Omaha daily bee., 1905-10-11
At THE PLAY HOUSES
aI.reI. o, Fir.r 81 ne bod.

Jewels OF Fire" AZ the BOYD.
Mr.. walker whlteside and his company IN
double bill Jewels Of Fire" and David
Garrick's Love" the former a tragedy
in one act. the latter a comedy in three
cs acts; Cast for Jewels OF tfre'vr,,..,,.
M whitssioS
Clarence Bradford. an artist. Mr. Gardner
Ihe landlord. .....................;M MT; WendeT
Piace2Top OF a lodging house. BirminE-
ham. England. TimA-Present.
Jewels Of Fire" IL two-volume novel
compressed into a single powerful act,
tragedy Of life set forth with such com
polling force that the dullest comprehen-
sion mast appreciate It, while TO the mind
attuned to sympathy with the situation II
is so real that its tragedy is swallowed
up in truth, and its victim become the
glorined victor in the divinest OF dramas
a life OF truth and honor. Neglected and
cheated in this life, he triumphs in the
purity Of his art and the sublmity of his
devotion to the woman he loved.
CARGO is a viollnist; his wife has been
dead two years, and in mourning her he
has allowed himself to sink to the lowest
depth of poverty He is on the point of
being turned from his suualid lodging on
New Years eve, when he is discovered by
an artist friend who has been turned from
his lodging. The misfortune OF this friend
brings new life to the starving. half-frozen
musician. and he tells him that all win
yet be we'll. The world fails to recognize
genius but he will compel at least enough
for them to live on. He has a trinket. a
memento OF his dead Wife, which he will
pledge with Jeweler for a few shillings
on which they may survive until work lie
obtained. This is a necklace OF paste dia-
monds he once surprised his wife wear
ing, and over which they had quarreled.
because he was too poor to buy real stones
and too proud to have her deck herself
with tawdry limitations. She died soon after
the quarrel, and he had preserved the
necklace as his dearest possession, next to
the memory Of the woman he loved and
who loved him. The jeweler comes, and
the necklace is produced, the musician
asking for a single pound on the trinket
as q pledge. The jeweler offers fifty, an
hundred pounds, or more and when asked
not to Jest, for the business Is serious. he
points out his private mark on the setting,
and tells the startled husband that the
stones are real, and that ne had sold them
two years before to a young woman for
a4Oo. They had been purchased by young
nobleman who paid the bill. clasped them
on the woman's neck and kissed her. The
jeweler congratulates the musician as being
lucky dog for being able to fiddle such
Jewels out Of so beautiful a lady. On the
morrow the musician tells him he will see
him and settle the amount to be advanced.
The artist friend returns and in his agony
of grief the musician half tells the story;
then he stops and demands pledge Of
secrecy. A letter from London. offering a
fine engagement comes, and the artist
rushes out to answer IL; the sorrow Of
the stricken man overoomes him, he tears
the photograph of the dead woman to
fragments in his insanity of anger, and
then picks up the bits, arranges them on
the table and sits down. IT will play to
you again. sweetheart" he says, and a
weird, sorrowful strain of music floats UP
from his violin; slowly, more slowly, and
softer the strain, till II dies away. The
bow drops from his hand, the violin falls
to the table, and the musician sits there,
dead-and the bells ring out the old year,
and the merry Jingle of the sleighbells
mingle with the Joyous cries Of Happy
New Year"
Simple but most pathetic, and telling a
story OF the lives that are hidden, the
griefs that are never known, the tragedies
that are never played. Mr.. whitside en-
acts the role with a power tnat is tremend-
ously effective His personal temperament
puts him into harmonious sympathy with
| the character, and he deiineates it with the
utmost of fidelity, filling out each little de-
tail with a truth that makes the whole a
| triumph. His effort last night won for him
that most welcome of tributes, round after
round OF spontaneous applause, and he was
compelled to bow his appreciation again
and again before the curtain.
Mr.. Whitside is the author of Jewels OF
| Fire"
David Garrick's Love" was well played
after the curtain was down on the one-act
tragedy. The comedy was finely done and
| greatly enjoyed. This double bill will be
presented at a matinee this afternoon. 1--WE
Are King will be given tonight, closing the
engagement.