New-York tribune., 1901-03-17
"UNCLE TOMS CABIN.
HON. THE MYSTERY PLAY OF THE NINE
TEENTH CENTURY MIDDLE AGES AP-
PEAI.S TO THE YOUNG PER-
SON OF TO-DAY.
SON OF TO-DAY.

"T-ncl- Toms Cabin" This view of the subject
nourfshes nowadays in many rural districts
north of Mason and DiXon's Line, Where uh'le
Toms Cabin still retains a peculiarly sacred
character in connection with certain great prlh-
cirles now regarded by the greater part of the
civilized world as finally established on the basis
of ax:oms AS for the South. a Southern you'h
who was asked last week if he liked uhc'e
Toms Cabin" replied, with the dignity of one
making "A public confession of falth: NO. SIR
NV sympathies are not with the play, sir
The revival of this drama at big New-f ork
theatre afforded the eavesdropper an oppor-
tunitv of observing how the younger generation
of a great city-even the younger generation ol
the tenderer sex-have hardened their hearts IN
this affair. The eavesdropper went to a Satur-
day matinee, at which it seemed that the srouhd
floor was packed with girls of less than the
graduation age, but here and there standing AT
the back of the rows of seats. were some men
past middle life. Now, the strong points or What
may be called the pure and apostolic show are
~ Uncle Tom and Eva. % Topsy and Miss
Ophelia 90 BlOodhoundS and Ice. In the latter
dav rendering there is the additional interest OF
the cakewalk which is so entirely foreign to the
cCnception Of Mrs Harriet Beecher stowe as 10
amount to "A corrupt following" The impress
sion derived from that Saturday matinee study
vas that the cakeWalk was not second in inter
est to any other feature in the eyes OF the
ground floor as a whole the elderly men at the
back formed "a minority all the more important
because # its smallness Topsy and Miss
Ophelia seemed To come next in Importance to
the cakewak in the judgment of the majority.
SIcalliug from the point Of view of the con-
temporary New-York City schoolrir-the ste
ncgrapher. salesWoman. teacher and matron Of
the next twenty years Topsy Is wonderfully
ana cc,ightfully original conception an end man
and circus clown combined. endowed with the
additional charm of juVcnlty and sex. There
may be no good reason for crediting Mrs stowe
with this conception; the minstrel end man may
never have entered into her thoughts. nor T"rsy
into those of the original end man; Mrs Stove
may have had very different and much NOR"
serious idea in her creation; but all these things
are as ancient history to tn" contemporary New
York schoolgirl, who accepts Topsy as pretty
good ragtme fun. in spite Of the criticism that
like Shakespeare, she is always getting off quo
tatIous."
The elderly mon who stood in the doorways
took a strongly contrasting view of tn, whole
thins. Their ages ranged about the half cen
tuIy mark. So that they must have been ten
twelve OF fourteen years old when II ncIr Toms
Cabin was doing its chief work: they We're not
old enough to 90 to the war but they heard ali
about it in their time, the sick and wounded
ana can still remember al the thrills associated
with Mrs. Stoves great book when it stil
taken very seriously. To such take the
group of three leaning against the wall by the
right hand door-Topsy is minor character.
permissible foil not 10 be thought of at the
same time with the serious features Of the great
drama. while, if they recognized her amusing
sayings AS SO many bits OF facctiousncss which
they themselves have been using in their lighter
moods since boyhood. they at least know that
"'Spccs | Erowod" ana the little black angel"
joke with its piquant suspicion Of profanity. are
Toms Cabin is still something Of religious
drama for these mcn-a sort of mystery play of
the ninctcent century middle agcs-the play
whose holy burden gave it the power to break
down the stubborn barrier that used to stand
between the cmincntly proper lecture and the
aWfully wicked stage show. Unfortunately. the
cavesdropper missed seeing the effect of the
cakewalk upon these three representatives OF
another generation of young people. but it may
easily be guessed. They did not come to a
cakewalk; the climax for them at the end
OF Act III.
This is whore she dies isn't ?" one of the
three said sadly to another as the lights went
down after Scene " of that act
And the other murmured sadly. Yes"
Contemporary Young New-York City looked
unmoved while Eva coughed and perished to
Il piece of sacred music What was it thinking