The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-08

play with violence. He does it ingeniously
in 1.-The Office Boy" That is a song and
dance farce, and its girls are shown first as
typewriters in law Office where the open
ing chorus stopped by their dismissal for
fooling in business hours. They demand
payment Of their wages, and the money is
in a vault, the lock combination of which
Is lost. Two burglars are employed to force
the door. They blow it open with dynamite
and from the wreck the Office boy steps
forth. You have but to recall the short
legged, broad-bodied, moon-faced comicali-
ty which Daniels was doomed to by nature,
and the stage use to which he has put it in
hard-luck characters, to comprehend that
his aspect in this entrance is laughable.
And are you old enough in theater going to
remember him as the chap who, in "a Rag
Baby was proud of having grasped the
hand of John l.. Sullivan? Since then he
has been droll as an impoverished or other
wise miserable king, or kings substitute, in
half dozen nonesene plays. But now he Is
once again aspirant to sporting life. A
chum is a horse jockey at $4,000 a year.
So this time it is the turf, not the ring,
which incites his ambition once again in
sporting life, but this time unwillingly. He
is mistaken for expert jockey and COM
PEELED to mount a destructively vicious
horse. The beast is not visible, but Dam
iels's terrors and maltreatments are put
into evidence so funnily that 1.-THE Office
Boy" is readily accepted in Broadway as
Miss Simplicity" was rejected.
The singing comedian, to be merrily satis-
factory, must be an original Jester. The
bill says that the new play for Daniels was
written in French by Ordonneau and Ga
vault and rewritten in English by that
rapid penman, Harry B. Smith; but there
Is a deal of Daniels in the language as well
as the acting of the principal role. This
actor has a mack of nursing a bit of nom
sense till it grows into a lot of hilarity
The audience may smile family, or not at
all, when he starts it, but by persistency
he gets uproarious laughter. One of the
several new examples begins with his re-
Duke Of a companion who, in topical ditty,
tells Of Calling on Mr.. Cohen to get a
Lohen,'' thus forcing the loan to rhyme
with Cohen. Witless? Oh, yes; and that is
just the point which Daniels makes against
it. Later he develops a contempt for the
man, and at length hatred which breaks
out at each sight of him, till the audience
reference to the subject. There are assist
ing men and women in this show, and his
closest aid are the extreme of contrast with
Louise Cunning, the quietest of balladists,
and Eva Tanguay, the most contortive Of
dancers Each seems to ;sain by the marked
difference between herself and the other.
Danielss own best comicality is in the sing
ing of a song of inebriate 1t seems as
though no doggerel can fail Of laughter If
only 1t have spree for its topic. But this
one jngles cleverly with a verse about a
delirium tremens patient who, being re-
lieved Of purple snakes by medical treat
ment Is received with polite bows and
friendly smiles by the boss boa constructor
when ever he visits the Zoo. A second
stanza tells how. Selling the first goblet that
his hand fell on In the dark, he swallowed
two handkerchiefs which his wife had put
asoak In naptha. He rather liked the new
and strange beverage, but an awkward
after effect was the point lace whiskers
that grew on his chin. These phenomena
give JUNCTION to his refrain. I'm on the
Water Wagon Now"
FRANKLIN FYLES.