The Washington times., 1908-11-17
George AIDES Comedy at
National Proves IrreSiSt-
IDLY Funny.
Mrs. Wigs and Her Cab
bage Patch Again De-
light Washington.

liSIlb w dSIllI!StOll-
Once there was a Six-Cylinder High
Brow with speed enough to make the
Lusitania take his dust. His name was
AIDE. but ne didn't Need It, He was the
Kind that makes good while the Other
Fellow Is down at the Conceit Incu-
batOr getting his likeness Doct1red-
Well, this fellow AIDE lost no time
with Richard and Henry learning to
speak Ia words of one syl-a-ble with the
right Ack-sent No. He built his Style
from the Ground Up and Caught Up
with the procession instead of writing
down the Dead Languages of the Dark
Ages. First, he put over a few Stories
with morals Ike "If you can't be Good
you can At Least be careful" Then he
took to writing Plays.
But IL was not because Plays were
Higher Art than Stories. Gentle Reader,
IL is Time for you 10 Get next. AIDE had
learned by this Time that anything was
High enough Art if the Dear People
would Pay enough for 1t. He took 10
plays because More People were Will
Ing to pay the price OF High Art 10 get
In. one was The College Widow" and
the Girl In Il wasn't a Widow at All
but nobody cared. Another was a Mu-
steal Comedy and Ace didn't know
minor key from 'Lest-Chance-tO-Ge
a-Cool-GIass-of-Be Beer" sign. There were
some Others that he Wrote while run
ming for the Legislature, thinking that
those who Run can get others TO DO the
Reading-but the less Said about them
the Better.
George was "A Lucky Cuss, and so he
just kept on trying, like the Good Boy
in the pome. And the very next time
out came a play called Father and
the Boys" and though the Title didn't
mean a thing in the world. and Richard
and Henry can simply wear of their
Forehngers 70 the First Joint pointing
out its faults, AIDE is kept so Busy sign
ing Deposit Slips Ia the Bank that he
doesn't care, Honestly, Just where his
| good friends Richard and Henry really
get OF the car. And the moral is;
AS Long as Your Team Is Winning
You Needn't Care II the Outheld Chews
Tobacco"
When Father Slips Behind.
From which the discerning reader will
infer that Father and the Boys the
Z =
Washington lie Will probably have
learned from other sources that il is
being acted at the National Theater.
with Mr.. Crane in the first the three
title roles. lie has yet 10 be told that
/ tie laughter Of last nights audience
was good for the digestion. that the
acting, particularly that OF the star. is
meTitOTiOUs in places. 8ud that the play
requires al the license which custom
/ has extended the authors Of comedy.
! Transition IS the story OF the modern
! American home. The father InC moth
/ or, who have sCrsped and saved since
The war. for the sake Uf the children.
are now learning that they have de-
velOped those children out of the &C
| CustOmed home life. Ehe Old steel en-
cravings Of Lincoln and the signing
I of the Declaration have 20 give way 10
lmOnUChrOmes Of MeunieT and famed
Iquatratus from the Rubaiyat. the bleak
sabbath has gone the way OF the family
prayers; the respectable black q clothes
| FOR dress either loses its SpmbeTness
in the cut Of evening Formally OF dis
/ appears altogether in brOa1 plaldS ana
wide stripes. The new life Is not the
old life. never was aud never VIII ne
| and the "Old Folks" must either CdtCf
/ w with the procession OF drop hope
| iessIy and lonely behind.
| This is the thought Of Father ana
/ the Boys" The survival from the older
I
| ness-ab absorbed old wool broker. lie has
/ two bows, The ore a dillAante with hope
/ high for social progress the OIhef sim
/ a college athlete at heart, and neither
| with any reverence for the fathers ira
ditiOus or interest In his business,
| Their life source is a home furnished IN
! the course of James buchanan Al
! ministratiOu, and kept vigorously 10 the
/ period by a housekeepeT bound 10 the
| usages of the family. The friends Of
| both bows a vaudeville actress VINO has
! developed into an after-dinner enter
| tainer the old mans attorney, ana
| everybody else save the housekeeper
| bring the father to realize that he is six
miles. eight miles. fourteen miles be
! hind the procession, according TO the
point of view.
Going It a Bit Reckless.
| To understand. with him, Is 20 act.
He not only catches up, but beats the
hand at the head of the line. His Cal
ways are cut down to sideburns. His
customary suit of solemn black becomes
| racy brown frock coat with trousers
to match and a purple tie 10 give va
rfetv of color. The wool office is left
Ito the sons. The retired favortte OF
! vaudeville supplants the attorney as
/ Ciraroue and between them-thougn
/ both are pure at heart-they SET ne"
| speed limit The course Is uiieCtiy 70
!
1 To- the bovs. a miner sweetheart for the
/ MASKING lady guide, general ADJUST
/ mcnr OF standards for everybody and
! genia content for Father.
/ WIN r Mr. Crane was to do with such
/ a rola was plain. lie would enliven
/ II with tnnumerable little touches of
| kindness and Wit and present an I'M
! persoration which would make even
/ good many unreasonable things seem
] customary. These merits are distinct
/ in this representation For two acts
| this actor seems to have reached new
| mark. even above that of David Harum.
I i'm 0liet fun. in faithful representation
/ of advanced middle age, In keeping
/ within a character drawn as distinctly
as one OF the figures IN MIR. Frost S
/ cartoons.
| But the moment Mr.. Crane puts on
/ lnOdernity he begins to spoil II all.
/ Tricks of comedy stick out like a pitch
/ fork through a sheet. ''WhOOp" he
| wells, as no man of his age ever did.
/ de kicks around like the Rube dancer