Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-09
uSernentS

The opening week Of the anal month of
the winter season furnished little Of mo-
ment in the line OF theatrical amusement.
The vaudeville bill at the Orpheum was one
Of the bes. Of the present seasons offerings
at this theater. Neither THE Girl from
Making nor The James Boys IN Mis-
souri, was magnetic enough to much more
than half I'LL the Boyd. This is truly an
indication of a healthy taste on the part
Of local theater goers. With Arizona" and
the orpheum road show on the boards the
present week promises to be the most at
t~ractive of any Of the month.
The surprise that her friends felt when
Clara Morris entered the literary field with
such graceful abruptness and immediate
success is perhaps rtvaled only by the sur
prise they feel at her modest way Of talking
about II.
"Oh, 1 am Just knocking very gently at
The door Of this new profession, you know"
she said to a friend in the course Of the
reception behind the scenes at Boyd's
theater after her lecture Wednesday night.
zone cannot abandon the truly strenuous
life Of the stage without providing a sub
stitute-a something that will assist in
convincing ones inner self that one Is not
becoming really old, but just a bit past the
meridian. So l seized the pen-seized IL
with both hands and a very vague idea of
what I was going to do with 1t. But quite
OF its own volition 1t started to tracing
pictures I accumulated in my memory years
ago. Pictures Of the people and the plays
and the scenes dearest to me. After that l
always had subjects and a purpose. but not
always the power of execution. A pen can
be an exceedingly obstinate thing II you
tru IN drfvo a. tpk0 vDnortot,ts,- "a Y
have written whole afternoons only to
throw the manuscript into the waste bas-
ket and wonder what had induced me to
undertake the thing that I had. Then It is
that Freddie" miss Morris, or more prop
erly speaking, Mrs. F. c.. Harriott, calls
her gray-haired, but jovial husband by the
boyish name in public or in private), "has
to employ tact and induce me to believe
that IL was really a very good compost
ton, but that perhaps / did we'll to dis
card 1t and wait for a better mood. These
moods Of mine are all essential, l find, in
writing as we'll as, in acting"
Those who remember the Clara Morris
Of Camille" and other characters Of this
type will appreciate the latter statement
Of the wonderfully emotional little woman.
Nor did they marvel that while lecturing
she was m in her every emphasis.
If she related a pathetic incident tears
welled to her eyes as naturally as to a
school girls IL she told Of some unre-
hearsed tragedy, her whole figure was
wrecked with anguish, the muscles OF the
taoe and neck grew tense and her breath
came in broken gasps, but II It was a bit OF
humor a pleasing laugh gurgled forth with
II and the hands, still fair and shapely, fut-
tered In dainty ecstacy.
In search of matter wherewith to attract
public patronage, some unidentified author
has adopted the names of two Of the most
daring, cruel and b~loodthirsty bandits that
ever created a reign Of terror among civil
lied people, and around these names has
woven a transparent fabric Of ciumsily
constructed fiction, 1t is too short a time
since the mann of Jesse James was as
ISOLATED with deeds Of blood, rapine and
wanton deviltry for the success Of an effort
to now tdealise his life, Much has been
written before and after his summary
taking on In futile efforts to justify his
career OF crime, but nothing can obliterate
the terrible record he left. II 1t be adj
United that the James family suffered all
that is credited to them as the result of
the border warfare that ragged in the region
indefinitely outlined in the minds Of the
old-tlmers as "Wabunsie.' they are given
no more cause for their thirst for ven
geance than many others. No one family
suffered alone in the dark days that pre-
ceded the civil war along the border. It
Is true that both Frank and Jesse James
rode with Quantrell and his terrible crew
pf outlaws on their raids. They were at
Lawrence, when one OF the bloodiest chap
ters Of guerrilla warfare in all history was
written. No more awful massacre stains
the record Of civilized mankind than the
burning and pillage Of that Kansas town,
and the James boys took part in 1t. These
men took their vengeance in the most cow
hrdly manner They did not meet the
enemy in the open field. but made their
war on the defenseless, who were left
vt home. Whatever their original provoca-
tion matters not. They took the law into
their own hands and administered 1t solely
IN the interest Of revenge and with a
terocfty that outdid the savages Of any
time. When the war was over and the
Quantrell band was dissipated before the
majesty Of the law, the James boys per-
listed in their career Of crime. Safe in