The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-23
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ADJUSTMENTS
THE Woman

An arraignment of American politics
| is the central theme of '"The Woman"
presented at the jefferson theatre yester-
day afternoon and last night The chief
interest in this play by William C. de
Mile centers at last in a womans past,
which is unearthed for political effect by
her father and her husband who do not
dream for a moment that retribption is
about to fall upon their own heads. The
Hon. Jim Blake typifies the machine pol
itician as we know him today, perhaps a
trifle more outspoken in his ideas con-
| cerning graft than his prototype in real
life, who is. we believe. a rather soft
tongued creature when it comes to dis
cussing the rake off, However, exag-
geration is permissible on the stage and
Jim Blake probably possesses a majority
of the traits which belong to the unscru-
pulous party leader who will stop at
nothing to gain his ends and is not averse
to letting his party make him rich.
| The Hon. Jim Blake, his son-in-law.
Mark Robertson. and others of their
| confreres. are conducting a fight on the
| floor of the House of Representatives a.
Washington to put through" a railroad
| bill. of vital importance to all regulars -
| Their scheme is opposed by Matthew
| Standish, an insurgent, who claims an
| abiding love for the common "peepur'
and bellgerent impulse to do right,
regardless of the consequences.
| The situation Is so desperate for the
machine that its leader determines to
| f,,t. o.. f.1,
| ing to discover some forgotten scandal
which may be used to discredit him be-
| fore the public, in his role OF reformer.
| The search discloses a very ugly passage
| in Standish's past, which involves wom-
an and honeymoon that did not come
| through the clearing house" At the "psy-
Geological moment Standish is threatened
| by Blake with the revelation OF this
transgression and the public announce
ment of the guilty woman's name Blake
| has attempted to bribe the telephone girl
in the hotel to give him the number
Standish calls up to warn the woman in
| the case of her danger. The telephone
| girl eventually declines to give Blake the
number and has not yet learned the
woman's name when a neat turn of the
| dialog at the very last moment of the
second act reveals to her that the person
whose name is being sought is none other
| than the wife of Robertson, one of the
politicians who is doing all in his power
to bring the exposure about. and the
lsdaughter of Blake
| Mrs. Robertson comes to- Washington
| to visit her husband and learns from
| the telephone girl the peril which con-
| fronts her, but at first claims innocence.
| She soon finds out, however. that she
| must depend on the telephone girl for
| her scant hope of being saved. There
upon follows battle of wits in which
| the plucky operator battles the efforts of
the politicians to get their "story"6 "6pub-
lished in the newspapers and outwits them
In grilling cross-examination to which
they subject her, hoping that she will
break down and tell them the name they
are so anxious to know At last, when
the telephone girl has come 10 the end
of her resources, other than fiat re-
fusal to grant their request. the politicians
order her arrest. 1t is then the guilty
wife's better nature asserts itself and
she confesses her wrongdoing. The dirty
linen" that was to have been washed so
| publicly is swept out of sight forever and
| band of ruthless destroyers find them
selves in tolls of their own weaving II
| Is presumed that the erring wife is event
ually forgiven and young Blake wins his
| hearts desire in making the telephone
| girl his wife.
| The play is extremely interesting and
| presents a severe indictment OF modern
| political methods, even Introducing one
or two well known names, to arrive at
more realistic effects. There are sew
| eral dramatic moments of unusual tensi-
| ty. particularly when the unsuspicious
| husband and the man he Is trying SC
hard to ruin confront each other the
| deluded husband fighting to destroy his
own happiness, without knowing that his
wife is the pawn in the game.
| A number of well drawn characters are
introduced the telephone girl, the repent.
ant wife. Jim Blake, the caucus king; his
son-in-law, Robertson, and the insurgent
| Standish being most conspicuous All the
people who appear in the play represent
| types that are familiar in the political
| life OF this country, as observed more
particularly In Washington.
Miss Marjorie Wood as the telephone
girl had most congenial role, one sure
| to elicit the sympathies of an audience
and one that afforded opportunities botl,
for comedy and emotionaNsm She ac-
quilted herself we'll James SeeIey gave
a vigorous and picturesque portrayal OF
the marty leader. Tim Rlake Auetir ur~,.,