46
TITE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN. PORTLAND, OCTOBER 21, 1906.
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TME PR1AICE6.5
PY A. If. BALIiARD.
NEW YORK, Oct. 15. (Start Corre
spondence of The Sunday Ore
gonian.) Come with me in your
mind's eye to the theaters of New
York.
Shall I paint the picture?
It cannot be painted in words. I can
give you an idea of the color, the at
mosphere, the warmth, the wealth of
display, the outward parade of magnifi
cent sham. I can note the prominent
furores over popular entertainments and
Indicate the reasons, and I can narrate
the story of the universal hubhuh. But
the meaning of it all the underlying
purpose, the iroal toward which all Is
tending Is difficult to perceive and Im
possible to express.
The season Is now fairly beun.
Openings follow openings fast and
furious. I attended eight "shows' last
week, and am In the midst of going to
eight more the present waek. So it has
been since my arrival here, and so it will
continue to be until the list has been
completed. And by that time there will
be abundant new material to hurry me
up In going over the scintillating phan
tasmagoria again.
There has been an unusual amount of
activity on the part of all producers of
theatrical events, and the race for pop- .
ular favor is under full way. The run
ning Is swift. The spirit of emulation
Is Intense. The people with omnivorous
amusement proclivities are overwhelm
ing in numbers. The market will ab
sorb any amount of good material. Yet
the bulk of the offerings thus far have
been below a high standard. The ma
jority of pieces put on have been practi
cal failures.
Therefore the few successes seem
greater than they would if the general
average had been better. Several attrac
tions have been about passable and have
enjoyed a fair degree of patronage, but
the largest number of successes, which
are themselves the best successes also,
have been prepared by Charlee Dilling
ham and his forces.
A Perfect Comic Opera.
Before Frltzi 9chcff finished her splen
did run m "Mile. Modiste" at the Knick
erbocker, and then went on the road
(don't overlook that exquisite little mas
terpiece of a comic opera when you get
the chance to hear It) It was in the air
that Montgomery and Stone in the now
musical comedy, "The Red Mill," also
under Dillingham's management, would
te the hummer of the hour. Well, that
opened at the Knickerbocker the other
week, and It will run on indefinitely.
David Montgomery and Fred Stone are
the Inimitable and well-remembered "tin
man" and "woodman" of the famous
"Wiiard of Oz."
"The Red Mill" Is the very quintessence
of all that Is latest and bust In musical
comedy and burlesque combined. Fred
Stone's abounding vitality and joy of liv
ing permeate his work. His loose-joint
dancing and his bubbling fun, the quick
and bristling lines that are put into his
mouth by Henry Mossom, who wrote the
lyrics of the piece, the lovely oir of
deviltry, the knightly humor, the up-to-the-minute
dash, the perfect taste, the
beautiful 6tagt settings, the quaint Dutch
costuming, the big, finished, wondorfully
drllled company, the ylphllke dancing
and capering of Bthel Johnson, who
played and sang "Tina." the barmaid
(soubrette role), the really good music tl
haven't heard anything in the bouffo line
Tetter since Offenbach), if indeed it is
reminiscent at certain places all go to
make up what I should call a perfect en
tertainment In so far as musical comedy,
can go. It is sweet and tuneful and
muaiclanly as to music. It is clean and
excessively sprightly as to dialogue and
story.
It is graceful and beautiful in ac
tion, coloring and stage accessories.
It is full of engaging character bits,
affording a phenomenal cast ample op
portunities for the display of their
best efforts. The dancing and the en
sembles are dreams. It deserves all
the praise that a theatrically weary
brain can. utter. It will cheer up any
sane being and please any person who
has ears or eyes.
Thus does Charles Dillingham with
one theater In New York. And his
other stars and enterprises are quite
In the favorable limelight, on the road
BCOCsAR'
and in other cities. Many of them
will reach Portland during the year.
Therefore it Is worth while now to
gain some knowledge of them In a
bunch. I am giving you straight tips
on the shows and you may Judge for
yourself whether you want to attend
them when they come to Portland or
when you visit New York and they are
running there. I met Mr. Felden
heimer, the Portland Jeweler, on the
street yesterday and he agreed with
me as to Dillingham's "attractions."
Among Dillingham's nine or ten
star companies are some of the best
known and most talented artists on
the stage in various branches of the
ntriral and musical art.' The magni
tude of his undertaking as A whole,
the organization which conducts his
work, the mentality that completes
the schedule, the necessary Judgment
required, the knowledge of the pub
lic's wants, the brilliance of the stage
amusement achieved, the minutiae of
technical skill and celerity of business
and mechanical execution, all of which
can be. seen and understood by watch
ing his New York offices, scanning the
record of his results and inspecting
his stage presentations, will afford an
Instructive lesson in the history of
the modern stage and drama.
Taste for Light Opera.
His activities illustrate anew the gen
eral tendency of the public taste. The
character of the shows always tell the
predominating trend of the public taste.
They lean for the most part to musical
comedy, with the heightened effect of
special stars and their personalities, al
ways with the reservation that what has
been known as musical comedy is be
ing supplanted by real comic opera. That
Is to say, that although the public still
wants graceful dancing, the bright col
ors of a pretty picture and sweet music,
and will gladly drink in the quips of the
hour, the tricks of language, the pungent
lines that hit off foibles of the day, and
will also relish the antics of singularly
and eccentrically talented men and wo
men who catch the special popular eye,
there must now be a story and a plot
and a ralson d'etre for the opera. There
must be more than a patch-quilt of
music to charm the ear. Nearly every
one who frequents the theater knows
In at least a sub-conscious way nearly
all the chief airs and the underlying
themes of the bulk of the musical com
edies that have had so long a vogue in
America. Last year several of the mu
sical comedies put on the road were
simply echoes of the good ones that
had been given the mark of approval in
former seasons. Now It is undeniable
that the public has not tired of this
musical thing yet. But it wants and
demands something with a reasonably
artistic fabric In its foundation. This
result has been attained signally In
"The Red Mill." Henry Blossom has
written some bully lyrics In it. They
are not quite Gllbertlan in their per
fections, . but they are quick, to the
point, startllngly new, quaint, bright,
stunning. Victor Herbert, who wrote the
music, on his part has put up one of
the most tuneful and fascinating con
catenation of melodies and itchy foot-in-splrcrs
that has been heard on Broadway
for moons and moons. The opera Includes
se-eral ready whistlers, which even now
reverberate up and down the Great White
way daily and nightly from the lips of the
conglomerate throng, and, barring & little
cribbing as to basic themes, the marches
and the ensembles in the piece are un
equivocally bewitching. The cast is
probably the very best that could be
procured. There Is absolutely nothing
to be condemned In it. Cap the whole
thing with the wonderful charm and
captivating comicalities of the twin
stars of the show, Montgomery and
Stone, and you have what will win a
fortune for Mr. Dillingham.
Bunco Doesn't Go.
I cite this as a specimen of what a
good piece, a good cast and a good the
ater will do in this city.
It Is a sure thing.
If a manager wants to attain such a re
sult he must not Indulge In any bunco
at all. In this Instance there is no bun
co. In so far as other managements
have permitted any element of their pro
ductions to admit bunco, they fail. They
can let down in any branch the piece,
the cast, or the staging when they put
the show on the road, and still bluff the
thing through to success. But they
must play square here on Broadway, or
they do not get the publlo in sufficient
t i r 7 V ' t?zsizjl
numbers to justify the matter being con
sidered a success.
Any one of the big managers could ac
complish this fine success any season
if they stuck to their Intention to select
the best of everything. The great dif
ficulty they have is getting a play or
getting good work ont of a few over
worked composers of light music. There
are plenty of players and singera to be
had by snapping your fingers, or beck
oning. In fact, there are enough en
gageable people every day hanging
around the big managers' offices to sink
ten ocean-going ships. If I had a rela
tive who contemplated coming to New
York to go on the stage, I should feel
like congratulating her if I heard that
she had succeeded in obtaining a posi
tion out to service as a housemaid.
In the case of the actor and tb.e
actress who come here seeking engage
ments, many call, but few are chosen.
There are many thousands who have
won their spurs, and trade on their
names as long as they can as long as
their names will draw the public. There
Is a large over-supply of unmistakably
talented young people who should have
first choice until the requirements of the
stage labor market Is supplied. But this
Just selection is not by any means fol
lowed. It Is by many kinds of favor,
other than actual merit, that parts are
assigned. I should say that artistic
merit is the least of the reasons that
usually secure an engagement. It often
enters Into the transaction as a sub
sidiary consideration, and that is the
most that can be said of it.
Pathetic Poverty.
Now what becomes of the thousands
upon thousands of. hold-overs and left
overs and misfits and poor deluded mor
tals who fall to get work? They consti
tute a tragedy that might occupy Shake
speare's hand. The flotsam and jetsam of
the stage that loiters on the Rlalto and
knocks at the doors of the managers'
knocks at. uie uoor. i w e j! J
offices from day to tjay, asking the dls--4
mal question repeatedly and repeatedly.
"Engaging any people today?" to receive
again and again the answer. "No." or
"Come around next Tuesday,", would
break a heart of adamant. In the strange
and melancholy crowd are to be seen
often the shining light of the minute who
catch on In various ways. A hopeful face
may be encountered, a sparkling eye of
determination may gleam, by the side of
some hopeless wreck who radiates failure
in each line of countenance. Bales of
bleached hay dressed in all the colors of
the rainbow, painted masses of wrinkled
skin decked out with glowing clothes and
high-heeled boots flash in and flash out
of the offices artd up and down the street
to prate of engagements that they have
had and of plans they have and the
Lord knows what they are actually doing.
Later In the Autumn, when the cold
winds blow and the snows come, you
could do five thousand favors a day in
that Rialto district by buying and present
ing to the stage crowd 5000 ham sand
wiches and 5000 cups of coffee on any
clear cold noonday of the frosty Winter
season.
' Yet with destitution staring them all
in the face staring at. least eighty per
centum of those who come here to find
work (It Is conservatively estimated tha
less than 20 per cent of the whole obtain
employment) even the least prosperous of
them, and the ones who are worst equip
ped of all to get along here will answer
your suggestion about going elsewhere
by the regulation formula, "Oh, but
that's so far away from Broadway."
They are worse than gold miners and
prospectors. They have the bug lire-
I f ' I I Dillingham's Plans.
" n ": . 'A
I 7:7 -7' '; '
trieveably. They are hopeless. They want
to do or die here get a chance on a
Broadway stage, or die in the attempt.
Some of them get the chance. Some of
Remarkable Feats of Indian Fakers
Of Course, All Are Illusions, Yet They Are None the Less Effective
on the Astonished Beholders.
) Pearson's Weekly.
THE Indian fakir Is the world's
most wonderful Illusionist, It is
easy to declare his feats are all
humbug; it is easy to laugh at persons
who, having seen his performances, re-
gard iiim with awe and wonderment;
yet it is a fact that no European
juggler, illusionist, scientist or other
person has successfully performed any
of the Important feats accomplished by
Indian fakirs. This article does not at
tempt to show how the tricks are done.
It merely gives the opinion of those
best acquainted with the subject ex
perts in occultism and hypnotism.
Understand, in the first place, that
everything in a fakir's' performance is
lllusionary. Any attempt to photo
graph it results in failure. The plate
reveals nothing. Tou are simply made
to see things which do not exist.
And what things! This Is one trick
which yon can see being performed in
moments later up goes the fakir, until
he, too. is lost to view. Suddenly
from the sky you see and hear sec
tions of the boy's body fall and strike
the ground with a dull thud. Then
the fakir reappears, descending the
rope, first as a mere speck in the
heavens, but gradually becoming larg
er as he nears the ground. The fakir
gathers the boy's head and limbs and
body, sticks them together and behold
the boy, all smiles and activity, runs
once round the fakir, and then disap
pears as mysteriously as he came.
This, the favorite feat . of Indian
fakirs, has been witnessed scores of
times by officers and other Europeans
whose word is indisputable. The of
ficers of a British warship, having sev
eral civil officials aboard, vouch for the
India In many cities on the days of
01
them die in the attempt. Most of the
attractive girls soon undergo a psycholo
gical deterioration that renders them im
pervious to the ignominy of self-sur
general festivities. Round a fakir, a
wiry little man, whose clothing con
sists only of a loin cloth, are assembled
a vast audience. The little fellow in
the center gives a shrill whistle and
throws up into the air what appears
to be a rope. You wait for the rope
to fail, but It doesn't.
It straightens Itself out and looks
Just as if it were hanging from the
sky. The fakir claps his hands and
gives vent to another whistle. Ap
parently out of nowhere, for the crowd
Is quite 15 feet from the fakir, a boy
appears, clothed in the manner of his
master. The fakir picks up the boy
and flings him into the air, toward
the dangling rope. '
Boy's Body Falls in Pieces.
You hold your breath, while the boy
clutches hold of the rope and shins up
it, monkey fashion, till he disappears
from sight in ftie clear sky. A few
following particulars. Their ship had
come to a halt in an East Indian port
after a Journey ox many thousand
miles, when the fakir made his ap
pearance, swimming through the surf
and scrambling to the deck by the
anchor chains. Thus he had no con
federate nor any means of assistance
aboard.
First he took from the hand of an
officer the half of a eocoanut shell,
from which when held aloft he caused
twelve pallfuls of water to flow on the
deck.
A large earthenware dish was next
borrowed from the pantry. The fakir
poured Into it a gallon of water and
held it on his outstretched left hand,
placing the other hand on his fore
head. As the crowd of officers and
men stood watching in wonderment tho
dish began to shrink in size until it
entirely disappeared. They still stared
as a brown object, like a grain of sand,
render. Then they get the chance. A
very few heroines succeed. Most of the
heroines are never heard from.
Mr. Dillingham alms to have at least
one of his companies playing in New
York the year 'round accomplishing
this by routing them in here succeeding
one another.
Thus Blanch -Ring in "Dolly Dollars,"
by Victor Herbert and Harry B. Smith,
now touring, will be here about the holi
days. Kyrle Bel lew, in "Brigadier Gen
ard," by Sir Conan Doyle, reaches Chi
cago the present month, and afterwards
will be here. Paula Edwards, in "The
Princess Beggar." by Edward Paulton,
and Alfred Robyn (the composer), will get
to New York, just after the holi
days. Then the is Mrs. Leslie
Carter, whom Dillingham has signed for
a term of years, and will reap the benefit
of David Belasco's stupendous advertising
of this notorious woman, and phenomenal
exploiter of emotional stress. Montgom
ery and Stone, absolutely unique in their
comic personalities, are here now, as I
have told you. Frltzi Sfeheff is visiting
the larger cities of the East with "Mile.
Modiste," and then will go to England
with the same production. She opens in
"Modiste" at the Aldwych Theater, Lon
don. After Madame Scheff's opening, the
Intrepid manager clans to send all his
stars over. He intends to have Bellew,
Scheff and Montgomery and Stone in Lon
don at the same time. That is what will
gradually grew larger and larger and
assumed its normal dimensions and was
found not to have spilled a drof of the
water poured into it.
Another performance of this same fakir
was still more amazing. On first reaching
the deck after leaving the water he had
untied a large red cloth from the back
of his neck, where It had efcvlously been
stowed to keep It dry. This he passed
round the company for Inspection. It was
merely an ordinary cloth, of coarse tex
ture. Spreading It flat upon the deck, the
fakir walked around it several times,
muttering In his throat and occasionally
turning his eyes upward. All eyes were
glued to the cloth, under which some
thing was apparently growing In size.
Suddenly out hopped a grinning and
chattering monkey, which danced all
round the deck; it was followed a minute
later by an ugly and venomous-looking
cobra, wriggling away from the cloth to
the feet of the astounded beholders. Once
again something far larger than the oth
ers began .to stir beneath the cloth of
mystery. Soon a girl of about 14 years
of age emerged and stood smiling at all
around her. While those tsturdy Jack
Tars stood rubbing their eyes and pinch
ing themselves to make sure that it was
not a dream the fakir clapped his hands
and monkey, cobra and girl vanished into
the air. Then quickly folding up the
cloth into a bundle and without sollctlng
money from officers or crew the fakir
leaped into the sea, swimming away with
easy and graceful strokes.
As an explanation of these marvelous
feats it Is generally accepted that Indian
fakirs, by long sojourns and meditation
alone in the Jungle and by hereditary or
some secret power, are enabled by merely
forming pictures in their minds to produce
illusions in the minds of those persons
who crowd about them expecting to see
some wonderful feat. The pictures the
fakirs conjure up they mentally Impress
upon the minds of their spectators.
It is different from hypnotism in that
not one person In 100 or 1000, willing or
unwilling, become the victims of the fa
kirs. The colJectlve hallucinations, as ex
perts term it, is induced by fakirs by
reason of their knowledge of the relations
that exist between objective and subject
ive states of existence. For Instance, if
we conceive In our mind a picture of a
thing we have seen before, an object form
probably make a strong fresh American
impression on Ihe typical Britisher. Bel
lew holds to "Gerard" all this season.
Montgomery and Stone ditto to "The Red
Mill." Mtes Edwards is having written,
for her a new comic opera for next sea
sn, based on a classlo which Is not yet
announced for fear of some one else ap
propriating the idea. Frank Daniels, now
n his second season with "Sergeant
Brue," will come Into this city late in
the Autumn, and later In the season will
replace "Brue" by "Omar, a new comla
opera suggested by the joyous lays of
Omar Khayam. Robert Loraine, who had
so long a run at the Hudson last season
in Shaw's "Man and Superman," is wow
traveling and will return here later.
These are the present troubles and
cares and joys of Charles Dillingham,
and he is cutting a rather wWe swath In
Gotham as well a throughout America,
while at the same moment he Is preparing
to invade theatrically the other known
countries of civilization. I don't know a
more polite or a more energetic or a more
intelligent theatrical outfit in this large
throbbing center of money-making, deceit
and gorgeousnes9.
Breaking away from the rest, and pad
dling his own canoe, while still remaining
advantageously allied with the ruling
powers, his virility and business skill are
fast bringing him fine results. Such an
organization dominated by such a man
is a fortunate thing for the theater-going
public. He knows and follows the pre
cept that bunco don't succeed in the long
run. In so far as managers adhere to the
truth of this fact, they make themselves
stable and permanent factors wherever
they may be. The majority, sad to say,
devote most of their energies to rigging
up new kinds of bunco.
of that thing comes into existence within
our owh mind and is composed of the
substance of our own mind.
If by continued practice we gain suf
ficient power to hold on to that image
and prevent its being driven away by
other thoughts It will become compara
tively dense and be projected upon the
mental sphere of others, so that they may
actually believe they see that which real
ly exists only as an image within our
own mind.
On the other hand, if we can not hold
on to that one thought that mental pic
ture and control It at will we can not
produce its reflection upon the minds of
others. Europeans fall to reproduce the
feats of fakirs through weakness of con.
centratlon and of control of their own
thoughts which faculties are extraordi
nary strong even In the average Hindu.
Just Once In Awhile.
Leslie's Weekly.
Just once In a while If we'd think to convey
To those who walk with us llfe'e devious way.
In glances or worde, half the Joys that abide
la our hearts because loved ones are close by
our side;
If we'd think but to garb in words' tendereet
dress
A phrase that were sweet a a mother's oarese,
Care's road would be shortened by many a
mile;
If we'd think to be thankful Just once in
a while.
l
Just once in a while if we'd lay down our
load
Of worry and work by the side of the road.
And a bit oe the love that we're feeling ex
pend -
On eieter or brother, on parent or friend.
In words that would tell them their nearness
makes Hg-ht
The path which alone we would grope through
the night;
How oft we'd be blessed with an answering
smile,
If we'd think to be thoughtful Just once in
a while.
Just once In a while If a hand were but
pressed,
A shoulder but patted, a word but addressed
That would thankfulness speak to the ones)
by our side.
Would not Joy spur the feet to a magical
stride
Am they wended their way down life's main
traveled road T
Would not griefs slip away and thus lighten
the load?
For ourselves and for others we'd shorten)
each mite.
If we'd think to be thankful Just once In m
while.