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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.