The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1908-10-23
TheWOrid Moves On

When II was announced that Thorn I
ton Thotiie his real name was Tim /.
othy JenEhls was to leave the stage /.
to engage IN commercial pursuits, not [
only the theatrical profession but all
true lovers Of the play. stood agog
Thorne, though but tweniy-threc years
old, had risen TO a high rank MS an
actor And now. ON the vtg threshold
Of brilliant career. he was TO sink out
OF sight IN trade
Nc reason was given for this re-
markable step. which vas known only
10 Thcrne himself and one other. lie
loved a strict member of the prcsby
tcrlnn church. and she would no1 mar.
ry an actor Forced To make cholcc
between her and his profession, he
chose her.
ThoTne resumed HE name Of leu
kins, married and went TO Australia,
where he accumulated fair fortune
Thirty years after his marriage he re-.
turned to America Oh business leaving
hts wife and family in Melbourne. Ou
the steamer he met q company of play
crs. from whom he borrowed num-
bcr Of priuted plays With which 70
amusc himself on the voyage. Among
them wcrc several by which he had
won fame. BEFORE The voyage was
over he was eager 20 act.
This relapse troubled him His wife
had lived III fear of It all their mar
ried life aud had parted With him re-
luciantly. fearing that when away
from her Influence he uight he tempt
cd TO return TO the stage. True, she
hnd lost her prejudice against II. hut
considered that any such return would
be unwise. Her husbands business
needed his attention. and the rowing
life Of Hn actor would break up thcir
home For this reason she had Kept
him away from the thcater.
But the more Jenkins read plays tho
more he became fascinated with his
former life. Judging from some of
those that had been written since he
left the boards. he was of opinion that
playwrights were dying out At any
rate, he did not consider their efforts
equal 10 those of former days He
found little or nothing dramatic in amy
of them and pronounced them dun and
taiky
When jenkins reached America he
saw posters announcing that certain
managcrs would present" certain the
atrical stars. lie wondered IL talent
had sunk so low that the most prom
inent players must he presented 10y
some man who couldn't himself take
walking part In New York he found
three thcatcrs to one that existed when
he left the country Perhaps compe-
tition was killing the business.
ON the evening Of his arrival at New
York Il man entered his hotel whose
face was familiar to him. aren't You
Tom Abcrcrombic:" "Ycs. but yOu
have the advantage OF me" Thorn
ton ThOrne" You don't moan Il.
Haven't seen you since you were play
Ing Hamlet here al Wallack's" #
wish l were playing there now
You couldn't; It's torn down. But
his eye suddenly ighted-"l was Il
ticket seller when knew you. Now
run seven thcatcrs have 'IIamlet'
on ths very uight nj one Of them, aud
the Dane is in bed with grip. How
would yun like TO try it,"
There was terrible struggle in the
breast OF Mr. jenkins. aud he fcll
before desire 10 again be Hamlet.
He would show these degenerate pe0.
pie the real Dane He knew The part
he had never forgotten it--no need
for rehearsal. He would be ready AZ
the rise of the curtain. What q pleas
ure to galvanizc an audience worn out
with poor plays and poor acting!
lie found meagcr audience but
was told that sbe't1spcarc had gone
much out Of fashion with the average
t'lealer goer. Nevertheless there wcic
those IN the theater who loved Hamlet
When ne began lsis lines people looked
surprised He soon saw that he must
win his audience. something he had
not been obliged TO do in bygone days
AZ the end of the drst act The man.
ager approached him and said
"Great Scott. man! Your Hamlet has
grown quarter Of ceutury older
'How?" "Don't know. but thfrcs some
thing musiy about H. Nobody does il
that way now
Jenkins event back for the second
act puzzled In The third he made a
supreme effort Al was Of no nrail
No one in the theoler bad ever seor
Hamlet act that way. and no one want
cd Ia view any such performance BE
fore the play was finished The theaicl
WIS nearly empty The star staggered
10 The greenroom, where the manager
braced him with glass of grog.
Was il not Jenkins mstead of III,
audience that needed 10 bc galvanized
The next night the manager tool
the fallen star The rounds of he lliea
ters. In ncarly all The plays he s'v
was something apropos 60 the times
having, he thought. ne place on tils
stage. ana most of them ''rottcn," "a,
be expressed It. though he noticed an
absence 0f the coarse jokes Of ~,
Olden ting But he was surprised u
see that the comics wherein most oi
the raimahr OF the performing worct