The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-30
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
 ~ HE open season for melodrama Is
 (0 on again at the Fourteenth Street
 theatre. It began last week on the East Side, but the preserves west of Sixth avenue are protected more fuily. Lottie Williams in Tennessee Tess, Queen of the Moonshiners,' started things for 1s08-09 Monday night and the gallery decided before the play was 15 minutes old that 1t sure>was one thriller. Listen.
 Right at the start we have the two vil- lains seated at a card table outside the lumber camp hotel in the Tennessee mountains, where everybody wears gun so as to provide for the climaxes, and says heah for here and suah for sure. You know right away that Rufus Stubbs is villain because he has on black sombrero and a fierce, black mustache and talks with a hard, harsh tone Ihe other fellow has been led astray. mat easy to guess, too, and when you iooh I'D his name on the programme and ma it's Rick Ransom you're sure he's the as- sistant villain. Ransom is always the name of a villain. But to get back to the card table.
 The game is draw pokah-a little two handed game Ransom takes one card. The gambler takes five. Ransom thinks his flush is worth $50 and the gambler calls with four aces, which are sood' even in Tennessee
 "Devil take the cardsi" says Ransom, observing the traditions. I'm ruined.
 And right back of him is his foster father. Ezekiel Cross. the lumber king' who is getting tired of stalking the young ster zeke gives the youngster a raking over for setting bad example for the rest of the camp and appears to be sore at the way Rick boosted bum hush. At any rate, he gets off the good old line: .Heuceforth you are no more than s,ranyer to me-" and marches into his bank to rub 1t in.
 Tba ,ftimatufn came at a bad time, be- cansa Ransom knew an easy mark who had a mountain full of iron and wasn aware of that fact Ransom had an op- tion on it for $5OO0, and was about to make a hot touch on the old man when the latter went and cut him off. So Ransom told Stubbs, the gambler. about 1t and Stubbs declared himself in for A half and said it was easy to get the s5oOo. All they had to do was to put on masks. shoot the bank cashier at the noon hour and grab the 5 5 $ So simple that anybody could think of it. Ran som was desperate. I'll do it, he said' and we'll throw suspicion on Nat Ciai- horne the fellow that owns the iron land' Ia Claiborne the hero? Good guess; ne is But he doesn't come on yet Sounds of revelry in the saloon. They re nlav,ne hoss with poor old Dixie, dear, sweet old man, only he will get soused' Dixie staggers out and goes to sleep. Ihe cut-ups pour wood alcohol on his shoes' ,igbt if and wait for the fun. and who runs in and stops 1t? Why, Tennessee Tess, whom he has cared for since she was A tiny tot, or mere cheeild or some thing like that
 "shame,' says she. Put out that fire, cawaras to make sport of a helpless old man. made so by that dirty poison you sold him."
 fine for Tess. You Know right away without looking at the programme that she's going to be Tessie on the spo. and that the spot is going to be on Tessie for the next four acts. She Is and it is. She's as sweet and pure as tbe mountain dew that Dixie is full of. ana sbes so popular and sweet and kind. etc., that they crave her forgive ness ana give three cheers when she grants 1t.
 Then along comes Claiborne lie mas on a red flannel shirt and Knee boots 50 there's no doubt about his status, and he makes love to her on the strength of weeks acquaintance. In about five minutes she chases him off to buy wedding ring al the grocery. 1 and soon we have the robbery. The masked men sneak into the bank.