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TITE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTI,AXT. JULY 11, 1920
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BY FRANK DAT.T.ATVT.
splendid play hu Just been produced.
From the view-point of that more or less
Indefinable attribute called technique. It
waa perfection. Ita action was rapid; Its
scenes were tense; its love periods were
tender and delicate; Its dialogue waa
natural and pointed. Not a man or woman
In tbe east 'was superfluous. Tet It Is a
sjlitterlng failure. It was played by a
company of excellence and its settings
were faultless. But the public did not like
It. So the thins was withdrawn at once
ana for ten years or more has been quite
forgotten.
The title of it Is of no consequence here.
"What is of consequence are the words of
the author spoken to the writer of this
article as we discussed In the Touralne
hotel in Boston the causes of failure. The '
playwright never again will please Amer
ican audiences with a new play. He was
one of those whose lives were lost on the
Lusitanla. Some of the plays he wrote
before this notable failure are still being
need by the stock companies throughout
the country, a fact which testifies to his
keenness in studying and analyzing Human
nature.
'My play failed." said the author, "be
cause its leading character faced a heart
problem in tbe only way a man In real
life could and would have faced it- The
very naturalness of tho ending was what
the public did not like and resented by
not coming to see the play. Let me tell
you that In writing all my plays my chief
trouble has been to be sufficiently arti
ficial. Men all around us every day are
facing heart problems of their own in
better dramas than are ever written. Why
any dramas need to be written, or rather
Why Lieutenant Schwartz, U. S. N., Surren
dered His Own Wife to Another Man and
Why Captain Stokes, U.S.A., Retired,
Refused to Plead the Unwritten Law, Re
vealed Through Tense Situations in Recent
Real Life Tragedies.
wear. When I want a heart problem for
a new plot I search for It in tho daily
news columns.1
to mo you have kept," she wrote.
This is tho hardest, tho most cru"l.
tho least fair. "Will you keep it?
Whether I am deserving of such gen
erosity is another matter.
Had you not proved to mo in our
why the public feels an occaslolal need of married life that you possess these
thrill or an extra heart throb, is be- qualities I know that my appeal to
cause it is too lazy to look around. It I you would'be In vain, I know that you
must have its thrills bought ready to nava been a verv Brood husband to me
I know that you want all of my love
or none. That alono ought to solve
True words. An you skeptical T Try it the Problem.
for yourself. It were better that you had I now it Is np to you entirely. What
file of your favorite daily at hand to I will you do? It would be quite simple
play this game, but no matter; we'll take I to get a divorce. I have no reasonable
random any one of a dosen cases of ,auS8 for comnlaint. I cannot nose
recent weeks which you will at once recall. I . awlDn(fll1 , T
faced manfully, by Frederick L. Schwartz rauro Buro """ wuu,u UUL
and Gertrude Schwartz? want me to put myself in a position
where you could obtain a divorce
T71u" bn-tK purpose or carrying from mB. i Coild not do that; I would
M out the illusion of the theater. not do th,t because I reeard marrlaee
though tVlA nhn rn rt Ait t t a a u ipv I - .. . j . ; .a .... . n k
re in life, the programme reads: with lightly. I know that I have
Lieutenant Schwartz, United States
navy, junior grade; Gertrude, his wife
a trained nurse; riaieign Mann, a
young physician in civil life; Judge
Van Kostrand of the San Francisco
circuit court.
Synopsis: The war calls Lieutenant
Echwarts to duty at the Pelham Bay
naval training station near New York.
Gertrude, thus separated from her
young husband, seeks occupation of
mind and talents, finding it in the
Erie county hospital in Buffalo. Pro
fessional work throws her into con-
hurt you and I am sorry, but I cannot
help it. There was only one of two
courses to follow and I know that
the other would have hurt yon more
and wronged you, too."
A Problem Which Klpllnjr Wrote
Abont
Thomas White, a restaurant man of
Chicago, well off and happy in the
possession of a pretty wife some years
his Junior, faced his heart problem
when he opened the door of a Chica
go hotel and beheld the girlish wife
with the son of one of his most In
timate friends. The presence of the
young man was a complete surprise,
but It did not entirely sweep away
Mr. "White's reasoning powers.
"I am astounded to behold the son
of my old friend," he said simply."
"Well, sir," said the ingenuous
youth, stammering a bit in his Juve
nile embarrassment, "you see I love
her very much, and I wish she were
free so I could marry her."
"So you shall, my boy," replied Mr.
White, unconsciously paraphrasing
Koko. "I love her myself and I don't
blame you at all for wanting to mar
ry her. If you will promise me now
that you will make her your wife
I'll start about getting a divorce to
morrow." The pledge was given and Mr. White
lived up to bis word and when the
reporters interviewed him about it
the next day he gave his solemn oath
that he had never read Barrack Room
Ballads and hadn't the slightest no
tion what kind of advice Mr. K'.pllng
had given to be followed in precisely
the same circumstances.
To Prtaom to Shield His "Wife's Good
To those who may be inclined to
criticise tbe faint heart in Lieutenant
Schwartz' love and to question his de
cision, let us Introduce another service
man and follow sketchily what he did
when faced with a similar heart prob
lem. Meet Captain Charles L. Stokes,
formerly of the United States army;
also meet his wife and Br. E. R. Rob
erts of Sawtelle, CaL, likewise once a
regular army man.
Dr. Roberts loved Mrs. Stokes. She
responded. When the captain returned
from overseas last fall he heard all
about the affair only in this case
the wife was not the one who told.
The freely wagging tongues of the
neighbors saved her the ordeal. The
captain wrote to the doctor and told
him to keep his distance. It was a
prescription the doctor would not
take.
Captain Stokes returned home one
evening and found the doctor in the
act of departing Just stepping into
his car. Captain Stokes Jumped aboard
and the car rolled away with both
men, one at the wheel and the other
In the rear seat. Presently they
fought. As the story was unfolded In
the Los Angeles court, tbe captain
beat the doctor Into an unconscious
pulp. Too helpless to take himself
further, the captain started to drive
the doctor to his home. On the way,
Dr. Roberts revived and renewed the
fight. Both men sprang from the car,
which thus released, darted over a
ravine and caught fire.
By the light of the blazing vehicle
In itself a spectacular stage setting
the two men hammered with their
fists until, so Captain Stokes testi
fied. Dr. Roberts taunted him. while
they struggled with the fact that
he already had won Mrs. Stoke's love.
Then the captain dropped his out
stretched right guard to draw hla
pistol. He shot the doctor dead In his
tracks.
But .It was not here that Captain
Stokes settled his heart problem. In
deed, it cannot be said that he had
even begun to face it. He was ar
raigned in court. To the charge of
first degree murder he entered a plea
of not guilty. His friends assured
him that the unwritten law would
uphold his action. However, to plead
the unwritten law, one must bare the
most intimate secrets. There were two
children. They would have to kno
tne wnoie miserable story. Besides,
Captain Stokes still loved his wife.
The unwritten law would mean her
being cruelly cross-questioned on tbe
witness stand. He could not think of
her undergoing such humiliation.
So it was that despite the wishes
of his closetst friends, though with
the consent of his lawyers, he faced
his heart problem squarely by
changing his plea. He withdrew the
plea of not guilty for one of guilty
of manslaughter in one of the lesser
degrees, entailing a prison sentence
and no more publicity for all con
cerned. By turning his back on his
heart problem. Captain Stokes could
have had his liberty. Facing it, there
was punishment. He faced It.
All for the Lore of si Woman.
A heart problem with a curious
twist which may require the courts
of New York to pass upon a question
unique In law is the one presented by
Mr. and Mrs. Jake Miller that Is If
Mr. Miller, who is spending his honey
moon alone in Sing Sing prison, may
be said to exist, which Is questioned
despite the fact that he is living and
breathing this very minute.
Jake loved little Hannah Rosen
baum of 1079 Washington avenue
the Bronx. His love was so deep
it coaxed from himself the vow to
forsake his profession as an expert
burglar. In his own language he "laid
off on the easy Jobs" and took a reg
ular man's place in & Bronx store
But It was hard to save money and
little Hannah, the seamstress, seemed
to grow so much prettier each day.
Jake decided he couldn't wait. He
MISSIONARY RAMBO RELATES HARROWING
EXPERIENCE WITH DESPERATE BANDIT GANG
Oregonian, Accompanied by His Wife, and Engaged In Relief Work Among Armenians, Is Forced to Make
Long Detours in Order to Escape Flying Bullets of Outlaws.
ATHRI
so rial
missi
THRILLING account of the per-
onal experiences of an Oregon
ionary and his wife, who
tact with Dr. Mann.Jhey fall in love, accompanied the French forces In
! their retreat from Harounie to Adana,
Cicilie, is contained in a recent letter
i from Rev. and Mrs. W. E. Bambo,
j formerly of Klamath Falls and Baker,
to Rev. J. J. Handsaker, 6935 Forty-
Gartrude's moral fiber rebels at any
other course in the affair than one of
strictest honesty. She presents the
matter to her husband in a letter-
Lieutenant Schwartz is heart-broken.
Bruised in mind and weakened by
shock he falters to thoughts of re-1 fifth avenue Southeast.
venge. Then the depth of his love is I Rev. Mr. Rambo and his wife. It
revealed to him. He will do none of I will be remembered by their friends,
the things which first seemed to be 1 are the two Armenian relief workers
the only recourse. He will do only I whose safety was a matter of grave
that which the woman he loves has I concern during the massacres by
requested. A friend in the law shows Turkish brigands last February.
him there is a way in which 'it can For several weeks their fate was
be done and still leave the name of unknown, until a letter from the two
the woman untarnished. He applies Oregonians stated that - they were
for the divorce. While Judge Van Nob- located in Harounie, where Mr. Ram-
trand considers the facts. Lieutenant bo was In charge of a school of 200
chwsta rttA tn U"h i , rf fnr Armenian children. Harounie was
. i.Ef., r,r Htv nri r.reivea 4t A described as being located in a coun-
few weeks gd by and the decree is
granted. Today Lieutenant Schwartz
is stationed in Manila and Gertrude is
Mrs. Mann, living with her husband
jn well, the city is of no importance
her happiness, though, is of impor
tance and her friends say she has
found it.
What, ask you, could Mrs. Schwartz
have written to her husband that
could impel him to make the sacrifice
of surrender? Brief extracts from her
try of remarkable beauty, due north
of Damascus and about 70 miles east
of Adana. At that time the Turkish
brigands had been effectively driven
back Into the hills, and the valley
was in comparative quiet, but on
March 17, writes Rev. Mr. Rambo, the
Turks were becoming dangerous
again.
Turks Fire on French.
"Apparently they want war," he
writes, "for about 10 A. M. on that
remarkable, yet simply phrased, letter I date they began to fire on the
show Its power. Once he had told I French, and kept it up until dark.
her that she could ask nothing of him I We tried to "carry on' in worlf and
which he would not do to make her I school, but the danger made it of no
happy. She only reminded him of his j use. The children got tired and bold
oromise. I after awhile, and began to play in
"Every other promis you have made exposed parts oX the building; and
no bullets having arrived up to that
time, we let them go on."
By March 21 the approaching furks
were so close that the bullets were
falling in the building where the
children were quartered, and it was
decided to move over to the city of
Adana.
There was fierce fighting all day,"
the letter continues. 'W had to
keep the children in the stable, wood
shed and alley back of the building
from daylight til dark; even the cap
tain had to abandon his pleasant
room ' on the third floor and take
dingy, dirty, crowded one on
the ground floor. We moved like
ghosts at a banquet, cringing at
every point where we were exposed."
When the time for their departure
was at last agreed upon, delay was
caused by the heavy firing, and the
fact that the horses bargained for
from ' the Armenians had failed to
arrive.
"Our exodus was something like
this: Our captain had ordered an
escort at noon; then the time was
changed to 5 P. M. ; then the firing
was so heavy that he said we must
wait till dark. That came about
6 o'clock. All our baggage was down,
but our horses, previously arranged
for from Armenians, had not come!
What to do7 They will soon be there.
We had agreed for 25 per cent of tbe
normal price and promised to pay for
the horses, if killed ! I was called to
go tlown to the Gregorian church,
under escort of soldiers, where strl-
diers driving the mules for return of
reinforcements were to start imme
diately.
"In a kind of stupor, bard to avg
count for, we pushed out and started
down the steep hillside. Immediately
we had to detour and keep to the
ravine on the north to escape bullets
that were coming from the south
slope. We reached a turn where we
had to go over a short open space.
met a. soldier going up who told our
escort to be careful, for many bullets
were crossing from clear out of sight
over the same elope to the south! We
ducked, our heads and made fairly
good time, for us -rather better
than usual! We met none of the bul
lets that we lanow about. At the
church we were put Inside with the
mules; sat down on a ledge of stone
the church Is not finished and
waited. Fearing our horses would be
too late, I quickly wrote on a scrap
of paper to Gilbert to hustle them
down and got a French soldier we
know to take it up. But tho calva-
cade started by -the time he reached
the orphanage: and fearing to go
back, and hoping that the horses
might come down a different way, in
which case the men could not know
what to do, if we returned, we
started on foot with the muleteers.'
The progress of the party as they
advanced on foot through the leaden
darkness, the uncertainty and sus
pense. the strangeness of their sur
roundings is described in graphic
detail:
"The dead silence, the darkness: the
frequent stops, with breathless peer
Ing into the darkness; the constant
tattoo of the German rifles in the
hands of the Turks up the mountain
side within range of us, with the
consciousness that only the our tain
of darkness rendered us immune
from their fire; the rattle of our
mules' feet over the stones; the clat
ter of their Iron pack-saddles and
loads; the noise of a stone dislodged
by our feet; the whispers of the
men; all seemed to people every
square yard of space with evil spirits
of foreboding that struck to the core
like doom!"
After many painful adventures the
party at last arrived at Adana March
22. Here Rev. Mr. Rambo received
orders to proceed back to Harounie.
He Intended to leave his wife at
Adana, as the return trip was known
to be even more dangerous and try
ing than the first, but the doctor's
orders prevented ' the" trip as, sched
uled, as the missionary was almost
worn out from exposure and hard
ship. On March 24, they proceeded
to Yarbasha to arrange for the com
ing of the children. This, too, was
a trying Journey because of continued
rain and congested traffic. The chil
dren were awaited with great anxiety.
Children Reach Camp."
T was so dead tired and cold that
I was drowsy that night; and so
after keeping my ear open from 3
o'clock to daylight the next morning,
I concluded the orphanage would not
come out till the next day; and went
to -sleep. I heard certain sounds that
were suspicious of their coming, but
did not heed them. About 7 A. M. I
arose and heard children shouting,
out of sight. In the camp. Soon they
were straggling across the muddy
field a disheveled, weary throng. It
was a picture of the exodus, for
Israel was driven out In the night!
Many of them had lost a shoe In the
mud. 6ome had started barefooted.
All carried a cloth bag. or pocket.
especially made for the purpose,
hung on their necks, with nuts, rais
ins, bread, leblebbe and dried curds
for food.
"My first question was, 'Are all
the children and helpers here and
alive? Were any of them hurt by
bullets? Were any left behind? All
were safe, a marveious experience,
and I had to turn my head away from
them while I thanked God for the de
liverance:
At the last date ot writing, April
tne letter concludes:
"But now things aonear no sfer
nere tnan at Harounie. onlv Utile
later in coming to a crisis. Unless
more forces and more efficiency are
put into tnings. Aaana will as surely
be attacked as time. I have felt this
11 the time; that the Insurrentinn
will go Just as far as the nations
the United States senate, in fact will
let them go. A peculiarity of the
situation. I believe, is that to stay
and die with the country would be
foolhardy rather than brave and
noble. The missionaries, snmo nf
them In Turkey for 40 years, declare
that things have never seemed so
hopeless as now!
The French are generally dis
credited being accused of all sorts
of politics and graft and trickery and
'"""uc"-'. i tninK tnese things are
greatly exaggerated. Still I do not
find it In my contract or programme
to sacrifice my life or that of vm.r
mother to no purpose: and that it
would be that seems certain, because
If the Turks get in and massacre, we
should not be able to do anything to
save them we could only "die with
mem.
"In this conviction r have put my
self on record by stating to our di
rector mat t tninR it wise to move
on to Mersene. the seacoast town be
yond Tarsus, about 50 miles west
But that will not escape attack either,
if the Kemalist programme goes
through. I was anxious to know the
effects of my radical suggestion, but
I find It coincides with the general
view. It seems to have put wheels
or skids under the impression; and a
man went to Mersene last night to
see about housings."
Rev. Mr. Rambo was sent to Ar
menia when the first call for relief
workers was sent out. His former
experience in India, where he iiH vi
sionary work for 20 years, peculiarly !
Aii-i-cu . " v (.lie rv i , i ft m
Prior to leaving for Armenia, he
was pastor of the Christian church
at Klamath Falls, and later t
Baker. Or "r l
ith the Jlm-
oney marry
guy for the
He opened a dentist's office andsjre-
moved enough gold leaf to have given
him and Hannah a wedding trip to
Havana and then kept them In New
York for a year without working.
Unfortunately for Jake, ihe dentist
a few months before had contributed
to some other burglar's solution of
the high cost of living, and he had
installed In his ofice a device that
meant certain detection. When Jake,
therefore, stood in front of County
Judge Gtbbs' desk it was as a fourth
offender and as such there was
naught for the Judge to do but sen
tence him to prison for life. And little
Hannah, too, standing right along
side all the time, sobbing out her
young heart and protesting that she
would wed Jake In spite of all. She
did. The next day as Jake was being
taken "up the river" for an time.
he walked from the Jail, of course
with the permission of the sheriff.
and in company of his keepers, over
to the courthcAise and he and Hannah
were married in the office of the chief
clerk of the license bureau.
Now here Is the real muddle of it
all. In facing his heart problem the
night he opened the doctor's shop,
Jake let Hannah Into one wnicn
promises never to be settled: Is Han
nah a wife or a widow?
Section 511 of the New York penal
code proclaims a man sentenced to life
Imprisonment as occupying the civil
status of one dead. Section 6 of the
New York domestic relations law sets
forth that the wife of a man so con
victed may marry again without di
vorce. "There does not seem to be a par
allel to the Miller-Rosenbaura case
in the law anywhere." says John C.
Meyers, of District Attorney Swann's
staff. "The marriage is open to a
question of validity."
"I never heard of a case where a
marriage was contrscted alter a life
sentence had been Imposed." said Wil
liam Travers Jerome. "In case of
marriage before sentence It auto
matically becomes voidable when such
sentence is made."
Further complications are seen by
Abraham Levy, a New York lawyer.
"The man is certainly dead, according
to civil law.1 he says, "as soon as
the Drison doors close on him. Still
if he possesses any property it can
not be touched .until after he is
actually dead. More than that. Han
nah could 'not get a divorce, in my
opinion, as she married the man
knowing well what she was doing,
after sentence had bean pronounced.
It's a tough legal knot."
But little Hannah says she will
never want a divorce, much less ask
for one. She took Jake to the shadow
of the prison and she tearfully asserts
she will wait and hope.
Sacrificed Hla Own Son.
Another instance of a brave man's
conduct in facing a heart problem
comes by cable from Geneva- A doctor
is the hero, a Frenchman named An
dre Tissot. who lives in Bonneville,
near the Swiss border. One of his pa
tients suffered a relapse suddenly, tne
messenger said there was proDaomty
of death if the doctor did not hurry.
As the physician sped away to the
bedside in his car. a servant overtook
him to say that the doctor's son had
Just been brought into the house with
mortal injuries. The little fellow had
been gathering Alpine flowers and
had fallen over a precipice. For a brief
second the doctor hesitated. Then he
proceeded in haste to the cottage of
his patient. When he returned home
his son was dead.
Here, in skeleton rorm. are some or
the heart problems men have faced
around us every day while poets pine
and cry that the age of chivalry has
passed, and dramatic critics lament
that there is no more fresh material.
i