The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-05-13


a lot of religious sentiment Therefore,
we shall have many dramatfZations of
dollars, and among them are Money
Talks A Square DEAL and THE
Embarrassment of Riches" First,
though let me tell the inside story of
The Lion and the Mouse" because it
shows how much managers don't know
when they read manuscripts. Charles
Klein in fifteen years Che had acted
nineteen) got a good living from his in
dustry. though neither renown nor any
accumulation of fortune. He was
modest fellow, distrustful of his ability
and not assertive of his ideas But
when he took the Rockefeller piece TO
a manager he bore a mein of unwonted
self-assurance.
i've read dozen antitrust plays"
said the manager, land found nothing
in them"
have been helped to make a great dra-
ma"
you had a collaborator?"
Il have been empowered by Christian
Science. I have become Christian
Scientist. Every word in this manu-
script has been inspired and vivified by
faith in Christian Science"
All the same 1.-The Lion and the
Mouse" was rejected by that manager
and dozen others, the Frohmans, the
Shuberts, the Klaw- Erlangers and all
the big theatrical operators; also by
Belasco. Mansfield Mrs. Fiske and the
Test OF the desirable producers, and at
length Klein turned it over to Grace
Elliston, who desired to act the heroine
and provided the money for trial
week in Boston.
Well. I do think that Klein found in
Christian Science a bracer for his cOur-
age, a tonic for his nerve, a stihener
for his backbone; but it didn't enable
him to write more than a good play,
for TO my mind he takes UP great
subject and handles it in a small way;
and I further believe that if he had
turned out a masterpiece on the prob
lem of milliOnaireism, he would have
gone beyond general comprehension,
and wouldn't he able to pocket 100000
before the end of the first season, and
90 off for q European tour, with a GER
tainty that three separate companies
will have earned as much more for him
by the time he returns in the autumn.
] don't know how much Miss EllistOn
is getting out of it That depends on
the bargain she was able TO make with
her mana ger. who is Henry 3. Harris,
and he is growing rich, anyway.
Helen Gould stands for millionaireism
in The Embarrassment of Riches
Miss Gould's munificent benefactiOns
are more recent than her father Jays
financiering-which in it's time looked
like buccaneering-an so it is peril
nent to put her into a pleasant stage
view of excessive wealth In the play
she does some work at an eastside
settlement or mission among the
poor, making believe that she isn't her
self. but her private secretary, so as to
avoid recognition and the bother it
would bring to her
Jacob Riis is made a successful suit
or for the hand of Miss Could Riis,
as doubtless you know, used to be
neWSpa per reporter at police headquaT-
ters where he got sympathetic in
sight of the social ills of the poor
earned the confidence of Police Com
missioner Roosevelt. instituted the
settlement plan of benefaCtiOn and
deserves. I've no doubt, to husband
Miss Gould and her millions. For the
purpose Of the play he has no suspicion
that Miss Gould is Miss Gould. He
takes her for Miss Gould's proxy. So
he Doesn't hesitate 10 love her.
Now. this Jacob Riis Of the stage is
meant to cU1bOdy Chara( 'CriStiCS of his
friend and patron. PTesid""t Roosevelt,
and he wOOes accoTdingly with a big
stick He is rather cross With the dis
guised Helen Gould over her plumbers
in the mission work, sends her on me
NAL errands and all but bUlldozes her.
and. then. suddenly and without senti-
mental prelude. he blurts out:
u am going to marry your
She does not deny his assertion His
method of espoUsaI. with its flying leap
from cOnEenial acquain lance clear over
any interval of cOurtship to an as
sumption of beTOthal, isn't resented by
the woman who. in real life, is under
stood to have repealed many matrimO-
NAL approaches. She doesn't say yes
but she doesn't say no. and she seems
TO enjoy the candor of the man, who
locks at her admiringly without her
fortune being in sight, too.
However. the title of the play prom
ises an embarrassment Of riches" and
that comes when he finds out who she
is Jacob Riis marry Helen Gould
Nay, nay. a philanthropist. who has
rejected the presidents proffers of re-
muncratiVc Office, wed milliOnaireSs
Not on his strenuous life. There is al
English duke trying to catch Helen. as
a French count did her sister Anna, but
Commoner Rfis isn't that sort of a no.
bleman- Besides, Helen has deceived
him. How can he forgive the sweet
heart who makes him believe she is re
specially poor. while all the time she
is shamefully rich2 For awhile the au-
dience fears he will break her heart
by scorning an alliance between the
Rises and the GoUlds. But just in the
nick of time to let US see il as tho
curtain falls, he takes her i'm his arms
This strange Riis-Gould- Roosevelt
drama tization is not a crude bid for the
coin of the pODulace, but an intellect
ual comedy, with one farcical spoil by
a Columbia university professor, Louis
Kaufman Anspacher, an investigator
in sociology, and familiar with the per
sons who, under thinly yelling names
figure in his unantagOTHstic exposure OF
millionaireism. Also, he is the husband
of Kathryn Kidder, who has the role
of Helen Gould. while Bruce McRat
impersOnates Riis with an admixture OF
Roosevelt. The first performance was
given at Asbury Park whence the PLAY
went to Washington. where the presi
dent has had a chance to see it
Audiences wiz have no grievanc,
against Professor Anspacher as a play
wright; nor will Riis or Roosevelt; bu