The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-11-03
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Miss Mnude Adams last nigh, closed
one of the most remarkable engage
inents the tieatresAof Richmond hHv
aver known. IL was remarkable from
~8scveral points OF view, but chiefly, per-
haps, Judged from II merely business
outlook. on accoun of the boN-oftlee
Etatertsit SEN, To MIR. Charles Froh-
man.
Peter Pam is a wonirous play; 1t
is a fairy tale for groWn-up people
who may see. tnirrored IN It's clear
Gepths-for depth it has, when viewed
BY an analyist--a reflection of the
cIildiife each has known. What heart
throhbinss it must cause in the man,
grown weary OF the world aud Its
WAYS, and who would give everything
his scrdid life affords him Just to be
a boy again. All. that is the cry that
his rung down the ages of time--the
cry that the robust man makes in the
prime of life, and that only ends when
the voice has turned TO childish treble,
and the iniirmity of the body has. men,
tally. at least, made of the man Il child
again.
Youth is the dearest thing thai life
gives, and yet, unlike Peter Pan. the
fairy child. we onk know It's precious
worth when it has gone, and can come
to- MS no more. 1t is when sorrow /
awakens us to n realization of that
Joyous period when the sun snone al
ways. when the skies were ever blue,
when the red glow of the sunset was
taught with no pangs of what the NOR
row might bring. but only meant tired
feet that would rest awhile from
play. which would be begun all over
again when that same sun streaked !
the east with morning light.
Youth is the birthriglt of every
child; 1t is the playtime of life. and
the man or woman, who by over
sensitive views on the subject of truth.
robs the child of all the wonderful
mystery and Illusion that the ages
have boarded up for his especial de-
is perhaps more to be blamed
than the hardened. unthinking crimi-
MAJ, who but pliers some of the filthy
luchre of this world. The one has
robbed a human life of its greatest
the other has but stolen
20 many bits of dirty coin.
What an enhancing view into the
wonders of child-life is given in j. NJ. /
Barrie's beautiful conception of Peter
Pan the boy who wouldn't grow up"
Peter Pan, though half sprite. and /,
laughing. merry elf at that. you are.
for 1t all, the personifed Innocence (
OF youth. an innocence which. sad to |
relate, is growing less common every
.aS through the teaching of a new
cult. Well may you have been made
creature OF the fairies, since few
could breathe long in the presence OF
without becoming c~ontaminat- !
ed. The little girl of twelve these days I
might We'll rob YOU of your ''thimble" I
kiss. n even her childish lips might |
be so innocent as yours.
And how well does Barrie carry his
into that fairyland which has
once almost been a reality to every
child. though it could only be reached
IN dreams. What sprites have danced
before their eyes. when tucked away
in bed. with only the stars of heaven
twinkling at them through the win
dow. What fairy elfs have they seen.
Just as dim eyes saw them last week.
that long, long ago saw them In the
emoers of the great fireplace, after a
srandmother's tale. or creeping toll
rooms by the light of a. candle, again
saw them In dreams in the trundle bed
are the days of fairies over? Let
US hope not. for the AXE of every
child that has not passed the age of
peliei And let us feel a deep sympa-
my Tor those children whose. parents
believe that anything not absolutely
true lis a black lie. and that there Is
pHt n degree of ~blackness. For
every child youn enough to believe
ti'sfe are FAIRIES to-day; they fit
through the XII OF the night;
they peer in at the window, hut thew
are not for all mortals to see: they
dance In the woods and wave their Ian
terms, and somtimes we see them and
fancy that we hear their laughter, oh,
so shrill, but yet SO musical. And
when the wind is high, and the smoke
blows down the chimney. instead of up.
and the windows rattle. and the lamp
VIII Ticker, then it is that they are
psiehea on the chimney top, or peering
In at the easement, and then it is that
little boys and girls who do not really
how good these fairies are, be-
come frightened.
But they should not. for the fairies