The Washington herald., 1909-02-07

SPECIAL Co-rrssonde1ee he Washington Herald
New York. Feb. e-Less than a year
ago Prof. Hugo Munsterberg. Of Har-
ward, wrote a series Of startling articles
on police hypnotism. intended tc show
that IN numerous cases OF arrests fOT
crime, innocent men under the strain OF
'the third degree" Of mental torture, are
made 10 confess 70 the commission OF
crimes. L is recalled that in at least
one instance Prof Munsterberg showed
that 8 bright object. ike the silver
mountings OF a pistol. on which the sus-
pect was mads to gaze for certain
period. acted in producing a state Of
hypnosis that led to confession on the
part OF the tagged subject Words were
put into his mouth which convicted him
Of a crime he had not committed
That is the basis Of Mr Charles Kiein's
latest play. The Third Degree" sue
cessfuiiy launched at the Hudson Mon
day evening. with Helen Ware, Wallace
Eddinger. John Flood. and Edmund
Breese in the principal roles. Accord
ingly We have another play dealing with
q phase OF mental phenomena. ike The
Road to Yesterday" The WitchinE
Hour. The Vampire" and The Dawn
OF Tomorrow Cur playwrights have
struck a new trail OF thought. and are
exploiting every phase OF occultism that
promises TO put money in their purses
Although the new play was not received
with uniform acclaim, the indications are
rr-f71 fnr a
audience had the appearance Of enjoying
every moment OF II, and the enthusiasm
was great
IN spite OF the popularity Of FRITZ
Seheh. the little prima donna could not
run the season out at the Knickerbocker
in this years joint production Of Henry
Blossom and Victor Herbert. and on
Monday night Elsie Janis took her place
al that playhouse IN a comedy by George
Ade. entitled The Fair Co-Ed" It Is q
breezy concOction Of merry antics. with
some rather mournful jokes and some
positively reminiscent strains by Gustav
Luders. but put together in such a way
that its eonventionalities are buried be-
meath the rush ef action After all what
the audience was waiting for as the
choicest tid-bit Of the show was Miss
Janis limitations. and these she reserved
for the last Ethel Barrymore was
marked present as the gays0me Lady
Frederick, Anna Held was making eyes.
Eddie Foy was brought vividly on the
tspis, and George Cohan uttered nasal
comedy-all in the protean aspects OF lit
tie Miss Janis. who, now nineteen. stiH
retains all the childish wayvardness and
little cute manners OF her first advent In
this theatrical fairyland- Amid g multi
Plicity OF various specislties, a cadet foot
bail song rings out as q high note OF
amusing and edifying numbers. The
show net with a good reception.
Something quite as naughty as the.
Queen OF the Moulin Rouge" though.
perhaps, less artistic. attracted an enor-
nous audience to Weber's this weak.
where The Girl from Rector's" was
produced II was run out OF one OF the
neighboring New Jersey towns the other
night By an indignant popUIace Some
said It vas specially arranged by the
hackers OF the show in order 10 give Il
q boom IN New York The faring PLAY
bills on the dead walls and in the win
on a tray with a shapeIy girl n des-
hsbilie on top and subscribed with the
legend An undressed salad" helped to
sanspirs interest aad swell the assault on
the box Office The police were IN the
lobby, but only TO keep order among the
clamorous ticket purchasers. and when
the show vas half over and some one
asked OF a pompous guardian in blue
why he did not stop the show he OBJ
served philosophically. that II would be
time wasted, as the show would stop Of
its own accord. That may be only the
Idle speculation OF q Broadway police
man The piece Is adapted By Paul Pot
ter, from q Partisan ''bIuette" Of Pierre
Weber, and had a considerable run IN
most Of the large cities in Europe Pot
Ter is the author. OF sdapter. OF The
Queen OF the Moulin Rouge. and the
sensational success OF that piece susti-
fed his belief that something Ike Il
would go on Lower Broadway. That sort
Of a show appeals irresistlbIy 70 the
thousands Of foRtsrs who are crow6ing
the hotels and looking for something
with q distinct metropolitan smack
which they cannot get at home. u IS as
naughty as managers dare 60 within the
license fixed by the recent "SaIOme" per
formance al Hsmmerstein's Manhattan
Opera House. Interdicted BY the police
a year ago, IL packed the great music
house with prices raised 70 SO q seat
And the police stirred never q peg 10 in
terfere- In the cast OF The Girl from
RectOr's" are Van RanseIIaer Wheeler.
Violet Dale. Dallas Wolford- and EIita
Proctor Otis.
Dlxey. OF '.AdOnis" fame, is playing in
Brooklyn this week instead OF the Garden
Theater in this city. where he was run
ning happily along IN Mary Jane's Pa.
The reason Is that Col. Savage IS forced
70 I'll contract at the Grand ODera
House et The other end OF the bridge.
This contract was one Of q regular route
mapped out when Il was thought that
Nary James Pa would exhaust its
popularity in a given time To the sur
prise OF most people, the comedy began
20 please the public, and slI outstanding
contracts were ordered Cancelled. The
Brooklyn house was the only one TO
object, and since the MANAGEMENT re-
fused to bulge from the letter OF the
contract Mary Pane's Pa" had 10 be
taken 10 Brooklyn. AS q result, the
Garden TheateT was dark eTsry night
except Friday and Saturday. Whsn Ben
janin Chaplin put on his play OF In |
coin at the White House" Next week |
DiXey resumes his interrupted run.
About week ago Marietta Oily. the
leading emotional actress OF Berlin, made |
her FIRST appearance in this country at
the Irving Place German Theatsr IN Ia |
RefeIe" under the title OF "Baccarat. "
The play Is by Henri Bernstein. author /
Ct The Thief and Samson" Nine. |
Oily made an instantaneous nit IN the
hysterical role OF Helene, a married !
woman. posing as q paragon OF domestic
rfrfre u,hn has q sA.cra4 aRaIr --lth