The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1920-01-05
CLEAN AND DECENT AMUsE,
MENT

NJ Al G. Fields ministries appcaEco
an IynAeilng last week and played -FOUR
L.-n,ruanees To- crowded houses. Per-
hans during the entire threatiGel season
M other attraction has been. or VIII oe'
N literally patronized as this troop OF
. hlaek cork artists. In the audiences
vsrs REPRESENTATIVES, Of every class OF
estIxenship of Wheeling and vicinity.
Bankers. merchants. professional "''''
manufacturers and working men,
While minstrelsy seems In Il degree "
have gone out Of vogue Their" ought 10
Ia a hint 70 theatrical managers IN inc
eSvaarge popular response to the MN
krel show.
Aren't the American people pretty
we'll FED ND on cheap and tawdry music
urntrtty Jokes, women dancers whose
| chief claim 10 art is in an abundant ais
NAV OF lingerieS: choruses that can't
slnH and displays OF more or less antique
female charms. For twenty years or
more the tendency OF the amusement
ptage has been constantly towards more
and more dressing-up Of elaborate seem
cry. aud more and more undressing OF
fernals performers The Black Crook.
when frst presented in New York. Gre
ated a sensation. The Black Crook
nut on the stage today would seem so
conservative that II would be hard Tor
any Of us TO realize that il was, in its
: time. q daring innovation in the hocra'
display OF feminine loneliness. Inc
minstrel show which appeared in Wheel
ing last week had only one female per-
former and she conducted herself with
unusual propriety. Some OF the jokes
were old: few OF them had double
meaning. The performance throughout
was clean, healthful. laugh producing
and musical The singing was not am
hitlous but Il was harmonious and de-
cont. Old-elne favorit"s like "Old Black
Z Joe' and sweet Adal!nc" were the
'e9eASins numbers. and everybody in the
audience enjoyed every minute OF the
porformance without blush on &C
count OF their presence. and without a
bas taste in their mouths when they
left.
The American people are not morally
bad, nor are they sexual perverts. and
the very large majority Of them would
pferer 10 be amused and entertained
fwith some kind OF show that would
not make them think less. OF human
a nature and OF themselves for seeing
AH. The clean. decent performance does
not necessarily have TO be high art; be-
cause the artistic taste OF the majority
e Americans has not been highly Guilt
tAked II can be plain. simple and old
fRshloned. and II true 10 life the pubEt
WIN appreciate and pay for 1t. The sue
cesa OF such homely plays as The Old
4 homestead" " shore Acres" and York
state Folks" proves that it is not neces-
sary for q theatrical manager 10 appeal
10 the sensual in order TO win success.
n on the contrary. it is becoming harder
"a and harder every year for the noisy
NlImb show TO live. which Is, perhaps, the
feRson why the limits OF modesty and
decency have long since been passed
IN such performances. The American
bubble wants clean jokes, melodious
music and decent sentiment. The old
Ans minstrels furnish these; they sue
6eeAed year after year where many OF
tue sP-cahed musical shows. making a
naesh display OF female charms, last
IL a short time, and often fail utter