New-York tribune., 1901-12-01

ment, exhibited at the Salon last spring NJ.
Detaille feels highly encouraged by the ap-
proval already met with. His idea seems 10
captivate Partisan taste and he does not hesl-
tate - predict that il will be adopted by the
Prefect of Police and by the municipal au-
thorities.
The wholesale seizures effected during the last
six weeks by the British customs officials at
Newhaven and Dover of French noVelS eA-
ported across the Channel have INDUCED the
three leading publishing houses OF Paris TO seen
a remedy by urging intervention through Ihe
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Investigation
shows that since October over forty thousahu
French books have been detained at BRUSH
customs Offices Among the works so selzeo
NAV be mentioned lie Crepuscule' by Georges
Ohnet: a series of Guy de Maupassants comes
de Ia Becasse' published by Ollendorff; two
novels by Octave Mirbeau, published py fas-
ouelle: stories and anecdotes by Richard ONION
row and by an author whose nom de plume Is
-Maleffe.' issued by JeVen and by CalIiahh
Levy. These publishing firms are all OF tle
highest repute The arbitrary seizure OF such
hook for instance as Georges Ohnets lie Gre
puscule seems inexplicable. Nevertheless. the
seizure on moral grounds Of some OF the otllei
books, the titles of which 1 have purposeiS
avoided mentioning, would elicit hearty ap-
Saxon observer Since the appearance in Paris
last September OF vulgar. indecent carlcatures
of King Edward, and owing to the enormous
demand for these and for other filthy publca-
tions in behalf of certain booksellers in Leicester
Square, the British customs authorities have
received instructions to execute with the Ut
most stringency the regulations apphcaole 10
the seizure of French books. The result Is
that nearly all consignments Of French BOOKS
are examined, and in doubtful cases held for
periods of week or ten days for the decision
of the inspectors. In regard TO De MauPas-
SAINTS works il is the spicily illustrated covers
rather than the text that has brought them
under the ban. But now that the matter has
been taken UP by diplomacy, assurances have
been given that Ohnet's and other works ABOVE
suspicion Of immortality will be forthwith re-
leased In conversation to-day with representa-
tives Of Calnann Levy, Onendorf, FasqualIe
and Hachette the opinion was expressed that
the difficulty is in a fair way of being
settled Further inquiries from the representa-
tives of the above houses elected replies snow
ing that the demand in the United states Tor
French books is rapidly increasing; not SO much
for pure works of fiction. but rather for MIS-
torical books. memoirs. anecdotes, literary and
biogra phical essays and criticisms
Of six new plays this week, one produced at
the Theatre Antoine written by De Lorde and
Roley and entitled Telephone" deserves special
mention because 1t owes its extraordinary sue
cess to absolutely novel construction. and pre-
sents melodrarna in a phase Of modernity WHICH
in Paris at least, has not hitherto been at
tempted. For here we have a husband who
hears through the telephone his wife
and children being assa ssinated in a deserted
country house eighty miles distant In TINS
cleverly and realistically staged first act we see
the husband taking a hasty leave Of his family
He shows his wife revolver in drawer for use
in case of emergency and confdes his family to
an old and trusty servant He promises ID
telephone during the evening and departs
Afterward q messenger arrives with let
ter summoning the old servant away 10
his mothers deathbed- The messenger left
alone for a moment in the hall taxes
note of the premises and steals the re-
volver The wife, daughter OF twenty and in
fant get nervous toward sunset and think they
hear steps in the garden. To cheer them
up they telephone to the husband. and the cur
tain falls.
In the next act we are at the other end Of the
telephone. The husband, called up by the wife.
exclaims: What. you say you hear footsteps
In the garden? What nonsense! Anyhow, you
have the revolver. What? The revolver is no
longer in the drawer"
antoine who plays the part Of the husband.
thus relates each detail Of a terrible murder
it comes to him over the telephone. Antoine's
exclamations as he hears the steps, hears the
door open, hears the murderers approach his
wife and children. hears their struggles and
death walls, and when he quits the telephone
and breaks forth into unearthly screams and
goes mad, all This has tremendous effect on
the audience and is the Partisan actually Of
the moment, causing the critics to ask: us this
the rnelodrarna of the future?"
The opinion Of the public seems about evenly
divided. Some say yes, others most emphatical-
" no. Anyhow, Antoine's realistic innovation
causes q sensation, and an effect such that
during the first performance. on Thursday night,
q woman whose literary attainments are ap-
preciated on both sides Of the Atlantic, and
near whom happened to be seated, was seized
with n attack of nerves, and unable to master
her emotion. had to be carried away from the
theatre.
As a sojourn in the South is necessary for
Edmond Rostand before he recovers robust
health, il is decided that his reception at the
French Academy will not take place until April.
vicomte de Vogue has been selected to reply to
Rostands Grafton in prose. c. l. 3.
ITALYS BUDGET SHOWS A SURPLUS.