Life — February 6, 1908 — page 30: what you’re looking at

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

The Secret of a Healthy and Beautiful Skin NA perfect complexion is assured to all who use this Soap. f} iransparency is a sign of its purity. FERD. MULHENS; Cologne o/R, Germany NCLIESS & KROPPR, 298 1 Send 15 cents in stamps for a full Don’t forget That CALOX, the Oxygen Tooth Powder, is used and prescribed by the big men in Dentistry and Medicine. Why? All Druggists 25 Cents “The Oxygen does it” sire ccgrey3te. McKESSON & ROBBINS, 91-97 Fulton St., New York titution of the product of his brain. On the other hand, he felt to the uttermost the in- toxication of material success. ‘The impulse was strong with- in him to accept the adulation so temptingly offered, even though he knew how un- worthy it was. Why not bow to the inevitable? he told himself. If people liked this sort of thing and were willing to lionize those who gave it to them, why, then, it was merely sensible to accede to their wishes and let Art and one’s ideals go hang! But even as these thoughts surged through his brain, a chill feeling crept over him and with a tremendous effort he pulled himself together. He would never be so base, so untrue to himself, he de- termined; at least he could in a few brief words simply ac- knowledge the kindly ap- plause and leave the stage with his ideals and his self- Tespect intact. And it was with this inten- tion that he stepped forward to speak amid the intense silence which followed the recent uproar. But Marcus, while he could not compre- hend Vaine’s spiritual strug- gle, understood him marvel- ously from a practical stand- point, and realizing fully the importance of the moment, he seized upon it and waving Vaine back with a white, deprecating hand, he in- sinuated his own personality and usurped the first word. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, in a smooth, persua- sive tone, “I want to say something before Mr. Vaine addresses you. In a certain sense I represent you. It is to me that dramatic writers bring their wares, and as I make it my life study to know your desires, I say to them whether what they have to offer will or will not please you. I am glad that my judgment of ‘The Atone- ment’ has been fortified by your approval. It is Mr. Vaine and Miss Chester, however, who deserve credit for the play. Miss Chester has already spoken, and it now gives me great pleasure to present to you Beverly Vaine, the author of this play, whose past gives prom- ise of a brilliant and suc- Continued at bottom of next column friends, I am ashamed to say that I am no Bible scholar, but I feel that my position to- night is powerfully illustrated by the story of Samson. Like him I was once strong in my work, high in my ideals. Like him I fell into the hands of the Philistines, being betrayed by a modem Delilah, and now as I stand here on this stage and sce the ruin of my work sealed with your tem- pestuous approval, I feel as the blind giant must have felt when he stood alone in the house of Dagon, the sport of the jesting multitude. “If any words of mine could make you see how unutter- ably bad this poor drab of a play is, if any words of mine could drive it from the stage, if any words of mine could bring the American public back to the sane and whole- some drama of our fathers, then I would feel that my simile was complete and that Thad pulled the house of Da- gon about my ears and had died happily in a good cause. “Now let me say”—but here the frantic Marcus man- aged to reach the orchestra leaders, and with a deafen- ing crash the latest two-step drowned Vaine’s closing words. With a quiet, sad smile the young author tured away from the footlights and, gain- ing the street, surrendered meekly to the horrified Ma- loney and Glendening. It caused a great sensation, the greatest of the kind New York had ever known, “Over- work” was the official ex- planation; “clever advertis- ing dodge” was the most general opinion, but the thoughtful men and women who heard Beverly Vaine that night persist in the asser- tion that never was a human being more in earnest, and to their minds he is the perfect type of the sincere, the able and the unsuccessful man THE EXD Continued from preceding co cessful future. Mr. Vaine!" ‘Thestormof hand-clapping which followed mounted to Vaine’s head like golden, bubbling champagne. While Marcus had been speaking, he had been wavering like a reed shaken by the wind. Now uncertainty ceased, he knewsthat he had fallen, and Tomicbooks.com