The Washington times., 1915-10-03

Tie youhS |
r. manager of the Columbia
Theater. under the Metzerott
regime. who never seems quite
old enough to make his stage remi-
iuscences matters Of personal observa-
ton. was in one OF his most reflective
moods tie other day. After giving a
complete history Of the interior and
exterior OF every theatrical house In
the city. together with the pedigree OF
the soil from which It stood. he began |
to speak of the successes which had
had their premier at the Columbia |
Theater. He read just a few of them
out of a little red book much worn
and rubbed. -,
Let's see." he said. We had the
Sunshine Girl with Julia Sanderson-
wasn't she the prettiest thing you ever
ber Walter Whiteside in The Melting
Pot OF course after her association
with us in stock Il Was ,ust IKE h0me nnne
pine Two Of Henry Miller's plays.
The Rainbow and the Havoc with
little Ruth Chatterton. started out from
this playhouse" He es,sdns menl9nea of Skinner r
stock and admitted that the employees
Of the theater and himself Included; re-
grctted that those days had passed;
But since he hinted that POSSIBLY iptSrvieW vhey
was not as sad as it might have been;
Even II they do not" he SAID
philosophically. 1T will be Just as wei:
/ and perhaps they will be Just as happy
with motion pictures"
Forget? ,,,u =, "a doubtful,
stock @ company which included Guy
Standing. John Mason and Charlotte
Walker will fade. since 1t has lived IN
the minds of some pepole for ten years
| SO far"
Don't Be Afraid of Either
Shaw, Androcles or the Lion.
1T is an even wager that every III.
| tergoer who intends going to see
"Androcles and the Lion NIL
sneak up to one Of the libraries,
or to a bookstall. or into the library
of a friend. and read the play before
he sees It
For there Is an awful feeling In the
heart Of those who are familiar with
Shaw and his playful little Nays. that
forewarned is forearmed. 'Twere Let
ter to read first so as to simulate un-
utterable familiarity. than to endure the
ignominy of being mentally blanket
tossed in an endeavor to find cut Just
what he is getting at" and whether or
not he is really serious"
Here's how Shaw gloats about his
audience at the first perfSrmaT1se; n,d n1sH,osrs
readjusted themselves. with disa gree,
comedy, than they found themselves
anfsS Sn no wos VI: ssep.. 81 Fss
ion, the most unbearable Of all subjects
for the purely theatrical public. as 1t
is the most enthrailing for the real ma
tlonal public at which the author al
ways aims. And before the playgoers
lhad recovered from their CONSERVATION.
or decided whether they ought to be
scandalized or not, they were back In
pantomime fun again. And so # went
on, getting more and more bewildering
(always except to the serious people
who held the thread) until the fun. the
satire. the historical study Of manners
ena earnesa wsTe all on he stage s at the
same moment. many OF the audience pc
ing so torn one way By laughter and the
other way by horror o besides iSes ,hsS be;
did not know where they. were. and LEFT
the theater rending their garments
(metaphorically,. and oo,e CRYING ,,,d bias as
phemy whilst the Wet'ep aeeper poeiame peoGie
that great movement in religious
drama had been inaugurated.'
The Perfect Secretary, Jacques
Futrellc and the Self Firing Job.
A salary is a little thing, that lightly
draws interest from YOUR employer II 4
is a big one and perhaps contempt 4
1t Is too small for some men who have
no patience with even perfect employees
II they do not wish to advance them
selves.
Such a man was the late novelist
Jacques Futrelle. about whom they tel
this story. Perhaps some slave cal
, profit by 1t.
Finding a person exactly suited to tn
, position Of secretary, Futrelle found
. difficult proposition.
Il Women had been failures, and mel
, had been unsatisfactory. He had t
, have a speedy stenographer, but no us
for shorthand as he dictated straigh
TO the machine. This necesstated a.
exceptionally good education. good spell
Ing, n fairly comprehensive knowledg
, of almost everything on earth and abov
! all faultless punctuation. Combine
! with these requirements had to be tn
ability to work like q truck horse,