Evening star., 1901-09-14

said p. B. Chase, proprietor of Chase's
Theater. yesterday.
Vaudeville is in splendid condition this
season. the best state 1t has ever known,
In fact. The managers have succeeded in
finding out practically all OF the unworthy
acts in the business, and are now prepared
to present to their patrons attractions OF
known worth and merit throughout. The
interspersng of the regular vaudeville
weeks with periods of musical comedy and
legitimate theatrical productions of high
order will be the variety which gives spice
to the season. and Will. L believe, be en-
joyed by my regular patrons.
Francis r. Stewart. business manager OF
the Barbara Frietchie' company which
comes to the Academy of Music next week,
is one of the patriotic citizens who gave up
a good position and Joined the Astor Bat
terry in New York. which took such an ac-
tive part in the war with Spain.
I'm afraid Philippine talk is very tame
subject nowadays" said Mr.. Stewart yes
terday. Il think the one special incident
that impressed itself upon the boys more
than anyother was the regularity OF our
| important events occurring either on Friday
| or the 18th day of the month. For those
who are superstitious these facts may be
interesting"
Court in New York city on Friday, May -,
1898. The orders sending us to San Fran
cisco reached US on Friday night and We
| left New York the following Monday, June
13. Our orders to go to Manila were also
given to us on Friday at Camp Merritt San
Francisco. We had one day at Honolulu;
| that day was Friday. We had no 18th day
of July, as we crossed the 10th meridian
at that time and jumped from the 18th to
the 14th Of July. We took our place in the
| trenches before Manila on Friday, August
IL and on Saturday, the 18th, did our little
part in the capture of the city. Yes, thank
you. it was a wram day. September Ii
was most welcome, as We received our
first pay In the new possessions. October
13 was a sad one, for We buried one of our
brightest fellows: Happy Dan,' called
him; prominent New York lawyer he
was: too. who died on Friday. the day be-
fore. November Ii saw us lose four more
members lucky ones, returning to Frisco
on transport, honorabiy discharged. All
our days were numbered, though. for De-
cember 13 was occupied in uor taking
inventory Of our equipment and turning it
over to Lieut.. Hawthorne of the 9th Artil-
| lery.
I'VE left Manila on Friday, December 16.
aboard the Senator and after twenty
eight days OF rough weather as 1t Is
possible to imagine, we tied up at pier ii
lthe captain tried to get in at number IL.
but could noD Of the Pacific Mail line in
San Francisco. Friday. January Il. / may
add that when mustered out on February
We were thirteen men less than when We
left New York, and returned to my theat-
rical duties on the 18th of February"
Among the changes which the current
season will witness will be the transfer Of
VIII A. Page from the dramatic editors
chair OF the Washington Post to similar
| position on the Philadelphia North Amer
lean. Mr.. Page has a large circle of ac-
quaintance, who will unite In wishing him
every success In his new connection. He
will succeed Francis J. ONeill, also a
Washington man, who leaves the North
American to go with the Henrietta Cross
man company.
There appears to be some confusion In
the public and managerial minds as to the
meaning of the terms starred" and flea
tured.' In reality each OF these terms has
distinct significance.
Very often the actor announces that he
starred in a certain play, when. in point
OF fact. he was only featured" According
to professional point OF view, the differ
ence between these two terms Is purely a
matter Of type and position the pro-
gram. When an actor is starred I'm a
play his name the advertising matter
usually precedes that OF the play; for ex-
ample. Miss Viola Allen presents In the
Palace of the King" Miss Aliens name
is printed in type at least twice the size Of
that in which the name Of the play is
printed. If Miss Allen was featured her
In the Palace of the King" on the bills,
and usually with the name of the char
acter which she impersonates. For In
stance. when Dan DAILY appeared in THE
the printing matter read in this way: The
Belle of New York with Dan Daily as
1chabod Bronson If Mr.. DAILY had been
starred in this musical comedy his name
would have come first on the bills.
There is another method Of designating
the star. and that is to be found in the
theater program. practice long in vogue.
but now rapidly falling into disuse was
for the star" to have her name printed
In black or Gothic letters, while the names
OF his or her supporting company ap-
peared in simple capitals. Such stars as
Viola Allen. Mrs. LeMoyne and James
ONeill, who are sure of their positions do
not need and will not permit this sort of
distinction to be made. This use of black
type Is bit of presumption and conceit
that has never been particularly pleasing
to the public. Actors are commonly thought
to be enchanted and enthusiastic egotists
Anything that blazens the fact glaringly
before the eyes of the theatergoer does so
to the detriment of the stage and of the
actor actress who indulge In it. A
slight degree of self-effacement in the ac-
tor is source of pleasurable surprise TO
the public.
A case In point is that of Edward Nor
gan. now being starred in THE Christian"
with great success by Liebler Co. Mr.
Morgan's name Is not given the bills
with obtrusive prominence Nor does his
nome appear on the program In type larger
than that OF his supporting company 1t is
understood that this was the actors own
desire, since 1t is not, as he expressed it.
1.-The size of the type that makes the actor
In the olden times the playbills gave
even greater prominence to the name of the
play than that of the star. Great stress
was always laid on the play to be pre-
sented, followed by the name OF the actor
and the character he would impersonate
An examination of collection of old play
bills discloses the fact that the actor, i'm
the old times. lived up to Shakespeare's
dictum that The plays the thing" Yet
when a Kean or Garrick. Siddons or a
Booth. flashed across the theatrical sky, all
rules and customs were tossed aside The
fact that Edmund Kean would be seen as
Shylock on a certain evening occasioned a
riot Of black type.
COMING ATTRACTIONS.