El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-11

mystic line which divides the under
world from the upper world nave
always been under the impression
that there was good deal OF h human
nature in both divisions OF society anu
when il comes to the elemental part
of it, the two worlds sometimes get
a little mixed up
IAN elemental drama of the under
world" is a misnOmer unless that
dark section is inhabited by ignorant
unnatural beings, whose sole purpose
in life is to think up new and un-
usual slang words to hurl at each
other.
in bv every member of the cast, from
the beautiful girl who says, N
tired of waiting on false haired Iat
heads for eight bucks a week to the
interesting men who call attention 10
facial adornment by saying. Pipe
the nose paint" which they regard as
a direct result of Tapping up +he
fizz-water" And there is one fear
some character with a beer-haH voice
who constantly exclaims 'surest thlns
you know.
There is no doubt about the romance
and the fascination which hover ABOUT
a great crime and great criminals and
there have been crime plays that nave
gone into the archives OF the Immortal
literature of the stage. But this was
not because of the degraded and de-
Because of a great human touch they
possessed and the sk1lful. manner Oh
their construction which produced gen
uine suspense" Much of this IS true
of THE Conspiracy" at the Garrlck,
and within the Law" at the Eltynge,
but Door 'Alibi Bill" is a most sad al
fair. Its situations are cheap and hack
neyed, its plot is weak and its dlalos
is ignorant taWdy and without thing
to commend it to anyone OF real INTEL
Iigence In other words it is one OF
those spurious things full OF slckly
sentimentalism and trashy sensational
The hero" is one Of those awful
creatures who has reformed To use
his own language, he has "reniged' on
his notified past and has now become
Snug AMI pious. Under an assumed
name he secures a place in the secret
service at Washington. This change
has been brought through the love OF
a girl, and he Is now become so gooQyS
goody, that sugar wouldn't melt in his
mouth. He is commissioned Dy the Sc
cret service bureau to '9and' ras-
cally district attorney, who was MS
nemesis in the days when he was an
enemy of society OF course the nero
pursues his quarry IN a most heroic and
me lodramatic way and discovers that
the wicked official has been extremely
careless in his dealings with banks
and has committed about all of the Of
fences known to crime.
Reforms Old Friends.
In another scene "Alibi Bill" in i'm
n.aculate evening clothes, finds that
his house is being robbed by three of
his expals, Gunner Jack, Slippery DICK
and Stick-up-Jake. By manipulating
some of his old tricks he gets the three
worthless hors de combat, as they say
in the best sellers, slips his old pals
a little money to get away with and
reads them hOmily on the folly OF be-
ing crooks, reaching The truthful de-
duction that all crooks are sure to be
caught sooner of later.
In the last act the criminal district
attorney is killed by a Maxim ST.
evil is put down. OF course every
thinking person wants to see virtue
triumph over evil-the good rewarded
and the wicked reformed or some
thing. bat the cheap banality of "Allbl
Bill" does not carry as much conVlc-
ton as one of the old time melodramas.
1t is only ones sense of humor when
saves him from nausea while contern-
plating the childish righteousness OF
the play and the pOmpous assinity OF
the fat sleek hero
Audience Laughed Wrong.
"Alibi Bill" was written by Joseph
BYRON Totten, who mas had one or two
ether things produced in New YORK,
which didn't live long enough for their
names to get fixed in my memory II
he was present at the opening OF his
riav. poor Joseph hardly began the
new year in happy state OF MIND Inc
audience laughed where they shOuIo
have cried and spent most OF Ihe time
wondering what sort of creatures We're
they who were strutting about on the
stage.
As to the heroine" She was a mis-
sion worker on the East Side. A rlcn
girl The hero had saved her life ana !
she loved him-yes-she loved hlEt |
even before he was reformed"
The role of this fat hero was played |
by Ralph Stuart and he did 1t with |
hat sang froid which made a matinee
idol of him in the good old stock days. |
A reformed crock is alright In his way /
If he will still be a gentleman and re-
frain from telling people how, gooG
and noble he is. These kind OF saved
people are intolerabIe and that IS the /
thing which handicapped Mr.. stuart IL 1
his efforts to inject sympathy" into /
his character. The other three crooks /
were Harold Hartsell, Frank AllWorth /
and J. H. Doyle. All capable actors /
hen they have a chance, but as tnese
garrulous crooks. they were impossible
The one bright spot in the perform
1nce was Miss MiIicent Evans, the he
rome, who was very sweet and appeal
Eg
In the case of "AIibi Bill it viii be
the public who will furnish the alibi
Getting along well. You always get