The Washington times., 1901-09-15

| faterly, | wonder where you are. Ha-
| veriy was in New York at this time. Be-
| fore copy of the poem reached him by
| exclaimed:
about you It's great. Read it, and he
| handed 1t to the manager Haverly read
1t slowly and carefully.
What do you think OF it?" asked the
:. Haveriy replied solemnly: Thank God
e. WHAT'S over?" anxiously enauired the
Why replied Haveriy, II have wor-
ried all my life as to what l should like
70 nave inscribed my tombstone.
| r1eld has not written merely a poem He
mas written my epitaph.''
| The well-merited rebuke that William
Gillette administered to the London audi
ence that ''booed' him on his opening
Monday night at the Lyceur has already
borne fruit. When the Casino back-num-
ber, THE Whirl of the Town. was pro-
| duced in the English metropolis wednes-
| day night, and the audience at the end of
| the piece filed out in dead silence no one
booed. no one applauded. The play
/ nid tailed to win favor and even the BY
ritt:ons of the irrepressibie E,lfie Fay. for
merry of the local Bijou stock company.
| We're received IN silence. which, for the
| producers at least. is likely to be very far
from golden.
| applauded Mr.. Gillette for the stand he
| took. and the entire corps OF London ac-
tor-managers and authors have arisen to
call him blessed for having dared to take
the bull by the horns. No one who does
net know something OF the London the
atrical world can realize the state of ter
ror into which these perpetual first night
"booers' have brought the London actors
ard playwrights. Since the last hostile
demonstration was made against Henry
Arthur Jones. not an author has dared
to show his face before the curtain. even
when there has been no question that his
play has scored a success. An English
actor, who Is now In this country. said
regarding the ''booing practice:
Its about time that some enc protest.
ed against the booers. They have made
themselves a nuisance in London for
years, but all the actors have seemed
,hIsi afraid to make any attempts to repress
them. You see an actor-manager always
insists that one of his rivals has insti-
gated the boo-ing out of spite. 1t S enough
to make one laugh to hear Beerbohm
Tree the night after new production at
her Majesty's declaring: George Alexan-
der was at the bottom of all that bocing
last night. Positively that man is so
jealous Of my success that he would stooP
to anything in order to annoy me- And
after an uproarious first performance at
the St. James, Alexander invariably ex-
claims: In all that hostile demonstration
can trace the fine Italian hand Of Beer
bohm Tree. Simply because / am more
successful than he he takes this low
lived means of annoying me- And then
when Tree and Alexander finally swear
truce and get their heads together they
mostly agree that Henry Irving was the
instigator of it all. So eaten up at heart
are these London actor-managers by
their own conceit that they cannot con-
ceive of any situation in which the real
public would refuse to take them
seriously"
Little Lord Fauntleroy has become Q
xha
ment of the marriage of Elsie Leslie to
William Jefferson Winter will make many
persons seem unduly old. 1t seems only
a few years ago that this remarkable
child-actress was drawing crowds to see
her performance of Cedric in Mrs. Bur-
nett's charming play. Her stage associate
of those days, Tommie Russell, who used
to alternate with her in the title role, has
long since owned a mustache and settled
down business man. Miss Leslie her
self has been on the stage as a grown-up
actress for several years, but there has
so far been nothing In her adult perform
ances to warrant the belief that she will
duplicate the furore which she created as
child Miss Leslie is now acting Glory
Quayle in Boston to the John Storm of
E. j. Morgan and is said to have scored
great success In the revival Of THE
Christian
William Jefferson Winter is the young
est son of William Winter, the New York
dramatic critic His eldest brother also
married an actress, Mary Saunders and is
on the stage himself. Mr.. Winter and
Miss Leslie were married August %. but
the announcement of their wedding was
not made until last week.
No actress in the cOuntry's history
ever received more adulation than little
Miss Leslie did in her childhood Mark
Twain had Abbey Sage Richardson dra-
Pauper," for her. Joseph Jefferson was
so fond of her that he was the first to
offer her an engagement when she at
tanned to womanhood Daniel Frohman
withdrew her from the stage and super
intended her education for years in the
hope that she would develop
into great classical actress. and
red to her as his first love. even
since the time, fourteen years ago, when
they played together in "Editha's Burg
lar" Miss Leslie's elder sister, Dora
Lyde, who always acted in the same COM
pany with her sister, was one Of the
most beautiful women on the stage. but
she has long since married and retired
to private life
1t is to be hoped that in the course of
their travels on the road, Miss Leslie and
Christie Macdonald. of Peter Dailey's,
Sope II Sey do h1i ther r'1n mail is 'hf key te
get mixed, for while off the stage Miss
Leslie is now Mrs. William Jefferson
Winter. Miss Macdonald for several
months has been Mrs William Winter
jefferson. The father of each of these
young bridegrooms was the godfather Of
the other.
In his beautiful home at New Rochelle.
Francis Wilson has one of the largest and
best selected libraries in the country. The
comedian is bibliomaniac of the most
type, and he never passes the
book stall of quaint old curiosity shop
without casting long and lingering
glances at the musty volumes of forgot
ten lore. In this regard it is interesting
to note that Mr.. Wilson prizes among his
most treasured volumes all of the number
one copies of Eugene Fields publications.
The actor and the Western poet were de-
voted friends, and whenever Mr.. Field
published book of poems or sketches,
he invariably sent Mr. Wilson the first
copy from the bindery. Each copy has on
with clever bits of prose, witty verse. or
tender sentiment. In the last volume the
poet sent Mr.. Wilson. the sweet singer
penned the following tOuehingly pretty
verses, which Were pathetically prophetic
n view of his untimely death short
time afterward:
As Eugene Field lay dying
The death that good men die,
Came Francis Wilson flying
As only he can fly.
Good friend before you peter
And seek the shining shore,
Write me. in common meter
Some autographc lore.
Then Eugene Field smiled sadly,
And his eyes grew and dim,
But he wrote the gladly
His friend required of him.
And having done his duty
From out its life Of clay
That soul OF spotless beauty
To Canaan scared away.