New-York tribune., 1912-03-19
THE CAMEL DIDN'T COME
But "The Garden of Tylah"
Drew Many Dollars for Charity.
LONG, JOYOUS PROGRAMME
Tragic Note, However, In New
Play by De Mile, Which Had
It's First Performance.

the cameIS fault, as Mrs. AuSusta koder
said And it wasn't the fault OF Manager
George Tyler. Of the Century Theatre. for
when Mrs Kidder told him the other day
that she had written a skit on "The Gar
den Of Allah" and IL was going TO be
given at the Lyceum Theatre under ths
auspices of the Twelfth Night Club for
the benefit Of Stony Void Ssnatoriun.
and wouldn't he please lend them the
camel and the moon. he said OF course he
would. and any other desert appurtenances
they wanted.
And then when the curtain rose at tho
Lyceum yesterday afternoon Mrs. Kidder
appeared with an apology, because thu
most important member Of the cast OF
THE Garden Of Tylah"-thats what Mrs.
Kidder calls her skit-was not there.
He was all ready TO come" she said,
when Mr. Fishman cast his practical eve
around the Lyceum stage and decided that
IL would be easier for camel 10 go
through the floor OF the stage than for
the combined members OF the cast 10 pull
him out again. Then Mrs. Edith Ellis, our
stage manager, who has a wonderful
mathematical mind, figured hat four
Arabs were equal to one camel we Of
fer you the Arabs instead
But there were a lot Of things on tbs
programme before the Arabs and This
Garden OF Tylah" came one. First, there
was Otis Skinner. who came on ith a
very apologetic mien 10 make the opening
speech.
Il can't understand why a mere man -
| told off TO do this" he said. when Mics
Alice Fischer asked me TO come here and
talk felt like saying. Why don't you
: speak for yourself. Alice?'
"Womens organizations all over the
world are usually ready enough to speak
/ for themselves, and over in England they
| think actions speak louder than words
| and are using brickbats.
! Il don't believe brickbats will be re-
| qulred here this afternoon. This pro-
! gramme. undertaken to help those less
/ fortunate than ourselves. is a kind OF
! thank Offering, too, and If you don't like
/ what you see here, may the Lord have
mercy upon you"
Mr.. Skinner told how the Twelfth Night
| Club was formed twenty years ago by
women who are its active members now
/ And from their appearance am sure" he
| said politely, that they were carried to
those first meetings OF the club in their
nurses arms"
! The Garden Of Tylah" was one Of thres
"spasms" OF a kaleidoscope Kidderma-
colorish Tutt Fruit soufie." as the pro-
gramme had it. The first "spasm" was set
In the business Office Of new woman :
| theatre, with a woman manager and
women to do the heavy male parts, and
all quantities Of Twelfth Nighters came on
| in this--Maude Odeu, Grace Filkins. Louise
| Collins, Laura Burt and others-and there
,were th-ee daughters OF Twelfth N!ghters.
| too. Jessie Glendinning, Mildred Arden
and Agnes Miller.
| The second "spasm" was a skit on The
Woman" IN which Miss Mary Nash, John
! w. Cope, Edwin Holt and Carleton Macy
! (by the courtesy OF David Belasco) gave a
stage cartoon Of themselves in their own
play. Miss Nash, the telephone girl.
! brought down the house with conversa-
tion over the wire with President Taft
"Yes. Mr.. Taft. Mr. La Toilette went
| home yesterday He was rather peevish
| because somebody stole his clothes when
he went in swimming. No. he doesn't know
| who did it-said 1t was a man in khaki
uniform. with permanent eyeglasses and
| prominent teeth"
| Alice Fischer. who used to be president
OF the Twelfth Night Club. and Edwin
| Arden, the husband OF the present presi-
dent, played the star parts in The Garden
| Of Tylah," on a desert composed OF a
tapping tent, four Arabs and pictured sands
! in the background.
| Miss Fischer, whose substantial form
! blew on TO the stage in mystic clouds OF
white yelling, played the part Of Domino,
| double SIX" with an abandon which
brought down the back hair before the act
was half over Mr.. Arden was "Boreas, "A
| fugitive from the Friars"-whose monas-
! terry was seen at the left Of the stage. MiS3
! Fischer f. considerably heavier than Mr..
Arden, and when seeking to penetrate the
reason Of his remorseful aspect, she leaned
upon his breast and asked fondly, "Boreas,
what weighs you DOWN." tho audience
! howled.
! II was a long programme. Miss Beatrice
| IIerford, in one OF her original monologues,
| took off, a suburban woman visiting the
| intelligence office In search OF a cook. Lewis
| Waller recited something tragic from Kip
ling, and George NJ. Cohan sang something
funny about Barnum, with a Roosevelt
verse thrown In.
There was a one-act play. in which De-
| tective Keen was foiled by three crooks;
another one-act play, done by Campbell
Gullan and Will Jaxone. and songs and
dances by Eddie Foy's Berlin Madcaps,'
Miss Gertrude Byron and a chorus and
| Miss Alice Dovey.
The note Of tragedy was supplied by
! FIFTY Years from Now" play written
bv William c. De Mile and given for tho
| first time on any stage. The curtain rose
unon a home to which the tired husband
had lust returned. He told his wife that
he had lust been trying a sad case-a man
was condemned 10 death for the murder OF
a hen. To cheer him up his wife gave him
an unusually elaborate supper, one cracker
and five drops of milk, which she took from
a safe which was guarded by burglar
alarm While he ate she told him timor-
ousIv that she had seen the doctor that
dav and he had told her that she must eat
an egg.
Her husband demonstrated with her. lie
was wealthy. he knew, he said, but TO BUY
an egg-impossble The tragedy culmi-
mated when Harold, an officer OF the Food
Trust" appeared on the scene In her nus
hands absence, and she offered 70 fly with
him II he would but bestow upon her tho
epr she lonsed for. He had an egg-he
was delivering II, cased in a metal boN' u
a nulti-millionaire. The climax OF this play
! 20 really too sad 70 relate.