Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-11-19
THE HASKIN LETTER
RECREATION OF THE SAINTS

IL az $50
business. running playhouses and
amusement parks, hiring chorus
girls and handling contracts for roll
Ter coasters n merry-go-rounds.
At least, these things are not in
cluded in the average preachers du-
ties. Which is regrettable, because
i'm Salt Lake City the Mormons have
Demonstrated that church elders may
handle such affairs with special skill.
Nearly all of the recreation facili-
ties here are owned and managed by
the Latter Day Saints. The Salt
Lake City theatre is operated by the
Mormon church, which is not at all
opposed to farces and musical COM
edies; most of the dance halls of
the city are provided by it; and Salt
air, the local summer resort locat-
ed on the Great Salt Lake is I'M
der Mormon management.
The various dances which have
from time to time occupied the scam
dalized attention of other religious
sects, have never created a stir in
Salt Lake City. They are taken as
a matter of course, and dancing is
held to be a worthy pursuit of man,
pleasing in the sight of the Lord. AT
least three nights a week dances
are held in connection with the Nor
mon houses of worship, and the seal
of churchly approval bestowed up
on them by an opening prayer.
1t is greatly to the credit of the
Saints that they have never been
narrow-minded on the subject of
recreation. Brigham Young always
held that it was essential to human
existence as food and air. and hence
deserved the highest consideration.
The first public buildings to be
erected in Salt Lake City by the
Mormon pioneers were a church and
a school house. The next was a
theatre-a quaint little hall which
is still standing and in good CON
dition. Here the Mormon farmers
gave their own theatrical perform
ances until their audiences outgrew
the little hall. Then Brigham Young
built the Salt Lake theatre, a large
playhouse designed for professional
as well as amateur performances,
and confiscated the little playhouse
for a private school for his num-
erous children. Doubtless, they too,
in time, outgrew its meager dimen-
sions.
A Historic Theatre.
The Salt Lake theatre. which re-
sembles an old wartime wood-cut
of Ford's theatre in Washington. is
one of the most interesting institu-
tions in the city. 1t is the second
Oldest theatre in America, the old
est being the Walnut theatre in
Philadelphia. Although it receives
all the latest hits from New York,
1t belongs obviously to the early pc
Rod of the American drama. You
feel, in wandering about its shabby
i galleries. that it must find the
moder drama rather b%ewildering
and that its ancient timbers often
sigh for the old days of Booth and
Barrett.
Down in its cellar are many relics
OF this period: for at a time when
the fashionable churches of the east
were refusing eve to bury theatre
cal folks, the Mormons were produce
ing everything from Shakespeare to
popular burlesque. These relics.
which some day are to be gathered
together and housed in an a%ppropri-
ate museum, are now carefully scat
tered about the various underground
property rooms, having dirt floors
and ceilings of wooden rafters.
from such a dusty compartment,
the present-day property man. who
conducted us about the theatre
drew forth a wooden cradle of the
American colonial period.
This he said, " is the cradle in
which Maude Adams made her de-
but on the stage. 1t was Just by
chance h got the part" he contin-
ued' Tor at last minute the prop
erty man could not locate the usual
rag-doll, and the play could not
proceed without at least the sug-
gestion of a baby. Someone ran into
the green-room and grabbed Maude
from her mothers arms and carried
her on. They say she acted admir-
aDIy' Keeping perfectly quiet while
the leading lady moaned over her
and everything"
The Salt Lake theatre seems 70
ave been Brigham Young's pet
hobby. According to the
man, he used it somewhat as a pri-
vate club. spending a great deal
or his time there. He had a secret
entrance all his own. the use of
which the guide did not make quite
clear. and even today the old cellar
contains a collection of his furniture,
one of his numerous bet
s'eaos. made with rawhide nails;
an old-fashioned organ, which was
dragged across the plains with the
first band of pioneer Mormons; some
old horsehair chairs, and an ancient
spinning wheel, treasured because
1t was the property of JoseDh
Smiths mother.
brigham Helped Design 1t.
The theatre was ventilated in
those days" explained the
man, through O. wooden passage
connected with the street, which
was %s'signed by Brigham Young.
The '.ly improvement made over
this today is in the material used.
which is tin instead of wood"
The first performance held in the
theatre vas The Pride of the
Market" presented on March s,
1862. Since then, it has been Wis
tied by the best talent in the coun-
try from Booth and Barrett down
to the present crop of Barrymores.
The older actors are especially fond
of the old playhouse, according 10
the property man. When Henry
Miller was informed not long ago
that it was likely to be torn down
to make room for a newer, larger
playhouse, he declared with tears
in his eyes that rather than see this
happen e would contribute ono
months salary every year to its IN
keep. But this is the property mans
story. and in all fairness to our read
erS II u be stated that he was a
most imaginative property man.
Brigham Young was not the only
high official of the church to take
a special interest in the theatre.
For, as all the bishops of early davs
had trained as actors in the frst
small playhouse, they had con-
ceived a great liking for the drama.
Just as the right top stage box was
nearly always occupied by Young