New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-23
Max Eastman and His
Views on the Use
of Slang
STRAIGHT FLUSHES
AND THE GASPERS
"The Yellow Jacket" At
tackled at an UneX-
peCted Point
~ HAYWOOD BROUN

Friday is the most difficult period OF
the week in which to get up dramatic
story, because that is the day on which
we don't mention Lord Dunsany, the
Portmantoau Theatre or the Washing
ton Square Players.
However, Max Eastman has written
an essay or Poetic Education and
Slang" for THE New Republic" In
defending slang as worthy Of any
poets emulation" he cites the follow
ing alleged echo from a quick lunch
restaurant:
AN order OF rump steak rare.
"Slab Of moo-let him chew il.
Mr. Eastman mustn't believe every
thing he hears at the Palace and the
Columbia. In fact, We fear that the
learned author is being (as he himseH
might express IT'D kiddcd by some one.
in a footnote he is discovered furiously
defending the phrase Zip it 20 the.
fence which he asserts IS used IN
baseball stories 70 mean home run.
We have referred the phrase TO sey,
eral of the more prominent HARD
Boiled Eggs of America, and they
assert that Max is scrambled. w
course he may say Zip 1t to the fence
il he chooses. but John J. McGrav or
George Stallings would content himself
with MAKE home run
A woman is aghast because we said
in review cit is even more like the
gasp of the man who has filled
,traight Aush for the first time
my father, man who believed III
the Higher Education OF woman;
taught me to play many years ago,
writes Miss NJ. V. II. u have never
been SO fortunate as 70 fill a strsign.
flush. but did |, and did gasp. al MS
precepts would prove TO be forgotten
lie who gasps loses much, even though
he FILL" -;
Miss NJ. V. r. oyerlooks the posi-
bilities of the gasp. True, IL mlsne
betray the player once, but there
nothing TO prevent him or hcr ~
ga.ping thereafter every tiine 49, -
= drawn TO four hearts or deuce 20
+. combination OF eight, nine, ten. JACK
Thus it is that high souied ana iAl
sas;no folk turn even errors to sdVan-
tage.
Tho fact that Sarah Bernhard won
aroat success as Shylock should be
wsrning TO Beerbohm Tree never "
attempt Porua.
A favorite method OF reviewing IS 70
assail a play for the lack oil SOM
nuaI;tv which il was never intendeu W
rosaess For instance, the critc MAJ
assoyt most roundly that ne cshnos
Sanah al "Ghosts" or cry at "No'h'hs
hut the Truth" 49, Do
ou Fr s Hackett, of "The New Re
n,hiic" ia displeased with The 1el-
to"' Jacket" because il failed 70 Dc
10 thing which he had expected. he
rites: al imagined The ieiioA
Ia.tet' WAS going to be az freshly I'M
oaoai "a performance By the
Irish Players" ,; ro,;o,
"-rbo Yellow Jacket" aims TO repro
duce after fashion, the manners
81 tho Chine,e theatre, when is mueH
more ancient than our own anu ~
cordinply. much more rigid IN us the'
atrical conventions. n.
Tho NAV has two objects. fIrsp
the authors hope to amuse the suu'
enre by showing them tricks IN pro-
duction which are funny because they
S;tysr from our own. The English
man you may remember. was much
;icSled 70 learn that the French call
bread pain" and one OF sha%s most
Tecent heroes goes into gales or laugh
,or when he learns that Russian
courtier is named Popoh. The second
and the more worthy object, OF the
yellow Jacket" is to prove that stage
conventions are q minor matter. after
ali. and that an audience may be m
duced to receive story seriously
even though il is related In man
ner wholly foreign. Only few per
sons find it difficult to accept the
bundle OF gilded sticks as little Woo
Hoo Git.
Mr.. Hackett ought never 20 accept
anv advance information from tne
person who told him that the fei-
low Jacket" was pleasing because IL
,r.s .freshly untheatrical.'