMI
-ae sooner he realizes it the better.