New-York tribune., 1921-10-25

waiter ..........,......5,s.,s.. Wilbur Cox
MassSa Ma, hedges, !, -..... William r Hayes
Ann seymour .,........,s..,Ha Hazel Turney
SS,n,as'ine S,ana me, falner -, Lolita Robertson
MARK Hutherford ...,,f..,.A. John Merkyl
Jim Armstrong. ...,.....E Maxwell selser
Bob Marshall .-,...,...,,t. Harry Knapp
There is one sovereign remedy for
all the ills that flesh is heir to. accord
ing to the philosophy of Kate Nc
Lauren, author of "The Six-Fifty"---
and that is jolt. For discomfort. ILL
! ness, loss OF money, sudden death-.~take
a jolt. The shock may seem bad, but
in the shaking down something is go-
ing to be freed which will work for
righteousness. Strange forces fight
on the side of the good man." as one
o. Miss McLauren's characters says.
In other careers the bump may come
in the form of defeat, bankruptcy, the
upset of throne, any of hundred mis-
chances, but in the lives shadowed
forth on the stage, of the Hudson
Theater last night the liberating i'm
pact was the wreck of the b. g. c.
limited train, known to those parts of
New Hampshire, near Winchester, as
"The Six-Fifty."
This wreck dumped into Dan Tay-
lor's farmyard train load of strange
humanity. 1t was the shock that broke
the chrysalis of swarm of radiant
fortunes. 1t was good thing for the
railroad company, for on board was a
member of its board of directors, who
dete fmined then and there to abolish
dangerous curve before much worse
smash up than this one occurred. -.
was the beneficent instrumentalty that
taught CASTOR Hedges, the dyspeptic
railroad director, that the pork and
turnips of the farm were superior
diet to the pampered products of the
Pullman diner.
Christine Palmer, a ggand opera
prima donna with brunette soul seek
ing further empurplement, learned that
this country life is more free than
that Of painted pomp. Mark Ruther-
ford, who had plucked the flower of
love from every tree, and even now
was not too fastidious to cast eyes on
the farmers 'wife-Mark discovered
himself villain and doubtless repent
ed. Even the Pullman car waiter who
had gone down in soft boiled eggs with
the crash, found suggestion for amend
ment of life and abated some of his
thefts.
But the greatest boon of all was
shaken down on the man and wife
whose lives had petrified on that lone
ly rock-bound farm. For the straight
enlug OF Cne ralifOR0 track required
land and the purchase price of the farm
meant freedom and life-albeit life in
Winchester, N. H.to Hester and Dan
Taylor.
Such were the sweet uses of the ad-
versity Of "The Six-Fifty." Wherefore,
let us pray, Stand fast, good fate, to
our jolting!"
Lee Kugcl is the producer of the
play. There are some high spots of
amusement, notably scene in din
ing car, with the comedy furnished by
Wilbur Cox, the waiter. and William
I. Hayes, the crotchety railroad di-
rector.
The acting is good, but it must be
said that the play makes TO unusual
demand upon the performers. The per-
formance, therefore, was on a pleasant
level, with interest little more than
mild. A jolt here and there might
help. The train smash is off stage, but
within hearing. Whether it was good
wreck or not must be left for other
ears to decide.
But it did seem like a gentle, COO
ing and unostentatious wreck