WA
THE COURIER.
A
&
LA-
;
the matter to arbitrators to be ap- United States senate whose property
pointed under legal authority, where interests are not principally within
witnesses could be compelled to at- the jurisdiction of a foreigp govern-
tendandsubniittoexamination under raent with which this. government
oath; he offered to forfeit one thou- may possibly come in conflict,
sand dollars if he failed to make good N0t only his loyalty to. party and
his charges and placed in the hands.0Uritry are endorsed, but also the
of the Mayor of Lincoln a certified "splendid character" of Mr. Tlfomp-
check for that amount, the proceeds son.Opposition to this man has been
of which were to be devoted to any very largely confined to his political
religious or charitable institution action and methods, but when he in-
whlch Mr. Thompson might designate uces public bodies to parade his
in case he failed to convince the arbi
trators of the truth of the charges
which he had published; Thompson to
withdraw as a candidate for United
States senator in case the charges
were established. An innocent man
would never have permitted such an
character it becomes a proper matter
of comment so far as its real nature
is illuminated by his acts which are
matters of common notoriety or pub
lic record. In November, 1897, the
city of Lincoln employed a young man,
George J. McArtliur, whose duty it
opportunity for vindication to escape. was to inspect buildings and property
The acceptance of that challenge and using water furnished by the city
his vindication before the arbitrators, from its water system, for tbepur
if vindication was possible, meant pose of ascertaining if the city was
more to D. E. Thompson than all the receiving its just dues from consumers
tirebv. mother" excursions, than all 0f cit,v water. Mr. McArthur reported
the house-top charity in which he
has ever indulged. He declined the
challenge. Why? There can be but
one answer. Because he feared to
to the city council that after a care
ful inspection of the Brace block at
1501 O street he found the water
turned on at the stop box and imme-
meet his accuser in a tribunal where diately inside the front wall and con
he could be compelled to answerunder necttd with the. well pump and pipes
oath; because he dared not face the Tunning through the entire building.
4h nnnnn intti. vam I rl V.r inll nrl T f v . M
xne Jeager suowea no payments ior
water for more than .two years. The
schedule rate was 8214 per year. The
property known as the Brace block
was at that time under the control if
not in fact owned by D. E. Thompson.
The next day after this report was
published Mr. McArthur was taken to
witnesses who would be called to
establish the fact of his proffered per
fidy to the republican party. Would
an innocent man have declined such
an opportunity of forever silencing
imputations upon his character and
integrity which had been rife since
the day that Senator Hayward was
elected.' Three incentives to.tlie ac- the otlice of Thompson in the Brace
ceptancc of the challenge, presented block and, as reported in a newspaper
themselves; first, the opportunity of a at the time, when in the office homp-
complete vindication if guiltless; sec- son applied to this public employe,
pnd, the opportunity to dep'rivetiisac- whcesole offense was that he had
cuser of one thousand dollars if inno- faithfully performed his duty, the
cent;and third, the opportunity of most approbious epithets, using the
oeste'wing that thousand dollarsupon most profane language at his com-
some.religibus or charitable organiz- mana. Thereupon McArthur filed
with the police judge his complaint
charging Thompson with assault and
with using language tending to pro
voke an assault by applying to the
complaining party grossly vile and in-
tion which he should designate. No
man- likes better than D. E. Thomp
son to'dtstribute charity-wheh it is
widely advertised and am'piy fertil
ized with promise of profit to him;
and yet he declined this opportunity, suiting epithets. The records in the
Is" guilKbr innocence to"6e"iriferred
from such refusal? Eliminate the
sworn statements of Messrs. Allen,
Schwind.and Hairgrove, and rest the
matter upon 'the action of this man
when'cballenged to submit his alleged
action. to judicial investigation, and
who can doubt his offer to betray the
party'whose candidate he now claims
to be? Brief as his-political career
has been, it is long enough to show
that his'political depravity has tried
puhlic patience too long.
When put to the test of party loy-
ofilce of the police judge show that a
warrant for the arrest of Thompson
was issued, that he was arrested, and
upon a plea of guilty of using the
language complained of, entered by
his attorney, was fined five dollars
and costs and ordered committed
until the fine and costs were paid;
that he paid the fine and was released.
If there had been at the Brace block
a misappropriation of city water,
using it without paying for it, apply
ing profane language and insulting
epithets to the city employe who dis-
alty Mr. Thompson' miserably failed; covered and reported the facts hardly
he has never proven his loyalty to his
country because occasion has not
arisen, -but when he shall be called to
decide between his nativecountry and
his personal interest what will his
action be?
principally
compensated the city for the loss it
had sustained: it was not, to many
people, satisfactory evidence of the
innocence of the responsible party.
If there had been no such misapprc
His property interests are priation the course pursued by Mr.
in Mexico where he is said Thompson can hardly be supposed to
to possess a valuable improved landed have furnished to an injured man an
estate of upwardsof thirty-two thous- adequate remedy. Will people gen-
wealth. This man's candidacy is in
on a bank of wild thy ml
and of himself alone. The, republi-1 the peonies dully glow
cans of this state do not want mm as
their representative in the United
States senate. He is pursuing the
same tactics now that he pursued two
years ago; he has a "large number of
men who continually assert that now
he has enough members of the legis
lature pledged in his interest to elect
him. That song was sung with mo
notonous repetition during the sena
torial contest of 1699, but or sixty
seven votes necessary to an election
he was never able to secure twenty.
In that contest he placed his political
reputation upon a gibbet of infamy
and it will take something more than
a panegyric from a small minority of
the Union Veterans Republican Club
to take it down.
j J
v Maude Adams in L'Aiglon.
Playingthe same play that Sarah
Bernhardt is playing and playing it They rattle them off with a huckster"
in iue saiuu uity siiuuiuiueuuai,y j&
what Maude Adams is doing, The
e, the heart of
while Oberon
sings of his love. At anl earlier staye
of the development of electricity, be
fore signs of Pansy's pills and soaps
were strung all over the1 country and
lighted up at night, there was somjj-
thing'fascinating in the Faust dutfi
where Valentine's sword and Faust'r
struck real tlames in contact. But
there is no illusion now and the
(sparks and winking lights suggests
somewhat too obviously the man at
the switch-board. Nevertheless if
the play were not put on with the aid
of the latest electric illusions, Mis
Kidder and Mr. .Tames might be ac
cused of parsimony and of neglecting
the latest inventions for making a
pidsuramer Night's Dream more real.
Authors are touchy about a change
juf text. If Shakspere could hear hta
lovely lines mouthed and ruined by
the men and women who read his
lines today he would be. very unhappy.
and acres, operated by peon labor.
The Mexican peonage system of quasi
slavery -suits Mr. Thompson because
in its practical operation it permits
him to exercise almost unlimited pow
er over the laborers on his hacienda.
If complications should arise between
this'government and Mexico, and the
senate, with Mr. Thompson as a mem-
erally infer innocence or guilt from
such conduct? There may be. in fact
it appears there are to be found those
who are willing to endorse the char
acter of such a man as "splendid,"
but to the honor of the organization
in whose name the endorsement was
published, the number participating
m njc- euuursumeni, was small com-
unintelligibility. For all the poetry,
romance, literature, inspiration of
the lines they might as well have been
written by Hoyt. Miss Kidder and
Mr. James respect their author and
were willing to share honors, with
him. A very attentive hearer could
hear most of what they said. Pucks
lines are of especial beauty, but the
very graceful young woman who
looked the part, did not-speak it. She
might as well have spoken Hlndos
tanee to us as the hoarse gurgles she
used for Puck's dialogue. A laugh is
the same in all languages and hers,
revealed more than her lines the mis
chievous impishness of Puck. The
presentation as a whole, with Mendels
sohn's music is very charming and in
teresting and fully deserves the ap
probation Miss Kidder and Mr. James
are receiving.
J J
Bats the Imp
Sarah Grand's use of what for
of a better word, I call the superl
ral, is interesting, but so far
own experience goes, as illicit an
introduction of genii to transp
ones characters from place to pla!
True, Scheherezade used genii ard
such like fairy-tale properties, and hr
stories are more widely read than any
modern novelist's. But new rule?
have been adopted by the association
of writers since her time and the pub
lic insists on obedience. Scheherezade.
was trying, so the story goes, to amusl
a bloodthirsty old Sultan who, to in
sure his consort's faithfulness cut off
her head, the day after he marriec
her and in the afternoon on the sanit
day married another. Scheherezade
prophet, but first of all he was a play- invented the continued story, and
wright with an actor's knowledge of never ended a story in the morning,
stage effects. In the reading, the lit- She also invented the device of a
erary beauties of Midsummer Nlgtit'f?"cnaiaofrstories, as for instance: the
Dream; the poetry the airy inconse- first old' man's story, the second old
quence of the sprites, and the fairy aa's story etc. The Sultan knew
story are most apparent. In ftkernothing' about veritas, Veritas had .
readintr. Ouince and his company Vtt .aotalmr'to'dnWith hjs court or harem.
the play in the play of PyrarausaSl'BebeIieTidjtlrat he himself was de
Thisbe are rather tiresome internahceaded from alpowerful supernatural
tions of the fairy story. On tlte-stl-aeiafr. So Sclpierezade had not to
Pyramus and Thisbe, and thecarrJaWnrlace an incredulous audience,
t'ers, joiners, and other craftsmen tlit. jBilt Mrs. Grand' lives in JLhe time of
most unsparing and exacting dra
matic critic admits that she is pre
senting the Eaglet as Rostand con
ceived him, that the peculiar pathos
and isolation of the persecuted grand
son whose father is exiled and in
prison is apparent in Maude Adams'
interpretation and absent from
Mademoiselle Bernhardt's, Sardou's
brilliant, showy plays have rendered
Bernhardt unfit, in her old age to
play the poetic parts written by
Rostand. Sardou is melodramatic,
never poetic. Rostand :s always po
etic. Sardou's are tragedies of the
outside world. Rostand's are trage
dies of the heart and inner life. The
brilliant Sarah's technique is a trifle
hard and rigid and I find myself
thinking of the brilliancy of her per
formance and not moved at all by the
agony of a woman whose lover is be
ing tortured and whose screams she
can hear. Contrariwise Maude Adams
is not brilliant. She has no technique
that I can remember but she conveys
emotion by the same subtle, indis
cribable means adopted by Mrs. Fiske.
It is of the spirit, spiritual and of
literature, literary. Maud Adams has
long been an idol and her latest New
York triumph is a source of congratu
lation, in this office, where no other
sacred Ibis is quite so sacred.
A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Shakspere's plays were written by
an actor who understood the oppor
tunities of the stage. He was a poet.
a statesman, a novelist, the most com
petent student of human nature, a
lover of his kind, a preacher and a
qible.
fuck
tu-
my
Lie
-t.
bcrfrom .Nebraska, should be called paredwiththeentiremembership.lt
up0n:to-act, is it to be supposed that is no pleasant task to unveil this
he-could be induced to sacrifice any man's real character, but he makes it
personal interest in order to support a pubjic duty when he produces testi
in administrative policy which might mony of its value. It is no light
admlttedlj be for the best interest thing that a-man, wholly unfit to oc
of the nation? Where his treasure, cupy the "position, shall aspire to a
his hacienda, is, there his heart will high and honorable place where he
bealso. Are there not men compe- may be said to represent the people
tentr:'tb "represent, 'Nebraska in the of a great and an i n tell i gent vommon-
nlav lover, loved, the wall the II
and scenery are welcome and er
the scene of the tryst naturally.
his lack, of pedantry and his contini
reiteration of the clown's or rust
place among courtiers and fine ladl
and gentlemen Shakspere is a mc
for the Andrew Lang people who cc
sider onlv well-read associates al
artistic properties worth their whil
Kathryn Kidder and Louis Jar
have assembled a large company ai
a quantity of electric scenery all reaJ
to be connected with local power.
the moonlicht. where Tltania sleei
i laboratories and of Dart
:;falr'y aid ia the perforn
lis forhltjaa by the ruled
"principles
ythis centur
repeating
xtf
jjbey
is uncertain1
s the voi
on her eood
in ana an
ceof tasks
nd by the
thought of
Yet I5ab
ections to
vhat to do
s and N
judgment
,,v... i " . .
uaasnnouse, an exaltcti
jomfflabs rejects only to
haj made another wo-
Pi' y proposing to her.
oyuabs going off to
Ing 4the voices repeat
