The New York herald., 1922-02-12

fit and Last Night of Laura Keene, the
Distinguished Manageress and Actress,
Who Will Appear in Tom Taylor's Eccen-
trio Comedy, Our American Cousin as
Originally Produced by Miss Keene in
America and Performed by Her Upward
of One Thousand Nights"
How the little demon Chance in his
murky fen must have laughed a horrid
laugh as he recalled the number of times
he had defeated efforts to have this play
produced, to relent not until October IS,
1858, and how he must have laughed more
fiendishly when he foresaw that it's repeti-
tion on the date mentioned was to make
the play forever historically memorable.
For on the afternoon of the fateful 14th
Mrs. Lincoln, who had friendship for
Laura Keene and received her at the White
House, noticing a more than usual care
worn look on the Presidents face, urged
him to seek an hours relaxation in watch
ing the drollery of Sothern's Lord Dun
dredry
In this piece, which had proved turning
point in the fortune of three persons, Miss
Keene's, whom it had made rich Joseph
Jefferson's and Edward Askew Sothern's,
whom it made famous, chance still had
sinister work to do. During the third act,
while the President was still smiling at
the inimitable mimicry of the famous fop
and while there was momentary wait on
the stage for the entrance of another char
acter, pistol shot was heard. 1t was not
noticed by the audience until they saw
a man leap from the Presidents box to
the stage. His defiant shout, sic semper
tyrannus!" thrust the awful truth on them
Miss Keene rushed out on the stage and
endeavored to reassure the excited audi
ence, fastening the next moment to the
box. She had seen the assassin making
his way to the rear of the theater and she
gave the first information that he was
John Wilkes Booth
Oh, chance, blind chance, here was your
moment to review what you had done to
bring about the tragedy!
How Elements of Chance
Worked Early and Late
If Tom Taylor had never seen the actor
Joshua Silsbee, who first introduced the
stage Yankee to British audiences, he
would never have made play around the
character Of Asa Trenchdrd. If Joseph
Jefferson, rising member Of Miss Keene's
company, to whom she gave this play to
advise upon its chances of success had
not seen in 1t an opportunity for himself,
and so, he writes this in his autobiography
Il was selfish enough to recommend the
play for production; If Sothern had ad-
hered to his first determination to refuse
the part OF Dundredry, part of only forty
seven speaking lines if, to sum up, the
piece had not proved an enormous success,
then the task of chance must have wrought
along different lines.
Earlier in their lives there had occurred
an incident which might have changed
events. When Mr. Lincoln as President
elect was on his way from the West to his
inauguration at Washington he stopped in
Albany as guest of the city. The old
Delevan House, which stood on the site OF
the present railway station in Albany, had
the honor of housing the President.
Not three blocks distant from it stood
a theater and on it's stage that night an
actor. one John Wilkes Booth, was appear
ing for the first time. The name of the
play was "The Apostate." 1t contains a
scene where Booth was to fall while hold
ing a dagger In falling Booths dagger
fell first and he fell upon it, infiicting
severe wound that had 1t been but trile
more severe would have ended his life
then and there. Chance, or if you will call
it destiny, turned the blade a little way
aside and Booth was saved to lose his life
a few years later in more hideous way.
How the Fatal Play
Reached American Stage
The full account of the way Our Amer
ina cts ic
something that might be used as an illus
tration to confound the remark one often
hears that there is no such thing as
chance"
Tom Taylor in his day was known as an