Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-08

Every western sensation that could be de-
picted was rounded up and presented In
the original meioaramatic style. Red
shirts. clanking spurs, lariats, chaps and
corral .'rough-houses." with guns and
knives. battle and murder and sudden
death. chased one another across the stage
with the swiftness of a Sheriff's posse
trailing horse thief. The play is an
no,,nced type. 1. is saved from being
mediocre. however. by two really re-
markable spectacles that. ii is safe to
say. have never before been equaled on
a Washington stage-not even in the most
thrilling of the Kraemer or Blaney plays.
As such it Is a winner. AS work OF
dramatic merit Its pre:ensions are, frank
~. small.
1t concerns the battle primitive between
two cowboys for the hand of girl of the
southwest. The scenes are laid in Ari-
IONA and In the Bad Lands of the Mexican
border. Jack Payson. ranch owner. Is
married to Echo Allen, the girl, after she
| has waited for two years in vain for the
return OF Dick Lane, n mining engineer 10
whom she had been engaged. Payson,
Knowing that Lane is still alive, tells Echo
that he has persisted in the desert. Lane
turns up at the ranchhouse just AS the
marriage is taking place within he
goes back to the desert, broken-hearted.
to die. Payson is forced to tell his wife
the truth. She sends him after Lane.
They meet in the Bad Lands. Lane near
deaths door from thirst and starvation.
Payson gives Lane his canteen of water
and his pony. and. as atonement for his
tfeachery. agrees to dies in the land or
dead things. But before the two can
separate Il band of Apache Indians on
the Warpath attacks them.
After desperate fight they are rescued
by Slim Hoover the sheriff of Pnal
county. with his posse and a company
or so of United States soldiers from Fort
Grant. Lane dies of his wounds. and Pay
son returns to his ranch to find that his
wife really loves him and not Lane. The
villain is stabbed by one of his henctmen
ana. apparently. peace settles upon the
land. The stage pictures. beautiful and
remarkable, hold the attention with their
impressive realism.
The spectacle in the third act of hand
to-hand fight between the cowboys and
the soldiers and the Apaches must satisfy
every one who has formed mental pic
lures of what real fight between SOL
diers and Indians ought to look like. AS
INSTALLATION of Clusters Last Stand
and the exploits of Buffalo Bill and other
western classics, 1t is perfect. The cur
tain rises upon section Of the rocky.
barren Bad Lands. Everything is there
even the alkal \ lone Indian scout on
horseback appears along the mountain
trail. He advances cautiously and signals
the rest of the band. One by one. all on
real western horses. they file down the
trail. intent on their murderous mission.
dead with thirst. Payson rescues him and
the Indian attack begins 1t is truly vivid,
one Indian dying most convincingly acros s
the edge of cliff. where he hangs life
less With a roar and rattle as deep as
thunder and as incessant as the tattoo Of
hail on tin roof. the soldiers. appearing
down the trail. put the Indians to rout
with surprising fatalities on the side or
the redskins and a pleasing lack of it In
the ranks of the white men. It's real
battle, as the gallery testified vocifer-
ously. At the drop of the curtain the au-
dience rose en- masse when 1.-THE Star
Spangied Banner was played
At the beginning of the last act an
other spectacle. that of cattle outfit
arising from sleep in the early dawn.
breakfa sting and mounting and riding of
the mustangs. brought enthusiastic ap-
plause.
Maelyn Arbuckle. as the sheriff, was an
unfailing source of humOr. w. E. knib-
loe. as Lane. gave a fine portrayal OF his
part.