The times., 1899-10-01

c<hHth15 u W AhO - V >~~~ 49,
dollars. Ninety-hine men out of one hundred In
purchasing a book look at the last page to see
whether it ends right" There should be
law compelling dramas to wind up In proper
shape, marrying the right persons, killing on
the improper character, where slaughter and mar
rage are necessary to the telling OF tne story
if there were any danger that dramas not adher-
ing to these rules would prove popular. OF COURSE
there many women and also many men who
ought to be women, who love TO unlimber their
lachrymals in house of play. Such weak ones
should not be catered to. They may obtain the
prominence and publicity for which they yearn
and give expression to their weakness elsewhere
As matter of fact the individual has troubles
enough of his own over which to weep and bias
pheIne fortune without being made TO pay from
S1-50 upward for orchestra chair wherein to
witness the portrayal of hard-luck tales The
public is beginning to- recognize this fact. The
light and frivolous command dollars whereas the
exemplars Of meodrama and tragedy have been
forced to fifteen and twenty five minute turns in
vaudeville houses. This is as it should be- 1t
skills not to mourn over the waning popularity
of Shakespeare's tragedies. Their vogue cannot be
restored. Shakespeare needed for day when
persons were not bred so finely and not
soft hearted that they quit work to shed tears
over theories. As emotion promoter, Shakes
peare had his uses. In these times of nerve worn,
finely drawn constitutions and overedueated in
tellects Shakespeares value is purely literary.
In a choice assortment of prize idiccfes
this is absolutely unparalleled. il not in
explicable The idea that, because there
are many women, and also many men who
ought to be women, who love to unlimber
their lachrymals in a house of play" all
things serious should be taken from the
stage is more than trifiingly amusing. The
condition hoped for would not be. When
the time in which the theatres can only Of
fer deceiving husbands and Delighted ladies
! arrives, theatregoing will have ceased to
| be either a pleasure or an instruction
| With the domestic Cheshire cat and the
| savage laughing hyena as the most learned
| of beings, with Du Souchet and George
| Lederer as masters of the dramatic muse.
with all the best forms of the mimic world
| gone, the Telegraph critic might appear
| to advantage, but no other benefit would
| be likely to be gained.
| As matter of solemn fact, all OF the pa
| pers mentioned are at fault An offering
| is artistic not because it is hilarious or be-
cause it is doleful, but when it is clever
There is no shame in enjoying bright dia-
! logue or witty lines or amusing situations.
! There is no reason for condemning catchy
music and graceful dancing and uproarious
| comedians. There is no necessity for foist-
| ing the unpalatabe cynicisms, the stupid
morbidities Of Hauptmann and Echegaray,
! on an unwilling public merely because
| EVERYONE in that class of drama dies in the
| last act Neither is there sense in the
proposition that, because a few silly matt
! nee girls may cry upon seeing Camille
| or "A Little Ray of Sunshine every
thing serious should be removed from the
boards All strong plays elevate; all hu-
man plays have morals; all plays of merit
are enioyable-again, all clever plays are
artistic. There is no reason for revolution
izing the theatre, and no probability that
| il will be done. The theatre does not re-
auire changing. This need seems to be
| confined to the people who want TO do
the revolutlonizing.
If, however something must be revolu-
| tioniZed t9-ere are several pieces in New
York that might benefit by the process.
They are not the supposedly obscene farces,
which generally simmer down to such dis
plays of lingerie as one sees in the shop
windows: or the immoral dramas, which.
like the questionable stories, seem to have
almost a monopoly ON worth. They are the
nonsensical, puerile, infantile piles of
theatrical rubbish with which Gothamites
appear TO be glutting themselves. If ''all
the clever plays are artistic all idiotic
plays are dreadful. Nothing is more dis
graceful than Stiffness. A well-wielded
clap stick may easily do more harm than
tolcrabIe not because they are indecent
but because they are wearisome. And it IS
on this sort of thing that New York thea
tregoers are sustaining their minds
Some few evening since Hammersten's
Victoria was opened by the Rogers Brothers
!, in John MeNally's latest effort, THE Rog-
ers Brothers in Wall Street" The house
was crowded to the doors and the audience
, laughed itself almost into Mysteries. There
were encores and curtain calls and
| speeches One would have thought that
Shakespeare had been successfully modern
lied or that Sardou had produced a new
comedy greater than any of his old tri-
umphs The Victoria has been packed
during the past fortnight. The papers have
published columns Of praise concerning the
, performance-papers like the Herald
the Sun" the Times the Commercial
Advertiser the Mail and Express" ant
the News. ~
From a distance all this might have beer
| very well had not several of these period
, icals also printed extracts for the benefi
of those who could not be enlightened BY
, THE Rogers Brothers in Wall Street.
, | And the extracts show Just what sort of al
| entertainment this affair Is. Said on,
sheet: From the ticker Lee Harrison read
It's dull day for news: no one accuse:
: Croker Of anything Everybody roared.
, One would have expected them to bray