Life — April 13, 1899 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

* LIFE 325 ’R. JEROME K. JEROME shows in his play, “John Ingerfleld,” something of that samo lack of con- sequontiality that makes his writings humorous. Although tho pieco is rathor serioas in tone, it phases Mr. Jerome not at all to make its characters do the most unexpected and undignified things to bring about the development of his story. For instance: the young husband and wife, who are married without Jove and livo ut arm’s length, are engaged in tho ‘superintending of a typhus fever epidemic among the husband's employeos; they sit down to supper after a hard day’s work nursing tho sick and burying the dead ; suddenly a desiro seizes the wife to make flap- jacks; be helps her to roll up her sleevo; ho throws his arms about her, she hers about him, and exclaims “* Husband !"—and all this, mind you, out of aclear aky. This is only ono of soveral leaps over hurdles of probability that Mr, Jerome takes without turning a hair, Notwithstanding its eccentricities, tho play is interesting. In. places it is oven affecting, and in others genuinely fanny. The atory, as suggested by the above scene, makes two persons, who havo married for convenienco in the most cold-blooded fashion imaginablo, finally come tu be very much in love with each other. Mr. Jeromo’s work would have been less successful had it not been for tho fact that tho two leading parts fitted Miss Mannoring and Mr. Morgan so well, Mr. Morgan realized tho angular but carnest young merchant perfectly, and Miss Mannering managed to got the sympathy of the audienco for tho gitl who deliberately sold herself ia matrimony and aftorwards showed she was alto- gethor too sweet a creature to bo guilty of such an immoral act. The play also gainod much by the general excellence of tho cast and tho handsome mounting given to it by the Lyceum manage- ment, Without these aids Mr. Jerome's effort might very casily havo proved a pronounced failure. Metcalfe. DELMONICO'S AT SIX, Colonel Wille Bryan; BRING ME EVERY: THING ON THE BILL O° PARE, AND HURRY ; ADDING TO THE GAYETY OF THE NATIONS, 1M GOING TO THAT DOLLAR DINNER. A DANGEROUS PERFORMANCE BY AN AMATEUR.