The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 19, 1896, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 1896 19 ENGLANC'S TRILBY BOOML The Craze, Started in America, | ¢ Reaches the British Capital. STELLAR TRILBIES COMPARED., The Svengali of Lackaye and That of Beerbohm Tree—Miss Baird’s London Success. Jan. 5.—From the ec- to the fads of to- 0N, Exo. esterday stride ties of znition and success simple tale v’ has won cynical ies that, after all, ccessful author or playwright need not be a student of science and logic, of ¢ in general, nor claim knowledge e details which have long 1leled reco most limited. To- | to say to the past | i essential. George du Maurier | seded Miss Harned in the New York cast | of “Trilby,” has met with public favor in her interpretation; and yet Miss Walsh tacks in a marked degree the sweet and honest naturalness one instinctively longs for and expects in the jolly, childish young woman of the Quartier Latin. Blanche | Walsh is known throughout the United ates as a capable actress, intelligent, painstaking and a loyal, true American. She is one to be proud of; yet, with all honesty, we must admit that she lacks the undercurrent of heart-music which must be heard in the soul ere success unchal- lenged comes tostay. Affectation and un- natural intonations soon form a debris of contradictions through which even genius cannot struggle. Miss Edith Crane, who has come into notice but recently, has been ning praise and compliment in her assumiption | of the role of Trilby in A.M. Palmer’s | Western Company. | 'In the “Merry World” | Summerville presents the prettiest stage | picture of Trilby yet seen. Thou h she is supposed to burlesque the part, her en- Irance in the military coat and shambling slippers is electrical, for at once one sees the iiving pi e of Du Maurier’s dainty W ul and Sweet.”” lby, Miss Dorthea the part in Mr. varket Theater, the breathing ’s brain-chila. 1 that he gasped with wonder and ement when first he beheld the living, ng being his fancy had conjured. Miss Baird is tall and well formed. Her English is pure, untainted with the con- glomeration of long-drawn, drawling Miss Amelia MISS DOROTHEA BAIRD | AS TRILBY. s beautifully ignored all rules, and by a Skt ng of words n undeniably reatment of the tattered subject o and mesmeric has challenged the admiration n of the world. are discovere The wit and du to d o something h publisher: n ambition they ilby’’ was finally can publishing com- t met with smooth £ e it was otter it has even ter having reigned 1t and i o be played in sians and Ger- me that poor withal by the e played the role. boasts of only one Harned was the in America. Paul was produced by Boston at the Boston It teveral actre At ypresent Trilby. Miss the abandon and rted frankness of Du roine. and lovable she lacked in th ent her vortray: ectation. She gives us rl, true-hearted, unselfish and | ss Amber is a practical woman, | spite her art, she now s the impressible Trilby with a > that unfortunately robs the character soul Du Maurier intended. Amber is a pretty woman alented actress. Walsh, who bas super- &nd a Miss Blanche Wilton Lackaye as Svengall. ea of public | has at last | i contemplate | met with instan- | ss Harned gaveio the | n of the world than | Though Miss | the at- | ch should surround the ideal | el Amber, who has made such | a robust, | and_then | Never- | | vowels, which is too often affected by the imported Anglon cs who are totally ignorant of the perfect mother tongue. and simple, is musical the ear, but when it ith the lingo of a back- and the twang of a to Missor ed with a trifle of the New Y TI t becomes as harsh and discordant as the din and crash of a Chinese orchestra. Miss Baird scores a point which thns far seems to have wholly | escaped the of merican With Laird, she is the high care pet of the studios. When {comeson the scene her whole manner ,and the eifect of his | ) uence is at once perceptible. | Her body seems to wilt, her shoulders | droop, and her whole attitude exhibits en inward nervousaess and unrest. | Her voice becomes weak and tremulous | ““Don’t look at me like | inctively one sh power he is exerci and pirited; devi the | vil-m Svengal diabolical influen | when sue falters. that, Svengali! ders at the subtle Mr. Tree as Svengall. | over her. There have been, and will be, | many Trilbies, yet after all the real con- | ception of a character is often bampered | and made weak by the insufficient knowl- edge of an inferior stage manager, for me- diocrity is oftttimes cloaked beneath the draperies of a little brief authority. To the student of psychology and the | amateur hypnotist the unwashed and un- tidy Sveng: is an anomaly admired though always repulsive. There are many | Svengalis in everyday life; they are breed- i ers of misfortune and misery to all who come in contact with them. However, i their ambitions are not always as exalted as Du Maurier’s tangle-haired musician. | Wilton Lackaye created the wonderful | part of Svengali, and wonderfully subtle is his impersonation. He bas justly earned the success and recognition which his powerful performance brings him. Mr. Lackaye is a student and a man of rare in- telligence. Every movement of his body, every gesture of his insinuating hands, evergeglnnce of his pecnliar bulging eyes, has been studied as carefully and minutely as an engraver would scan the delicate traceriesin a piece of thread lace. Mr, Lackaye is a man of moods. He is in- clined to be cynical, yet is withal most sensitive. He is a superior actor, and his Svengali will always be remembered as one of his best impersonations. W. H. Thompson, who played Svengali at the Madison Garden Theater when Mr. Lackaye was called to Chicago last sum- | O’Shanter order, and_has his threadba mer, did not realize_the great suceess his host of admirers had hoped for. In short AURIER, AUTHOR OF “TRILBY,” AT HIS DRAWING - TABLE. character parts (or bits) Mr. Thompson has no superior on the American stage. He is a bold artist, broad and true in col- oring; but he loses magnetism and power when he attempts to play & part on which other characters depend. His is an thusiasm so intense and sincere that it burns out quickly, though ’tis brilliant while it lasts. His Svengali was a thick- voiced, heavy-bodied, impassible Je: lacking the intense nervous force which should imbue such a character. notic powers were unconvincing, and even a girl of Trilby’s susceptible nature would have been inclined to blurt out, “What ails you, Svengali?” Mr. Beerbohm Tree, the English Sven- William H. Thompson as Svengali. gali, is quite original in his conception of the part, though he follows to some degree the methods of Mr. Lackaye. Mr. Tree went many times to witness Mr. Lackaye's performance when he was in New York last season. Mr. Tree’s Sven- gali is a greasy, unkempt individual, with | a dirty woolen shirt half open at the neck. He wears a slouchy cap of the e coat buttoned imposingly tight, accentu. | ating the twistings and writhings of his thin body. He attempts to be funn apes the manners of a jolly bohemi thus making his poverty more pathetic. His love for music and his despair at not nd 0, and ambitions en- | His hyp- | Apropos, | being able to sing are vositively touching. His crisp, demoniacal laugh makes one shudder, and his hideons enthusiasm when he d that Trilby has a voice | is marvelous. From that moment he be- comes the schemer and exercises his power hypnotic over Trilby. The dream of his life is to “‘be udmired and applauded; to be rich and have diamonds, horses and carriages and to wear a great big over- coat lined with beawtiful warm fur, m Gecko.” T becomes his greatest am- bition, and when in the third act he enters with Trilby by his side tbere is an involuntary gosp from the audience. There he stands defiant. He has on his ‘great overcoat lined with fur, diamonds sparkle on bis broad white shirt front, and in his hand he carries a gold-tipped baton.” He holds himself erect and proud, “the great Svengali.” Even his death is magnetic, baffled as he is by the three Englishmen, whom he considers his enemies. Tree has made a profound success in London and “Trilby” will be the rage for a year to come. Thus we see | the virtue of an American boom. W. A. Brady is forming a company to play Trifby” in Australia. i money and suce 55 It is eafe to say wait him there. LrA Forrz ToraNp. TELLS ONE ON HIMSELF. A New Missourt Congre man Who Did ‘[ Not Know Grover Was Loaded. | Congressman Hubbard of Missouri tells | 2 good story on himself. A few days ago | he conceived the idea of calling on Presi | dent Cleveland at the White House in a social capacity. He began to feel a trifle nervous over it as the hour drew nigh, and in order to have no untoward happen- ing he rehearsed a pretty little speech of which he would deliver himself when he stood face to face with the President. The speech ran like this: “Mr. President, my name is Hubbard. Fam a Congressman from Missouri. You will probably remember me when I tell vou that I beat Silver Dick Bland.”” Hubbard committed his little speech until he was perfect in it and could rattle it off in his sleep, and then started for the White House, ever and anon, as he went along, turning the lines over in his mind to make cock sure of saying them jus | right when the occasion should arriv He reached the White House, where his name was taken to the President, and he was ushered in to be received. Before Hubbard could say a word the President reached out his d and said: are Mr. Hubbard of Missouri, eat Bland.” dent had taken the speech out | of Hubbard’s mouth, and the Missourian | had neglected to commit another. He felt terribly confused and for several seconds was at a loss what to say. But he finally recovered his balance, and, remembering that the President was fona of shooting and fishing, he began to tell him what great hunting ihey have in Missouri. President said he was giad to hail a fel- low sportsman in him, and by this time | Hubbard’s nerve was up to_the required | notch for him to venture his congratula- tions upon the stand he had taken on the Venezuelan question. By the time he leit the White House he felt confident of his ability to unreel a tariff speech in the House.—Washington Post. P The Russizn Calendar. Russia, whose calendar is twelve days behind ours, proposes to change to the | Gregorian calendar after the beginning of the new century. The authorities have not yet decided whether to jump over the | th | their object gradually by omitting the first twelve leap years of the century. It would then require forty-eight years to bring about the change. 2 MISS MABEL AMBER AS TRILBY. The | een days at once or to accomplish | ONLY BY W. C. MORROW. (A WONDERFUL MYSTERY WHICH THE DYING CAN SOLVE, A few days ago G. W. Hoffman, the electrician of the San Jose Electric Im- provement Company, went to the com- pany’s power-house, passed through the | dynamo-room, in which the oiler, George | Johnson, was at work, and entered asmall | room adjoining, containing the switch- | board. He had been there but a few sec- | onds when Johnson, bearing him groan, | hurried in and found him sitting on the | floor, evidently in pain. Hoffman looked | up, made a futile attempt to rise and said: “George, I'm done for.” Five min- | utes afterward he was dead, having by | some accident received a fatal shock oi‘ electricity. | The most peculiar circumstancein the | case is the man’s knowledge that he was | killed. As the current had entered his | hand and passed out through his foot his | brain had not been paralyzed; hence he not only recognized the oiler, but was conscious of being fataliy hurt. The enor- mous force of 2500 volts had passed | through his vitals. That he lived any | length of time at all is aimost #s wonder- ful as the clearness both of his external | and internal perception, for the frightful violence which the current must have | done to all the vital part of him below the head would seem sufficient to have dis- organized all his faculties. Had he not been fatally hurt it is likely that he would hav e been unconscious, or at least 1n too great pain {o speak or to recognize his surroundings. His conduct was evidence that nature had performed again one of its incredible | miracles—it had whispered to him and made him understand within a space of a few seconds a secret that no uninjured man can hear, and that was the secret of death. Within recent years medical jour- nals have published able studies of the proposition that death is generally wel- come and pleasant. Were it not so, then life would be monstrous. But the great mystery of a dying man’s knowledge that he_is dying—that for the first time in his | existence he has come to an understand- ing of death—is the more wonderful thing. Tt is easy for all of us to speak of death. We all know that at some time we must die, and some of us announce that we are dying when we are not, but there are few of us who can realize that we can form no conccrtion whatever of death except the trivial and wholly inadequate one based | on its external manifestation. The sub- ject is so mysterious as to be alluring; but | as I, being “one not dying, can form no idea of that condition I am able only to give the subject such a_surface analysis as may prove interesting if not instructive. A dying man’s cheerful acceptance of death is the result of what pathologists term the natural preparation for that event. That is to say, if death be not in- stantaneous while the health is good or| does not impair the perceptive faculties the | rational part of one is mace aware of the | | presence of death when itis at hand. It 1s a marvelous adjustment of things thata | knowledge of this presence usual no terror, but rather content. When there | appears to be fear it may be generally | ascribed to an automatic persistence of | | tne instinct to live. There is no_better way to express the mitter than in the words of a thoughtiul | | physician, who once said this to me: ‘In my opinion, that which makes ns avoid | | dangers that might cause our death its origin in a dread of pain and not in a fear | of death, for we can have no conception | of the condition of death in our own cases, | nor of the experience of dying. You will | observe among the lower animals that the death of one of their kind gives them no | concern whatever, and yvet they will en- deavor to avoid that which produced the | death of their comrade if they know that | | it will cause pain. You make take two | dogs and give one of them poisoned meat in the presence of the other. The one not poisoned will see bLis companion die in agony, and still will readily take other poisoned meat. That is simply because he cannot understand the action of poisons. The same dog would run as readily from asmall whip that would only sting him as from a club that would kill him. He runs because he wishes to avoid pain. He | did not run from the poison because he | did not know that it would produce pain. “The conduct of human beings is i fluenced by identically the same considera- tion, except that their higher intelligence informs them that some things which do | | not cause pain may produce death. | Among these are narcotic poicons. But in | | thus avoiding death they are merely id- } | ing what they know only to be a condition | | repugnant to the instinct of life. It is| | only the man’s wider knowledge that | makes him avoid dangers which a dog | would not comprehend; neither knows | death, and the instinct to live does not { carry with it the knowledge of death. Yet | the dog’s instinct is safer than the man’s | wisdom, for men acquire habits and per- | sist in indulgences which they know will kill them. ““There can be no such thing, in my | opinion, as fear of death. When a aog | knows that he is going to die he seeks a | | retired place and dies in peace. We go | through life with the utmost indifference | of the end, yet we know thgt we must all die. The matter of preparing for a 1os- | sible life beyond this is not a factor in the case. That means life, not death. That | is to say, we can imagine a lite even be- | yond this, but we cannot imagine death.” | That ail sounds rational. ; The condition of death and the act of | dying are separate matters. Even the dying, though they may know they are | dying, give evidence of that fact only, so | far as we can be certain. The visions | which many of them see may be attributed | to a disorganizing mentality. Some of | them do know, however, that they are | dying, and as dying is an enirance upon | the condition of death it might be rash for us to say that they cannot see the condi- | tion Lebind the act. But that is mere guessing; the subject is bevoud the com- prehension of any except the one who is dying. Returning to the subject of a natural preparation for death, it may be seen ope- rating in a marvelous diversity of ways. It is not diflicult to imagine how a fatal disease of the body, progressing through a considerable time, will gradually bring the mind to accept the inevitable and so break down the instinct to live (for it would be reasonable to suppose that this instinct would die with the necessity for its per- sistence), and 1n_such a case it is not diffi- culr to imagine that the preparation would end in a cheerful acceptance of death. It is wonderful, however, to reflect that this preparation of the mind through a fatal Ludxly injury may consume but the small- est fraetion of time, as it did in the case of the electrician atSan Jo: Tam as- | suming a complete preparation—not only that which makes death acceptable. but that which recognizes its presence wiien it | comes. Take the case of a man shot through the heart. If he is not instantiy killed he will" very likely say, “I am kilied.” He will not call for a doctor, for his knowledge, acquired in an instant, is that a doctor’s services wou!d be useless, and such a cal would mean that the instinct of life hadl not been destroved. Nor does he betray any alarm. He remarks, simply as a matter of information to those about him, “I am killed.” Such cases have been in- numerable. A current of electricity tear- ing through a man’s vitals or a bullet plowing tkrough his body might be ex- pected to cause inconceivable pain. The curious part of it is that dn injury suf- ficiently severe to causeideath at once seems instantly to produce a condition of insensibility to pain. This means to say that dying is painless, whether it be brought about by an injury or dlsease. | demned man, there has come about & nat- | ject, will have great influence upon tho: | Particular attention will be given to in- Were it not so the dying man through whom a fatal current or a bullet had just passed would be in so great agony that he could perceive nothing, not even the ad- vent of death, and could much less an- nounce that he was dying. More mysterious than the inconceivably quick preparation of the man who has re- ived a fatal injury is the readiness with which condemned men mount the scaffold to be hanged. Iam prepared to hear all sorts of arguments against an assumption that in this case there has been effected a natural preparation for death. It will he said that the condemned has become *'re- signed” (which is really but another name for natural preparation), or that he is sus- tained by pride, or that he has firmly fixed his hopes on a future life of happi- ness (which again is but another wording for natural preparation). The subject is very obscure, but all the more fascinating for that. Many men who had been thoroughly resigned to the scaffold have been reprieved, but none of them has furnished a record of his exact mental condition at the time when he thought death was at handa. It 1s a sig- nificant fact, however, that when re- prieved, even after mounting the scaffold, the condemned has never, so far as I have been able to learn, exhibited any extraor- dinary emotion. There was no wild and delirious jov over the return of a prospect of prolonged life. On the contrary, it is generally remarked in the reports of such cases ‘that the condemned showed no | marked emotion, being very much less | moved than the bystanders. We may imagine that he was really ready to die; that, 2sin the case of the well man shot through the heart, nature had brought him to accept death cheerfullv. The | agitation which many condemned men exhibit on the scaffold may or may not be the operation of the instinct to live—there are other ways of accounting for it. The reprieved man, assuming that he has parted with the instinct to live, will recover it_quickly and of course uncon- sciously. In other words, he will never realize that he bas been in any very strange mental condition, vastly different from any that he had ever experienced before, for these changes must be beyond his percep- tion, just as an insane man rarely knows of hisinfirmitv. Hence we could not ex- vect a reprieved man to give a record of his impressions. The question now opens into a broad and bewildering field. It brings us face to face with martyrdoms, in which death has been met with perfect cheerfulness. It is conceivable that here, as with a con- ural preparation for death analogous to that seen in the case of the man dyingof a slow disease or killed by a shot through the heart. A knowledge of the certainty of death within a definite time or under known circumstances has performed the function of disease or fatal injury. The inquiry reaches far beyond this, but we must stop it here. The suicide ciearly be- longs in the category of those in whom the preparation is complete, for in such a case it inust be that the instinctof life | —the thing which makes us avoid causes | that produce death—has perished. The fact that the suicide not only accepts death, but goes out of his way to bring it, often employing in that pursuit means which inflict the most terrible pains, is sufficient proof thatdeath is welcome when life is no longer feasible. The subject is so involved in mystery that little more than speculation is pos- sible in discussing it, but is sufficiently in- teresting, even though it may not be im- portant, to attract far more attention than it has received. FOR THE STATES BENEFIT The Development Committee at| Work in the City and Country. Arranging for Califernia Exhibits in Chicago and Other Eastern Cities. The State Development Committee is actively at work upon the new lines re- cently laid out by the executive com- mittee. It will be remembered that it was decided to increase the committee by adding to the original body several well- | known men in each county. Iuvim‘,ic'nsI were sent to many prominent men all| over the State to assist in the work. To | these letters dozens of answers have been | received at the headquarters in the Mills building, and but few have excused them- selves from serving. Most all of the writers expressed themselves as being thorouchly in sympathy with the move- ment, and they promised to do all in their power to aid in building up the State. The solicitors sent out to secure sub- scriptions in aid of the work of making permanent exhibits of California products in the Eastern cities are meeting with re- markable success. Those who would be the most likely to be benefited are asked to subscribe a dollar a month fora year. | These solicitors are to begin work in the same direction in the other cities and in the country. The first move to be made with this money will be to establish in Chicago u general California State headauarters, with | a fine exhibit of all the products of this | State. The headquarters will also be a bureau of information for those who are | interested in the Golden West. In time | excursions of tourists and prospective set- | tlers will be started from that point. As| soon as the headquarters is established at least twenty other exhibits will be placed in as many other tern es. With these will be started out two lecturers, who will be provided with a large collec- tion of stereopticon slides from all parts of the State, and lectures similar to those ven at Atlanta will be given all over the East. Two cooking exhibits of California products will also be started out. The cooking department at the Atlanta ex- position created a great demand for Cali- fornia products among those who visited the big fair, and the intention is to con- tinue this lin of work, so that the Eastern demand for the products of this State will become general. Such exhibits as these, it is believed by those who are hard at work upon the pr?- e who leave the East and settie in the West. ducing only desirable people to come to California, and principally those who have money. The argument has been raised that the unemployed of this coast should be provided for before any others are in- cuced to come this way. This is met with the statement that this State is no more unfortunate in the matter of its unem- vloyed than the East. By bringing well- to-do people to California the large tracts of lands will of necessity be worked, and this of itself will give employment to large numbers of those who at present are un- able to secure work. At any rate the State Development Com- mittee is thoroughly in earnest in its work and it is expected that the results of its efforts will be made manifest before long MR AR In the fourteenth century a fashion came into vogue in France, Spain and Italy of two wedding rings being used in the marriage ceremony. Tiey were con- nected by a chain and” one was placed on the finger of the bride, the other on that of the groom. £ NEW TO-DAY. FREETOALL A Practical Test of the Matchiess Chronie Disease Treatment. Free to All Who Call in Person at the Offices of the Copeland Medical In- stitute, 916 Market Street. To enable all to obtain some definite under- standing of their new system of chronic dis- ease treatment and to test its great practical advantages over all other ods_Drs. Cope- land, Neal and Winn offer to all sufferers from Caterrh or other curable chronic maladies a trial treatment free. Reme that ail who apply in person will now be ¥ welcome to & careful examination, advice and treat- ment, upon their tirst visit, absolutely free of charge. POLYPI PAINLE SLY REMOVED. The Experience of Mrs. A. M. Rudolph of Oakland. Mrs. A. M. Rudolph, whose portrait is given beiow, and who lives ‘at 1471 Fiith street, Oak- Jand, is a lady who is well and favorably known in that city. Mgs. A. M. RupoLes, 1 My trouble commenced s ago. It began with cata lected cold; this brougt in my nostrils. My nostrils g up, and for years I could not them, compélling me to keep my mouth open all the time. I lost my apy ;_could not sleep; ran down in flesh and strength, and was ve years 1it of neg- athe through thoroughly m y doc- tors, but could afraid of their barbarons methods g the tumors. Ihad read so much of the Copeland Medical Institute, and one day read of a case exactly like mine. 1 then went to them and placed my case in th They removed the tumors painiessly loss of blood; the relief at once was worth a hundred times whatit cost. I can now breathe through my nostrils freely and feel beiter in every way. 1 want every one to know the great good Drs, Copeland, Neat and Winn have done for me, and am only oo glad 1o add my testimony their favor. THE MAIL TREATMENT. The following letter proves the mail treate ment a succes San Luis Obispo, Nov. 14, 1895. Dear Doctors—I will need no more treatment, asIam now satisfied that I am cured. You can publish my statement to that effect. I thank you very much for the inte have taken in my case. THEODORE THORP. 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