Evening star., 1914-12-13

should have been given its New
York passports after but hfty-
nine performances when plays of
infinitely less real merit continue
persona grata is likely to prove Il mys-
terry to those who care to trouble thelr
minds with the thought. In his play
less novel. perhaps than artistic. Mr..
Knoblauch has supplied both lesson
and d gallery of tabloid sketches that
stand out like clear-cut gems of mas
terful workmanship. Perhaps the un-
deriving tragic element did not appeal
TO the light-hearted, metropolitan ideal
of amusement. 1t is Il bit depressing
and vet withal the play is genuine en-
tertainment for those whose Chief ap-
petite does not demand lights, colors,
merry music and the sounds of rev.
elry.
More of the marriage problem and
it's inseparable parasite, divorce, Is
meted out in Guy Bottoms new play,
THE Fallen Idol" Those who think
one way will approve it; those who
think the other will not, and. with
divided house, the chances for success
seem doubtful, to say the least. The
great defect in most of the material
for moral uplift that is presented as a
lesson by way of the stage is that, as
a rule, only the surface of the subject
is skinned, or else it is woefully lop-
sided. If it were really true in all
things, as the poet has said, that Thy
lot is the common fate of ALL" a re-
suit worth while might be attained by
the playwright who aspires to be a
teacher But every woman knows that
the trimmings make all the difference
in the world in the aspect of the gown,
and it is equally true of personal ex-
perience.
Rose Stahl, delightful both as a
woman and as an actress, did not find
the element of genial warmth wanting
in her latest Washington welcome.
There was a great deal of her in her
new play, more indeed than appeared
on the surface, and it was needed to
Dear out the claim of newness, be-
cause through it all the ghost of 'The
Chorus Lady stalked continually with
its pleasant memories. These truly be
The days when There is nothing new
under the sun" in some things as well
as in others.
One of the biggest theatrical specta-
cles that ever graced the stage, Gen.
in flesh, blood and fittings, will be the
one legitimate theatrical attraction at
The big theaters this week. Two splen-
did filmographic productions. Damon
and Pythias'' and Thirty Leagues Un-
der the Sea-" will keep it company.
THE Boy WHO RAN AWAY-Gen.
Lew Wallace's account of his boyhood
and youth forms one of the interesting
parts of his Autobiography" Seldom
has a more human boy been revealed
N print Forest and stream had an
irresistible attraction for him, and the
call of the Wild was SO strong and
nsistent that he narrowly esaped
"ecoming an incorrigible vagebond
In 1882. when Lew Wallace was five
ears old, the Wallace family settled
in Covington. Ind, on the banks of the
Wabash The river was magnet to
The boy, and in his sixth year he began
10 run away at every opportunity to
spend whole days with the ferryman,
though his mother tied him to the bed
post and even put girls dresses on
him. When his mother died the boy
ran wild. Though supposed to be in
school, he spent his summers in the
woods and on the river and his win
ters in shedding and trapping birds
AT nine he ran away to Crawfords-
Vile to be with his elder brother Will
liam. who was in college. Out of con-
sideration for his father, who was then
lieutenant governor. the lad was taken
into the preparatory department. Pun
ished for playing truant, he escaped
Then he was sent to a country school
kept by clergyman, who hided him
thoroughly every time he ran away,
but even the whippings could not keep
him away from the woods.
In 1897 his father, having been elect
ed governor. took him to Indianapolis
and put him in school There young
Wallace conceived passionate adora-
tion for art, from hanging around the
studio of an artist. He once painted a
picture in the home attic with brush
made from a dogs tail, castor-oil alb
stracted from the medicine chest and
colors taken from the studio. His next
attempt at art was unfortunate. He
'lrew rabbit on the school black
board and put the teachers face on II.
The teacher whipped poor Lew sound
g and then tried to make him erase
The rabbit, but he jumped out of the
vindow and never stopped running un-
Nj he WAS three miles away and safe
m the home of a farmer friend.
At the age of sixteen he took advan-
age of his fathers absence and at
tempted TO preside at a Harrison con
vention in Tippecanoe. Next he and
another boy started down the river in
an armed and provisioned skiff, bound
only to be overtaken by a constable ten
miles down the stream and ignomin-
ously brought back to Indianapolis.
In the meantime the boy had discov-
cred the treasures in the Capitol IL
brary and was reading omnivorousiy
and writing poetry and novels.
In an attempt to force a sense of re-
sponsibility upon the boy his father
turned him loose on the world and told
him to earn his own living. This suit
ed him exactly, and to every ones sur
prise he went to work in the county
clerks office and steadied down.
Such was the boy who later achieved
splendid success In life. Writing in his
sixty-ninth year. he says it was be-
cause he was SO full of vitality that
going was life" He also draws this
lesson from his experience: Whose
ever lays his hand heavily on a boy of
spirit such as 1 am describing is him
self an offender in far greater degree
than his victim. The schoolmaster who
cannot discriminate between pupils
lacks the first essential to perfection
IN an honorable calling"
Nothing happened in his later life to
'iiscredit his prediction. Though he
Nchieved distinction in astonishing
number of ways, his name will be inn
mortal because of "Ben-Hur." And
one believes it is largely through the
experience of his boyhood and youth