The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-13

had stopped scratching his head so h,
could not be located, nor could the seat
I be. But that was the fault of the
house, not of the company which had
enough bad acting of its own 10 an
swer for"
X x
They hiss i'm the French theatres
with the help of q hollow key" said
itichard Harding Davis. whose PLAYS
are even more shccesfui than his tales
and novels. Paul Bourget once told
me an odd incident based upon this hoI-
low key kissing.
playWright-call him Duvall-had
the unhappiness. one night. to sit
throuSh-a most successful production OF
MS latest play. The house respor ded
with jeers and Kisses. and a young man.
turning TO Duval, said:
By tove. how Ia roast this niser-
able piece If 1 only had a hollow key
My dear sir, said Duval. L am hap
py to be able TO accommodate you"
And he handed hollow key to the
young man, who at once set up 8 fierc,
and continuous kissing. Just then a
critic appeared.
Duval,' he said tc the playwright,
am sorry for you. Poor fellow. YOU
don't deserve this
y
amazed and ashamed.
What. Are YOU NJ. Duval: / beg
your pardon thousand times. he cried.
on owe me no apology said Du-
val Lunch with me tomorrow
The young man accepted the invita-
non, and at the end of the luncheon
next day, when the coffee, liquors and
cigarettes were brought I'm, he crew a
bulky manuscript from his pocket, and
negged leave to read a comedy 10 NJ.
DuVal For he was a playwright, too
DuVal consented. and listened attent-
lve.y 10 the reading. At the end the
young man said:
of it,"
'Duval smiled as he replied:
Could YOU oblige me by returning
my hollow key?"
l remember distinctly my first press
notice, says Thomas O. Seabrooke. be-
| cause l was thrilled with an insane
| ceSlre To get even with the man who
wrote it, And l did so. Twelve years
later. At the time of my first appear
ance l was playing Bertfe Cecil In Tn
der Two Flags az Pit5sburg. Mass.
where the company appeared one night.
The next morning the town critic roast
ed the performance to a turn. and me
especially, saying, Sea brooke is neith-
er physically nor mentally equipped for
am actor
He was really abusive. and what
made matters worse. he came down
10. the depot the next day TO see us
off. For your own sake as we'll as
for the public. spare us" he said; you
ought to drop the stage"
Don't YOU think you are rubbing It
in?' | said. and looked him over with
a desire to throttle mm.
NO; m afraid TO tell you what !
think. This is on the square" he said
We'll yOu'll get yours, old man." /
shouted, as l stepped aboard the train.
land before the public. too"
Twelve years later / had made good.
and started for my revenge 1 arrived
on the Thomas @. Scabrooke special at
Pittstield, and carried I05 i'm the COM
pany. The town was too small for the
expense Of the sh/v, which by rights
should have been played for fifteen min
utes instead of one night; but L had
waited all these years 10 queer that
critic. and took the risk.
That august critic was i'm a box when
stepped before the curtain in my
speech to the audience; and, say, the
things l said of him and the things I
hid to him. / only wish I could re-
member the speech. The house greeted
1t with cheers, ana / was even.
Tom Watson, with the Twentieth
Century Maids" company. relates some
amusing anecdotes of his early barn
storming days in the west.
In one town." said Watson. "the
proprietor of the house asked Us if we
carried man to put up the awning.
meaning the curtain. In the evening
har- n
the fifteen minute call sounded. The ac-
tors gathered around the Deen hole
waiting for the house, but none came.
Finally at curtain time the stage man
aSer said we might as well take off our
makeup, as there was nothing doing.
SO we all cleaned up and-were ready to
leave the theatre when the manager
came and asked US if we were ready.
We were, we replied, but did not pro-
pose TO play to empty seats.
Empty seats!' cried he You don't
have to play TO empty seats If you are
ready j Will open the doors and let the
people in
THE party broke up in the wee hours
of the morning. but we had a good
nights receipts
Aileen Goodwin tells as one of her
favorites the story of the landlord of
an dpdI mouse III LONDON
This landlord" said Miss Goodwin.
like many of his ilk, objected to ten
ants with children. One day a lady
dressed in mourning called to inquire
about an apartment. After ascertain
ing that her husband was living and