Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], September 22, 1904, SPECIAL EDITION, Page 6, Image 6

About Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1902-1919

Image provided by: University of Utah, Marriott Library

                
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H' 6 GOODWIN'S WESBKLY.
H WHY THEATRICAL BUSINESS IS BAD.
B Commenting editorially in its September issue
HH on last year's theatrical disasters, and on the poor
HH. outlook for the season now about to open, the
R Theater Magazine says:
H "The truth of tho whole matter is, the public
H refugee to be humbugged any longer. It will not
I patronize poor plays. Last season's disasters were
due, first to shrinkage of values in Wall street, and
the great losses sustained there, which made itself
I manifest in the box-office receipts from the sale
f of the higher-priced seats. The disturbed condi
tion of the labor market also affected the cheaper
portions of the house. There was a further claim
that $2 for the best seat in a theater is an unwar
! ranted charge in view of the varying quality of the
attractions offered, and under this head the ques
tion was naturally opened as to whether many of
a the stars circling in the theatrical orbit are worthy
Hf of substantial Support and whether the plays of to-
jH day are of a d.ass which either entertain or in-
1
H I ' f struct, and therefore entitled to the returns which
H " make them profitable New York is a great and
(growing city, but it may be asked whether the
future has not been unduly discounted in the
great number of new playhouses that have re-
h cently been erected Great as the number of tran-
V clents always is In the city, a long run nowadays
H i is quite infrequent. This necessitates a constant
V J change of bill, and with tho rapid growth of new
B f houses, the profession has been unable to keep
H I up the supply of competent stars and entertain-
K j ing plays demanded. It would be invidious to at-
m tempt to draw the line between those entitled to
H 1 three-sheet honors and those who are not, but
Hi there is decidedly a falling off in the literary and
1 ! intrinsic val.ue of plays designed, or written solely
HI with the limitations of an incompetent star con-
m stantly in view. We will not put on record aome
H of these whose deluded managers think they can
H gull the public with a fulsome parade of their
I i
m
W1 IJIIIHHHHBHIHH-----------------
none too capable talents. Why should altitude or
pulchritude alone be regarded as the gifts which
attract? Cold, bare facts prove that New York
theater-goers are none too discriminating, and
worthy shows have starved while mediocrity or
worse has blossomed into positive success.; ilmt
there is still some intelligence lett among those
who patronize the playhouse, and the very satis
fled manager will realize it in his only vulnerable
point his pocket that the public is not the fool
he judges it, and that on his part some effort is
needed to keep pace with the demand excited by
Intellectual growth. For one 'The Other Girl,'
there is a harvest of futile dramatized novels. For
one 'Her Own Way,' there is a wilderness of vapid
talk, time-worn situations and stenciled characters.
Certain managers owe it to themsellves, if not to
the public, to look into unbeaten tracks and to rely
on the solidity of their judgment instead of de
pending solely on those who have written well and
may be expected to do so again. It is not that the
stage has retrograded, but that public taste has
improved. There is a great and growing demand
H FRANK KNOX INTERVIEWED.
Hw Mr Frank Knox, during his recent visit to Wash-
H ington, D. C, was interviewed by a Post reporter,
Bj and is quoted by that daily as saying, in reference
Hg to Utah conditions:
H "POLITICALLY OUR STATE CAN BE
H CLASSED IN THE DOUBTFUL COLUMN. IT
R WOULD BE REPUBLICAN IF THE REPUBLI
SH I CANS WERE UNITED, BUT AT PRESENT DIS
Hi i SENSIONS WITHIN THE PARTY THREATEN
H TO JEOPARDIZE THE ADVANTAGE IT HAS
H HITHERTO ENJOYED, AND THE DEMOCRATS
H ARE GOING TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE
Hj BREACH THAT HAS DEVELOPED WITHIN
B OUR RANKS. THERE IS A BETTER CHANCE,
H I SHOULD SAY, OF THE SUCCESS OF PRESI
H DENT ROOSEVELT IN UTAH THAN OF THE
H ELECTION OF THE REPUBLICAN STATE
H TICKET."
HB Mr. Knox states the case very clearly. His
H version of the situation here should be very edify-
H ing to the Republican bolters, particularly to the
B - Senator and federal office holders, who were the
b prime movers in the affair. The prospect of Mr.
H Roosevelt's carrying Utah is referred to rightly by
H Mr Knox as a "chance." Before the owner and
H manager of the ex-Republican organ bolted the
H Republican party, Utah was admittedly safely an-
H chored in the Republican column. How will a Re-
H publican Senator and a federal officeholder explain
H to the President and the national committe how a
WL safe Republican state was changed into the doubt-
m fui list?
H (
for wit, Intelligence, humor and originality. When
the manager by his own cleverness can realize
this and strive to meet it, if Instead of sheeplike
following the lead of some other be branches out
into a fieiid of daring and accomplishes something
new or creates an original, artistic demand, he'll
reap the full pecuniary reward, whether bears or
bulls predominate in Wall street. But in the mean
time it is a pretty safe proposition that the aver
age manager, with his present grade of histrionic
accomplishment and quality of plays, would play
to much better business if his price were ?1.50 for
the best seat. And his audience, too, would be
better pleased. Few are patrons for the mere
sake of encouraging art. There is as strong a
commercial streak the desire to get one's money's
worth in those who sit in front, as there is in the
make-up of the manager himself, who is not ad
verse to being wel'i paid for the energy and capi
tal he invests."
AN ENGLISH DREYFUS.
Astonishing Case of Adolph Beck Imprisoned as
Another Man Released and Again Impris
oned Miraculous Escape Offered Money
Gonsolation by the Government.
A most astounding case of criminal conviction
through mistaken Identity, coupled, some think,
with unbelievable stupidity, and complicated by a
set of circumstances that would not receive cre
dence If woven into fiction, has been absorbing
public attention in London and throughout Eng
land. Adolp Beck twice convicted of fraud, once
sentenced to seven years penal servitude, which
he served, and, at the last moment, miraculously
saved from another sentence of ten or fourteen
years is the central character in the remarkable
series of incidents that is occupying public atten
tion. Beck was entirely innocent of tho crime
with which he was charged fraud yet he was
adjudged guilty despite his impassioned plea for
justice. And, queerly, the testimony by which
he was held on the hearing in the justice's court,
would, if admitted in the higher court, have
cleared him. j
The story begins in 1877. In London, In that
year, a man who courted obscurity under the name
of John Smith, was convicted of defrauding one
Louise Leonard of earrings, a finger-ring, and
eleven shillings. Smith had formed the acquaint
ance of the complaining witness, had told her that
he was Lord Willoughby, that he had a house in
St. John's Wood, and that he wanted a house
keeper. Under this pretense he borrowed her jew
elry, in order, he said, that he might have it du
plicated in better material, and also money, giving
her a check on the Union Bank for the latter.
Other women testified to having been defrauded t
by Smith in the same manner. The case was
plain against him, and he was convicted and
sentenced to five years.
This all happened away back in 1877. In
1896, nineteen years afterward, similar crimes
were committed. Tho method used was about the
same as employed by Smith in 1877, so it was
agreed among the police that he was at his old
tricks. A man supposed to be Smith was arrested.
He swore that he was Adolph Beck. Eliss Spur
rell, who had arrested Smith in 1877, swore that
Beck was Smith. Fanny Nutt, a victim of the
second series of frauds, swore that Beck was the
man who, by pretending that he had a house in
St. John's Wood, and needed a housekeeper, ob
tained her jewelry and gave her a check on tho
Union Bank. Other girls testified to a similar
experience. To some of them he said that he was
Lord de Wilton. Same crime, same methods, same
man what more could the iustico want? So Beck,
alleged to be Smith, ex-convict, was bound over
to be tried in the Old Bailey for a felony. His
trial there was a remarkable one.
All the evidence in the police court trial
showed that the rascal of 1877 was the rascal of
1896 that Smith, long after his release from
prison, had adopted his former way of making a
living The police judge was satisfied that Beck
was Smith, and as Smith he was sent to the
Bailey for final trial. But there, strange enough,
tho Smith contention was dropped in fact, was
forced out. Spurrell, the policeman who had iden
tified him, did not tostify. Had Spurrell appeared
there it would have been conclusively proven that
Beck was not Smith, for Major Lindholm, Gentle
man of the Chamber to the King of Denmark,
swere that Beck was in Lima, Peru, in 1880.
Smith, at that time, was in jail. Colonel Josiah
Harris, an unimpeachable witness, swore that he
knew Beck in Lima from 1875 to 1882. The consul
general of Peru in Liverpool swore that he knew
Beck in Lima in 1882. But, to the judge, this had
nothing 'to do with the case It was ruled that
whether or not Beck was the Smith of 1877 had
nothing to do with the case. He wos the man
who, shortly before, had swindled servant-girls.