Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-04-14

MalluCn wafer COk1lS6u
Metellus ........... .Bissell Putnam
Khaled ...-....-......G George wilkes
Cecilius ...............AJ J. Golding
Sanballat ........ Sherman Miller
Drusus ...............C C. Russell Sage
Centurion ..........Fr Frederick Scates
Omcer .......-....-..H Henry Mitchell
Esther ...... Miss Alice Haynes
Iras ....... Miss Helen Singer
Mother CT Hur Miss Loyola O'Connor
iTirzah ...... Miss Zadie Appleton
Amrah 49,. Miss Maud Ream Slower
SYNOPSIS OF THE PLAY.
PRELUDE-Curtain symbolic Of
Rome and Jerusalem. The desert
Meeting OF the Three Wise Men. I'm
the morning rise and go and meet
them. And when ye have all come to
the holy city. Jerusalem, ask Of the
people, Where is He that is born king
Of the Jews? for we have seen His
star in the east and are sent to wor-
ship Him" Suddenly in the air be-
fore them. not farther than a low hill
top, fared a hambent fame. As they
looked at It the apparition contracted
into a focus of dazzling lustre. And
they shouted as with one voice, The
Start The Start
Act I-Scene1. The housetop Of the
Palace OF Hur. Jerusalem The Pow
er OF Rome"
Act H:-Scene I. Interior OF cabin
OF the Roman galley "Astrea." The
galley slave. Scene 2. The open sea.
The rescue.
Act HI.-Scene 1. Apartment in the
house OF Simonides In Antioch. The
wise servant and his daughter. Scene
2. The Grove Of Daphne Nobody can
describe it-only beware! It was be-
gun by Apollo and completed by him.
He prefers it to Olympus. People go
there tor Just one look-just one
and never come away. They have a
saying which tells it all. Better be a
worm and feed on the mulberries of
Daphne than a kings guest" Scene 8.
The Fountain of Castalia The revels
of Daphne. In the spiders web.
Act Iv.-Scene /. The Dowar In
the Orchard Of Psalms. Preparing for
arts of Cleopatra.
Act V.-Scene 1. Exterior and
great gateway OF circus. Antioch.
Making Of wagers. Scene 2. The Are
ma. The race.
Act VI.-Scene I. Apartment In
the Palace Of Hur, Jerusalem. It'd
ings of the lost ones. Scene 2. The
Vale OF Hinnom. The vision. Scene
8. Mount Olivet The miracle Nov,
however, about the commencement OF
the fourth hour a great crowd appear
ed over the crest of Olivet; and as 1t
defiled down the road, thousands In
number, the watchers noticed with
wonder that every one of IL carried a
palm branch, freshly cut"
Grand chorus.-"Hosanna! Hosan-
nal Hosanna in the Highest"
Words appear weak in attempting a
description of this impressive spec
tacIe evolved from the Wallace novel
that is said to have been inspired
from a friendly argument between the
Iamented author and the late Robert
Ingersoll as the result of the distin- |
guished infidels contention against |
the divinity of Christ Those |
without faith are afforded food !
for thought in the story of the coming |
of the Nazarine and His miracles as
pictured by General Wallace. The alb |
sence of the character Of Christ from |
the personnel of the drama is in &C
cord with the terms of the contract |
entered into between the author Of the |
story and the producers. In the opin-
ion of General Wallace, and it is shar-
ed generally by Christian people. It
would have been sacrilege to have
paraded an actor made up to imper-
Thr1z he
sence. as IL applies to the stage YER 4
sion, is wholly by suggestion, and in
the closing scene, on the mount, 1t is
indicated by q ray of light, while the
stage and house are in complete
which shines On the face OF
the mother of Ben Hur, who, with her
daughter, is rescued from leprosy and
restored to her beloved SON. The
scene Is depicted with a solemnity
that so impresses the audience that
spectators are held
GREATNESS seemingly and hesitate to
applaud There is q religious atmo-
sphere pervadfng the production
and II is broken only dur
ing the startling chariot race, this lat
ter being one of the most sensational
PASSCS Vi Sto6c ECoA1Aa abNCAPCGQ
ing a decade. Several men rose IN II
their seats last night and cheered the
winner, so completely carried away
we're they by the scene. The play IN
In Is scenes. each q distinct and CON-
plete stage setting. These are Of.
fected with marvellous celebrity with
The result that there are no tiresome
Dauses during the performance, an
that mars many stage
spectacles. The company carried its
,wn orchestra. The audience at the
opening performance for the most