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MINM>H<MM»I»»»#MII
{From Our New Turk Dramatic Cone•1
- upmwl^nt.l
T HE arrival of flic holiday a-a-
aon haa. a* usual, been marked .
by the production of a large
number of new ploya. and It.
ao happen* Hint flic dramaa put on at
this time this 3 ear exhibit a wide!
rang* in nubject and regretfully In
quality also.
••The Him- Mouse.” at the Lyric the
ater. a Clyde Fltcli adaptation, ta one
of the new vehicle*, and Itn cast la
thoroughly well balanced, including
Miibel Harrison In the title role, Jnme-
aon I>e |<*lnne>, June Laurel, Charles*
Dickson n nd othera.
"The Blue Moure" Iimm enjoyed n
long run abroad. In fieri In It haa'con-
tinned for more than n year. Mr.
Fitch adapted It from the Herman of
Alexander Engel and Julius Horst, und
the critics Imve |»rained the adaptation
ao profusely as to guarantee it u long
career of money making. In short,
••The Him Mouse" has not a blue mu- )
un lit in It. und the performance of tho
company makes It the lest musical'
comedy of the season thus far.
As Paulette Divine. Mabel Harrison
has i} role that cannot full to appre-1
clahly advunce her reputation as a
atar In the 'legitimate.” for Its op- .
pot tunitk-r for effective characterlxa- j
thin are by no means few.
"Tho Pine Mouse” deals
»dv*utujv* of a young man.
Kollett. who hires Paulette
’ r Hnloine dancer, known iis
Motisc.” to Impi raonato hi* wife In :
order to deceive hla employer, Mr.
L"wellyn, president of the New York
Interntale ruliiu&d.
Young Mr. nolle!t a«cks advance
ment In the einplcy of the company
and discovers that the president eu-
joya the 4 xcltcment of hunulexM illrtn- •
with the
, Augustus
Divine, u
tio
A Hit
Hubscqu.nl ev« ills entangle "The Rtu*
Mouse." Mr. Rolh-tt. Mrs. Rollett. her
old father, .Mr. Lewi llyn, and Mrs.
Lewdlyn In on extraordinary series of
events, the, solution of which arrives
only at the very end of tho last act.
A R*oy Character.
Miss Harrison's Paulette Is n racy
character, breezy, rrfrcahlng and ex
tremely practical, even for a Salome
with New York habits. Hut Paulette
combines the sympathetic und the
practical In numwhnt spasmodic
fashion. Anxious to help n struggling
going author, who, like the company,
needed the money Paulette wgg en*
abllng the play to warn, ahe remark* d:
“Kny. I’ve got on awful nice manager.
He don’t core how hum the allow Is.” j
Homebody’s father came to town
from the "way back” section. Hr con
versed with Paulette, for lie was an i
ag'sl child, necking to leant the wis
dom of the young. He gaged on a
picture of Paulette and stood In
amazement, gasping at the scantiness
of the costume.
"Say. lady, on the level," lie chok
ingly ejaculates. "How did you dare!".
"Oh," responds the Innocent Pqulotte
In cheerful manner, "I didn’t mlpd It.
Tlie stage was steam heated."
That work of art, along with other
riches of Paulette’*. Hat. nilUcd to the
Interest of * professional auction at
which champagne waa nerved and an
orchestra played In the bathroom. It
was explained that friends who had
•ent Pauletta gifts would liustla'
! arbund to buy them back at advanced
J prices.
But funnier than the auction was tho
last scene, in which Paulette put on a
kimono In. the secretary's home, and
then when she had taken it off again
put on an injured air because first one
and then another refused to take the
risk of buttoning her up the back.
Miss Barrison waa so helplessly hu
man that she caused screams of
laughter.
"Miss Innoconco" Is the alluring title
of a new play by' Harry B. Smith and
Ludwig Englander. On reading ttic
title it Is seen at once that only the
unsophisticated Anna Held could play
the title role. And she does. Her re
cent opening at the New York theater
was successful, as well It might be
with a strong cast supporting Miss
Held that included Charles A. BlgeloW,
Lawrence D’Orsay and unique Emma
Janvier. *
Miss Ifeld’a eyes and figure are sur
rounded during the performance by a
of beauteous nymphs In the
chorus girls, 'by scenic splen
dors and gorgeous gowns.
The May tells about an Innocent
schoolgirl taken to Paris in search of
her parents. Just why Paris should
have a perfectly Innocent girl inflicted
on it no one In the play attempts to
orpin In.
However. Miss Innocence, who 13, of
course, none other than the demurely
< xiircoslvo Miss Held, tries to "square"
hcr>lf V.-ith Paris by ringing in moit
entertaining mrnr.cr a song entitled "I
v/mt to be naughty* too."
Charles Bigelow, r.u "the greatest de
tective In tho world."' succeeds in
hacking Sherlock Holmes "completely
(y. the hoards," to use horse racing
vernacular.
Other new productions nre Frltzl
Schcff In “The Prlma Donna,” Knick
erbocker theater: Henry E. Dlxey in
"Mary Jane’s Pa,” Garden theater, and
De Wolf Hopper In "The Pled Piper”
at the Maferric.
Miss Schcff appears at her very best
In her new operetta by Victor Herbert
and Henry Blossom, which tells how
lan opera singer meets, loves and mar
ries ;.:i army officer.
Collier as a Stage Director,
j Wiillam Collier had everything to do
, with the staging of "The Patriot.” Ho
wrote most of., the .ploy, chpse the
reentry, tho properties, hired many of
the actore and “Then rehearsed them
ni'.ht and day. His weapon for ob-
! talning results and hard work is sar-
; casm. An actor inadvertently speaks
j a lino that has been discarded from
; the manuscript. It throws out every -
I body on the stage, and the action
! r.tops. But Mr. Collier does not fly
into a fury. He quietly approaches
the trembling offender and says with
funereal seriousness: "You like that
line, don’t you? Well, as the author
of the play I suppose I should feel flat
tered, but I am not. We cut that line
out two weeks ago. . Can’t you seo it
doesn’t fit In, or arc you so fond of it
that you ore going to make it fit any
way? If you must have It, take it,
bring it home with you. sing it, eat It”
(with, wild gesticulations), "hand it
down to your children. I won’t call
you a plagiarist, but I will coll you
\ something worse If I ever hear you
speak that line again." «
FREDERICK TREGELLE&
t $ Battling Nelson a Cowardly Champion===Timely Talk of Sport # #
A BURNING question In the pu-,
gillatlc arena Juxt now It
i "Who will be the next man to
meet Hauling Nelson?"
NelsOn'a hold on the Ufhtwelght
championship title ts about na tight
as that of any man -who haa ever lmd
It—If not more ao. There doesn’t
• seem to be any man In atght having
■the .power ta endanger the Dane’s
stewardship, and he ta confident of be
coming the Jeffries of hla class—that
la, the Battler aspire* to the position
Where no one will want to meet him
for fear or encountering lifelong In
jury. and on oMalnlng that position he
will, like Jeffrie*, gracefully, not to aay
wisely. retire, making some one a gift
of the premiership honor.
The English lad. Frvd Welsh, van
quisher of Abe Attetl, has agreed to
fight Nelson provided the latter'a
wttllngnesa to sign tho necessary pa-i
per* la forthcoming.
Welsh has agreed with Jlui Jeffries,
now a California tight promoter, to
fight forty-live rounds with Nelson at
Los Angeles at the Jeffries Athletic,
club.
• Nelson haa got quite In the habit of
refusing offers of matches, feeling
that he la entitled to make na much
money out of hla hard won honor via
tho theatrical and exhibition route
any other champion of the past. He
ts correct In arguing that McGovern,
Dixon and Uana never overlooked the
practical side of the game when they
were the title holder*.
Welsh, by the way, la every Inch a
scrapper, and American clitics'-state
that hla style la moat effective and up
to date. That lie haa won the respect
of the fistic world ta shown by the re
fusal or Joe Gana to take on Welsh
for a twenty-live round match In Los
Angeles.
Gans Feared Welsh.
The English lad made the definite
offer to Gana, and after due considera
tion the ex-champion turned tt down.
Cans expressed to hla Intimate rrtends
the fear that he would not be able to
stay In the ring In hts present condi
tion for twenty-five rounds against ao
fast a man as young Welsh, who not
only haa iqieed In hitting and In leg
work, but who has developed unusual
punching ability aa regards heaviness
of blows for a man of his alxe. Welsh
■ PRINCIPALS IN CHAMPIONSHIP HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHT IN AUS-
GUARDING THE GOAL
NEW YORK ATHLKTIC CLUB ICK HOCKKY PLAYERS IN PRACTICC.!
TRAUA.
can make things lively for any man
In the lightweight division.
When Welsh announced his willing
ness to meet Nelson, tho Battler
quickly Issued a statement that he
would not meet any one until spring,
because "these near fighters aren’t en
titled to u bout with tne,' and so I will
take my time about granting them
any favors." But "these near fighters,"
aa Nelson stylos Welsh and others, have
public opinion on their side; which
public opinion demands that Nelson
should stop talking and do some fight
ing.
Ntlson as a Dodger.
Feeling, however, that Nelson will
continue to dodge him for a time any
way, Welsh has taken on Packey Mc
Farland for a New Year's day match
ut Coffroth’s arena, San Francisco, the
men to weigh In at 1S3 pounds at 5
o'clock In the morning.
McFarland and Welsh have met be-,
fftre. Packey defeated tne Briton In a
1 ten round bout at Milwaukee, but;
their next encounter, a twenty-five
round affair, terminated in a draw. j
If Welsh should wallop McFarland.
Battling Nelson vrll! have a difficult
task in giving the public a satisfac
tory explanation of further delay In
signing with Welsh.
Long Schoolboy Tour.
A trip Is l>elng contemplated by the
football authorities of the Englewood
High school of Chicago that is the
talk of the middle western scholastic
world. Arrangements haVfc been com
pleted for three games for the Engle
wood High echool eleven, and all that
| Is r.ow needed is the consent of
j schoolboys players' parents. Butte,
i Mont., has offered a guarantee of
$1,704 and will receive the opening
i date should the proposed trip tna-
! terlallse. Los Angeles. Cal- la ex-
! peeled to give 11,(00 and Seattle 11,000
Football Nowo For 1909.
| After an interval of several years
: Chicago and Northwestern will clash
ou the gridiron next fall. Directors
I Stssr and Gllleaby of these two insti
tutions have been (n conference, and It
is said that a. game Is aafcured. to be
•A* early season contest to be played
probably ut the Midway. Chicago and
1 Northwestern met last In football In
' IfOS. when the maroon trtumi
a 1: to 0 acore. Before that
! had won ten games and Northwestern
I had won five.
Walter Steffen, captain and quarter
back of tlie Chicago football team this
season, will probably be engaged to
coach the Wabash eleven next fall.
Business men who are Interested in
the success of Wabash on the grid
iron are reported to have pledged (500
toward paying a salary for Steffen If
he can be induced to sign a contract.
Next Gold Cup Auto Race.
There is a feeling among nutomobil-
ists that Savannah ha* won the
right to the next gold cup contest by
reason of the splendid success of the
recent races. The drivers are unani
mous In declaring the coqrse and all
local conditions Ideal for International
competition.
The peace agreement between the
Automobile Club of America and the
American Automobile association, how
ever, stands In the way of awarding to
Savannah the next international race,
for by the agreement all future races
for the Grand Prize must be held on
the Long Island (New York) motor
parkway. There Is a general senti
ment, however, that some great con
test ahonlff be arranged for Savannah
for next Thanksgiving day In recogni
tion of the splendid manner in which
tho race recently was conducted.
Carl Neumaier, a director of tho
Bens company of Mannheim. Ger
many. lodged a protest with Robert
Lee Morrell, chairman of the Automo
bile Club of America contest commit
tee, against the awarding of third
place to Nazarro on tho ground that
the latter received outside assistance
In changing a tire. This assistance
was alleged to have been given on tho
last lap, when several of the militia
men guarding the course are said to
have helped the crew In raising the
car when a jack beneath It sank into
the sand.
Bothner’s Lost Wrestling Title.
America lost another championship
when Eugene Tremblay of Canada de
feated George Bothner, champion light
weight wrestler of America, two falls
in three, cateh-as-eateh-can style. Tho
bout, which was held at Prospect hall,
Brooklyn, attracted a big crowd and
was keenly fought.
HARRY GRANT.