New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-11

THE copybooks and John d. Rookie
Il Teller. jr.. have had good dea
to say about goodness from time tc
time. The text of their remarks has
been that proper behavior brings
sure reward in the shape Of prosperity
and happiness, and occasionally they
have touched upon the corollsry. As
We SOW. they have assured us, so shall
We reap. But now comes the strange
case of Benrimo-J. Harry Benrimo-
whose story is an out-andout brief for
wickedness. For il J. Harry had be-
haved himself when he was young ne
would not now be drawing royalties on
The Yellow Jacket" and "The Willow
Tree"
II all comes down to this. In hi,
youth ]. Harry lived in San Francisco,
where. among other things, he had
stern Moorish father. As a boy j.
Harry was a bit wild. The extent OF
his wildness is not spread upon the
record. but there is no doubt that there
came a time when his actions began to
annoy his father Thereupon father
faced son. and son refused TO obey.
The fathers Moorish traditions were
shaken to their foundations. As dis
ciplinary measure he ordered j. Harry
to take a trip to Hawaii and return
lie figured that a period of enforced
.bsence from his family would soften
him.
So J. Harry shipped upon the good
ship Something, and in due time he
reached the beach at waikiki. He
stayed among the Hawaiians for sew
eral days (at that time all the Ha-
waiians were in Hawaii. instead of the
New York cabarets). Then, just as he
was about to round out the parental
order by going back home, he received
a long envelope from his mother. Be-
ing a mother, and indulgent, she In
closed money-quite an amount of 1t.
Thus equipped, J. Harry strolled down
to the ocean and took the next boat
for Nagoya. Japan.
After roaming here and there in ia
pan. absorbing its atmosphere and its
customs, j. Harry crossed over to
China. In China he continued to roam.
He browsed around Peking. and he
turned fip-faps on the Great Wall
but particularly he browsed around
Picking. And in Picking he necessarily
came more or less into contact with
the theatres more. in fact. And ne
continued TO absorb. Finally, after
eighteen months of this sort of thing,
one of the countless consuls who were
looking for him happened to find him
and he was shipped back to father.
1t is necessary at this point to real
ize that this happened long time ago
the date being securely locked up
within J. Harry. For thereupon j.
Harry grew TO manhood and became an
actor. and he had been knocking around
the Coast stock companies for years
before he came TO New York. Also, II
was twenty years ago that he came TO
New York. so you can figure the thing
ont for yourself. And it must further
he borne in mind that all OF the local
color expended so lavishly in "The Vel
low Jacket and "The Willow Tree" was
accumulated on this boyhood trip OF
long ago.
Every Coast actor. of course, per-
forms sooner or later in one of the
Los Angeles stock companies-either
Mr. Morosco's or Mr.. Fred Belasco's. j.
Harry acted in both. He was acting
with the Belnsco organization when a
play called "The First Born" by Fran
cis Powers. was produced. "The First
Rom" according to J. Harry, IL the
frs. play ever written by an American
which made a serious endeavor to
mirror Oriental life. The play was
hugely successful in Los Angeles. and
in the course of time II was brought TO
New York along with the entire Be
lasco stock company. That was twenty
,oars ago. and J. Harry never went
back