The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-19
Odette Tyler and Guy Standing In
"The Love Route" at the BeIaxco.

"The Love Route" at the BeIaScO.
/ Al the Belasco Theater last night Miss
! Odette Tyler turned up as the boss" Of
/ a ranch down in Texas She has IN
/ hcrited it from her dear, dead father.
together with detestation Of railroads
and a feud with the nelgh5oring family
( Of Ashbys-always excepting Jack Ashby
/ Guy Standing) "a railroad constructing
engineer. Her prejudice against railroads
dated years back. when one OF them
had tried 10 force It's tootsome way across
the ranch. threatening TO disturb the
quiet graveyard where the sacred bones
Of her ancestors had been buried Tor
! eighty generations-no for eighty years.
Any way, Miss Tyler, who for purposes
of local Texas color was masquerading
as one Allene Houston, detested rail-
roads 10 the limit When the project OF
| building one across her ranch was re-
vived after her fathers death. she said.
NO. no. no." in a snappy crescendO.
clinching her declaration with i word
that begins with ID" This happened IN
New York I'm tie Office Of the hated cor
porauon.
IL also happened that the only Ashby
whom she hadn't inherited "a tendency 20
detest-Jsck. 10 wit-was assigned by the
railroad president to build the road
through the Houston ranch. and To do it
p. d. O., moreover, on pain of "a forfeited
charter If he didn't. and with the promise
Of being made chief engineer If he did.
Now, Jack Ashby hadn't inherited any
faint Of the feud spirit toward the Hous-
tons. any more than had Allene
Houston toward the ABhbys. Quite the
contrary But he did want 20 build that
road and set the job Of chief engineer.
And despite the pleadings and threats Of
Allene he took the job This was IN
New York also and then the scene shift
ed 10 Texas. Expectation was naturally
high as 10 what would happen when the
desperate railroad builders stormcd the
barbcd wire fences Of tho Houston ranch.
behind which were drawn up the still
more desperate cow-puncners Of Allene,
ready 30 fight bleed, and die for their
boss. There We're visions OF horrid bat
ties with no end OF shouting. shooting.
gore. and things like that. But not so.
Only two shots are fred during the awful
struggle TO lay those sleepers and set
those rails. one is a shot from a toy
pistol, the other from a sure-enOuSh six
shooter. the latter hitting the construct
ing engineer. Jack Ashby
There has been one other shot, but
the audience didn't hear it, II had laid
low the foreman Of the ranch, who was
i'm love with the boss and jealous Of
Ashby And IT was the dying foreman
who fircd the suTe-enough revolver shot
into Ashby. All this happened Just as
the railroad men had broken down the
barbed wire barricadc and laid the
track on the sacred Houston acres. In
the fourth act, of course. Allene had to
nurse Ashby back to strength, and then
well. every one can guess what happened
then Incidentally. the president of the
road and his secretary. who had Tashly
come 20 Texas. were taken prisoner by
the boss COW-punchers in a scene that
was decidedly funny. Ashby, by the way,
was also taken prisoner. but Alle0e hadn't
the heart TO hold him. Besides. If she
had. things wouldn't have turned out
right Instead Of shooting and blood
shed. the scenes arc mostly hned I'D with
comedy which at times Just borders on
the burlesque. because it is evident there
Is mighty little real fight in Allcne be
cause of her failure to include Jack Ashby
in her inherited fued with his family.
The Love Route" is the name OF this
polite tOy-pistOl mClCurama which Mr.
Edward Peple. author OF THE Prince
Chap" has written II isn't strong
play. fo- reasons indicated above but IL IS
fairly entertaining. and the audience that
witnessed IL last night at the Belasco was
most generous with its applause Of the
efforts OF those Washington faVOrites
Miss Tyler and Mr.. Guy Standing. the
latter being the Jack Ashby of the even
ing Both of them did very well, in
doe1 with fbp DarrS ASSIGNED them and
mcrited the curtaia call they received af-
ter the second act Miss Olive May. as
Lily Belle Hazel a visitor at the ranch
was very sprightly and pretty to look at,
while Miss Lily Carthew, as MiIly. the
mute did her small role amusingly Mr..
Woodward. IS the railroad president AID
Mr. MaIiowe, as Ki-Yote JIM did decided