Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-23

way, II was IN "The Silver King that q.
s. willard made his great hit as a villain,
OF which he told last week., and plays Of
that sort. II IL easy to trace the change
which swung the pendulum from Bankers
Daughter and "Esmeralda" to The Hem
rletta" and "The Charity Bali" East
Lynne" has given way 70 Lady
Huntsworth's Experiment." Lady Aud
ley's Secret" has become Mrs. Danes
Defense" vast improvements, all. and yet
many Of us who wept with Efie Ellsler
and Charles Couldock through the tear
compelling situations OF their repertory
hardly expected to see them bettered. Mrs.
zane does things so much more cleverly
than did Lady Audley, and Lady Hunts
worth could teach poor Mrs. Archibald
Vane so many, many things a woman ought
to know. Along the vista between them
and now come thick a host of plays. all
typical Of what the people wanted at the
immediate time. but which would be coldly
received now. Think OF the thousands who
laughed with Hoyt. and think Of what has
become Of the Hoyt play. 1t is not SO much
that We have been given something new, but
that we are getting 1t in a new guise.
Is there anything new under the SUM- A
AtNlhh announcement hAohA n HGgAAohAhe
house conveys the Information that 537, 900
copies OF one book have been printed, the
demand for the book being based on the
homely philosophy and quaint sayings OF
the principal character. This book has had
at least two imitators, each of which has
sold well up to the mark Of the original,
the total Of the three amounting to we'll
over 1000, 900 copies. This is inside Of four
years. During that time probably not a
thousand copies Of Don Qulxote" have
been sold IN this country, and yet there
is not q quaint saying, a trite proverb nor
bit Of "homely philosophy" In the popular
trio that wasn't better said nor more aptly
applied by Sancho PanEa three centuries
ago, and most OF them were old before
Sancho gave up his muleteering to become
esquire to the Knight of the Sorrowful
Oountenance. Yet, we are told, people
want something new. Another example:
When THE Charity Ball" was given In
Omaha a dozen years ago, one local scribe
praised the powers that at last the Amert-
can play had been written, the play that
would live and hand down to all time to
come characters truthfully portraying the
American as he existed during the nine
teenth century. Dick Van Buren, was, Of
course, the business man, John Van Buren,
the true type Of American manhood, and
Ann Kruger the American woman In her
glory. Alas for the power Of prophecyl 1t
would be a safe bet that the average
theater-goer today couldn't tell IL the play
were by Hoyt or Belasco and DeMille, much
less give an intelligent synopsis Of 1t. Such
is the duration Of fame. Incidents similar
to this might be multiplied infinitely. What
The Bee said was that the people them
selves are in the main responsible for con-
ditions that prevail. In their unrest they
run from one thing to another, and the.
managers In their efforts to keep up with
the tickle taste of the public allow much
that IL unworthy and not q little that is
really vile to get q hearing on the stage.
In this respect the managers are TO blame,
It is q hopeful sign Of the times that the
present season has seen less Of nastiness In
the theaters, and the hope is born OF this
fact, that we may have seen the last OF 1t