Sunday morning globe., 1901-10-27

efai ANouuu Ap OF Niyhe iNth uhN
His Original Genius, All IF Which,
Though Little Late, Contains
More Originality than MIR Fitoh's
Intellectual Efforts to Please An
Fortunately George Croyden, in the fourth
act of "The Way of the World, ," interrupted
the christening of his infant son before the
prelate conducting the sacramenlal rite had
reached the climax of the ceremony.
Fortunate that the solemn scene was sus-
pended Yea, verify since the good bishop
would have been unable to baptize the
nursing neophyte for lack Of water not
drop having been provided by the property
man of the company
The oversight is not surprising as prob.
ably none of those in charge of Miss De
Wolfe's affairs had ever been brought in
contact with water In that religious way
and therefore could not be expected to ap.
preciate its fundamental value upon sach an
occasion.
But let that pass
On Tuesday I5th, the Columbia offered
two distinct propositions for consideration,
a new play by Clyde Fitch and Miss Elsie
DeWolfe in the lead For society this was
a double-barreled event of unusual interest
Accordingly an the New England Avenues
and X street went on exhibition at the
theatre to add lustre TO the new show. The
press Of two hemisphercs and q dozen
tongues were also represented by corre-
spondents who had received authoritative
tips TO wire long aud lucid reports of the
d N.. d
that last year Cearles Frohmau lured Edna
May from her allegiance to George W. Led
crer, whereupou Lederer retaliated by de
priving Frohman of the angelic presence in
his company Of Elsie DeWolfe.
"A fair exchange Is no robbery" but was
it fair exchange?
Let the public settle it, for the critics
cannot.
At present Miss May is doing time in
London under George Edwards manage
ment, Frohman having been unable to re.
store her toher rightful managerial owner
But that is neither here nor there.
Mr. Clyde Fitch is about the busiest play
maker that ever hung out sign.
PLAY making while you waltz may be
lucrative, particularly when the customers
are in the great hurry-up class, with money
blazing in their pockets
Mr. Fitch has been fortunes most-favored
author Finding stage doors barred and
strongly guarded against the stealthy attempt
of the native practitioner to effect an en-
trance, Fitch may have gained access to the
cellar of the theatre In the guise Of an elec-
trician or a gas man. Once there he could
easily arrive upon the center Of the stage by
means of the rarely used star trap.
u Ia.
so to speak, it was easy peddling Society
dramas, with characters borrowed boldly
from "The 400" appealed irresistibly TO
women clingiug to the ladder Of ambitious
hope deferred And the parts fitted so
nicely. No one could suspect that they
were not made to order or at least imported.
Bnt Fitch had other wares, of an historical
and patriotic class besides a tray full of
village sketches and an assortment of gutta-
percha eccentric characters warranted TO ap-
pear and act plausibly under all sorts Of
dramatic conditions.
Oh the willy Fitch
oh. the foxy little Samuel of Posen with
his up-to-date novelties and his matchless
bargains.
Why buy Parisian make-shifts and London
hand downs when you have chance to
procure better-as goot right here, for spot
cash?
Well, Fitch emptied his tray and filed his
pockets for, marvellous to relate his "bar-
gains" proved to be such in verify. AT last
accounts sixteen of his pieces were in evil
dence simultaneously, or nearly so in as
many theatres. Now any kindergartner
knows that nobody, from w. Shakespeare
to Sidney Rosenfeld, ever before had more
than four pot-boiers simmering on the same
night
Youth laughs at impossibilides
Allthis Mr. Clyde Fitch has accomplished
In the green tree. What may he not achieve
with ripened intellect and keener and
broader observatiou'
He has at thirty attained a distinction
rarely accorded to a slave of the lamp at
fifty.
THE Way of the World is of a class that
invites or provokes cutting comment The
reviewer finds himself aroused by the ap-
partition of novelty and originality He
feels that he is confronting AN author who
thinks aud acts-one who spuns tradition
and strikes ont upon new lead.
To chaf him is natural. We are ever
prone TO resist the temptation to take a
newly recruited philistine seriously. His
vigor awakeus resentment
But ON second thoughts we are apt to pay
him our respects.
II should be borne we'll in mind that THE
Way -of-the-W World is "a rush order" work
rather than the product Of a happy inspira-
tion. To merit public approval for an effort
necessarily controlled by the limitations
and caprices Of a cash customer is a worthy
achievement Confronted by such condi
lions, the author Of parlor play may easily
exude irouy in lieu Of satire and even in.
dulge in a splash Of farce where wit would
fall fat.
"The Way-oG-the-World" is chaptertorn
from the Book of Life in the Swell Quarter.
The idle rich are pictured in their chronic
state Of respectable iuiquity Victims Of
their own unhindered tastes, desires aud
passions, they serve slavishly at the altars
of Pride and Ambition
Mr.. Fitch certainly holds the mirror up
TO naturen with firm clutch so that those
deep in the swim really can detect them
selves without difficulty But the lesson
he teaches is lost upon an unreceptive con-
congregation, gorged to repletiou, enuuyc
and morally doped. The superb gowning
81 a. a.. o o..