The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-06-11

But I found him not. l l called him,
 l But he gave me no answer;
 The watchman that went about the city found me,
 l They smote. they wounded me
 The keepers of the walls took away my veil'' The Song of Songs.
 When I went to see the "The Songs of Songs l wasn't like-well, we'll call him Basil Erbswurst, who covers the eastern territory for the Interlocking Typewriting company and buys more toothless combs to give away as premiums Gas well as chewingless chewing gum) than any other knight of the grip" on the road, be- cause I knew that the play was an adap- tation by MT. Edward Sheldon from Her mann Sudermann's wonderful book, "The Songs of Songs," and not as our friend Basil imagined, one of Ebert Hubbard s masterpieces
 For the benefit of the uninitiated we'll repeat-it isn't.
 : In days gone by if 'The Songs of Songs had been presented at Miners theatre, it would probably have had and held the bromidic title of Secrets of Wild High Life in the Metropolis" but of course that wouldn't do nowadays for Forty-sec- ond street, where the pretty Eltinge the atre stands, even if it were not too long to fit into the electric sign out in front. Not that everything happens in New York; oh, no. not by jugful. The first act of "The Songs of Songs is at Atlantic City, the place to which the tired business man is supposed, to slip away for a quiet weekend with a guilty 1 conscience, knowing that anybody who recognizes him there will not be in posi- tion to say much about it to more than eight or 10 people.
 There are other folk of course who also go to Atlantic City, and one of these is Senator Daniel F. Calkins marvellous ly played by that sterling actor, MT. John Mason.
 The first scene shows a "bazar," one of those quaint little oriental affairs on the "board walk" but if I hadn't read it on the programme I would have imagined 1t | a much wilder place.
 l Two remarkable shopgirls full of slang and ambition are chatting about how they will manage to pick up' some prosperous l New Yorker that evening to pay for their
 
 Lily Kardos (played with tremendous force and delicious abandon by Irene Fen wick) appears.
 1 They ask her to join them and she shyly declares that she has never known but one
 New York man in her life, and he nearly ran over her in his automobile. | The other two girls query as to what the
 outcome was.
 | "Oh,' says Lily modestly, 'he picked me up and took me straight to my home" | Gee" shouts Ruby Purcell, the know 1 ing one. where did you find him? Doing | a hesitation in front of the Y. M C.. A.?"
 A delicious piece of sarcasm and repar- tee.
 The man whom Lily had met thus by accident is none other than Cyril Height fly (playing Richard Laird), who wears a lperfect 3S trousers leg, and approaches the l 100 per cent matinee idol mark more
 nearly than any other actor in New York,
 with the possible exception of M. Lou I Tellegen.
 Lily is just about to fall in love with | Richard when she is captured by the
 middle aged senator, and poor Richard is driven out into the night and we are left
 to suppose as he joins the throng the beard walk that he spends the rest of the evening throwing rings for canes, which
 have been led to believe is the only I amusement at Atlantic City for a person with high ideals.
 l Presently we see Lily in a big house at | Tarrytown married to Senator Callxins, and the senator's housekeeper (played by Dorothy Donnelly with all the insinuat- l ing, snaky suggestiveness that she alone could invest the part with) teaching the girl from the gutters not to split her nfin- itives.
 Do you know that is an awfully Lard thing to do-not to split an infinitive? Did | you ever try? A business man would say
 that it was more difficult than not to split commissions and most business men have
 tried both
 l It is well worth everybody's while to see | Dorothy Donnelly as the demon house. 1 keeper in the "Song of Songs," because
 of the way she gives you the creeps. l Sometimes even the best musical com 1 edy can't make you forget that you owe | for your spring hat make the tired I business man overlook the note he's got | to meet next Tuesday, Wednesday. or <, Thursday respNtively, while the 'in- l dorser'' happens to be gaily fitting out to | the exposition in Frisco. But the .creeps'
 that Dorothy Donnelly gives you make you forget even your happy home. | It is something awful watching Miss | Donnelly Cher name is Merkle in the play | but she never forgets to touch second,' | believe me, made me forget that I ever l nau 10 Wllte another story, or ever | think up'' another Dolly Ooo-little' again as long as I live It just made me | forget everything but her own sinuous. l mean, scheming, hardened heart and hand | in the work that was being carried on to- | ward the ultimate destruction of poor | little Lily Kardos.
 l She reminded me of one of those mys- | terious ladies in the serial stories which
 used to be published in the "Fireside 1 Communion who lsed tO say.
 At last Guy Elmhurst, the curse of this
 house. has fallen upon you and you must drain the cup to it's bitter dregs.'' | Don't you remember these "contnued' | stories and how you borrowed them from the next door neighbor who had named
 her boy Elmo Et. Elmo, but when he 1 went to work later as a street car driver told his employers that has name was Jake?
 l Anyway, this Anna MerlSle-this demon | housekeeper-was a wonder. and having one like her around the house must be like playing pinochle with a pantheress No wonder poor old Senator Callins hair was gray, and he nuu wrinkles in his | disposition well as his face, with sucl a person Madame King" from room to room. with nothing to wear but black radiate but gloom.
 I suppose it's awful for me to see the
 funny side of play like ''The Song oi Songs.' but really there were some very ridiculous situations even though it meani the undoing of poor little Lily, who wasn' bad at heart. but who if ever there lfvet a creature who was the victim Of fate or destiny. what you will, she was-poor little misguided, unfortunate girl | But I simply couldn't help 1t; for in