The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-11-15
IfiE SALT LAKE HERALD: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER l5 1908

Is SHOWN. Its floor is four or i've feet
ABOVE the stage level, as though float
ing IN a space of black; but through a
portfolio 1jnIy lighted water is visible
as though the craft We're near the sur
race of the sea. Commander Mills, IN
tne company of several subaiterns. is
operating the vessel under water as
part of some naval maneuvers. He is
strangely exhilarated. Needlessly,- he
orders the pilot to dive the boat ten
tathoms deep. His commands. tersely
spoken and responded to by strokes or
bells. are impressive. He grows gay as
the boat darts down: but his first as
slstant gets dizzy. and the second pro-
/ tests. ITO fourteen fathoms," the boss
cries: and he is obeyed. The swish of
water is heard. and its enormous pres
sure makes bolts creak. Then the
dreadful truth is revealed that the
commander as his habit is before
trip under the sea. has taken mad
dening dose of morphine. 1t Is then
that, in finding an excuse in the notion
of dope" the people break out in
nervous laugh. Plainly, bit OF comic
relief is needed.
The drugs effect ceases; the boat
rises TO the surface; the audience eases
itself; but the play isn't going to peter
| out like that. The boss sane now. di-
reefs the participation Of his craft in
the arranged maneuvers. Suddenly, be-
cause it has been damaged by its
! plunge to an unusual depth, il begins to
| let water in and sink rapidly. Con-
sternation prevails. The commander
keeps his wits about him. and tries to
regain control of the laundering boat.
/ AL in vain. The crews compartment,
/ first forward and then aft. is water
logged, and the men clamor for en-
trance to the middle section; but, obedi-
ent to self-preservation's first law of
nature. the four officers won't let the
common sailors in: and silence soon
| tells that they are dead. The officers
now are hopeless. One falls on his knees
and begs frantically for the absolution
which no priest is there to give. One
curses God for his fate. One clamors
for help to escape. One, the boss, inco-
herently shouts orders to his already
drowned crew. IT is then the over
wrought audience laughs for the second
time-for no immediate reason-simply
because the tension breaks. This time
Kisses stop the laughing. The fouI
frenzied officers, fancying that one OF
two might escape through the narrow
exit to the emerged deck. fight like
madmen for precedence A sound OF
inrushing water, an extinguishment OF
the electric lights, gurgle of drowning
men I'm the darkness. and all is ovel
for the submarine TORPEDO boat and its
occupants.
X X
Observe, now, the difference between
Paris and New York's dramatic sensl
bility. This tragilet of 1.-The Subma
rine," as presented there and faithfully
copied here, has a closing two-minute:
of epilogue. A eulogist of the drowned
submarines men is disclosed in a pull
pit a at the funeral service. The fou
officers have been found clinched as an
tagonists in a death contest; but tn
orator of the occasion says they were II
a brave embrace, and that they died il
patriotic ecstasy. That is satire whicl
. Paris appreciates, but New York doe
not care for. But THE Submarine
would make corking third act for
| melOdra ma