Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-02

abroad was on the wane II not IN state
Of coma. 1t took so trivial thing as
the unauthorized and perhaps un"ar-
rantable association of the name OF the
Princess Louise, wife Of the Marquis OIL
Lorne. with that OF the heroine or the
novel, TO stimulate an interest Whlch
has grown with the years and eventually
made OF the book one OF the most widely
read and popular in the world.
Numerous attempts to dramatiZe Lorna
Doone" have been made. but up to the
present time no dramatist seems to have
been able 70 embody in play the beau
ties, the thrills and the atmosphere or
the novel At least. none has set the
world afire with his work.
For this reason deep interest attaches
to the work which is now TO be given
the public for the first time by Willard
Holcomb, widely known and highly es-
teemed as a dramatic writer for years
in this community. MIR. Holcomb him
self is modest In his claims as yet. He
will not say whether the fate of his play
will follow that of the novel. The best
brief idea / can give of the play" he
saws lis embodied beautifully in the
following extract from the author $
preface TO the novel:
"GentIeman from the West:
BEST thanks again. But ere my dollars nov.
must have stun that sets my heart aglow.
s'L0rna:
Who hath with ease is difficult to please:
Yet can show thee wilder sights than these
The Hash Of falchions In the moonitt glen
The caves II murder and the outlaws den.
The shattered homestead and the blazing now
The crags and clouds with fires Of vengeance red,
And giants in each Others death-grip dead
..C;cntleman from, the West:
Bravo, That looks more like proper nj
i love 70 see hight of real grit.
And though laws came straightway from
the Doone.
Thou shalt not tell thy tale without boon;
The piper shall be paid. And who snail carp
II harpers let him tap their golden harp!
Lorna Doone'' is TO be presented as
real melodrama, with incidental music
Mr. Holcombs friends and lovers of the
novel all wish the play TO prove a real
success.
SIDESTEPPED THE MINISTRY.-An
Interesting story blending the preacher
with the player, the fond aspirations OF
q parnt and the wayward tendency of Ee-
MUS, the heart interest of a young hope
full and the triumph of the stage over the
pulpit is woven around the career of Ed
win III Curtis. the stage director of the
Columbia Players. TO whom-any of the
players will tell you-more than to any
other one factor Is due their surprising
success.
When Ed first saw the light Of day
some thirty years ago. the love that
beamed in his mothers eyes was not
stronger than the proud hope that stirred
the heart of his father. The mother love.
like mothers love always, grew and
waxed stronger with the years, while the
hope of the father went a glimmering
down the corridors of time till it was
lost in the mist of a playhouse
Mr.. Curtis senior was an ardent ana
uncompromising churchman. To him
the avocation of a minister was so far in
advance of everything else that no sacri-
fice was too great for those who were
fortunate enough to hear its call So
when he first looked on Eds rolling
brow, for it rolled then even as II rolls
now. he made the first resolve in his
mind TO dedicate him TO the church.
From his earliest infancy, Ed was
drilled in the straight and narrow path,
with the specter of the cloth always in
the distance Almost as soon as he
could toddle he went TO sunday school.
and then to church And when he could
read he loved TO read his Sunday school
paper and his book from the library. In
fact. he was what everybody thought
Q model young aspirant for the ministry.
But the Sunday school despite its splen
did influences was Eds un6oing as
churchman. There was a bright-eyed,
rosy-cheeked little lass who went to Sun
day school, too and close observers
among the boys and girls often suspected
Eds eyes wandered her way oftener
than they should. for one who was going
to be a minister But the girl did not
seem to mind il and il passed I'M
criticised, if not unobserved
The minister thought something should
be done TO raise funds to get a new or
gan. and the congregation set to WORK.
There strawberry festivals. ice
cream evenings. tableauX and what not
until one day some one suggested little
play. IL was one 81 those real good plays
that pointed a strong moral, so no OBJ
lection raised
Id was in the cast. was the little
girl. and 50 was another boy, not so
good. but just keen I'd. At the re-
nearsals Ed played his part with staid
sobriety and solemnity. The other boy
got over the footlights. so TO speak, and
beat him 10 II. And the little girls eyes
wondered from Ed TO the other boy.
Suddeny Ed awoke. He did not pro-
pose 10 let any threeby-four country
boy do him in that way. and then he be-
gan IL act. No one had ever suspected
he had an atom of ''play-acting talent
but talent, large and impressive. cropped
out in that play. Ed made the hit of the
show and the whole church was talking
about IL The little girl was suppiiant
at his feet. Mother was oh. so proud.
and father-wel. father was certainly
not displeased.
The financial success OF the venture
was so great another play was tried.
And this time Ed simply annihilated all
rivals. But he had to have a larger hat
afterwards. and folks noticed a sort of
wicked strut in his walk. He used the
broad In talking and never sighted
the smallest syllable. The germ OF MIS-
trionic ambition had taken root, and so
strong was the plant that the little
church sp-out that had been struggling
TO raise its head was simply eaten out
OF house and home. Ed then and there
made up his mind to be an actor. He
loved art for arts sake"
But even as the church sprout had
been crowded out by the sturdy dramatic
tree, 80 the love for art crowded out
his infatuation for the little girl. Ed
Arst began to notice her dramatic de-
fects. then TO criticise her. and finally
he gave her her notice He was q real
actor now. The blow almost killed ia
Their; but mother loved him just the
same. That's how Ed Curtis side-stepped
the church and took up the stage. and
those who know say he Is a master
among masters on II.
A PREcARIOUS BEGTNNING.-R- D.
Blackmore's popular romance of Exmoor.
Lorna Doone.' which Willard Holcomb
has dramatized. and which the Belasco
Stock Company will present this week.
had a precarious beginning. After the
enormous popularity OF the book, 1t is
rather curious to learn that its author
only after many disappontments was able
10 secure a publisher, and that. once pub
lished. the book attracted little or no at
tention