THE couxrsft.
and cuntrnctois who have made for- slow, the climax makes up for it. It is
tunes by extra labor and by economy, a remarkable piecoof stage management,
The building trades unions of Chi- and Mrs. Fiske'a superior intelligence
cago have effected the building in- is seen nil through it. The English
dustry so that few buildings are now generals in uniform are grouped at the
being erected. The division of the top of the grand staircase, below thorn,
products of labor irritates workmen in he ball room, the dancing is at its
and they have made rules lessening height. Mrs. Fisko herself is seated at
the number of apprentices who may a tablo plaing cards with George Os
learn any trade. They have made borne and cheating him out of hia eyes
ridiculous and arbitrary divisions be- and his heart. Presently a soldier enters
tween this and that man's labor from the Io.t, goes up tho stairway, has
which remind one of the juvenile some conversation with tho geaorals
king who stood shivering and taking and then departs as sintly as became,
his death of cold while his little shift After a few momenta another soldier
was passed from one courtier to an- enters and goes through the same per
other till it finally reached the hands formance. The generals are visibly agi
of him whose office it was to put on tateJ by this time. Then a dispatch
the King's shirt. While he was put- bearer, covered with dust and bleeding,
ting it over the little King's half- dashes in through tho door, through the
frozen shoulders, it came into his crowd of dancers, up the stairs and falls
royal highness' in'nd that over or- at the feot of the officers. Still the
ganization was burdensome and tire- dance goes on and the mirth is un
ome and ordered a strike but such abated. Suddenly a woman screams;
is the tenacity of custom thai the she has heard the cannon. The music
strike failed, as this strike in Chi- stops, tho wounded soldier rises to his
cago may also fail. knees and shou.s in tho phrase of Lord
m Byron, "It is, it is the cannon!'1 Tho
call to arms sounds and tho danco
The Stotsenburg Fund. breaks up, and the dancers hurry off to
Peviously reported 11'.).S0 step to another kind of music.
Mrs. Charles Francis Roe, New If for nothing elsf, this, play would be
York city 100. CO notable in that it is the occasion of one
Chain letter receipts: of those fitful revivals of energy which
Mrs. L. M. Perry, Denver have occasionally graced Maurice Bar-
Mabel Deitch, Malcolm rymore's indolent career. His Rawdon
Miss Garcelon, Boston Crawley is another illustration of how
Mrs. L. C. Richards, Lincoln true an artist can be when he takes the
Mrs. A. C. Cass, Denver trouble to try. It is only fair to say
Mrs. Cowdery, Lincoln that bis Rawdon is nearer to Thackeray
Mrs. Mildred Leach, Lincoln than is Mrs. Fiske's Becky. Ho plays
Miss E. L. Frow, Lincoln the character, not a caricature of it.
Mrs. A. S. Raymond, Lincoln Ho is the only noble figure in that sad
2-10 assemblage of sordid and selfish people,
stupid, slow, powerful in any last resort,
Total j'222.20 tho kind of feliow who lives badly and
, dies well, as hard as iron in an extrem-
........... ity, otherwise as soft as a woman. His
goo 1. bye to Becky before he leaves for
rrin? PAQQJT'XfP Q"HYYV the Beld of Waterloo, was, I think, the
mILEi rAOOllWOnun fiDeMbit of acting in the play. This
v WILLA SI6ERTCATHER g duffer of a Rawdon, who never pretended
ofr0oxoa& to pay his debts and couldn't keep out
... - , ,j ,-,. , . t u of the bailiff's hands, came out strongly
Minnie Maddern Fiske has been here . t . , '
, , ., , c. ,, just where other men were weak, and he
in her new play, "Becky Sharp," an J ,.
.... rru t t.T -i was staunch wboto other men were dis-
adaptation of Thackeray's "Vanity , , IT . ... . ...
,-i mi. i u i u loyal. Ho goes out with tears in his
Fair." Tho play has been somewhat of ' , , 4 , . . . ,
...... ... . , eyes and Becky &tands at tho window
a disappointment to the public and to J , , . . ' , , . .
m r.- i u ir vr ,u. : : . and watches the troops go by, laughing
Mrs. Fiske herseu. Not that it is not , . A . ,. .
, . . - . . . . gcod natureJly to herseu as she says,
clover enough, and interesting to boot, . ,. ' ......
,...,, ,, . n.. i . ,. ... ''.There they go to die for their country
but it lacks well, nobrtity. I believe it 1T J. , , ,..,,
., -ii u -j .iti and I am :hing for mv breakfast !"
was Mr. Zangwill who said, "There is a J b
... ., I . .!- L .
iorce witnin me nears oi inings inai
makes for beauty," and when that force
is not strong we feel the lack of it, even
in a work of art. Of course, Mrs. Fiske
is always artistic, but, ah! she can be so
much more than that.
The play "Becky Sharp" is by Mr.
Langdon Mitchell, and the young man
has shown remarkable Bkill in selecting
the essentials of bis play out of the great
mass of material before him. He has
'ftakon only as much of the novel as con
cerns the fortuno3 of Becky, introduc
ing, of course, tho fragile Amelia, by
way of a contrast.
The first act opens just after Becky's
marriage to Rawdon Crawley, and we
are treated to Sir Pitt Crawley's pro
posal of marriage to Becky and regret
that she has maried his handsome
nephew only an hour before she has the
opportunity to becomo Mrs. Crawley.
Mis3 Crawley's rage at her nephew's
alliance closes the act.
The second act presents tho ball at
Brussels. Becky is discovered, flirting
with all the men, cut by all tho women.
But in spite of her clever speeches, the
act drags. Amelia, an ingenue part ad
mirably played by Miss Williams, ap
proaches Becky and tearfully demands
her husband, to which entreaty Mrs.
Rawdon blithely responds, "Take him,
- it r .
i my tioar. anu Keep mm. i m worn out,
"with lookiug after other women's hus
bands." If tho first part of tho act is
Eight years elapse before the events of
the third act occurs. During that time
Rawdon and Becky have pulled along
together rather better than most mar
ried people, have lived and owed money
and broken up establishment3 all over
Europe. Two things have never
changed, Becky's unfailing pluck and
Rawdon's unwavering admiration for
her. Tho act opens on one of their
blue days. The bills are stacking up
and there is not a sixpence in the home.
One of Rawdon's creditors has falbn
into prison for debt and threatens to ex
pose the fact that his wife has cheated
at dice. When this news anives Raw
don flies into a passion, but when the
unphaseable Becky denies that she used
loaded dice, be believes her immediately,
and sits down rubbing his forehead. He
is so very much in love with her that ho
is blind to most things, and what she
does goes, and all that, yet there are
certain shades of black that she cannot
persuade him into calling white.
"I say, Beck," he says as he sits down,
"don't frighten me like that again.
Sport's sport, damn it, but loaded dice
that's pretty muddy, you know."
Again, when she suggests that he dun
one of bis friends for a gaming debt, he
tugs at his mustache.in a helpless sort
of way, and explains, "Hang it all, you
can't remind a fellow of a debt of honor,
Becky." Rawdon had a code of ethics,
somewhat origiLal and rather inconsist
ent, but what ho believed he stuck to,
and be wanted to do tho square- as
nearly as ono may do it on nothing a
year. As for Bocky, tho ono admirable
quality about her, now and always, is
her grit. Mrs. Fiske bolioves that
Becky's pluck, coupled with hor clever
ness, was enough to make her moro
dear to Thackeray than wero any othor
of bis women, and it is upon theso qual
ities that the actress bares Beckj's
claim to public interest. Even in that
splendid dramatic momont when she is
discovered at supper with tho Marquis
of Steyno, her nervo does not fail her
and she lies to tho last, lies even when
the marquiB bank notes are in her huB
band's hands. Great as Mrs. Fieko was
in tbat scene, I think Barrymore was
greater. Her magnificent acting recalled
that phrase of Stevenson's, that if that
blow from Rawdon Crawley's fist had
not descended upon tho marquis' head
"Vanity Fair" would cease to be a work
of art. For dramatic purposes Mr.
Mitchell has addeJ a few flourishes to
Becky which I think a littlo inconsist
ent. Take, for instance, tbat soliloquy
by tho fire, in which Becky says: "I am
so tired of it all my God, the very
muscles of my face are tired with smil
ing to the people I hate." That in not
Thackeray's Becky. Sho liked the
game for its own Bake, regardless of the
stake. Next to winning, sho liked toe
ing. The last act is in Becky's lodgings in
Pumpernickle, where sho lives with the
old hope of getting back into respect
ability, wearing soiled evening gowns
and drinking beer with noisy German
students. The atmosphere is meant to
be cheap and sordid, but I found it no
less attractive than tho rest of the play.
Valutas vanilatum is all very well in a
book, and one can stand the meanness
and petty vices of humanity in type,
but in actual flesh and blood, clothed in
selfishness as with a garment, flaunting
their miserable ambitions as they flaunt
their jewels, these people are hateful
beyond tho limits of one's patience.
Some way these envioue, scheming,
Enobbisb, stupid English folk seemed
very much more detestable thin the
suave, worldly people in the French
dramas. After al', they aro only conven
tional Don Juans and their wickedness
is only stage wickedness. But these
Thackeray folk are too much like the
sad caricatures of humanity that we
know every day, not the rare victims of
grand passions, but "the countless slaves
of petty and sordid ones, the people who
love money better than blood, who wait
for dead men's shoes, blackmail their
neighbors or leer at their neighbor's
wives. "Becky Sharp" will not be a
popular piece. Not even the genius of
Mrs. Fiske, nor the admirable efforts of
her company can secure for the play a
long run. Ten righteous men would
have saved Sodom, one would save
"Becky Sharp;" but there is only poor,
stupid Rawdon, much moro siunoj
against than sinning. There is not
enough beauty in the play to save it.
If our fellows are like these people, we at
least will not admit it. We wilt wear
dominos and masks and play that there
are gentlemen and gentlewomen behind
them. The soul refuses to be stripped
bare of its disguises in this fashion.
The mirror which William Tiliackeray
held up to nature was too true a one, we
shudder and drop the glass.
lIIMMMIMMMIlMMIMMm00
Went Through.
"Little Johnnte had a pair of skates
when I saw him last."
"Did he learn how to use them ?"
"Yes. He has a pair o! wings now."
Town Topics.
GLIiBS-
LOUISA L KICKETTS.
OM000jlllMK0MMMMtH9O
CM I, EN' DAK OFNKHRASKA CLUH.
9
April.
Ill-lory ami Art c. Parliamentary
21.
ilrill-
21.
.SlL'loinmiil.lliiiiOiiiri IK.
i nasty Seward
I Woman sc.. Household econ-
t outlet North I lend
21. Woman's i, French .. ..Lincoln
21. Keview ami Art i. Whisipip York
2a. Woman's c. lluslness meeting Lincoln
23, Woman's c. French history Mlndcti
23. Sorosls, Literature- Stanton
23. Matinee Musical. Artists' recital Lincoln
21, Woman's c.. Current eents Lincoln
21, Woman's e.. Literature Falrhury
21, Woman's e.. Illrthilay Ouialiu
21, Woman's r.. Kthlesanil Philosophy .Omaha
21, Woman's c. French eoniersatlou Omaha
... I History anil Art i, lluslness meet-
"' I Inif Alhlon
2T, Woman's c.. Oratory Omaha
I C'enturvc. What has Holland ilone
. t for the worlil In agriculture.
' ' t charltahle ami reformatory
work Lincoln
20, Woman's t. History Lincoln
,y j Woman's e.. Household eeonom-
? Ics Omaha
2il, Woman so.. KniMKh literature. Omaha
2i, Woman's c , Ktlucatlon Omaha
2il, Lotos c.. Current events Lincoln
27. Woman's c . Music. Lincoln
... I Woman's c. Modern methods
of otlnir . I'lattsmoutli
27. Woman's e.. City improiement Omaha
27. Woman's e.. Current events Stromshiirt;
.y I XIX. Century c. Paintimr In SikiIu
"' i HNtorv of politics Seward
, Woman's e . Child Study Lincoln
. Woman's r. French ....Lincoln
2S, Woman's c. History North llenil
2S, Woman's r.. KniMKIi history. ...Stromshurir
2. History and Art c. Cermany. ...Seward
2S. Self Culture c Olla I'odrida. . St. Paul
M. Zetetlee., Philanthropy . Wcrpim: Water
OFFICKKS OF X. F. W. C. IHV lii(.
I'res., Mrs. Anna I.. Appcrson. Tecumseh.
V. 1'.. Mrs. Ida W. HUlr. Wayne.
Cor. Sec. Mrs. Virginia I). Am up, Tecumseh.
Kec. Sec.. Miss Mary Hill, York.
Treat, Mrs. H. F. Doane. Crete.
Librarian. Mrs. '.. M. I.amlerlson, Lincoln.
Auditor, Mrs. K.J. Halner. Aurora.
As we travel the path of life, we
always fancy that the other fellow has
the best side of the road. Town Topics.
Announcement.
To the Club Women Who are to Com
pose the Fifth Biennial of the Gen
eral Federation of Women's Clubs, to
be He'd in Milwaukee, Wis., Juno
4 -9, 1900:
The biennial committee finds that in
order to show adequately what tho gen.
eral federation is accomplishing through
the individual clubs and tho state feder
ations, it must prepare for ten sessions.
These with the preliminary and closing
meetings which aro provided for by tho
constitution, the evening meetings and
the very imro tant businrcs meetings
will consume the week for which wo
have been invited to Milwaukee.
That delegates may leave for home Sat
urday, June !, it is necessary for tho
council to meet Monday, Juno 4, at
eleven o'clock A. M., and the meeting
for reports of state chairmen of corn;-
J. F. HARRIS,
No. I, Board of Trade,
CHICAGO.
STOCKS
AND-
BONDS.
Grain, Provisions; Cotton.
Private Wires to New York Gty and
Many Gties East and West.
MEMI1ER
N3v York Stock Exchange.
Chicago Stock Exchange.
Chicago Itoard of Trad
