The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-01

uther ovver the privilege of feeding the chorus bon bons, and drinking sauternee rum the slippers of the Trimmer Donner, and the managers wallowine in filthy gold and lounging ill oughtomobles and warning grate big vulger dymunds, that look like seerch lites and taking trips to Urope, 1t is no wunder that they pause-and aftur stud dying it ovver, stay paused. The truth of the bzness is it is not the stage that needs to be reformed, it is the publick. Sum how the publick looks upon show as one con tinnuel round of pleasure and when it coffs mp an run man or two to see a performance they want all that $ cumming to them They don't care to be taught enny grate truths and to be elevated-not so as you can tell 1t what they want is to see sumthing reel devvilsh-the moor devvilish the better.
 The publicl1 has tast for reel noughty things; it doughts on them and when the publick gets to doughting on sumthing in dead earnest you mite as well let it have it's way, for the pubick is sum doughter. The only way to cure it is to let it dye of extreem old age, and raise new publick with brite new dears. The new publick that is cum ming on with the next gennerason don't hold out menny dazzling promises to the Reform the Stage movemint. 1t looks like rite now that it's going to be a worse daughter than the presint gennerasion; if it's going to be good it's certainly getting bad start.
 Take your own eXperyense and measure things with it. You know how it is when the local Ammatoor Theatrical Company desides to give the home folks treet by getting up play for the Benefit of the For rain Missionery Sosiety. The first thing is to select the play in which the local Maud Adamses and Sarah Bernharts and Kyle Bellows air going to glimmer in. Do they long for the Old Homested, or the Two Or fins, or do they pine to be Little Evva and be chased up the Hume by bud houn !- not pine No Sur, what they want is Commick Operer with Chorus to 1t and lot of dansing and opportunities to burst forth in song in it. Of corse they air a little moor libberel with there clothes than sure enuff chorus, but at that they air pretty good immitaturs, and if the Forrain mis- sioneres could see the performince that was giyven for there benefit they would have a stone bruise on there nemmeries for men, ny moons
 We don t meen to say that the Stage don't need reforming. We don't meen to say that there ant doings on the stage ill this country that would make perfect gen tleman timmid and moddest like us, blush all ovver our system, but what we do meen to say is that folks air getting frum the stage just what they want, and what they pay for, and the RefoImers have started at the rong end of the bizness They want to take the publick in hand and teech it man. ners first and then the Stage will reform itself. If the publick can be taught to hand these questionabull plays the ce-Pitcher, insteed of punching one anuthers heds to get to the boX-offse the Reformers will be striking twelve. It mite be we'll to com mence with the Feemail publick too; you don t often see menny men where there an t "a lot of dress goods, and when you do they an wurth reforming.
 X ss m A4 M h Yours yhooly,
 BILL VINES