The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-24

n n one of the August magazines Alan
Dale, the we'll known dramatic
critic, writes of the Paris stage in
terestingly. His wit and rather orig
inal style are we'll known and his
article gives one a very good picture
Of the conservatism and backwardness
Of the French theaters. His words
tend to make one more content with
American theatrical manners and ways.
He says when you have once purchased
your theater ticket, in Paris, and for
no small price either, do not think that
you will be able to reach your seat with
no further expenditure of cash. You
must indeed have a pocket full of small
change. There is the programme to
buy and after you have secured it, it
is no unusual thing to discover that
1t is not the right one. Sometimes you
purchase three in this way. Then
there are the old women who snatch
mans hat and stick, or a wonan'S
hat, and you must pay them for taking
charge Of it. BY this time you will
be of the opinion that all you have to
do is to find your seat and sit down,
but in this belief you will find yourself
exceedingly fatuouS, for you must fee
the man who opens the inner door and
the usher who finds your seat. 1t Is
expensive business this theater- going
In Paris. When you book your seats
outside in advance. you have to pay
40 cents more than the regular price.
SO 1t IS, everywhere, says Alan Dale,
at music halls, restaurants and places
Of amusements, nothing but fee, fee,
constantly. He further says, that the
French theaters are dirty, ill-smelling
ana that apparently nothing has been
done in the way Of Improvement to
them in twenty years. The curtains
are spread over with advertisements
and are exceedingly Objectionable from
the standpoint of art. The plays are
without one exception. the same thing,
and that the love affairs of a married
woman. Some are worse than others,
but in all the same old thing to the
point Of nausea. Unmarried girls are
employed in the subplot to ill I'D, but
an unmarried heroine on the French
stage is never heard of. According to
Alan Dale not only the theater build
1ngs and methods are out of date In
Paris, but play writing is at very
low ebb. He is able, on the other
hand to contrast the theaters of this
country with those of France to the
great advantage of the former and to
read his remarks is to be convinced
that matters dramatic over here are
lar In advance of any other country
But Paris to the Partisan is the center
of the universe and while the French
stage seems to have stood still for
twenty years, it would seem that it is
quite as likely to remain just where
1t Is Tor the next twenty, according to
Alan Dale
Another book by Mrs. Craigie (John
oliver Hobbes) is really an event, as If
Is some time since she has given us
novel, having been so long engaged
in dramatic work. D. Appleton & Co.
are putting out her last book "The
Vineyard" and it is said to be some
what different from her other stories.
Its, central figure is feminine invalid
who is religiously inclined. Whatever
one may think of the work Of this
clever woman, it cannot be denied that
she writes we'll and has a large follow
ing among the discerning and those
who do not buy a book simply because
1t is new. Mrs. Craigie has made al
most as great a success with her plays
as in her books. Although she is an
American by birth She has lived I'm
England SO long that we have come
TO think Of her as an English author
Just so with Henry James, who shook
the dust of his native land from his
Ieet so many years ago that we forget
to claim him.
MI Burton +. Stevenson, whose por-
tralt appears on this page is an ex-
ample OF what a determined and
hard working young man can
do. 1t is told of him that
some years ago being on his way
back TO princeton after vacation and
owing TO chapter of accidents and
delays, he found himself in Baltimore
WIN no money He straightway hunt
ed up newspaper Office and when
the editor asked him what he could do
he replied that he could either set TYNE
or write poem. The editor feared ia
take his chances On poem, so he ser
him to work in the composing room
He earned enough to take him 10 col.
lege and since that small beginning in
literary" work has gone straight ahead
ana Is today well known. Mr.. Steven
son Is OF the opinion that a man who
really wants to work always can find
employment of some kind.
-
As ChInaman Saw Us-D Appleton
q 20. For sale by st. Paul Book and
Stationery company.
Il is well once in a while to see our
selves as others see us. This yerv in
teresting and original book gives us
an excellent idea of how our manners
and customs strike the Oriental mind.
1t may be somewhat of q shock to us
10 discover that to this Chinaman we
are boastful, lacking In refinement, in
Inherent to the moral code and alb
soluteiy unable TO see that we have a !
1aun. These opinions are In the form
Oh IetterS written home by a titled
Chinanlan who spent much time in This
country from 1892 to 1902, aud have been
edited by an American and published
anonymously. The Chinaman was much