The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-10-09

all hard with him. Then the hero, al
though still a deserter if not a muir
derer, is left free to fall into the arms
OF his savior.
Plot Is Illogical.
Like all actor-made plays, it is IL
logical, but full of points" that draw
applause from the unthinking, and is
devoid Of a single original idea, unless
some OF the authors bizarre notions
of governmental procedure are entitled
to that classification. Almost every
scene and situation can be identified
as having been lifted from some preYi-
Gus successful play and rewritten into
new environment The best act is
undoubtedly the second, which is laid
in a San Francisco dance hall, and 1t
is palpably reminiscent of the first
act of Mrs Fiske's salvation Nell"
Miss Ware should speedily find a new
play and relegate The Deserters'' to
the minor theatres in which it may
ind a public.
my Man" a Strong Play.
Crudeness and strength are the
characteristics OF MY Man." a new
play by a new author, Forrest Halsey,
produced at the BijOu last Tuesday
evening. 1t is a decentralization of his
cy' The great strength OF the stu
atiOns overbalances the crudities of
construction and the rawness of the
characters, and when Mr.. Halsey shall
have become more expert we may ex-
pect a really remarkable drama from
his pen.
The heroine has a past, not the
usual kind, but a penftentiary record.
Betrayed and deserted at 16, she did
not fall in the way most girls do, but
stole from a jeWelry store to keep
herself and child from starvation.
Convicted of this crime and then pa
rolled, she seizes her child from the
asylum in which IT has been placed
and fees from Illinois TO New York,
where we find her In the first act
working hard and living hardly to
make an honest living for herself and
child.
She accepts the heart and hand of
Jim, the manager OF the business I'm
which she has been employed, con-
Tossing her betrayal, which ne for
gives, but concealing the other part
of her career.
Jim. a character splendidly played
by Robert Drouet, is a big. likable,
manly chap, who makes a good hus-
band, but the past rises up in the
person Of Diamond Mabel, a fellow
convict, who had earned her gratitude
by nursing her through illness in the
prison. Mabel is married to a noto-
rious crook. but they are trying TO
live honestly. when the police deter
mine TO fasten on her husband a
crime Of which he is really guiltless
Mabel asks for shelter, which can
scarcely be denied her, and there also
appears a Matchmaking private de-
tective, who suspects Jim's wife and
lays traps for Mabel.
Driven TO desperation by the de-
termination of the officers to convict
her husband. whether or no, Mabel
by threatening exposure OF her past
cOmpels the wife to take a sum of
money which has been entrusted to
her husband, and which will save the
accused man from trial. her intention
being plainly to bribe the police. She
is caught in the act by her husband
and the detective and is forced to con-
fess all.
Goes Back TO Prison.
So back TO prison she goes to serve
the remainder OF her sentence, which
is cut short in the last act by a par
don. and she is reunited to- Jim. who
has not lost faith In her.
The play is frankly one of the I'M
der world. but il present a vivid pic
ture OF that phase of life and drives
home with terrific strength the truth
that crime Is frequently the result of
social conditions. and not of any in
nate depravity- on the part of the
criminal. It's grip is powerful. the in
terest never flags and in spite of the
unpleasantness Of the subject it can
hardly fail to reach success.