The New York herald., 1921-09-04

cult to feel any throb Of interest in
the young man so deliberately destroy
ing his own happiness as we'll as that
Of his altogether blameless wife by
his mad indulgence at the table. If
1t Is to be said that such passion In
this form Is madness, then there Is
certain to be no response in pity to
his sufferings. No author has asked
his public to share in the sufferings
Of demented hero.
Mr.. Smith Is one Of the most expert
of American playwrights. He not only
works according to the dictates Of the
mandarins but he possesses the ex-
trene wisdom to adapt these means to
modern uses. The most hidebound ad-
vocate Of the we'll made play would
never dare urge the acceptance of it's
rules without consideration of present
day standards. Other times, other
ways. Maybe in his mastery of the
best methods Of the playwrights Mr..
Smith will devise some means of send
ing the blood of life coursing through
the veins of play which was at least
on It's first performance, uncommonly
weak in circulation to be the work of
such skilled dramatist.
Live and Learn in the Theatre.
Not all the education in social life
which the theatre offered last week
was confined to the evils OF a passion
for games OF chance. Miss Fannie
Hurst in Back Pay" which A. H.
Woods presented at the Eltinge The
nt,A 49, ~
world something about the fauna OF
Riverside Drive. There settled Miss
Hurst's little gold digger after
she had parted from the drummer who
gave her pink near silk chemise to
come with him on the $3.50 train to
New York. 1t was during the second
act that the habits of this interesting
West Side dweller were most elo-
quently revealed.
1t seems that a summer home is not
to be underrated, since 1t counts as
real estate, city or country 1t should
stand next in the list of investments
to pearls and other precious stones.
Chinchilla is only second choice for a
wrap since Russian sable for $25. 900
Is practically the only sure protection
against the chills OF winter. An eve-
ming dress--the heroine's was of cloth
OF gold-costs $1,000, and her gentle
man friend, who had every reason in
the world for taking the keenest In
terest In the amount of her bills, was
Mortified that even the cheapest OF tea
gowns cannot be had for less than
1910.
Miss Hurst does not stop her edu-
cation OF the public with such ma
teriaI objects. 1t seems that the gold
di9gers have to suffer in order to ac-
quire these luxuries. One OF the hero
ines neighbors, who even walked about
the halls in lace pajamas edged with
gold braid, admitted that she had as a
result Of the party the night before
"a dark brown taste" in her mouth
that grew steadily worse. Whether or
not this possession Is accounted by
Miss Hurst as an asset among her
fascinations was not made clear. The
fact was merely presented. Another
complaining revellers trouble was with
an lawful head" In view of the in
tensely physical character of these
complaints II seemed to many unsym-
pathetic listeners as IL gold diggers
came high.
The Old stencils.
In Back Pay the authoress has
resisted bravely tho temptation to
talk about the injustice OF one law
for women and another for men, al
through one of the guests at dinner
did have brief outbreak attributed
to the effects of hang over from
which she had been able to recover
during the day despite the acquisition
OF a chinchilla coat.
There are no apologies for any of
the characters in Back Pay least
OF all for the heroine. She 10 coldly
calculating young person who prefers
TO do business in New York than to
err at home whe,~ life is rather drab
and the game In possibly not worth
the candle. Miss Hurst makes no ef-
fort later to justify her. To be sure
she Is in view Of the convenience Of
his blindness enabled to take the boy
lover back to her home where he may
not see what Is going on about him.