The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 25, 1901, Page 12

1) is coming. the first of it. Tt ork by means and E. nner of v ew of the com- ¥ = to open his season with c production laid 3 : he coming of the in hand Clay ich we have al- re ill be put o > that the [ c s another. Jout to produce a s e Central Theater. a, and it's nearest at Voice From the Wilderness” is the sbert Downing , that of John e character of John etty closely by eer. The ex- tale inserted the consort of the in the play to be- i of John and on this fact his is in the t shows John and his follow- skirting the t appears in e sleeping pilgrims are oman guard w As day adually awak- mbers and are held in e of the soldiery. ling John, promises cky wilderness acher. grims g followers h to them when they the approach of a leper. “Unclean, un- is them to desist outcast, he 'Never shalt ht of heaven.” \ reappear and John the mandate him from preaching. se Prince his dete on his mission and to oven under the d cry n a ens upon a brilliant the gardens at ng and games denounces sons and his is then delivering out- the very gates of the palace. Herod in anger commands that he be brought before t.when John appears his commar spiritual bear- ing cay the Prince. He is loth to heed his courtiers, and him nors of would s e were it mot that John refuses to ce preaching. The nobles and s ound him and strike him down, and Herodias, appearing, requests that be be t ment and t him a m able to I ver to her for punish- , t00, recognizes in ahich she is un- r Epouse departs on her knees be- prophet of the Messiah. She begs will not denounce her and that he exhibit mercy for her. with his court sh fore the John tells her that she must return to her lawful husband and look to heaven for grace. He rns her offer of affec- tion, and in the midst of this scene Herod returns. John upbraids them both for their sinful association, and this rouses spu Herod to such a pitch of anger and fury he commands that the conscientious cher be given over to the tortures repe s brought in apd John is sub- its painful inflictions. All the fle Herodias, in a frenzy, begs of him forezo his teachings, but Duripg this scene the. fol- the prophet have gathered in ush in the gates to the palace v make an onslaught on the whom they drive away, and rush rod and Herodias, whom they death. The curtain falls e with John standing before his followers, his arms outstretched, com- upe manding peace, while the terror stricken Prince and Princess of Judea crouch be- hind him. The third act is very emotional and opens Hero magnificently fur- r nt in the castle. The Prin- cess has commanded Hulda, the slave inve! 1, to » John the Bapfist to ap- ar before her unattended. She has pre- Do ycuKnow 'l'he:ir Your Ear Never Stcps Growing? HE systematic examination of more T than 40,000 pairs of human ears in England and France has resuilted in 328 some interesting conclusions. For one thing, it is ascertained that the ear continues to grow in the latter decades of life; infact, it appears never to stop growing until death. If one will take the trouble to look around in:any assembiage of people, as at church, he will discover that the gld folks have ears considerab'y larger than those of the middle-aged. A woman who has small, shell-like ears at 20 years of age will be very apt ‘to.pc sess medium-sized ears at 40 years and large ears at 60. Why ears should go on growing all onc’s life, any -more than noses, is a .mystery. There are a good many other points about them that are instructive, their shapes be- ing markedly persistent through heredity An ear will be handed down, so to speak, from father to son for generation afier generation with comparatively little modi- cation. ‘Some authorities in criminology assert that criminals are very apt to pos- a pecuilar kind of ear, which is recoz- nizable by afi expert in such matters. There is probably nobody in the :world who has a pair of ears perfectly matched. In most people the two differ perceptibly not only in shape, but also in size. Fre- quently they are not placed precisely alike on the head. The age of a person may be judged ‘with great accuracy by. the ears, which after youth is past assume an in- creasing harshness of centour.- A. pretty. woman whose first youth has departed may not show the fact in other ways, but these telltale features will surely tell the story of the flight of time. Then there is the little wrinkle that comes just in front of each ear during the thirties—a fatal and incradicable sign. Near the top of each ear, just within the downturned edge and slightly toward tie back, will be found, if one feels for it, a small lump of cartilage. This is a rem- nant of what was originally the tip of tte ear, when, ever so long ago, that organ in our remote ancestors had a point on it. Most of the apes to-day have pointed ears, but in human beings the upper edge of the organ has, in the course of ages, been folded over so as to cover the real tip.— Philadelphia Saturday Post. From Che : W o 525 viously arranged with the Roman guard to fall upon John's followers and destroy them and their homes in the lowly quar- ters of Tiberias if she gives a signal. The signal agreed up8n is a gleam of light - from the window of her apart- ments. When - the exhorter from the wilderness appears before her Herodia appeals to him for some sign of affection. She tells him the story of her life. She offers honors, wealth, fame to John if he will but signify that her affections not wrongly placed. John vehemence her offers. She then threatens him with torture and death and goes toward are, rejects with the window to draw the drapery that will permit the glow of light to al the soldi to do their work of. butchery, 411 of which she has explained to the preacher, but he stands unmoved. Just as the c drawn and a gicam of red flam up signifying that the carnage has menced, Herod, who has been an un served witness of what has trans thrusts aside the draperies behind w he has been standing. Herodias cowers at the apparition and Herod advances and gives to John his ring which he is to use to protect himself and his people. ‘When the herald of Christianity has de- parted there ensues a strenuous scene. Herod, with drawn dagger, vows to kill Herodias. He upbraids her for her disloy- alty- and infidelity to him and grasping her by the throat is about to plunge the dagger into \ner bosom. But she is an adept at diplomacy and vehemently pleads with him and defies him, then proclaims her love for him. In the end she convinces Herod that she only tempting the Baptist, and as agaln restored to his favor and affec- tion. In the fourth act a view is given of the market-place in Jerusalem where John, surrounded by the traders, is exhorting them to a spiritual life and inculcating in their minds the teachings of the new creed. He is hidden from view by the populace as Herod and Pontius Pilate ap- pear, accompanied by an escort of guards, They decide upon the arrest of Jofin, who steps forward and surrenders him- self into custody. There are two scenes in the fifth act— the first represents the castle where John is imprisoned, and he appears on the wall loaded down with chains and attended by a jailer.. Here he is visited by Herodias, whom he vehemently upbraids for her wantonness. She departs in wrath. The second scene is a view of the in- terior of the palace, where Salome has just completed the historic dance, which so delights Herod that as a reward he promises her anything that she may wish, even to the half of his kingdom. Hero- dias, filled with anger and impelled to do vengeance, prompts her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Herod at first refuses, as he admits being strangely fascinated by John, but upon being reproached for breaking his prom- ise he orders the execution of the im- prisoned exherter. was Wil \ THE SUNDAY CALL. - o254 dermess