The Washington herald., 1913-02-11
BELAScO.
"Ready Money"

"Heady Money"
IL Chief Flynn. OF the Secret Service.
had been at the Belasco Theater last
night he might have Harmed a new les
| son in the gentle art OF how not to catch
| a maker and "shover Of the queer" for
some truly remarkable developments in
, that line came to light in James Mont
gomery's new comedy, Ready Money"
which had its Washington premiere. and
| was thoroughly enjoyed by an audience
| which comprised a goodly number OF
| Congressman and officials closely inter-
ested In the operations of Uncle Sans
big money factory. The author has hap
PLY struck out in a new direction. and
his handiwork shows much constructive
| talent. If some of the situations put
| trife Of a strain on the credulity of the
| spectators, there Is on the whole very
large element of probability In the ac-
ton. which at any rate goes along with
| admirable smoothness, and with the ad-
dition Of brilliant dialogue, does not al
low interest to lag for single momest
| Stephen Baird, owner OF the 'Sky
Rocket gold mine, in Arizona or some
| where thereabouts. finds himself on New
Years Eve in the rooms Of his friend.
Sam welch. with Just 25 cents as his
whole cash assets. and with debt OF
$4,000 to James Morgan. an
| to take the mine in payment OF the debt
| If the latter is not paid on the second
day of January. Stephen is In deep de-
spair over the fact that his mine has
thus far failed to yield the coveted metal.
and declines to join his friends at the
seasons celebration. Just at this juno
ture there enters jackson Ives, who is
made acquainted with the predicament
In which Stephen finds himself. Ives
tells him to pay his debt to Morgan. and
hands Stephen Fifty thousand dollars In
one-thousand dollar bills, at the same
time sending a telegram to Stephens
manager at the mine to make a desperate
effort TO see IL gold cannot be struck
within the next twenty-four hours.
After Stephen has accepted the money
and given Ives a promise to stand by
him IL ever he shoud need help, Ives
tells him that all that money Is counter
felt. but so we'll made that It cannot be
distinguished from the genuine. Stephen
Indignantly refuses to engage in so ne
farious a business. but is persuaded by
Ives TO keep the money and note the |
effect which the mere showing OF II |
will have upon his friends. Stephen |
agrees TO try the experiment. When his |
friends see the rolf they jump at the |
conclusion that Stephen has. known all
the time that his mine is paying and !
has simply kept the secret to himself |
large amounts upon him and they tele-
graph TO all their friends to invest |
In a few hours Stephen is flooded with |
checks and urgent entreaties for stock |
in his mine.
Meanwhile, Ives has been tracked by /
Capt West, OF the Secret Service, TO /
Stephens room, and both are placed un-
der arrest on charge OF passing
counterfeit money The tell-tale $4,000
OILY har ~ hry hoe
enclosed in an envelope and thoughtless-
ly placed in the shopping bag OF Grace
Tyler, Stephens sweetheart, while he en-
cages her IN tender interview. By
clever piece Of legerdemain an en-
velope containing two Of the circulars
about the Sky Rookie mine is substituted
for the one containing the queer and
when finally the officers get In possession
of the bills they take them to be gen.
uine and return them to Ives. The latter
staggers Stephen with the statement that
the bills are counterfeit after all, and
declares that thenceforth he is going TO
seek another occupation.
Just in the nick OF time Stephen gets
a telegram from his mine manager that
he has struck It rich. and Stephen.
Grace, and all the rest are made happy.
It would be difficult TO assemble
cleverer company than the one that pre-
scnts the play. Hans Robert has found
in Stephen Baird an excellent part, and
his many Washington friends rejoiced
last night to see him 80 completely at
home in IL. He gave just the right ex
preston TO the whimsical, honest, Iowa
bic character. and does not fell to bring
out the comic clement Joseph Kilgour
as Jackson Ives, is one Of the chief fca-
lures Of the cast He represented the
daring, confident, violator OF the law to
perfection. and his scene with West. in
which the latter is so thoroughly dis
comftted, is one cf the best and strong
est in the whole play. Henry Miller, Jr.,
gave 4 finished performance as Sam
Welch. Carl Harbaugh as Sidney Ro-
senbaum could not be improved upon,
and the same can be said with absolute
truth OF Lester Crawford as William
Stewart, Scott Cooper as James r. Nor
gan, Frank Monroe as James II. Tyler. Ii
and Ben Johnson as Captain West. Eliz-
abeth Nelson is a most lovable Grace
Tyler. and Isabel W1nlicke gives the
character of Mrs. Tuler all the force Of
Il domineering wife. Fay w. Wallace
as Ida Tyler and Estelle Wynne as Mar
Saret Elliott are able members OF this
female quartet. The few other minor
roles are in competent hands.