The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-06-13
NOT ONE THRILL IN
G.. 0. P. CONVENTION
But Elisabeth Marbury Found
Comedy Relief in the Suf-
frage Plank.
ALSO MUCH BrNCOMRE
~ uL,sABErH MARBVRY.

Until went TO the Chicago Coli
scum on juno Z I had never In my
life attended the serio-comic perform
unce Of a national convention. There
were a great many acts which I'M
fortunately didn't follow each other
swiftly. Everything needed speeding up.
Nobody seemed TO exceed the ten mile
an our limit.
There was an anemic band which
didn't begin to he as good as jim Eu-
ropes. BY the way. wouldn't the
colored contingent have been Influenced
to greater kindness had Jim been Sc
lected to appear In his near Sousa white
uniform7 At least he would have shown
how foxtrots and onesteps could have
been played In order to dispense chser-
fulness rather than gloom.
7 had isnorantly expected punch, pep
and prop throughout the proceedings, In
stead Of which I was confronted with
bluster, blum and bncombe. When we
Of the theatre have u very old plot
to deal with we always strive TO ind
some new anglo which serves ~ a
thriller to mark the climax. but such
a cyclonic effect was eonspicuously miss
ing In any single paragraph Of the
platform OF tho Republican party or IN
it's proceedings.
Evsrything DroneA On.
Everything droned on and on. IN the
assumption that the patient audience
was contributing to the nenagerie In
tho guise Of q stuffed monkey. BY the
way, I hope you noticed tho property
elephant which must have been born
in Canton (Ohio). That elephant
worked hard. and was walked harder,
I have All inkling that u will ultimately
he presented to little Mics Olive
Whitman as a souvenir from Frank
Hitchcock.
comedy relief In this same platform
speech, when the eager s%uffragtsts were
assured that the q. o. p. condescended
TO recommend giving the vote to women.
provided that each State would decide
the burning question for itself! Even
Henry Cabot Lodge, who presented this
ultra-bromidic document. didn't forget
to smile at this comedy fash.
The delegates seemed to me like a lot
Of badly trained supers. They had been
told when to cit and when TO stand and
"li'i ~ Uut NJ ttITSS IL Ndt
evident that they forgot their cues.
They had not had enough rehearsals.
They had been doing too much shopping
Will, their wives and daughters. Bither
this or that their bosses ~ stage d.
rectors were none too skilled.
The speeches all needed export blue
pencilling. OF curse It Is very hard 10
edit padding m to compress hot air,
still ] annot but feel that a blue pencil
judiciously used would have helped
somewhat, In the theatre we poor stage
folks have to pay heavily for boring
our public.
Somehow ] have q suspicion which I
will conhde you--that the Republican
party risks the am penalty for, mark
YOU. the only real electric spark was
struck when Albert n. Fall, delegate
from Now Mexico. submitted the name
"f his States candidate, Then We did
hear some genune cheering, and the
audience for the first time became at
tentivo and animated.
Character OF Applause.
One ~ the nrst things we theatrical
producers must learn IL to detect the
difference between the applause which
proceeds from people who arc paid and
that which comes from tho people who
pay. sometimes II costs liz a great deal
TO become the dupes of a mistake In
this connection.
And there Is another suggestion I
wanted 10 mako to the distinguished
group ~ political d~ictstors had the
privilege Of contemplating during those
chicago days. namely. that many =
play which In Door In Mot. tniu In