The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-02-27
Lived in keokuk.

know 1t sounds like an iinpos,
sible feat. but performed it for sew.
! eral years. Ny parents still live there
= went to the public school at Keo.
kuk, and when the rhyming fever
/; threatened the other scholars they
| shipped me to boarding school in
/ ST. Charles, Mo. After a few years in
/, that institution accumulated another
(. layer of knowledge at Adelbert col.
i lege. Cleveland, Ohio. l reached Yale
| in 1892 with every intention OF re.
naming two years. BY that time / had
convinced myself that my duty to pos
lterity demanded that occupy the
chair of English literature in some
university
What happened to change your
plan %
1T came about like this: / thought
had been entirely cured OF my poetic
fever, but one day got a violent re-
lapse. / determined to become a play
wright, and with that end in view /
came to this city in 1898. have been
here ever since, with the exception of
two years spent in London, where /
was engaged in gathering data for the
Encyclopedia Britannica. AS pre-
liminary training for producing the
great American drama got Job as
a reporter on a Park row newspaper.
1t might be we'll to state right here
that was the worst reporter that ev-
err asked if it We're true. lasted just
six months, but ] don't hesitate to
say that the practical experience
gained during that period was more
beneficial than the rest of my educa-
ton
When did you produce your first
play?.
I'm 1894. It was musical piece
called ''The Bathing Girl and it hung
up record which has been equaIled,
but never surpassed. It ran for one
consecutive night at the Fifth Avenue
theatre, and when saw the newspa-
pers the next morning | started run
ming for cover. The experience cost
my father $1,000 and cost me the most
excruciating agony. For two years the
abbreviated run of the piece was a
standing joke along Broadway and in
the newspapers. More than once I
was determined to leave the drama to
its fate. but my parents wouldn't have
1t.
Father and Mother Best Audience.
They still had confidence in you %
My father and mother are my hest
audience. They regard my most glow
ing notices as entirely too conserya-
tive. Two years later, in conjunction
with Mr. Collin Kemper OF Messrs.
Wagenhals & Kemper, ] wrote Alex
ander the Great That was my first
substantial success. My best known
plays of recent years have been The
Triangle, All for Girl My Boy
The Bridge and Two Women In
some quarters The Triangle is re-
garded as my best work, but the box
office does not corroborate that claim.
1t failed in this city, but the critics
said 1t had one Of the greatest third
acts ever written. Mrs. Leslie Carter
is starring in Two Women The
Bridge also is on tour"
How long did it take you to write
Excuse Me-?
Not SO very long, but was long
time getting started. Sometimes ]
think for whole days without being
able to put mark on paper. Then the
stuff comes with rush"
Weren't you afraid to open in New
York on the thirteenth of the month -
"On the contrary. I was immensely
pleased. My one hobby is upsetting
alleged hoodcos. will go out of my
way to walk under ladder. It may
be interesting to know the way the
number 13 has figured in my latest
production. The first performance
took place at Allentown, Pa. on Fri
day, the thirteenth. The contract to
bring the play. to New York was sign.
ed on the thirteenth, and we opened
at the Gaiety theatre on the thir.
tenth
Managers will keep you busy now
that you have produced a success
II don't think they look at 1t in
THAT way. You are liable to get as
many orders for plays after you pro.
duce failure. know that has been
the case. All the managers have treat
ed me with the greatest courtesy and
consideration, even at time when
Cain was compelled to put on extra
wagons to cart off my failures. Man.
ayers who have lost thousands OF dol
lars on my plays have come right
back and demanded more punishment.
That goes to disprove the popular be-
lief that they do not exert them
selves to get new material. And do
not let any one tell you that the I'M
known dramatIst has no chance to
break in. Any playwright who has the
goods can get a hearing in this city.
The managers are huDgering for good
plays and every manuscript gets re-
spectful consideration.