The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-25

inns Winter SKI Costumes OF this sort have
been made with narrow bordering hands
OF fur. and caps to match are also trimmed
with fur.
Another French idea il the swaats,
knitted from heavy chenille. soft, velye,v
thick and lovely In colorings. Toaues ana
big mufYs to match are made Of the chen.
lille. with touch Of fur for finish.
WROTE PLAYS BY HUNDREDS
Nest Industries Modern Authors Out.
done ny 0id Dramatists-
ITO Avery Hopwood, author Of 'Clothe,
and Seven Days warning friends whis-
per: You are working too fast when
they read that he has four plays for pro-
ductiou this winter says a contributor,o
the Theatre. Vaughan OF London wro,s
five comedies In n hurry and has paused
Sir Arthur Pinero 10 suddenly TO the iron,
with the declaration that one play a
year In enough for the literary worker
Edmond Rostsnd took nine years for
'Chantecler'
The play wrighting giants Of old set q
lively pace for modern writer's to follow,
and there's no denying that they ar.
falling behind. All good work for the
stage has not been produced at the snail's
pace, nor have the writer's OF great plays
deemed IL advisable or necessary to re-
tire on their laurels.
There Ia always the example Of MoliAre
i'm such cases. Molierc for years was in
the midst Of the kings rsvels. yet he
managed 10 write comedies between
meals that survive a. classics OF French
literature.
There 10 also voitaire. who was more
than q court favorite. Kings begged for
his presence Mt their ccurta and salons.
He waged political and el;gious wars.
dabbled In science. flooded the streets
with pamphlets and was practical his.
torian. but he found tame to write plays
that survive the centuries.
augustus Thomas writes one play or
sometimes two plays q year. His friends
say that hs devotes much time to politics,
time that might otherwise be consumed
in playwriting. Compare him to that old
lion Of the North the late Bj6rnsterns
Bj0rnsen, who played bigger politics for
thirty years than Thomas has dreamed Of.
yet who wrote plays with facility that
shames his contemporaries.
u
q bury day grinding out editorials for the
delivers q political address.
then sits down and writes the vitriohc
tragedies that cause the capers OF the little
society dramas Of the day to look like the
proverbial sixpence.
tom Taylor. to whom we are indebted
for n score Of plays. including Our Ameri-
can Cousin The Overland Route and
Anne Boleyn.' was editor of PuRch, a con-
tributor to the same periodical. n biog-
rapher and historian and man of affairs.
yet he did not write himself out.
Alexandra Dumas. p4re, left over a
volumes rs the product of his
busy pen. yet he found time to write plays.
and Alexandra Dumas. fills. wrote Camille
in less than a month. because he was
warned that q pirated adaptation Of his
novel was to be given to the theatre Yet
none will say that Camille as a play 10
not the equal of The sultan of Sulu,'
The Easiest Way or Alias Jimmy yalen-
tine
Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven OF the
greatest dramas the world has ever had
i54 sonnets and numerous poems, all in
the space OF At most twenty-five years.
Balwer wrote The Lady Of Lyons on q
rush order 20 cover mp failure. In add
ton to his colossal musical COMPOSITIONS
Richard ws~ner produced many libretti.
essays and many volumes of musical criti-
cism. yet he did not write himself out
"One OF the giants Of old was Dion
who wrote over 900 dramas
in forty nine years. but he didn't dodge
his social obligations. OF which one hears
SO much at present. He was also an actor.
theatrical manager. the head Of
school and n voluminous reader.
At the age Of 10 he wrote London Assur-
ance' in thirty days. and after that quick
ened his pace Az the years passed, 50 that
there il one instance at least fully ag-
thenticated in which he wrote complete
drama in forty-eight hours. supporting
himself during the unnatural vigil on
deep drau9hts OF tea.
One would willingly exchange the 90
plays of Boucicault for one tragedy OF the
immortal William Of Avon. but so far a.
that argument II concerned it is ensy 10
retort that few if any Of our one play
n year dramatists are producing WORK
that is likely TO be alive hundred years
hence.
People marvel. or pretend to do so.
at the collected list Of plays by Clyde
Fitch. showing siSty-six titles. Compare
this to the 800 titles 81 the author Of Monte
yuma Maurice Jokai was credited with
600 books at the time OF his death.
The prince OF all the writing wonders,
however, was Lope de Vega Carpio,
Of Cervantes and SHAKE
speare. who il credited with over 2.o"'
original dramas. yet it appears that play
writing was only om 81 the activities
Of his unusual life. He was a soldier.
had two wives. with whom ne lived IN
and then became n priest. attend
ing to his hoiy ofiice during period COZ
ering several years. He wrote plays al
the rate OF forty -four a year for many
years. and by critics Of the Spanish drama
his work is still praised for its richness
variety Of ideas any quality OF which
Is enough to distinguish playwright
to-day"
s.-s~,,f