Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-09-04

TN these great days Of our city,
fraught with growth and progress
and the consequent demolition Of
old land marks 90 make way for
newer and erandcr thinFs, the old resi-
dent 10 he be- possessed of any senu-
mont al ALL goes about much Of me
time with large sized lump In his
throat
The old Dcseret News building and
Tthing office adjacent thereto were
perhaps notable exceptions To- this rule,
for the reason that they had grown
70 be something OF an evcsore 10 the
general onlooker because Of their d.
lapidated appearance. yet no doubt
there were those who had served APP
prcnticcshius within the historic walls
of the News building. or who had
played when boys about its spacious
norchcs. or who had regularly gone 20
the Tithing offlcc iu the olden days e.
got "a portion Of their daily sustenance.
who had pangs Of genuine sorrow 20
see even them-disreputable az they
had grown to look-dynamited out u
existence
sau Lake city has long been cele-
brated FOR its quaint structures, de-
'iNNANA Wy ilNNHANi itAAllfln NiiN'A NoNAN
pioneer conditions. and though the
fates and the inexorable demands OF
progress decree that all Of them must
eventually be demolished there viii be
those whose eyes win nm with mist and
whose throats will choke with emo
ton, as each ono Of the old land marks
with It's old-time memories, goes brave
IS down.
There is perhaps nothing IN the fore
a.
the immediate annihildtion OF the old
salt Lake theater. but n there were.
there is little doubt that mass meet
ings would be held an over the city
protesting against so great desecra-
tiou and that many would be- found
who would almost feel like shoulder
ing their muskets' 20 prevent it.
For many years there has been a
great lurking fear i'm the breasts Of the
masses, lest the oncoming train Of inn
urovement might collide with this dear
ly loved structure and this wholesale
feeling has not been confined 90 the
city. or even the state but 10 may he
gaid that 10 is NJ least as wide as the
nation. If not indeed worldwide, 50
widely hcraldcd is It's fame. so many
thousands from AN corners OF the
earth there are who have loved 10
lugor within its classic portals
Don't over tear 10 down" said Dan
Frohmsn 60 Manager George d. Pyper
recently There are only few ~
them left and this one above all should
be preserved Dan FrOhman came
20 Salt Lake as manager for his wife.
Margaret Ellington Csincc divorced on
her western tour with THE Thief" and
was So cnamored for the twentieth
time no doubt. Of the acoustics Of the
old thcater that he climbed with MI
frT fGarn
sat listening 90 the play. by George"
ne exclaimed. isn't II wonderful? Even
here one can see and hear better than In
the nit ~ the average modern PLAYHOUSE,
There are notmore than three such thea
ters loft u the United States Don't
tear IL down, Piper. IL would be a
sacrilcge."
There IS no manner 81 doubt thar
Dan Frohman's views are shared by
mutLtudes Of theatrical people who
have played I'm the Salt Lake theater.
Their testimony that IL f. an easy
theater 20 speak In. easy to sing in and
| easy To feel at home I'm, Is almost uni
versal among actor-folk The three or
4 four other theaters like IL In the Unit
ed states 10 which Mr.. Frohman al
| luded. are located in Pittsburg. In Bos-
! ton and in New Orleans: there was one
| I'm Philadelphia-the old Walnut Street
| ago.
II Is said that Brigham Young the
master, whose wonderful genius build
| ed always for the future. and whose
| wisdom and forethought located great
/ temple. a great theater. a great store
and a great bank all within a stones
throw Of each other-sent II. b. Claw
son. the managerial Nestor Of the
Utah drama. to New York, about fifty
years ago to look over the theaters
there and brush M on the question OF
modern thcater building. II was a
| labor Of love for Hiram. Himself an
actor from Nauvoo days. down through
the Tabernacle boWery and Social han
| days. II didn't take him long to pack
his grip. though II did take him more
than a month 20 get to Gotham by tn
slow and crude methods Of overland
travel then I'm vogue The old Bowery
| theater I'm New York was then In full
swing. and was probably the most
uopular playhouse on the continent. Mr.
CIawson came back laden with plans
and specifications modelled after that
splendid old thcater and Immediately
the work Of construction Of the salt
Lake theater was begun. The idea in
those DAYS was not so much 10 nave