The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1904-04-08

TOXIC Japan March l8.-The war has
reached the theaters In Japan and there is
hardly one of them that is not now play
ing drama based on scenes in the war,
They are very well patronized, and il you
want a comfortable seat-well, you can't
get such thing in a japanese theater un-
der any circumstances. But il you want a
place to sec, you must go early. The play
usually begins at o'clock in the morning,
and as soon as the ,hFst performance is fin
ished, it begins again, and il is usually
over at o'clock in the evening. In some
of the theaters foreigners are furnished
with chairs, but the japanese sit on the
floor. If you desire gousean secure tea and
other refreshments freR one of the near
by tea houses at any stage of the perform
ance, and Of course men and women alike
smoke to their hearts content.
] went to what is known as the NEW
style" theater yesterday. | was accom-
panied by prominent japanese gentleman
and his daughter, child of 8 years, and a
retinue of servants We reached the thea.
ter shortly after o'clock, when the sec
ond performance had just gotten well
started
The play is peculiar thing. 1t has no
connected story, but is in reality series
of short plays, each one based on some OF
the many stories of japanese patriotism
which have appeared in the papers. The
ACTING is VERY REALISTIC
and the scenery not all bad. The first
play we saw was based on the story of a
japanese woman, who for some years had
been the concubne of Russian officer
She is very much in love with the Russian,
and in the first scene is shown in his house
where she sees him porting over a map,
which he refuses to show her. He is
called away and she, with woman's curl
osity, takes the paper out of his desk to
see what it is. She cannot understand what
it is about, but suspects that it is some
thing of importance to her country. She
loves the Russian very much, but she loves
her country more, and so she steals the
paper and runs away. The Russian re
turns, finds that the map is gone and sends
guards in search of the woman. The scene
then changes to a snow-covered mountain
pass, where the flying woman is seized by
two Russian scouts, who are on the lookout
for her. just as they are about to drag
her away, two Chinese bandits appear and
scare the Russians away. These bandits
appear to be Japanese soldiers in disguise
and when the woman shows them the pa.
per they discover that it is a map Of all
the Notifications at Port Arthur. At this
stage Of the proceedings the two Russians
return with reinforcements and a fine fight
follows, in which the two japanese kill
more than thirty Russians, although they
have no arms but a small sword each
while the Russians are armed to the teeth
The play ends with the safe conclusion Of
the japanese woman's imitation Of Eliza
crossing the ice.
The second play shows the first attack
on the Russian feet at Port Arthur. The
first scene is in a theater where Admiral
Aexief and number of his officers are
gathered. The curtain rises on the stage
and a girl dressed in a white satin Paris
gown does what is supposed to be a Euro
pean dance The dance is done very seri
ously, but it is one Of the funniest things
imaginable. The dancer is somewhat
WOBBLY IN HIGH-HEELED SHOES,
and her conception Of the French dancer
is, to say the least, peculiar. The dance
is followed by very gorgeous display Of
French dancing girls in tights and short
skirts, who do an amazing dance that
pleases the japanese very much, for it il
all cimematograph exhibition. After this
exhibition there is long dialogue among
the officers, in which they ridieule the idea
Of Japan ever going to war with Russia.
In the midst Of this conversation an order
~ rushes in and tells Of the japanese at.
tack.
The next scene is on the deck Of one Of
the bombarding Russian ships Two Rus
sian cruisers are seen in the distance. and
the effect of very heavy sea is cleverIy
initiated There is much big gun firing and
:--------
The Hon. John G. Tate, Of Nebraska,
p. S. NJ. W., A. o. U. w, will address the
members Of our order at Fawcett hall, Fri
day, April 8, al p. m, concerning the pro-