The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-02-07
a OUYED DRAMA THAT PLEASES
THEATRE GOERS. BY Franklin r,,.s

Al EW YORK, Feb. 5.-A gUyed drama
may be q highly successful dra-
ma if none of the guyiag is done
out in the auditorium and the only
guyer back on The stage is the actor
~ the hero. This is not a mere the
cry but positive fact proved by
Ralph Stuart in BY Right Of Sword. %
ia the character of a young Ameri-
can i0 Russia, be goes through this
new play q Jester under conditions OF
gravity as well as gaiety, making
sport Of his own bravery and others
nlUrderous enmity. chatting the girl he
IoYes and the scouncrels VINO seek TO
destroy her, fighting a duel snilugly
and facing death without a frOWn. The
piece would be a strong bat quite usual
Iuelodrama if il were not for Mr.. stu
arts behavior. which makes il q nov
city. We have had thousands Of deb
onafr heroes in stage fiction, ] know,
but [ recall none with wnom audiences
nave had so Jolly a time as they do
with Ralph Stu8Tt's Jack Hamilton.
They laugh AT his Wooing and his fight
ing, his reckless dashes into danger and
his hairbreadth escapes; and. mind
you, they are not making fun of him,
but are enjoying the fun ne is max
ing for them.
Three authors of by Right of
Sword" are named jn the bill They
are arthur ". Marchmont who wrote
The novel, and Mrs. DOremus, a leader
IN New York society, and Iseonidss
Weslervelt, a milIiOnaire's heir, who
coiiabOradveiy wrote the stage version.
But the book Doesn't make the hero
any such q joker as he is in the play,
and ] don't believe that either of the
dramatists did s. Ny guess IS that
stuart is the responsible party: and.
as he tried the. experiment in several
Pacific coast DUES before risking it.
at the Atlantic eeaboard. he had time
10 muster courage for the crucial ven
tUre IN q theatre close 10 Broadway.
But 1T has gone right Our biase class
would laugh at this Jack Hamilton if
he took himsEIf seriously, but he does
rot. and So they laugh with him
which makes the difference between
theatrical disaster and triumph. Jack
II a marvellous advepturer in the land
0f the car, such as Anthony Hopes
Englishman was in Zenda, for his like,
ness to a native prohigate leads him
70 fmpersonate that parsonage for the
sake OF a lovely maiden IN the newer
fiction however, the absentee is the
brother of the girl, rot her fiance. and
no deception is practiced on her by
the pretender. Plentiful comedy comes
Of his transition from the counterfeit
affection Of a brother TO the genuine
passion c. "a sutton
A duel with swords between this
smiling American and a scowliug Rus
sian adversary, IN a forest at Gaybreak.
Is quite as fierce an affair as the one
which has not lost its thrill during
a haIf century Of repetition in The
COrsican Brothers, The brand new
device OF excitement S one with which
some Njhilists plan 20 wreck the cars
travelling car TEay assign a fanatical
scientist 10 the JOB. he instaIls an
electric apparatus in an astronomical
observatory on a hilltop overlooking q
sharp curve in the railway. BY simply
pushing a lever the imperial train may
be plunged over a preHpice- OH. but
DC is the most Ingenious of assassinaL-
ing machines and seems sure TO do its
work Internally well. However. The
boss Of the affair IS the very devil Of
lover. too. He abduets the girl of
his wicked desire and brings her 90 the
lonesome observatory. The time Of that
exploit is just right for the dramas
third-acJ climax. but all wrong for the
cause OF the Nihihsts, as the loot OF