The sun., 1916-10-03
GIRLS VENGEANCE
SEEN IN %"BACKFIRE"
Daughter Of Ruined Manufac-
turer Causes His Business
Rival to Suffer.
IS BRIDE OF LATTER'S son
Futility of Revenge Expressed
in New MclOdrama by
Stuart Fox.

Walter ". Lawrence presented last
nisht at the ThIrty-ninth Street Thea
tire a new melodrama by Stuart Fox.
called "BackHre." The title Is the at
tempt Of the playwright. or whoever
named the play. to convey TO the lay
mind the meaning OF the legal phrase
'contributory negligence" which Is the
hinge on which the new play turns.
II would not be necessary to translate
that phrase for the heads Of big bust
ness because they have already learned
its meaning too well. In recent criminal
proceedings some of them have found
IN that phrase a backfire kick like that
which Is supposed to he latent in the
hind leg Of an army mule.
The story Is Of a young woman AZ
hicted with an obscssion to wrcdk
vengeance on the manufactures whose
treachery has ruined her father.
Mathew Garth and Hiram Page are
rival cotton manufacturers. but APP
parently on friendly terms. Garth per-
suades Page to speculate in cotton. but
secretly he gets out from under" and
unloads on Page. who lea rms OF his
ruin at a social gathering at the Page
home, attended by the families OF both.
A friend. an attorney. who Is present
prevents a clash between the n
facturers by showing the ruined Page
that he has suffered through "con-
%tributory negligence" and explains that
In business every one should protect
himself. The eldest daughter. Lydia
Page. remembers the phrase and later
determines to avenge her fathers ruin
by applying this legal maxim.
Protected by Marriage.
BY careful manipulation OF Herbert
Garth. son OF the man she means to
inJure. I'VE policies are allowed to lapse
and the Garth factory II destroyed. The
ruined Garth threatens her with crimi-
nal prosecution. but he learns that she
has protected herself by a marriage
with his son and that her acts are
entirely within the law. Al the moment
Of the accomplishment Of her purpose.
however. she learns the futillty Of re-
venge
Excellent opportunities for the display
Of Miss Boland's emotional powers de-
veloped through the play. and reached
the climax In the third act. when. with
his factory In flames. his fortune In ruins
and his son about to 90 to the peniten-
tiary on account Of a bad check. she told
the manufacturer who had ruined her
father that Il was al! a part Of heT
scneme Tor revenge. ana tnat furthef-
NOR II was so carefully planned that
she was entirely within the law"
s1Ggests "within the Law"
The play suggested within the Law
In other ways than In that phrase. al
though "Rackhre' II not a crook" play
In the sense that II deals with the UT
derworld in any way. The only touch
OF the kind Is the mention OF a rather
naughty r~oadhouse. which II IL rather
surprising 10 find In such a highly re-
spectacle manufacturing town.
Miss Bo!and also distinguished herself
In the last act Of the play. when she Of
fered to sacrifice herself after she conner
to the realisation of the futility OF her
plans for revenge.
Frederick Truesdeli as Hiram Page
the cotton manufacturer. who epeculated
and lost and later became n night watch
man In the factory OF his rival. gave a
good representation of a difficult part
other PRINCIPAL parts were carried by
ogden Crane. Henry Gsell. Alice Poe
Walter Horton, Roy Briant and William
Boneili, who gave good support to Miss
Boland.