The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-27

tion made at this late day in the season,
but he has announced that the scenery
will be hurried forward to completion as
rapidly as possible.
In the meantime Mr. Sothern will con-
tinue his tour, using Henry Milier's pro-
duction OF Hamlet" which that actor
generously proffered to his fellow-player
as soon as he heard of his loss.
In discussing the misfortunes that have
overtaken Mr.. Sothern this year, Mr..
Frohman says:
The misfortune might have been worse.
all things considered. / am very glad that
no lives were lost and that there were no
serious accidents. Sothern has had re-
markably long run of i'll luck, ii is true.
but my sympathies are all with him and he
is sure to win great success in the end
He now is in excellent health, which.
after the nine weeks of serious illness.
Is something for which to be thankful.
My plans for the company are not COM
pleted, and 1t may be that they must lose
two weeks more. l cannot say this posi-
lively. however. and will not be able to
talk until l receive more definite knowl-
edge than l possess at present relative to
the loss of costumes and scenery. / be-
lieve my insurance policies are sufficient
to cover most of the losses, but of course
l expect to lose little through the in
terruption of the tour
Peter F. Daley. or Pete" as he is
generally called by those acquainted with
him, is as full of anecdotes and stories
as an egg is full Of meat. He comes here
this week in Hodge, Podge & Co., and
the following tale is rather apropos.
Years ago Mr.. Daley was one OF the
members of big team of variety per-
formers known as the big Four. Their
act was unique. and they became ceie-
brated throughout the country. In their
performance they gave burlesque on
Hamlet" which was particularly enter
tanning and in which Daley represented
the grave digger. They were playing In
the West, and were obliged to jump from
Los Angeles to Ell Paso, and in order to
break the jump, played at night in Tuscon,
Ariz.
The opera house was built over gro
Gerry store. and the comedians found ii
necessary to build platform from the
floor of the store to within four or five
feet of the stage, in order to open trap
for the gravedigger scene. Through
some unforeseen accident, when Daley
got into the grave, the platform gave way
and he was precipitated among the cab
bages, turnips, and other green goods.
Seeing no way to get back in time for his
cue, he hastily grabbed up the skull.which
store, ran up the front stairs and through
the audience and over the footlights onto
the stage. When he began to speak his
lines. Alas, poor Yorick," ETC.. and held
up the skull, he discovered that in his
haste to recover the ancient headpiece,
he had taken one of the cabbages instead
OF the skull.
Another story he tells is about town
In Iowa, in which he arrived early in the
day, and the manager took him around to
show him the improvements he had made
In his opera house Everything Is an opera
house in a one-night stand). After taking
the comedian through the house and snow
ing the new backs he had put in the seats,
and some new cocoanut mating in front
of the door. he took him on the stage and
disclosed through a door in the back
canvas tent, such as is used for sideshows
at a circus.
What's that for?" asked Daley.
That's where the actors dress" replied
the manager, land l had it put there so
that they would not have TO walk through
the aisles and disturb the audience as
they used to do when they dressed in the
box Office"
Mr.. Dailey's tour this season has
been far beyond the expectations Of
eral years he was the leading
feature of Weber & FIELDS Music
Hall, in New York and 80 great has been
his loss to the proprietors OF that estab-
lishment that only recently he has de-
clined an offer made by them of the mu-
nificent sum Of $500 per week, which is
probably the largest sum ever offered
single actor for continuous engagement
Of ifty-two weeks. This is what Mr..
Dailey's press agent says, and in theatre
cal life press agents figures are sup
posed to resemble those of the newspaper
circulation manager Of the alleged comic
journals.
1t is not generally known that Stuart
Robson wanted to play oliver Gold
smith" some years before he made the
production that was so generally praised
last year and which Is duplicating that
success this season. Mr. Robson. in speak
ing of the matter recently, said;
1T is ten years ago since the idea OF
presenting Goldsmith's character occurred
10 me At the time l could not touch
it. The Henrietta was the only thing
playgoers wanted in those days. Still, l
went on thinking of Goldsmith. In the
quiet hours spent in my library, he had
been one of my closest companions, and
I looked forward eagerly TO the day
when l could picture his life on the stage.
It is very hard. though, to make Tepu-
tation as a comedian and turn aside
think-or read. have been trying TO do
that sort of thing during the past few sea
sons | made one stupendous attempt OF
this sort last season when l put on The
Gadfy.' l spent $4,000 staging the pro-
duction 1t was a wonderfully strong
piece of work. but the motif killed it. We
cut the most dramatic situations from the
story. They touched too closely on the SUD
iect of religion to be staged, no matter
houy carafrIIv After all ii was the re-
ligious dialogue-small as 1t was-left in
The Gadny' that killed 1t. When l saw
that I must finally shelve the piece, l
determined on carrying out my long-cher-
ished scheme of putting oliver Cold
smith in a play.
Several years ago l had suggested the
man as a theme for drama to Augustus
Thomas. In September, year ago, he
began work on 1t. Six weeks later, the
manuscript was in my hands and l con-
slider it a mastery piece of work, too.
He has depicted faithfully not only tie
character OF Goldsmith with all its lido
syncrasies, but he has made excellent
character studies of Johnson, Garrick,
Boswell and Burke. It is the sort OF play
which delights an audience of people who
are readers and scholars. 1t may seem
strange. but on the road l can find such
audiences much more readily than in cos
mopolitan New York"
There has been a change in the man
agement of the stock company at the La
favette Theatre, and since last Monday
night Mr.. Walter Clarke Bellows. VINO
has formerly occupied the position of
stage director, has been the manager of
the company Mr.. Berger still retains his
position as manager of the theatre but
has relinquished control over the COM
t. cum sfaTN