Virginia Mamed in
;the Play of “Iris"
A Cte-Ver Actress in a CtexJer 1*tay. "But One
Which Does JVot Make for Great Good.
The Plot of This Much Discussed Stage Story.
1RGINIA HARKED is ap
pearing this season in
“Iris,” a production fjcom
the pen of Mr. Arthur
Wing l’inero. Some hold
|g; Mr. Pinero the greatest
| English dramatist since the time of
William Shakespeare; others look
upon him as the man that sends out
plays which should never see the
light of day.
Mr. Pinero is clever, wonderfully
to, but he certainly does present to
the public view a lot of degenerate
men and women, the beholding of
which, it seems to us, does not make
for any great good.
Of the play “Iris” there has been
considerable of a controversy of late.
A certain Chicago pastor denounced
“Iris” from the pulpit, spoke of its
immorality and of what a pity it was
thlf theatrical trust should impose
such works as it does upon good act
resses, who must take what is offered
them and say nothing.
Whereupon the ire of Mr. Sotliern,
Virginia Harned’s husband, was
roused to the extent of “talking
back.”
In an open letter to the newspapers
Mr. Sotliern frankly told the reverend
gentleman that the latter did not
know what he was talking about, and
added that charitableness, gentleness
of judgment and investigation in the
cause of truth, were things that men
of his calling ought to be particu
larly strong in, with emphasis on the
“cught.” In fact, Mr. Sotliern gave
and tempting spai’klers are displayed
before her eyes by this same man.
She is used to the richest and most
fashionable apparel, and all this the
man stands ready to bestow upon the
weak woman. She puts aside
thoughts of the absent lover, pegging
away for her in the land of dollars
across the water; she accepts the at
tentions and conditions of the man
in the field.
Iris, who had once queened it in
society with such easy grace, begins
traveling the downward path. She
explains herself in these lines:
“Lone, poor, weak, sordid Iris, who
must lie in the sun in summer, be
fore the fire in winter, who must
wear the choicest lace, the richest
furs; whose eyes must never eneoun
ter any but the most beautiful ob
jects—languid, slothful, nerveless, in
capable almost of effort. Do you re
member the story of the poet Thom
son and the peaches? lie adored
peaches, but was too greedy to await
their appearance at table and too in
dolent to pluck them himself, so he
used to stand propped up against the
wall upon which they grew, and with
half-closed lids bite into the fruit as
it hung from its tree. Ha, ha, ha! No
image could give you a better notion
of my habits and disposition.”
Iris’ lover returns after two years,
stronger, manlier; eager for union
with her for whom the labor has
been undergone. What does lie hear
concerning Iris? Her whom he had
been picturing us faithful and true?
VIRGINIA HARNED.
th- gentleman quite a drubbing, and
also diu what he was able toward the
whitewashing of "Jris.” As I remem
ber the letter, the argument was the
much-used old one; present evil on
tlie stage, but do not present it in an
attractive light. Then those of th*
audience who are good will want to
be better, and the bad will be moved
to abhor that which is bad. Of which,
we must confess, we are not wholly
c< winced.
Well, what is the story of “Iris?”
Something’ like this: Mrs. Iris Bella
my is a beautiful young woman, gra
-y Cions, generous, of kindly intention.
She is sweet and pleasant to all, both
superiors and inferiors; and even
after the fatal weakness in her char
acter becomes apparent, one cannot
help being fond of her. She is so
tactful, so careful not to hurt the
feelings of others, she certainly is
very winning. At first the only
shadow of a defect we notice in her
is her luxuriousness; her softness, it
wo may so speak of it. She wants to
have all harsh, hard things shut out
from her life, do ires to know noth
ing of their existence.
Now we descendants of the stern
Buntans realize that this is really a
fatal defect, does not make for mu
st rength of character. And poor Iris
Bellamy was not strong. It did not
term to make any difference whether
or not she possesses the strength so
long as she was rich and shielded,
hut when adversity and temptation
came, then what mettle she had was
tried. Her fortune melts away, and
Iris faces the fact that struggle lies
In lore her. She knows it. will go
hard for her, so unsuited, so un
trained for anything of the kind, bill
vows to walk bravely hand in hand
■with poverty. She is in love with a
man that has been used to all the
luxury of London’s high life, but who
has no fortune of his own. When
Mrs. Bellamy’s money takes unto it
self wings and flies away, her lover i
resolves to go to America, and in that
fabulous land pick up gold for lilm
sj-lf and his fair lady, lie departs,
ai d Iris stays behind.
Both expect her to be patient and
.constant, and poor Iris is not equal
to it. She wants a soft nest, and it
is offered her by a rich man present
it the field, felie is used to jewels,
This: That for the comforts of life
she has sold herself, that her name
is now uttered lightly, with little
show of respect.
l’6or Iris! Poor, luxury-loving Iris!
No honest man now wants her for
wife, and the men who have sought
her society of late soon show their
interest was but fleeting.
The rich man that has paid most of
her bills the last two years becomes
ti.-d of her. Not only tired, but
fairly loathes the sight of her; so
one night, with curses and (they say
such things happen) blows, lie drives
her out of his presence. She goes
out into the night. Where? The
curtain falls. The playwright leaves
you to picture the end for yourself.
All smiles and pleasure we find
the Iris of the early scenes; very
tearful and emotional the Iris of the
later ones. And perhaps it is thus
Air. Pinero conveys the moral alluded
to by Air. Sot-hern. Perhaps the tears
and the easting-out are meant to give
another illustration of “the wages of
sin is death.” It. may be, but why
should the woman always point the
niMPtil*) VVVi v' ntit him* flip mart tlinf
lias eaten the forbidden fruit for
once also be driven out? Somehow
or other Mr. Pinero, with all his clev
erness and originality, persists in
giving the old trite illustration; the
wages of sin is death —to the woman.
Miss Virginia Ifarned (Mrs. E. H.
Sothern) has been on the stage ever
since she was a mere slip of a girl/
Her notable successes, previous to
her work this year in the role of Iris
Bellamy, have been made in tli•* parts
of Trilby, Lady Ursula and the role
of Pauline in "The Lady of Lyons.”
In "Iris” it is agreed she has found
a character better suited to her per
sonality than any she has yet por
trayed. THE ASTROLOGER.
Couldn't Hai«e the Ha by.
Senator Pritchard, of North Caro
lina, telling how healthy his section
of the state is, remarked: “A moun
taineer, aged 92, and his wife, aged
90, were returning from the funeral
of their oldest child, who had died
at the age of 71. They were both
deeply grieved. As they Were dis
cussing their loss the wife said: ‘l
always told you, .Johy, that We would
never raise that child.’ ”
)
FOREIGN GOSSIP
At Warwick, in England, the guardi
ans propose to utilize tramp labor in
excavating a subway.
Burglars got into the Marseilles li
brary recently and stole about $20,000
worth of old coins, including an ecu
dated 1220. of which only three other
specimens are in existence.
Most fishermen along the coast of
France still avoid going 1o sea in the
first two days of November, owing to
the superstitious fear of the “death
wind,” and the belief that at that time
the ghosts of drowned fishermen rise
and capsize boats.
To a widow named Charlotte Die
trich the German emperor sent, 300
marks and a gilt cup of the finest
porcelain, together with a letter of
congratulation, on her one hundredth
birthday. She also received 100 marks
and other presents in the frame of the
city of Berlin.
A Frenchman may light his cigar
with a thousand-franc note and yet
not lose a cent, provided he saves the
part of the note with tlx* number on
it. On presenting that at the Banque
de France he will promptly get a new
note. The bank officials tell a story
of a peasant who put a 20-franc and a
50-franc note into the barrel of his
rifle, which he never used. His wife
knew nothing about his "safe,” and
one day a neighbor borrowed the rifle
of her to shoot a eat. The notes were
burnt to ashes, but these were care
fully gathered and taken to the bank,
where the chemist succeeded in identi
fying- them.
AMERICAN AUDIENCES.
A* a Hnlf the 'Women Are Silently
Attentive ami the Men Xoiny
and Demonstrn i I ve.
American audiences are strangely
alike in some things and strangely dis
similar in others. A good committee
will take as much pains in the ar
rangement of its audience as of its
speakers. An audience seated without
crowding is seldom enthusiastic.
Neither is an audience whose hands
are occupied with bundles or umbrel
las, an audience largely composed of
women, or an audience in a cold
room. The easiest audience to ad
dress, the most responsive and inspir
ing-, tire those composed of men,
crowded and packed together and
warm, says a writer in Scribner’s
Magazine.
Women naturally donot applaud and
cheer. They are by instinct more seif
restrained in the public expression of
tlieir emotion than men. Every public
speaker is complimented by their
presence, knowing, that their quiet
word at home is oftentimes more ef
fective in results than the most en
thusiastic shouting on the street cor
ners by the other sex. In a public
meeting, however, the audience gets
its cue from those nearest the speak
er. I remember well two audiences,
both from the same social class, both
crowded, both in large theaters, and
both largely attended by women. One
happened to be in Colorado; one in
Massachusetts In one meeting- the
orchestra was reserved for women. In
the other women had the lower g-al
lery and all the boxes. In both cases
the-audiences were entirely friendly
to the speakers. The second meeting
was marked by wild enthusiasm; the
iirst one, by respectful attention. In
the second case the mass of men in
the orchestra urged on the speakers
by continued applause. In the lirst
ease the men in the galleries who
started to applaud were cheeked be
cause between them and speakers was
a mass of absolutely silent femininty
in the orchestra. I do not say that
one meeting was less effective thau
the other, but the difference in the
strain on the speaker was marked.
BAMBOO IN THE HOUSEHOLD,
It la n Wimd That In »f i-ireut Valar
to the \rtl«Hii« in Uiiitlc
Conn trim.
The increasing importation of bam
boo seems to indicate that Americans
are beginning to appreciate the ex
ceeding utility of that remarkable
plant, in tiie orient it fills so large
a place that it may be compared with
iron and steel in the Occident. When
dried and’cut into slivers it makes nails
which never rust. These bamboo nails
have recent ly appearedrin a Broadway
shop as souvenirs. When a portion of
its surface .is removed, steamed, or
heated in a fire, it becomes pliable, and
may be bent into various angles. These
two properties enable the eastern
cabinet maker to manufacture it into
stools, chairs, tables, screens, eta
geres, trunks and armoires.
In the United States, says the New
York Post, bamboo and uttuu are
made into ornamental furniture on a
small and delicate scale, but the use
of the large-sized bamboo for massive
and durable furniture has not yet been
attempted. Builders in the cities on
the eastern coast of Asia use the bam
boo for masts, poles, ladders, step
ladders, scaffoldings, painters’ stag
ings, and other purposes where both
strength and rigidity are demanded.
With equal weights, bamboo is five
times as strong as wood, and with
equal strength is but one-third1 as
heavy. The joints in the stems enable
a workman to lash two poles together
without any possibility of slipping,
which is not the case with ordinary
timber poles. This does away with
the necessity for nails, and so increases
the life of scaffoldings indefinitely.
Every bamboo is practically a series
of air chambers. A boat hook whose
shaft is one of these Stems is a life
preserver which will support one or
two persons; while a bamboo gaff or
1. - ..._ _ill 1- . . .1 . . .... . .. II ... i.
pxuv/iu 'tin xv v v |» a uuocn j/v i owua unuiu.
In household furnishing and decora
tion the eastern reed offers unlimited
variety. Thus far it has been employed
in this country for picture frames,
easels, fancy chairs, and curtain poles.
In the orient larger sizes, which range
from three to 12 inches in diameter,
are sawed into various lengths and
used for card receivers, sugar bowls,
cigar boxes, hand trays, spoon hold
ers, umbrella stands, drinking uten
sils, and* jewel boxes. The larger ones
are cut through and sawed with scroll
saws into various patterns, which are
utilized as jardinieres or the holders
of pewter boxes, incense cases, and
mantel ornaments.
When softened by hot water and
split into thin strips these can be wov
en with cord into verandh and window
shades, door mats, and hall mattings.
When split still finer the strips can Vie
braided into table mats, chair seats,
and backs, dado wall covers and a floor
covering, which is almost indestructi
ble.
The l-’Irst City.
New York was not always the first
city of America. In 1730 Philadelphia
had a population of 12,000; Boston.,
11,500 and New York 8,600. Twenty
years later Philadelphia’s population
had risen to 18,000, Boston’s to 14,000
and New York's to TO,000. In 1790 the
Quaker City still led, with 44.000, New
York had jumped into second place
with 33,000, while Boston stood at 18,
000.- Albany Argus. .
Solving; n Problem.
George—Women are still pushing
their way into all industries.
Jack—That’s so. 1 have just been
discharged to make way for a
woman.
“You have? Well, well! What arc
you going to do now?”
“I am trying to marry the woman.”
—-Washington Times.
Knitting As a Cure for Insomnia
By CHARLOTTE F. BOLDTMANN,
Editor of Stitches.
BELIEVE in the wisdom of the doctors who arc advis
ing knitting as a remedy for nervousness and insomnia.
The placid granny of the olden time who sat in the
chimney corner, white-capped, her kerchief folded
smoothly across her shoulders, nodded peacefully over
her unfinished stocking in a world that is at present innocent of
wakefulness and neurasthenia. Back to such serene content the mod
ern woman cannot go, but some relief for irritated nerves may be
found in the gentle monotony of knitting.
A recognized means of inducing rest and sleep is the tiring of
consciousness by means of sameness. There are people who count
themselves to sleep. Women have their hair brushed. Children are
rocked In the cradle, or monotonous lullabies are sung to them. In
the old days Russian nobles used to send themselves to sleep by hav
ing servants scratch their heels. A. II. Savage-Landor says that
in Corea mothers put their babies to sleep by scraping them gently
on the abdomen. The great physician Boerhaeve used to make his
patients drowsy by causing them to listen to the sound of drops of
water falling upon a metallic surface.
The nervous woman who tries to count herself to sleep is made
hysterically wakeful by thinking of the numbers she has already un
successfully reckoned. As a soothing and quieting influence knitting
has this advantage over other monotonous methods, that its office
as a sleep inducer is secondary; independent of this, it is an occupa
tion. The knitter thinks comfortably of the work she is producing ;
thus a beneficent self-deception is possible.
Steel needles are best, the theory being that their quick move
ments and the tiny click and flash of the metal have a hypnotic in
fluence. Of course the pattern must be of such simple character
that the work may be done without effort, even without conscious
ness.
An apprenticeship of some length may be necessary before a
neglected art can be so far revived that the modern woman shall be
able to knit as drowsily as did her grandmother; yet perhaps the
•xneriiuent is worth making.
i y »
/ \
As Seen by the Public
Eye Abroad
nils of Information from Corre
spondents in Many Foreign Fields.
Tell of Whal Other JV at ions Are Tat King About,
Sew l’ort in South Africa.
The one great drawback of South
Africa, from it commercial point of
view, as indeed of the continent as a
whole, is the want of safe and capa
cious harbors. Table bay itself is
notoriously unsafe during the north
west winds, and during a recent
great storm no less than 17 vessels
were driven ashore, chiefly at the dan
gerous open roadstead of Algoa bay.
Extensive and costly harbor works
at Cape Town and Durban have but
partially remedied this vital defect in
the natural equipment of South Af
rica. The fine harbor of Delagoa bay
has, for England, two great draw
backs—its frightful climate and its
possession by a foreign power.
Sixty miles north of Cape Town is a
magnificent natural harbor, known as
MAP 8HOWINQ LOCATION OF 8ALDANHA
BAY.
Saldnnha bay, which, although it has
a land-locked and absolute safe an
chorage of some 12 square miles in
area, has up to the present time been
strangely neglected. This “Cinderel
la” of South African ports has a
depth of water varying from ten t,v>
24 fathoms, while the deep water
runs right up to the edge of the enor
mous natural breakwater, nearly a
mile in length, which imparts to this
fine expanse its extraordinarily shel
tered character. This huge breakwa
ter will form the base for the
wharves and jetties, alongside which
ships of the largest tonnage will be
able to discharge direct into the rail
way trucks in any weather and at any
state of the tide. One of the accom
panying illustrations shows the
steamship Venice lying alongside a
six-foot jetty—an absolute inipossibil
The small tenant farmers are rap
idly forsaking their holdings for
other businesses, and tenant farmers
in Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefec
tures, where the agricultural land is
largely owned by a few rich fanners,
are steadily leaving for abroad. In
consequence, the agricultural indus
try in Japan is declining rather than,
progressing. Some years ago, the
government established an agricul
tural and industrial bank in each pre
fecture, with a view to improving
matters. Money was advanced cheap
ly, and the rate of interest fixed at
eight per cent., but when the fees for
the survey of property and the reg
istration of hypothecation were paid,
the rate of interest rose to It and 12
per cent. The only measure now open
for the relief of farmers is the banks
to reduce the interest.
Import of Wood Into Ilaoiliarg.
During the past year the import of
wood into Hamburg amounted to $4,
379,200, not including $2,010,000 for
basket hoops, bark, tan and piassava.
Compared with 1900, there was a de
crease of $309,400—due principally to
a decline in the import of hickory
from the United States, which
amounted to $1,213,800 in 1900 and to
only $975,800 in 1901. The import of
cedar amounted to $404,600. Timber
comes chiefly from tin* harbors of
Russia and Prussia which border on
the Baltic sea. The dearer kinds of
wood, like West Indian poekwood
($34,034), Brazilian and East. Indian
jaearamla wood ($28,084), boxwood
from the West Indies and Venezuela
($25,704). and veneer from Russia,
France, Germany and Great Britain
($428,400) were also received in
smaller quantities than Inst year.
Imports of cork wood, mahogany,
staves and ebony show an increase.
Cork wood worth $1,094,800 was im
ported. of which $785,400 worth came
from Portugal and $238,000 from Al
geria. The import of mahogany
amounted to $714,000 in 1901 and $642,
600 in 1900, and that of ebony to $127,
568 in 1901 and $110,194 in 1900. Ma
hogany’ comes chiefly from West At
A LINER BERTHED ALONGSIDE THE NATURAL BREAKWATER AT SALDANHA BAY.
ity at any other point on the South
African coast, except at the Cape
Town docks.
The one drawback which lias hith
erto delayed the development of the
best natural harbor in all South Af
rica—the absence of a sufficient, sup
ply of fresh water—is now being
remedied. Surveys have been com
pleted for both the waterworks and
the 80 miles of railway that will con
nect. the. new port with the main
trunk line of the Cape government
railways at Porterville, a station for
merly known as the Piquetberg
Hoad station.
As an alternative port to Cape
Town for both freight and passen
ger traffic, Saldanha bay is destined
to loom large in South Africa ship
ping and commercial circles in
near future. Its enormous natural
breakwater, giving perfect shelter in
all winds and at any state of the tide,
its great and uniform depth of water
running close in shore, and its acces
sibility, combine to mark it out for
immediate and extensive develop
input.
Asrl«allnrii Industry in Japan.
The important question of foster
ing the agricultural resources in Ja
pan has been much disea sed recent
ly by a section of the Japanese pub
lic. It is stated that according to
statistics, the, total debt of the farm
ing class at present amounts to about
$298,800,000, two-thirds of which is
the result of the easier life led by
the generality of farmers, the better
food, clothing and housing. This cap
ital is unproductively employed, while
the remaining $99,600,000 goes to the
fund for the improvement of the ag
ricultural industry. The interest paid
by farmers is abnormally high,
ranging from 15 to 30 per
cent, per annum, and there is
iittle prospect of repayment
as the profits are very small
The farmers toil hard throughout flu
year, yet their profit is not more
than five per cent, per annum, aftei
deducting the national and loca
taxes. It is hopeless for a business
which pays only five per cent, to hi
carried on with capital which pa>s
an interest- of 20 per cent., and, for
this reason, the improvement ol
farms is entirely out of the question
I l ira, the West Indies. Colombia, Yen
I r/.uela. Mexico and Central America,
| and ebony from West Africa. Ilick
| <>ry is furnished mainly by the Uni
I ted States. J. F. MONAGHAN.
Income Tax Statistic* In Prussia.
The entire taxable population of
Prussia, according to the returns of
1901, numbered .14,036,414; 170 of this
number were free from taxation ax^^"
being extraterritorial, and 20,581,003
had an income not exceeding 900
marks ($214). From this we sec that
almost two-thirds of the entire pop
ulation pay no tux whatever. From
the remaining 13,400,230 inhabitants,
only 11,834,518 come into considera
tion for purposes of taxation, as
1,631,718 persons are for especial rea
sons tax free. The total amount of
the income lax paid was 168,127,100
marks ($40,014,250), and more than
three-fourths of this sum, viz., 126,
520,247 marks ($30,111,819), fulls to
the town population and only 41,006,
853 marks ($9,902,431) to the country
population. More well-to-do people,
therefore, live in the cities than in
the country. The taxes are distrib
uted as shown below:
Income. Number. Am’t paid. Per cap.
t >14 to |714 3,210.831 *11,328.800 *3 &4
714 to 1.428... 279,935 6.046.200 2184
1,428 to 2.261 .... 75.740 3,641,400 47 91
2,261 to 7,259.... 63.773 7.<«8.«00 110 46
7,129 to 23,800 ... 13,384 5.521.000 438 22
23,SOO and over.... 2,774 6,426,000 2,424 96
Ototeu ltntlrii.nl and the Kinli Trad*
ot Norway.
The commercial relations between
tlie northern ports of Norway and
Russia have beep steadily increasing,
in spite of the insufficient means of
communication hitherto existing;
but as tlie Ofoten railroad and Swe
dish main line have now been opened,
traffic will become still more consid
erable.
Russia is already a good customer
for Norwegian fish. Now, as the Ofo
ten railroad—the most northern in
the world—-has been opened, tlie fish
consumed in Russia (which may be
more than the Norwegian market can
supply) will, of course, be forwarded
by' rail; consequently, tlie shipments
of dried fish will decrease as the ex
port of fresh fish proves profitable.
The prices of Lofoten cod were so
high this year that.j^ygy^y-fish pro
ducers had poor retu.ns.
VICTOR K. NELSON.