The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1911-06-28

ers. crowded as near 10 the wagon az
the hastily stretched rope would per
NIT them. Women seated Themselves
on high doorsteps. an aproned man
came TO the door Of what might have
been a reproduction Of the Tabard
inn, and the play was on. The title
of the drama was "Noahs Floodk
play Of the fifteenth century. e
wagon was built to represent Noah's
ark and was finished Off with an attic
window hung with a pale blue cur
tain painted with stars. This. as we
discovered later. was to represent the
sky. for whenever the deity, who was
represented on the program as Domi-
nus, had anything to say to Noah he
drew aside the curtain and presented
to the audience gided face and love
like beard.
The villagers regarded this mani
festation Of divinity upon the stUs
with reverence. but am sorry to SOY
that the twentieth ,4Nnry matinee
woman smiled little. Just fancy
play like that being presented on
Broadway. There isn't a manager In
America who would dare represent
God. But the point of view was diff
ferent In those days, woefully differ
ent, as we observed from the senti-
ments Of the play and the manner In
which these sentiments were accepted
by the villagers, who seemed to be In
alternate states of awe and admira-
ton. They never presumed to scoff
Frankly. thought Mr.. Noah a hor-
rid old man, and / didn't blame Mrs.
Noah much for her suffragette senti-
ments, for the husband was a shame
less wife beater. When Mrs. Noah's
sentiments differed from his he would
fall upon her with a huge club he al
ways carried and wallop her into sub
mission. Mr.. Noah took a virtuous
satisfaction in his strenuous discipline
and would make many side speeches,
in which he advised all husbands to
follow his example if they would
dwell in peace and comfort in their
households. The villagers accepted
the advice respectfully, and even the
friars looked their approval, but the
twentieth century. matinee woman
laughed. Wife beating is no longer
regarded as an accomplishment. The
whole Noah family seemed to sympa-
thize with the old man. and even the
audience-the stage audience-was
much scandalized by the unsubmissive
attitude Mrs. Noah assumed, although
nowadays the fact that she wanted to
save her three friends would be re-
garded as only commendable. 1t seems
to have been the fashion of the time
to sneer at and berate women. An
actor appearing on any stage today
and seriously speaking of women as
the inferior sex would be hooted of,
and managers presenting such libelous
plays would be playing to empty seats
in short order.
When the curtain rose for a second
time on the English village it was to
disclose the performance of a second
play leveled at "silly woman" TfH
one included an indulgent mother, who
loved her two wild children and mex
plicably hated the good one. There
may have been such mothers in 1900,
DuI ilhc luclA tAlslS nOW.
haps this one was a Pigment of the
dramatist's Imagination then. The vir
tue of the rod was again emphasized
by reiteration of the advice that it
should be used unsparingly. this time
not so especially on woman's back as
upon that of her children. "Spare the
rod, spoil the child" preached the
century ethicist, while the
of twentieth century
child philosophy in the body of the
theater merely dropped its lorgnettes to
laugh. On the steps Of the stage Eng
lish village the white capped matrons
gravely babe their little ones hearken
to these good words, the good and
priggish son received with sanity con-
descension the prodigal sister, wiped
away a proper tear for their brother
hanged in chains, magnanimously COM
forted the unnatural but despairing
mother and retired amid the applause
of the matinee woman of his day,
who evidently regarded him as a pat
tern and model of all chivalry. And
again the twentieth century matinee
woman laughed. MABEL.