The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-29

lOHN DURHAM had 500 and no
J other thing tangible when he got
TO a new oil field that was twenty
nliies away from a railroad. He
bought few tools, hired a gang of
WOrkmen on wages payable in a month
anu at the end of that time had a mile
OF track laid for a connecting line 1
uon know how he obtained the ties
ana rails. as he never begged or hor
rowed anything. and he was too no.
torlously honest to steal. He went
right on mile after mile with his work
uiI within year his road was done
locomotive was hauling a train of
OIL tanks over il, and he owned the
Whole thing without selling a share OF
STOCK or single bond-for he was no
irehzled financier. 1 can't tell YOU
now ne did II, nor why the Standard
nicknamed Lucky. Lawson NAV know
the particulars, and presumablyr Will
son Barrett did, for he wrote the play
IN which the results are shown: but
Barrett died without disclosing them,
ana when we first see John in Lucky
Durham he is eight or ten times a
millionaire. He has now returned to
the England he was born in, deter
mined TO marry the girl of his loving
desire and to buy the baronial estate Of
his revengefUi aspiration. And he is
one of those hustling Americans who
never fail Of their purposes-on the
stage.
Usurper." the play by l. N Morris
which N c. Goodwin is using? The
similarity between it and Lucky Dur
nam is remarkable, and all the more so
because ii is resemblance of chance
Although Barrett was not as conscien-
tlous as Durham in matters of equity
he couldn't have stolen from Morris.
Tor both plays were written before
either was performed. Barrett pro-
duced MS a year ago in Liverpool and
made ready to take it to London but
his death prevented. Charles Wynd-
nam tried to get IL from the Barrett es-
tate for mis- present tour OF this coun-
try. but r. S. Willard beat him. Lucky
Wyndham. Unlucky willard
There is an ethical problem in Lucky
Durham TO distinguish it above the
serio-comic sentimentality of The
Usurper, and that may account for the
mistake of believing that Barrett's
American would prosper on our stage
In more dignified and therefore more
desirable way than Morris Durham
luck was bad at his birth. He is the
name1esS son OF prOfigate Lord
Nomination. who has disowned him:
and 1t is to buy Nomination castle and
drive out the bankrupt father that the
retaiiatory son comes back to England
Upon his arrival at the place of his
In love with an aristocratic girl of the
neighborhood. Thereupon the social
problem arises and is discussed all too
thoroughly for the pleasure of an audi
ence Ought sutton for the hand of
fine old familys rare daughter be ac-
cepted at his own real and great value?
or rejected because his parentage is
worse than worthless In short to put
II Biblically. as the author does in this
boldly illustrative case, shall the sin
of a wholly bad father-and more es-
pec1aliy the one sin of an otherwise
good mOther-be visited upon the
blameless son2 The question is pro-
pounded in a very dramatic scene
where Durham is asked by the mysti-
fed girl who and what he is. In the
presence of the two families concerned
he answers, with all the quiet dignity
that Mr.. Willard is a master of: Il am
the illegitimate son of Lord Mountfal-
lon-" That is at the curtain of the Sec
ond act. There is a climax Of strong
drama at the conclusion. too. when the
actor gives all possible meaning to
Durham's sacrifice Of life purpose of
vengeance. at the point of its accom-
plishment. because he loves his mother
and his sweetheart more than he hates
his father. But all the rest of the play
Is aStonishingly futile considered as the
work of a successfully practiced dra-
matlst like Wilson Barrett intended for
his own use.
After a tour of many theatres. in
stead OF before il. Buster Brown has
come to tOwn.-.bringing his dog behind
him-Or beside him, for Tige is right
with Buster at the front of the show
and twice as big. the beast being
played by a full-sized actor and the
boy by a little one. This is our first
stage view Of Tige. but We have had
twenty Busters in one bunch He was
embodied by girls for a song and dance
In 'Pin. Paf, Pouf," costumed after
Outcaults pictures and an effort was
made to suppress them by law. on the
ground that their introduction was un-
authorized by their creator; but each
had a girl-playmate in place of the dog
their pTankS were not copied from the
cartoons. and the court ruled that Bus
ter Brown hats and blouses were no
ones exclusive property. II wouldn't be
news now to describe how the joint
writing of five men named i'm the pro-
gramme has turned out an entertain
ment based on Outcault's pictorial hu-
NOR in the New York Herald by mixing
It up with nursery tales and show girl !
accessories The output is much like !
the usual thing, with topical jests. rag
time ditties, lively dances and sensuous
SpectacleS. There is more of George Ali |
as the funny dog than is usually per-
mitted TO an actor of animals. and the /
Buster is made mischievousiy infantiie |
by Master Gabriel a small comedian !
old enough TO be a Mister and TO. defy
the Society for the Prevention of Cruel |
~ to Children.
This week brought an experiment in |
condensed melOdrama. The object was /
10 find out if the twenty minutes and no /
more hitherto given to a play in vaude- |
vile may be Increased 10 forty, and il i
the matter may be melodramatic in
stead of farcicaI. THE Fighting Par |
son." three-hour, fve-act London |
shocker was chosen for the test-s play /
OF the kind called Surrey, which is 1
theatrical term equivalent to- our Bow \
cry. although there is no longer Sur |
rey theatre. nor has there been In /
years till the present season any Bow |
cry theatre. devoted to that sort of 1
theatric excitements. The material |
was reduced to tWO-thirds Of an hour 1
and the five acts to four scenes with /
out intermissions. But none of the \
rouse 'em episodes was omitted. The /
plot was boiled down. 10 mouthful. but \
II was too thick to be swallowed so /
hastily. A good young clergyman was |
accused, ere the curtain had been up /
minute. of misleading the girl he /
loved and Tobbing her father. Within l
two minutes a bad brother was exposed |
to US as the libertine by intention and /
the thief in fact. Within five minutes /
the young mems father cast out the I