The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-06-28

New York, June 26.-It was ali about
a well. But. though the we'll was in
the middle of a comic opera, it was no
commonplace well. In the first circle
about the well were our old friends
the merry villagers. Then came the not
unfamiliar jolly tars. The next circle
was the coast of Normandy, hardly
strange when music is in the ear. and
tars and villagers in the eye, though
rather more than usually alluring in a
scene copied from no less of an Origl-
nal than a MaXfield Parrish painting
Still the circle of coast line was not
so singular as 10 make me feel lone
some And the fourth circle, surround
ing the shore that surrounded the tars
that surrounded the girls that sur
rounded the well. was a regular sea.
Even the we'll didn't let me know at
first that il was something quite new.
The name of the comic opera, THE
Naked Truth" did. not give more than
the inkling of the novelty by that
Americanized Englishman, Edward
Paulton, who with his father made
"Erminie" from the old melodrama of
Robert Macaire." Son Edwards well
was quite his own 1t might have been
anybodys, everybody's, while the viii
layers and tars caVorted around il in
tunefui merriment Of the traditional
sort.
The Sergeant of the Kings Scotch
High Balls was less unusual than funny
in his tipsy staggering through a tOpi-
cal song, for the actor was Harry Dav-
export, and the principal village maiden
was Phyllis Rankin. Now. you Old fell
lows who like TO say ~ remember"
when the dead and gone Edward Dav-
export and the tOO-fat-to-act Mckee
Rankin are mentioned, but don't know
what is now in the theatres, let me
tell you that this Harry Davenport,
son of Edward and brother of Fanny,
has developed a speciality in inebriate
depletion; that Phyllis Rankin, daugh-
ter of Mckee and Kitty Blanchard Ran
kin. is like her mother forty years ago,
and that Harry and Phyllis are mar
ried. l thought back to their parents
when | saw the Man in the Moon wink
from over the sea at them as they sat
on the wells curb, and Phyllis sang to
Harry. You see. they didn't know about
it, but the Under-Assistant-S Sub Conf
cal Cuss had let me i'm on il, that the
we'll hated prevaricatiOn. Indeed, any
one who uttered a falsehOod within
the circle of magic was straightway di-
vested of some article of clothing.
W ash mat tAAOh6iA " illdhC tic DlOOil-
man wink tip TO the earth folk in
the audience? The potential well had
become operative when, in the opening
chorus. the sailors frankly confessed to
having sweethearts in many parts. but
the village maidens of this port denied
their similar shifts IN sWeethearting
with visiting sailors. and Whisk went
their sleeves and upper corSages. AS
these girls were not society bellies, ac-
custOmed to uecOllete conditions, they
took 10 the cover of a canvas.
That well became active again when
Harry began to offer to Phyllis choice
of his castles to live in as his wife. He
/ lost hat for that. In reply to her
objection to his castle in Spain, he
began 10 describe its scenic beauties
with a Claude MelnOtte wealth of fan
| cy and his shirt vanished so quickly
as to give 10 hint of its hiding place
and added TO his embarrassment by re-