The age-herald., 1901-11-17
Mrs. Fiske's Fight SE t [ G E I | On the Trus

JCSSCO3CG0CSOCC OCCCCCC0CCOCCC c just the reverse of Miranda, in that he is aetuated by but one impulse and that to add to her wretchedness in every way. He adds insult to injury by accusing her of loving the young Englishman who rescued him, and the entire scene is a Wretched mockery.
 Of course Miranda loves the English man, but the strong psychological motif of the play hinges entirely upon the vary ing moods of Miranda in her efforts to remain true to herself, to prevent any scene between herself and the man she loved that would tempt them into a con- fessional. The play loses this trend when Miranda's s husband has her so completely in his power, and when he leaves her 1t Is a hopeless future to which Miranda seems doomed. But a kind Moor upon whom Ralph Warrimer had once inflicted a cruel punishment has been waiting (with the audience) to settle few old scores with Ralph and kill him in a charming Moorish manner just outside of Miranda's house in Tangier.
 The Englishman tells her of 1t, but there is no scene. But there is wonder full silence and Mrs. Fiske walks across the stage, her spangled gown glistening weirdly in the light from the Moorish lamps
 T must go to him." she says in her high-unmodulated voice, and she goes very determinedly, unshaken by a mood. It seems all very natural, very real, very unnatural unreal, but Mrs Fiske Is all this and more, and even a wretched play cannot disguise her art.
 Mrs. Fiske's position on the New York stage Is unique, by reason of her we'll Known and long continued fight against the theatrical trust, a war that her hus- band, Harrison Grey Fiske, has waged for years. The Manhattan Theatre, where Mrs. Fiske Is playing, Is owned by her husband, and it is as distinctive from the other play-houses as Mrs. Fiske differs in her art. There is no other thea tre in New York where the stairway to and photographs that have a value aside from an intrinsic one, and the foyer is done in soft colprs that seem almost sub dued in the softer lights.
 Mrs. Fiske, owing to her attitude to the trust, is constantly being commended in many of the papers for her independence regarding the syndicate, and there is scarcely paper in the country that has not at some time discussed the attacks made upon her by several newspapers that are friendly-to the trust.
 It is said now that if certain New York critics desire to show their animosity to Mrs. Fiske they attack hec plays nnmer- cifully ard unhesitatingly pI oclaim them the greatest failure of the season.
 When Miranda of the Baicony' was in its first week at the Manhattan a dra- matic critic on a New York paper an- nounced that Mrs. F'iske has decided to make no fight against the unanimous yer dict of failure of Miranda of the Bal cony'" and that Mrs. Flske was then rehearsing a new play. This statement so angered Harrison Gray Fiske that he demanded a retraction of the libel and had the satisfaction of the paper admit ting that its former statements were erroneous"
 in which Mrs. Fiske figures conspicuous ly in a notorious fight against the theat- rical truft. It IS one of many instances where she has been maliclously attacked.
 t'.
 Mrs. Flske. standing almost alone as she does in her independent attitude, never loses an opportunity to explain why she is opposed to, the trusts. After her rerformance the other night at the Manhattan she hurried to Sherry's, where as a guest of the Nineteenth Cen tury Club, she addressed a large assem- bly her subject being ''The Influence Of the So-called Theatrical Trust Upon the American Drama.'iE
 She spoke in that rapid enunciation that characterizes her at all times.
 In reviewing the operations of the trust she declared that it was monopoly and a foe to independent enterprise. The trust she stated. was formed under the guise of a booking agency, but that now 1t controlled seventy first-class theatres, or nearly all of the best theatres in the country.
 Mrs. Fiske cited her own case as well as that of other actors who, unless they were booked by the trust to play in trust houses were forced to give up the at tempt to act in certain cities.
 Nevertheless said Mrs. Fiske, '1 have succeeded in appearing before the public for thirty or thirty-five weeks each season, and despite the inconveniences and obstacles that are constantly pre- sentng themselves it is my candid opin- ion that the actor who Is able to play in- dependently of Yhe trust requires no pop ular sympathy"
 Mrs. Fiske attacked certain newspa- pers that support the trust. whose col umns are used to exploit the trusts en- terprises and which ignore as far as possible any reference to dramatic ven lures that are independent of the trust.
 Mrs. Fiske is courageous in her fight against the trust and whenever an occa- sion presents itself when she can express her views upon the monopoly" a flood of light is turned on this syndicate so antagonistic to dramatic art.
 
 has been the guest of Mrs. J. P. Mc- Duffie has returned home. .. q Mrs. R. B. Taliaferro Is quite i'll at the home of her father, Capt. J. T. Brooks.
 Miss Leona Dorsey of Gainesville, Ga,
 L. l. IL <14A