The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-19
Mrs. WigSs and Lovey Mary
 Will Go on the Stage,

sa
 If the amazing demand in amateur circles for vision of a stage presenta- tion-of some kind, of almost any kind, in fact-of t'Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch." and her protege "Lovey Mary" is to be regarded as having value in esti- mating the popularity of the proposed bona fide dramatization ofDMrs Annie Hogan Rice's two delightful stories. then a brilliant future certainly awaits Mrs. Anne Crawford F7exner's work-for it Is she, the friend, comrade and fellow citizenness of the distinguished authoress. Mrs Annie Hogan Rice of Louisville, Ky, to whom has been delegated the task. and lher work. so far as completed. gives promise of being wholly delightful and thoroughly satisfactory.
 No sooner was the announcement of the proposed dramatization made public than the office of Liebier & Go. who had pur- chased of Mrs. Rice the dramatic rights of the books named-was flooded with personal applications and written re- quests from the four points of the com- pass. and from nearly every State in the Union, for permission to give amateur presentations of newly made dramatiza- tions of Mrs. Wiggs," dramatizations without authority or excuse. and assum- ing all sorts of shapes.
 Some of these undertakings went no farther than to propose to give read ings'' from the books, but from this point the propositions expanded, until they em- brace everything which, in the judgment of the amateur author, was to be looked for. or expected, in "a complete play. They came from schools, from churches. from societies, from individuals and, almost without exception, they made their plea flor Sweet Charityss Sake
 The form which some of these requests assumed made them difficult to refuse. For instance, one from. an interior town in Pennsylvania began; Mrs. Blank begs to draw MT. Tyler's attention to the enclosed correspondence, and begs that he will grant the request of the Matrons' Auxiliary of the Blank Hospital, and thus insure another years free bed for the towns suffering poor and sick" etc., etc. This request came accompanied by a letter from Mrs Rice, to whom the ap- peal had first been made. and who had, very properly. referred the writer to the firm who had paid money for the rights which others were so anxious to secure without money and without price.
 Another came from St. Joseph. Mo. which performance. as the writer explain ed in her letter, was merely intended as parlor play" to be given by amateurs. flor the benefit of one of our churches The play had already been in rehearsal for ten days, as the writer explained, and there was an intimation also. that. they proposed to continue them, until they were compelled by law to cease.
 Another self-confessed transgressor was a minister living up in Nova Scotia, who explained that i've have a nice little Sum- day school house. which we call the Parish House, and once or twice a year some of our young people get up an amateur entertainment. I am fond of that sort of thing" frankly acknowledged the liberal minded minister, land have arranged stage and painted scenery myself for it. always try to get them to have something good rather than the trash which many desire, and I believe in educating and elevating peoples tastes, and so holding. I thought of dear old Mrs Wiggs, and concluded could put it into shape and make, a very pretty, eff fectively and pleasing evenings entertain ment out of it,' There is, therefore, nothing surprising in the knowledge. that the good old clergyman should wind up his epistle with an fecstatic description of the excellent bit of. stage carpentering he had done; and generously offering to give the New York manager the benefit of his ideas and inventions Rather queer combination that, parson, playwright and player, all in one.
 Another request comes from the Young Peoples Christian Union" of Waltham, Mass, but this is courteously written, and there IS plainly evident a due regard for Church Home League" of Buffalo has "a band of young people" who give enter tainments for the benefit of the Church Home Orphanage, and here again the thoughtful mind naturally turned to Mrs. Wiggs" and "Lovey Mary and so