Evening star., 1902-02-15

| Flats farce. Later he went with Nc
| kee Rankin on prolonged tour covering
| both England and America, playing the
| judge in 1.-The Danites After Palmer
! moved up to the Madison Square Theater.
| Mr. Holland rejoined the company and
| scored hit in Jim the Penman," which
| drama ran steadily through the season of
| 1Ss6-S7. In 1895, when Richard Mansfield
| took over Harrigan's Theater and renamed
| it the Garrick, he brought together the Hol-
| land brothers-E. M. and Joseph-as joint
stars. Under his management, while he
| himself was on the road, the Hollands APP
| peared in a drama, which Mansfield had
been reserving for his own use. "A Social
!, Highwayman." In this. Joseph was a gen
| tleman moving in good society, who lived
| by preying on the valuables of his friends,
| and E. NJ. Holland was the valet whose de-
yotion to his rascally master was one of the
| most touching things seen in any of the
| modern plays. The play made hit, and 1t
was largely due to the senior Holland
| acting of the man servant. After this tour
| E. NJ. Holland went into the Frohman
camp and appeared IN numerous farces
| from the French, such as "On and OF.
| ''Never Again The Husbands of Leon
| tine "Corale & Co" and "rhe Lash of
| Whip" He also played the villain in the
| Drury Lane melodrama Hearts Are
TrumpS." and achieved one of the hits OF
the performance. He won strong praise FOR
| his portrayal of the hero of Irving Bachel-
| ler's romance during its recently completed
/ run at the new Savoy Theater. New York.
| This Is the first rural character he has
play eu III years.
For some time Mr.. Wegefarth has consid-
| cred change in the policy Of the Bijou
| Theater which, if successful means the
Inauguration of new era in Washington
| burlesque and vaudeville. The Bijou, years
| ago, was Fords theater, and one of the
| leading play houses Of the country. 1t be-
| came popular-price theater under the
| management Of Pat Harris of dime mu-
| scum fame. and after that enjoyed a rather
| unenviable reputation for some consider
! able period of time. owing to the risque at
! fractions which it played. Under the man
| agement of Mr. Schlesinger. Mr.. Wege
farths Washington representative, the
! house has produced number of combined
| olio and burlesque programs which. in
! the parlance of the advance agent. "defied
competition A liberal expenditure of
| money for high class acts won the house a
| more conservative clientele. and Mr. Wege-
farth was surprised to find that some of the
| men among his patrons objected to the to-
bacco smoke.
| 1t is a remarkable fact that even a
! smoker objects to dense and cloudy
/ atmosphere that is not of his own creation.
| Friday was. therefore set aside as
/ day when smoking should not be permitted.
! and there was nothing In the entertain
| ment that could offend ladies and much
| that would amuse them, the Friday after
noon performance was designat ted as a
| ladies' matinee. The ladies bestowed their
approval Smoking was prohibited on Sat
urday afternoon. and the manner in which
| the innovation was received has suggested
a further and more radical change.
My present Intention says Mr.. Wege-
farth, lis to make my theater here fam
lily theater. / do not mean house where
Uncle Toms Cabin and East Lynne are
offered, but place where up-to-date peo
pie can hear the latest songs see the novel
ties of vaudeville and be entertained by a
| burlesaue stock company. which l do not
hesitate to place on an equality with any
organization of like character that ever
| played outside New York. March 3 is the
date l have selected for the decisive step.
And when / move, | shall not stop half
way. The name of the house will be
| changed It's appearance will be such as
to make it for all practical purposes new
theater, and ii will be chriStened The En-
pre. The great Lafayette show will be
the attraction for that week. / have had
people coming to this theater recently who
had not been here since 1T was Ford's. and
l feel sure that l will have the encourage
ment of many Washington theater-goers.
The step is not sudden 1t might
seem. For long time l have oeen enter
| tanning audiences of men and established
| confidence in my determination to present
nothing which cannot be seen without en-
barrassment by all the members of their
families. ! will change the name Of the
theater TO The Empire and in the course
of time hope to have another theater in
Baltimore. thus enabling me to alternate
and secure two weeks rehearsals."
1Idl tue ttlChS are the pest 10 IOOl
| the amusement public has generally become
a belief among the theatrical profession
One would naturally suppose that the OH
circus trick, wherein member OF the show
goes into the ring dressed as a farmer, and,
after a few attempts, rides the foxy mule,
| had gone out cf date never to be resurrect-
ed again. But last Monday afternoon at
| Kernan's Lyceum this old trick, dressed in
new clothes, was worked off, and not only
fooled the audience but Manager Herman
as WELL
After the matinee had started we'll
| dressed man walked into the theater carry
! ing bag In his hand and an overcoat over
| his arm He inquired for Manager Burke
| of the New York Stars Company and said
he wanted to wrestle Tom Jenkins the ex-
ira attraction with the combination. Burke
was the stage dressing and could not be
seen, notwithstanding that Manager Ker-
nan made several hurried trips back and
forth trying to bring the men together. The
stranger then took central orchestra seat,
and when Manager Burke came the
stage and announced that Jenkins would
meet all-comers. the stranger arose and in
quired about the financial inducements.
| This led to a great deal of talk and the
F.! spectators were worked up to high state
Of interest.
! Everybody wanted to know the strangers
! name, but all he would say was that he was
stopping at a saloon down on D street and
was known as Hank Powers unknown"
Manager Burke and the stranger, later on,
| got into another hot conversation and the
| two played on the audience till the limit
| was reached. The Unknown said he was
| from Cincinnati and had to take the IL
| o'clock train for home that night, but If he
| was guaranteed a bout with Jenkins he
! would stay over. The talk was so we'll car
| ried on that a local newspaper man tried to
| get into the confab and was completely
| fooled. The spectators were also worked
| up to high pitch. and 1t is estimated that
| fully hundred or more returned at night
! to witness the match.
] That night the Unknown" and Jenkins
I put up a splendid exhibition Of wrestling
| skill, the former staying almost the limit,
| and at the end was apparently covered
| with blood from a wound In the face The
| spectators were with tho Unknown" from
| the start and cheered like mad whenever
| he appeared to get an advantage
Now mark the sequel. The Unknown"
| is no other than Professor Lucas Of Phil
| adelphia. and although he Is not as spry
! as he was five years ago, Is yet considered
| one Of the best wrestlers In his class
| Jenkins is much the heavier man Of the
| two. but Lucas is so well versed in the art
that he manages to mako the big fellow