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2 GEORGE M. COHAN, LITTLE KNOWN PHILANTHROPIST OF BROADWAY By J. I. C. CLARKE. 1 f HAVE not had time to xtudy "tfuT classic drama because I liuve been io busy writing plays." Tin- young man of thirty or ho who sld this, looking modestly down on kls after-dinner demi-tasse while one fngcr Ht rayed with a line affectation f bashfulness over tile edge of the tablecloth, well knew that he was say ing a Rood thing oh well as telling tlic truth. For presently he raised his lowered lids and his blue eyes twin kled roguishly as laughter crackled around the banquet hall nnd applause came Imek to hltn In a wave. The Society of American Dramatists and Composers was making him Its guest of honor at Delmontco's that might, nnd short and modest as his ipeeeh was in reply to the toast of his , kcalth It seemed "to all present well rorth the price of admission." "The deuced clever absurdity of it, rou know," said a visiting Knglteh dramatist, "Haw-haw-haw!" And there were many other comments equally admiring but differently conditioned. It's so darned true," said another ruest, "except that he can hardly te aid to have written his plays; they always seem to have written them selves."' And there it was, wreathing Itself in cigar smoke over tho. heads of the gny feanqucteers: Oeorgo Michael Cohan, successful playwright, song composer, lyric writer, actor, singer, solo dancer, producer, manager and (as wc shall discuss later on) eruptlonal philan thropist, dismissing the great past of the drama with a Jest and celebrating klmself In three syllables, "writing plays." Around him nnd facing him were many men nnd women who, following their earnest study of the classic drama and the foreign drama and the modern drama, hnd also written play nnd had not always, had not often, had seldom, indeed, seen the golden (lower of suc cess blossom In their little gnrden plots. Many were like himself, successful chil dren of the lighter mood theatrical, and Ihey enjoyed it hugely. A slap nt the "highbrows" Is always a Joy In Phi Ustla. and wakes long echoes In Bo hemia at large, but the honors, after all, remain with those whose successes are won along the snowy .heights, no matter how much better the gold dig ging may be among the foothills. From rartous viewpoints the Cohan speech was examined in the talks that fol lowed, some of them brilliant, nnd some, God wot, not: but, singularly enough, all converging on the one point: George Cohan is a genius, genius makes its awn rules, and when be takes time to study heaven knows bow high hi genius will carry him. And now, a few years later, George 11. Cohan Is going to take time. He has said so himself. According to his announcement he will retire from ncting nt the end of February next nnd devote himself to writing nnd composing. He will sail for F.urope In June, where he will travel and sojourn until September. And it will give him n wrenoli to do It, for the stage is In his blood, the footlights In his eyes, the kettledrum in his heels. The little cane he carries is really n conductor's batou, Ids Jaunty straw hat Is a "prop." For him thunder, lightning and rain, sunlight and moonlight are mere "effects." Ills comedy turkey stride long antedated the turkey trot, perhaps suggested It. To "exit" for good, never to rouse a handclap, never to take n call It Is unimaginable almost. Fancy, he has had only to emphasize 'his nasal twang to set his audience in a roar, and he faces long years wherein he must walk at a normal pace, must use only his ordinary talking voice when he wants to "put one over." Unhappy George! It is the defect of his genius that It makes much money. No matter which way It happened to turn him he be came a mint. Tho: coinage of his brain has been showers of double-eagles. His songs when they were nut golden were greenbacks and redbacks. He could not show his face without lilting the house, and he loves It all passionately. F.lse why for years past has he endured the circuit? Why tolerated the queer ho tels, the weird food, the qulc,k shifts on rainy or snowy nights, the rattling trains, the poor connections of "the road"? One answer Is characteristic of the man's filial love. 1'laylng as he did for years with his father and mother In his company, It was his uniform habit, even after he came to man's es tate and wan married, to call at his parents' dressing rooms, greet them and kiss them before going to his own. Now, It is said, he went out this season because his father wanted to act, and that meant that George had to act too. Perhaps that counts, but the real an swer Is that tl In favorite of fortune loves nothing in the world so well as taking In great gulpu of the hot air that comes across the apron: has more Joy In a quarter hour of ecstatic acro batic dancing on the resounding Isiards than In any half century of rhythmic motion ho could compass anywhere elrie. He thrills to his own songs with a rapture nothing else can give him, and on the stage ho always sees a beckoning figure of great Iteauty nnd allure that 'ays: Come on. And ho pauses now as be tours New Kngland In "Uroadway Ijones" with father and mother and Iwonderu will he see the sane figure 'and feel the same responsive urge when he has left the stage behind. peep down In him snuggles a belief that ho will sen the beckoning Fame In finer gnrmonts nnd of a grenter mien; that he will "make good" In broader fields and higher reaches than ever lie. fore. It Is an even thing that he still balks at tho Idea of study, however footloose ho may find himself study of dramatic classics above all; but ho goes forth to learn something, nnd he knows that ho has much to learn. Not an a Paul at Damascus does George turn away from good worldly estate to follow his vision Into poverty. It Is rather as a young Cnesus turning from one Joy to another. He Is rich. It Is not our concern to guess In true American newspaper stylo how rich, but, thanks to u somewhat careless pru dence, very rich In accumulations, and. thanks to his Insight Into "what tho public wants" and the remarkable tal ent ami boundless energy with which , helms supplied It, he Is master of an inflowing tide of profit that can but add Phase of the Character of Actor-Playwright of Which Public Is Not Aware Expects to Retire From Stage Next Year to "Make Good" in Broader Fields of Playwriting enormously to whnt he has In hand. And nil this nt 3A, all his own -work. No, not nil. We are, none of us, starting points In the broader sense. The "Mttte Millionaire" of to-day Is but a projection of his ancestry. Some where In the remoteness of another cen tury there grew upon u western Irish hillside a happy harper called O'Cnom hnn, a strolling minstrel whose heart was full of song and mirth but who knew as well the ways of the soul In stress. Translate the harper Into the Joyous fiddler O'Cohan of a- couplo of generations later; see him lend the dance nt pattern and fair while playing his soul Into his tlddlestrlngs as they thrilled to Jigs and reels, or listen to him telling at night around the fire of turf the old heroic tales, the fairy lore nnd the elfin tricks of the "good little people" who mostly enme abroad by the light of the moon. How he em bellished the tnles of the countryside till his hearer rolled in laughter or froze In horror! Somewhere he settled down nnd lived upon the land: the minstrel habit passed out of his generation. A gay hearted descendant, dropping the O as his grandfather had dropped the silent m, having fallen on evil days in n hapless land, crossed the At lantic nnd settled In Ithodc Island, WBt? 'itaPift diaaaaaaaaaaaBiaaaBr rm-mJ$9Mil The Four Cohans when they uppearcd in "The Governor's Son." where a son was born to dim. which son was Jerry John Cohan, father of our George. Remove the pressure from the pent up Inner waters and lo, they rise sparkling to the surface In pleasant springs. In Jerry Cohan the Gaelic: ihnrpcr, the Irish flddlei, the singer, the story teller came back to life In a modest way. All It needed was another Celtic infusion to give It full vitality. Through pretty Helen Frances Costlgan It came, and so July 4 (significant date) In 1878 Georgo Michael saw the light in Providence. Jerry Cohan and his wife were play ers In the variety line, as vaudeville was called at that time. His cheery faco and voice and Ills light feet and Inex tinguishable good humor made Iilm- a favorite everywhere. So the young couple were nble to look after Oeorgo and his little sister .ToscpMno in becom ing style. Happy for tho children of the children of the stage when this Is so, George nnd Josle lived with rela tives while the parents were on the road. Georgo grew up a sturdy boy. Ho was living ut Orange. It was In Decem ber, 1886, when Oeorgo Hiad reached the mature ago of, eight, that ho wrote to his "Dear Papa' nnd Mamma" with a boyish eye on the coming of Santa t'Juus, In whom he profoundly believed, "I nm doing well In my schooling nnd music lessons. Dear Papa, Mr, Jones says that I will have to have a new violin because ho says I am outgrowing the ono thnt I havo now." There was tho tiddler of uforetlmn breaking out huro enough. "We had examination In rending and I stood at 93." The old story teller Is plainly emerging! "Joe and I played last night neven o'clock till half .past nlno together and Mr. Jones says thnt me and Joe Is to practlc together all tho Time till chrlst- mas nnd then Christmas day, Jlmle Cusack and Harry Cusack and Joe and myself are all going to play to gether and I only wish that you were here to henr us and Mr, Jones say tnat it will be a great orchestra." The theatric Is clearly sprouting, Is It not, thanks to the ncute perception of Mr. Jones. And now George M. In nil his bravery, nil his audacity, nil the get-nt-lt nnd do-lt with serene underlying self-consciousness emerges in the letter of this boy of eight: "I think t nm Improving when I play the same Duetts us Harry Cusack and .llnmle nnd .loe can. them boys has been taken music lessons for the last three or four years. I should think that they would feel kind of Hat when they Haw mo playing with them Christmas. Don't you think I nm getting n long Good?" Of course he was, the little rooster of talent and hard work, flapping his little wings nnd crowing with n shrewd eye on something extra good nt Christ mas, for In this remarkable letter he forthwith goes on to Intimate: "I think I heard Santa Clans lost night and I was telling Aunt Nellie of It this morn ing, and Aunt Nellie says that he was here, and he ask If I practlc Good," Ac. So the old leaven of heredity was working the old love of nrt, the old gift of story telling vivid and simple the old glad mysticism. It was only necessary to call It forth to action. "The boy simply couldn't be kept off the stage," says Jerry proudly. Any- way In his ninth year he "went on" nt i uaverstraw, N. Y as the child in "Daniel Uoone," and that settled It. He was nn actor before he was out of knickerbockers. Now came the happy thing In his opening career. His parents took their children with them on their tours nnd worked tho two tots Into their "sketch." Never was such a happy family on the stage, sharing nightly triumphs, tho budding talent of Georgo finding facile play In doctoring their sketch, merri news on and off the stage. Then Georco went off to be "Peck's Uad Hoy," and he certainly was bad as n boy but amaz ingly good as a boy actor. Then for ten years ho went up and down the land, now with a separate com Dan v. but mostly with his family, who were known ns "The Four Cohans,'' to the enjoy ment of millions all over the country. He had led but four years of his stage life when he becume known as a lyric writer and song composer. A couple of years later he began turning nut one act plays such as would fit the world of vaudeville bright, snappy things of quick action nnd full of native wit a little of the slapstick and a lot of catastrophe, but all "filling the bill." AH this time George was a breezy, healthy boy of quiet tastes, acting con tinually and writing at nlgVt "after tho show" In tho calm of his liedroom a habit that hns not left him. He held an honest pride In his successes, never obtruding this pride on others, but acutely self-conscious of every advance he was making, and straining every nerve for further advance. If nothing succeeds like success, George was never content to let It go at that; he was nl wnys driving his team. At twenty-two he presented his first three act musical play, "Tho Governor's Son," and the Four Cohans played their first nroadway engagement In It at the Savoy Theatre. That Is thirteen years ago, and since then George Cohan has a staggering list of successful plays nnd musical comedies to his name and to his credit. He wrote, for Instance, the books, lyrics and music of "Little Johnny Jones," "45 Minutes From Uroadway," "George Washington, Jr.," "The American Idea," "The Talk of Now. ork," "The Yankee Prince" nnd "Tho I.lttlc Millionaire." The straight com edy of "Uroadway Jones," In which he is now playing, Is entirely his. HcsldoH ho hns dramatized from novels "Get-Rich-Quick WnlUngford" nnd "Seven Keys to Iinldpatc" the first a very clever plcturtsque comedy, and tho latter nn amazing blend of melodrama and farce that astonishes and delights large nudlences in town. He composes the music of his songs after peculiar fashion, picking them out with one linger on the piano nnd then dictating them, ns It were, to his orchestra leader, who orchestrate) them. Ten years ngo ho went Into manage ment with a partner who Is credited amlablo exaggeration with putting In his sharo of the work counting the profits. At any rate they have managed many successes, and Mr, Cohan has worked hard on recasting and re touching n score of the plays that his firm hns fathered managerlally. Be sides his own play, the firm is now running Raymond Hitchcock In "The lteauty Shop"; "Stop Thief!" a last year farce, which Is used by four com panies they have sent out; "Nearly Married," which has a road company ns well as one on Uroadway. They own. with another, the Itronx Opera House nt 149th street, they lease tho George M. Cohan Theatre and the Astor Theatre In New York and tho Cohan Grand Opera House In Chicago. It Is a matter of very recent history that Just before the production of "Seven Keys" George, his dnughter and Wallace Fddinger were thrown from an automobile and nil three hurt more or George Cohan, less, and that George, Just recovering from u. broken arm, went on and played Wallace Gddinger's part in tho play with Wally looking on a sight that did moro to stimulate tho latter to go on and play It himself than all the-doctors could do to build him up and put heart In him. 1 ' ''''SHk Mr. Cohan has believed and doubt less still believes somewhat In the dynamic method In comedy. It Is the natural outcome of his early and later environment. They must have quick effects and prompt results In vaude ville, character being largely a label Interpreted by makeup. It leaves room nevertheless for smart writing and characteristic bit If not for rounded character Itself. Such method is al most of necessity that of musical com edy, but "Uroadway Jones" exhibited a tinner grip on the essentials of true a Violinist at 10. comedy, to wit, sustained situation, de velopment of character and some real Icing sense of actual life. This advance was hailed on all sides With pleasure In dramatic circles. The man who has gone so far can go fur ther. That the period of study, after . his own way of studying, Is upon him George Michael Cohan. Is shown In a pithy article In the No vember McCturCs Magas.nc entitled "The Mechanics of Kmotlon,'" to which Ills name nnd that of George J. Nathan are signed. We may well believe that It Is the fruit of George Cohan's ob servation with the Nathan dressing. This article sets out to show the vari ous doings of the stago by which the dramatist elicits tears, laughter and thrills from his audience, if he gets one. Thus wo learn thirty ways that tears may be drawn, nnd they run from a child In Its nightie saying "Now I lay me" to "the singing, playing or men tioning of 'Home, Sweet Home."' Peo ple we know laugh at the spectacle of a man laden with many largo bundles, but he mentions fourteen others, such as a man consuming a large drink nt one gulp. Then he notes a dozen thrill ers, from a woman's scream lo a loud ticking clock. Naturally he does not exhaust tho list in any of the three departments. I recollect rending an nrtlcle once on the comic nnd the tragic diseases. The shades are Infinite of emotion creating deeds and conditions, and they cannot be reduced like dramatic situations to the number of thirty-six, as alllrmoil by tiozzl, Schiller and Poltl. What the article Indicates to me is that Georg'j M. Cohan has come to the parting of the ways In his intellectual development, and that henceforth, having mastered the mechanics, he 1 about to grasp drama In every vein with clearer view of the things that drama may mean beyond Its puppetry. And thnt we havo every right to hall. So one pictures George taking his little cane and starting out on the big Uroadwny of the world which circles the globe from the Mattery to London and Paris and Rome and F.gypt and Siberia and China and Japan und Ha waii and San Francisco und Chicago back to City Hall, before settling down for his new start In authorship. On one thing, however, all the "wise guys" and prophets are agreed, namely that 1-. nothing will the experience change George Cohan himself, Tho same genial man nnd steady friend may be met at all phases of the Journey or back home. Kvery one knew him ns kindly sym pathetic, open handed, but only accident revealed recently that ho can do astounding things In charity when his emotions ure touched. There exists the man of small means who Is frequent In his glviugs to the Importunate un fortunate and Is known as "the easy mark." Hulf his glvings are short cuts to getting rid of his plagues. It is these and not his really meritorious donations that earn him the somewhat contemptuous title I havo noted. No one has set down George M, Cohan as an "easy mark." which shows that where and when ho hns given It has been with a quick and somewhat un erring Judgment of the right view of the case. Yet when Ren Shields, the song writer, died the other day It came nut that the last two years of struggle with disease had beet made less bitter through largesse from Oeorgo and a few others Now S'iShlelds had written "The Onod Olilslimmer Time" and "Waltz Me Around Again. Willy." Thnt ap r pealed to a kind heart that tUI dramatic Impulse. Some years ago a once popular i :ne dlan who had lost his vogue and 'n nothing else was persuaded t.. u It IVtllllllOVVIlVl.iT, IIV Kl nil' t'r 1 I ' and feebly urged the taking of a , i of advertisement In the coming . n for which tho proposed publish) r - .- gested $1,000 would be a neat i Cohan questioned him and saw th.. " publication would cost about that saw further that the actor's book i have little or no sab1. He consent. I 1 It to the man, who sat with stream n eyes, nnd left, putting the check m ' pocket nnd a sub in his throat. N morning ho came tearing back int.. office ..and said, laying the check ' Cohan: "George, George, look what s ! done! Cancel It; write me anotlor" George looked at It with Hnm cern, nnd said simply and qui. "You gave me a shock. It sc. m right. I signed It, and It goes as ii ' . It was for 110,000. Men whom he sent to Colora.l.. ,- Ing they would die then whose troubles called for qu.. ' or none; women suffering und. -misfortune, the number mounts one Inquires, It Is not the cbai ' tic. of the men round about I. doubt these look upon him a to do such things. Once he had in his employ .1 talent for long liable lo lnl . i ' divagations. The man shut pcrnUiniisnesB and prospctfd. him one day before a bar with he called him aside. "What at. drinking?" "Uuttermllk." "N ' In It?" "Why, Mr. Cohan!" "Sec I believe you. but I want to !; up to It. If you are still off a when New Year's conies aroun I give you J.1,000," And he did to the day. Hut why pursue It. The vultii" meniiiciiy anil memiacity altvadv ' to hover. I ntii f).llfnu It hIdiiiU phase of a character remarkable i many other wuys. When Electric Lamp Burns R There is u certain similarity betwo n electric lamp and tho old kfioscuo . c Both are everlasting, barring ac i l '. -Uut what moot people forget is t1 ' ' filament of an electric lamp is n. " everlasting than tho wick of the cm la lloth will bum out in time. Everybody who has used on la1", knows und expects this. 'I he d '" i' "' between them and some users ol ' lumps U that the latter fail to mm.i c lb fact. They expect tho llluinent, ol win, to lust as long us the glaHS globe in u In it iH euclosed. So when the lamp out' red and does not give its usually K' light they blame the electric light c' pnny for not furnishing "good" run en whatever that may be. Tho fact is that when the lamp Inn red and dim the filament is about huustcd, I'est then to replace n itl. new one. It is consuming just as inn current as it did when its light g" thus making a poor light as expensive a KIMI ,ltl)l M4-J v ........... has a basis of o. change,