New-York tribune., 1900-10-02
THE DRAMA.
ONE MORE AMERICAN ECCENTRICITY
MR.. CRANE AS DAVID HARUM.

.t.. of ths presentment OF David Harum' by
M Crane, at the Garrick Theatre-this eternal
seweI takes the form Of an uncouth bucohc eccen-
fricitv a bald headed rural banker with a small
,rart On his face and a large heart in his bosom,
whose pleasure IS while willing TO be considered
an old curmudgeon, to overreach and discount un-
scrupulous competitors. TO befriend merit, to re-
member a past injury and past kindness, and to
reuuite them both and, in instance at least
acting partly from native good nature and partly
from a desire shine in his own eyes,-to rescue
the oppressed and to do good more or less by
stealth. This paragon OF subterranean benevc-
,ence is manifested as an inhabitaat of country
town over which he predomnates by virtue OF
his ready money, his shrewdness in bargains, his
inerrant knowledge OF every being in the neigh
borhood. his aptitude quilting tricksters while
preserving a guileless exterior, his jocular humor,
and his expeditions enterprise. 1t is made known
that he has emerged from the affective condition
Of an ill-treated and wretched boyhood and
through toilsome industry and quick use of acute
business faculties. has obtained competence. He
Is then displayed through a concatenation of abso-
iutely commonplace Observation-Disclosures as monot-
onous and undramatc as the disconvoutlon OF
thread from a spool.-as contriving 10 advance the
fortunes of q young man TO whom he has taken
fancy and as pouring afiuence upon the INDECENT
widow of a deceased benefactor, person who had
treated him kindly when a boy. His name Is
David Harurn and Mr.. Crane has embodied MIN
with much austere homeliness Of aspect with
strenuous realism Of OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES De-
,nr Mr. Cranes nf1rmity, a comedan,-and
with ali his accustomed exuberance of enusive
energy.
The praiseworthy conduct Of David Harum. set
OF by his pristine crudeness and raw manners. Is
the theme of the play and is thus the subject to
be considered. His proceedings, OF course, natu-
rally win approval alike from the recipients OF
20 much bounty and the spectators OF so much
practical munihcence. The point seems TO oe that
n IS fine thing for a rich to remember those
persons who were good to him when he was poor,
and 10 be thoughtfully generous in the oestoWa OF
such benefits as may from the judicious dif-
fusion Of his wealth. This is not very mover or
romentous proposition and. left to itself, II might
not strike an audience into amazement and admi-
ration BY way of enforcing its significance, there-
fore It seems to have been assumed that this de-
Hghtfu procedure must especially stir the pubic
bosom and must elicit a perfect rapture Of public
sympathy, If only IT be ascribed to an uiterate
countryman whose countenance is adorned with
hatpegs who eats with his knife, and who Is
easily competent circumvent sharper In trad
ing for horse. Such assumption was emil
nently essential; but, unhapply, 1t is inefeclVe IN
It's practical result. In actual life there have oeen
many men who have aided meritorious youth ana
relieved the suerngs of the worthy poor; and this
they have done modestly and simply, without any
eccentricity Of circumlOcution or any fanfaronaoe
OF magnanmlty. The conduct Of Edmund Burke
toward young George Crabbe the conduct OF LORD
Houghton toward young David Gray, the conduct
Of Samuel Rogers in various instances might De
cited typical Of many such courses OF true
benevoence shown in the right spirit and the right
way Practical goodness OF this kind, in fact, has
been and is. far more common than proper ap-
preciatIon Of IT, Being common, IL is not striking,
and neither does it become striking through being
associated with eccentric characteristics In the
person of its exponent. AS a subsidiary and
incidental character. in a genuine play,-by
which Is meant fabric of action, Incl
dent and dialogue that tells a coherent and
effective story in a dramatic manner.-the gro
tesque individuality of David Harum redeemed by
innate kindness and gayly apparelled with the
outward hourishss Of humor might be made to
ia F1yu As he
tral figure In a drama he IS preposterous because
he is out OF all proportion-a pygmy set upon
monument and made absurd by inappropriate
prominence In the fable associated with him
there Is literally. story whatever. A youth and
q maid who love each other are accidentally and
temporarily parted and, in the course Of their
absence from each other. the youth becomes ac-
ouainted with David Harum and enters into his
service,-thus in time, becoming acquainted with
some OF his AFFAIRS and with many OF his peculiar
ities After this period of rural observation and
trial the youth and the maid are restored to each
other and are consigned to matrimonial bliss. The
interude is all quizzical touches in the mar
ratIve and few whimsical traits In the centra4
character combined with a gentle vein Of waggery
in the style and with unconscious intimations OF
an aniable temperament and payful olspoSiuoh
on the part of the writer, make up the sum OF
rnerit In the original book. Nothing could well Dc
more fragile and feathery, as a novel. Nothing
could stand at a further remove from even the
sernblance Of drama David Harum does not
contain play, and, accordingly, II "As hot pO9-
sible that play should be derived from IT, But II
contains character and this chart .er-which is
not in any way exceptional or re-arKaole' OF
Quaint or attractive-has. in some unaccountaple
manner obtained large measure OF pubic at
,enrion The whole of Western New-York, indeed.
seems 70 be popuIous with claimants for the honor
of having been being, the original OF this poI-
trait: and II has charmed Mr.. crane VINO Pioo-
ably sees In It an agricultural angel OF virtue ana
beneacence His acting carries 1T; but no acuhs
could make loose synopsis Of a crude novel seem
q veritabIe play The adapters, Messrs r. and
NJ W Hitchcock appear 10 have assumed that the
audience would thoroughly know the booK and
therefore they have attempted nothing more Ihsn
z diegesis of II. The course of the movement is
-1,ghtir changed John Lennox becomes Harums
clerk Mary Blake becomes school teacher IN
Harum's town. The lovers are kept asunder by
poverty Harum mystifes them both' for time
by pretending 10 be niggardly brute (the pretence
is very himsy and transparency, but finally ne de-
lights them both. by revealing himself as reaHy a
benevolent. Other persons meander In ano tIlche
out; ril Of domestic sentiment, In the dialogue
"a steadily kept flowing a mush OF common
place occurrences in the action; and the Anerl-
sanism of the entire concoction is duly certiheo
by calculations of darn" and "by thunder.
and dun" and "tu hum" together with all
the rest OF the recondite syntax never epcouh-
tered anywhere except in the American drama
In book-snce you lay II down when you
are tired OF t-a little of David Harum can De
endured In actual life Of the David Harum
class while and then amusing, are, Tor the
most part insuferabIe Their eccentricty may, oc-
casionally, be laughabe,-but their uncouth man
ners are tedious; their conceit, always colossal Is
repulsive; and their boorish sef-assertion is con-
tinual annoyance They are blatantly egotisticali
their talk is forever about themselves: they admire
nothing so much as ''smartness'' and 'cuteness
ana they make life commonplace for all around