The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-10-16
BY FRANKLIN FYLES

third man is needed-a trained dramat-
list who will supply comic scenes for the
AIDE wit 10. embellish and who will
carefully control the prodigal flow Of
brilliancy so as none shall be wasted.
IN THE SHOTGUN more tests go for
naught than would supply all the fun
for three or four ordinary librettos. The
authors answer might be that as long
as enough to hit the mark TO make
The Shotgun" a sure winner why sOr-
~ about the wasted ammunition.
a typical American travelling man"
is dropped in among the Japanese-lil1e
Inhabitants of an imaginary island. and
by his Yankee nerve dethrOnes the Sho-
Gun. and invests himself with the au-
thority and pomp of that potentate.
/ That is all that happens. 1t is not de-
veloped: from time to time some one
says il is occurring on their way. Con-
cerned in the plays movement, as dis
tinct from action. are Yum Yum maid
from school, a Nanki-POO tenor Kat
isha old woman and a barytone Mikado
called a Shotgun They and some 9TH
ers circulate about pleasantly and are
quite devoid of individuality. They sing
agreeably and often hUmoTously, but
never originally enough in either words
o. music to make their vocal matter
memorable five minutes after they are
done. The best developed of the half
naked AIDE ideas is about the girls in
IOWa-prOnounced 'I-O-ee'-a rollicking
tale of Yankee freedom of manner. rich
i'm atmospheric suggestion, i'm subtle
hints of sectional characters and in
humorously authentic observation. 1t
fills one with feeling that it should be
part of an American classic, instead Of
merely the best number in one of the
seasons successes, soon to be forgot
ten in the passing show.
What is lacking, that is more impOr-
tant to the popularity of THE ShO-
Gun" is something odd enough to
cause talk and resultant curiosity, or
something tuneful enough TO set the
town whistling. as Mr.. Luders did with
The Prince of Pilsen" and king
DOdO." The plays level Of indistinc-
tiveness good entertainment is inter-
rupted only once. and then it is literally
broken ia upon We are not surprised
when warning is given that American
soldiers are coming TO the rescue Of the
. imprisoned Yankee comic man. Some
Slight wonder is aroused at the fact
that the arriving tenor is not a naval
officer. A modern comic opera without
I a naval lieutenant is almost UncOnsti-
tutional. But we settle back in the be-
lief that he will sing the same sort of
military song. backed by the familiar
neatly uniformed marching male chO-
rus, the drummer giri-boys, the silken
flags and all that But for once there
is a surprise. A booming is heard,
and then a scout, dirty, unkempt, ex-
hausted, scrambles over a rough stone
wall at the back. He surveys the de-
serted place. Another Yankee appears
above the pile of rocks. Then there is
a hammering sound beyond them. A
stone falls from its place. Another
comes crashing down, and another.
Enough have now fallen through TO
reveal our men beating i'm the Obstruc-
ton with the butts Of their guns. And
sturdy men they are, too, Their rough
and ready clothes tell a tale of a long
march; their tanned skin, grimed with
mud and overlaid with dust. speak of
the hot Oriental sun. of the long tramp,
Of the nights on the ground One man,
a fine. muscular brute, has bandage
around his head. 1t is bloody. His
arms. barred to the elbows, are tanned
and bruised, his shirt is pushed open
at the throat, the better 10 breathe. He
is the figure to the life that Charles
Dana Gibson has drawn repeatedly to
illustrate the type of American that
Richard Harding Davis makes us, i'm
Captain Macklin'' and such romances.
proud to believe is the true Yankee
fighter.
Will you go 10 the negro MINISTRIES
with me2 Not for amusement alto
gether, but also to see how the black
show of the present differs from that
Of the past in Broadway. We pay s.
apiece for parquet seats. as it is at
a TOP grade theatre for a fortnight's
engagement. instead of half or a quar-
ter as much at house devoted to
that sort of thing the year round The
first part (that is to say, in the new
Technology or the programme, min