TH HE brightly colored Holland of tulips and yellow sunshine, the dun Holland of gray rain and sibilantly crashing seas, the human Holland of fishing ships and fishermen's cottages, of ship-owners and sailors-all this is to be found, if you choose the right evening, at Eva Le Gallienne's Repertory Theatre, on Fourteenth Street. More an unforgetable portrait of a hard, rasping-voiced ship-owner with a granite face set toward making money out of fish and dominating the men and women of his village. A magnificent etching of a Dutch mother of sailors following dumbly what she considers God's will, though cursed by what appears to her as the weakness and wildness of her sons. And beyond this a slow tragedy of the men who comb the sea for fish and the women they leave behind them. All this will reward the pilgrim to "The Good Hope" as effectively and dramatically presented by Miss Le Gallienne. Let those who will search for the social irony-it is still there!-or the "propaganda" inherent in this play of Hermann Heijerman's, first produced in the Dutch theatre in the opening year of the present century. One man's truth is another man's propaganda. Any dramatist worth his salt must hold some conviction about human existence in its social sense. And complaint that the playwright twists the facts of life somewhat to prove the truth of his point of view is at least as old as Aristophanes. No consideration of such criticism is A Review of the New York Theatre "The Good Hope " necessary, in the darkened auditorium on Fourteenth Street, when the last act of "The Good Hope" grips you and you see the bright sunlight after the storm flooding the ship office of hard-fisted Clemens Bos. You have known from the beginning that this never-glimpsed ship was unseaworthy-even Bos's daughter has been fearfully aware of it. Patient Kniertje's youngest has been dragged on board by the coastguardsmen. Fear has gripped every woman the night of the storm in Kniertje's cottage, and panic has run quivering along taut nerves at the sound of the rising wind and the sibilant crash of the angry seas beyond the hard-blown window-panes. Jo has one man's unborn child within her. Both Kniertje's sons are on board. And every woman huddled sewing about the lamp has paid the sea some toll. Even the old men in the sailors' home have heard the ugly rumor from the calkers. Like a soundless discord, the knowledge has underlain the stories of the women, the songs and wine-soaked banter of the old sailors. Premonition of it has crept on you through three acts of the slow, formless life of these Dutch fisherfolks as it sifted through the clean-swept room of Kniertje's cottage. Yes, you have known the Good Hope was going down. And yet the stark fact that at last it has happened, and that this snarling, booted Dutchman, its owner, knew it would and cares for nothing except the insurance and escaping the wrath and curses of the widows-well, drama is upon you at last. All the threat of maddened men and women outside th windows, coming to murder this Juda of the fisherfolk, beats upon you. Th fear in Clemens Bos's heart goes tap tap, inside you. And his meanness to hi wife, his browbeating of his bookkeeper his overawing of his daughter throug sheer force of personality-all thes succeed not at all in allaying the mount ing suspense. Not until they burst in, finally-th widows, Jo, Kniertje, the old sailors and you realize that, despite it all despite his criminal greed and thei righteous anger, Clemens Bos is by fa the strongest of them all; not until the can you relax for an instant in your sea and wait for the slow, final tragic de parture of Kniertje, her sons sent t death to satisfy her romantic idea o duty (while Clemens Bos took th profits) and her reward a grudging wor of praise from him and a cold dish a charity from his wife. Such is the impression the play leave upon the modern beholder-a play the says that one strong evil man, seein his reality, can destroy a dozen whos vision of themselves is obscured. Here is excellent dialogue. Salty vigorous, real talk-so genuine that a times the sense of being in a theatre de parts entirely from the spectator, and any idea that one human being con cocted what is taking place upon th stage is absurd. Here, too, is fine "theatre," that gain rather than loses by its slow, mounting drama and quiet curtains, and absenc of quick scenes running swiftly to c maxes of plot. From the technical standpoint it is the essence of realism. Had Sinclair Lewis been a Dutchman and possessed of Galsworthy's ability to assess the true values of human character, even he would have found it difficult to equal its observation and realistic detail. It presents in addition two Rembrandt pictures one, the old men about the Our Own Theatre List Still With Us "Broadway," Broadhurst.-Life back-stage in a Broadway cabaret. Done with vim, rum, and pistols. "The Road to Rome," Playhouse.-A slightly Rabelaisian take-off on history which might have been a great play if genuine emotion had been substituted for wisecracking. An amusing evening, as it is. New Faces "The Shannons of Broadway," Martin Beck. -Vaudeville and melodrama, with vaudeville taking the tricks. "Burlesque," Plymouth.-Back-stage drama in the small towns, with maternal emotion making a success of an otherwise ruined actor. "Escape," The Booth.-Strung on a thin thread, but the most satisfying play on Broadway. "Porgy." Guild Theatre.-A colorful presentation of Negro life on the Charleston water-front. "Pickwick," Empire.-All right, if you like "Pickwick Papers." If not, use your own discretion. "Trial of Mary Dugan," National.-Evidence turned inside out, in an expert and engrossing mystery murder trial. "Balieff's Chauve-Souris," Cosmopolitan."Mother Goose" under one arm, the "Arabian Nights" under the other. "An Enemy of the People," Hampden's Theatre.-It's bitter; but it's Ibsenand true. table singing in their cups; the other, the women about the yellow lamp in the storm-swept cottage at night. When the Civic Repertory Theatre presents such fare as this, the public is certainly the gainer. For Broadway producers are not apt to revive such a play for the money in it, when fortune can be tempted more easily by new farces and melodramas which hold out the possibility of long, profitable runs. And amateurs would find it difficult to catch and hold the stage pictures necessary to a convincing presentation. In any event, no one who sees it can deny Eva Le Gallienne's genius as a producer, nor minimize the contribution she is making to intelligent entertain ment. Such first-class evenings are rare. "Everything's going pretty well with me -now," said one of them. "I make enough money to pay the bills, enough even to take a vacation now and then. But I sometimes wonder how it would be if anything happened to me. I know perfectly well the house might be sold, my son taken out of school..." The other man smiled. "That's just the way I was fixed," he said. "And then a funny thing happened. I answered an advertisement and got hold of a copy of the Phoenix Mutual 'Prosperity Plan. Maybe you've heard of it. I filled it out. "Then they made a special arrangement that will put Jimmie through college. That fixed that. And just recently they fixed up what they call an "income agreement' and now the family will have an income of $100 a month after I'm gone. "So the only things I had been worrying about are taken care of-and all because I filled out that little piece of paper!" WOULDN'T you like to make your life plan financially foolproof? Wouldn't you like to get rid of money worries for good? this You can. The coupon at the bottom of page will bring to you, free, the remarkable Phoenix Mutual "Prosperity Plan." Sending for it is the first step towards real independence-pròtection for you and your family no matter what happens-an education and every advantage for your children-leisure and comfort for yourself in your later years. for There's no obligation. Send your copy now. D OPE is the worst international menace the world faces just now. To most Americans opium means smoking-dens in the Orient. It should mean a sinister smuggling trade in narcotics-literally increasing violent crime in the United States, supplying drug fiends and offering the destructive dream-inspiring white powder of heroin to boys and girls even in high school. Any one who does not realize what an immediate threat the drug traffic is to American homes I would urge to get and read "Opium," by John Palmer Gavitan accurately dramatic study of this unscrupulous world commerce. The fight against it is to be carried on by an International Narcotic Defense Association, proposed at the World Conference on Narcotic Education lately in New York. The shame of the civilized peoples of the West and of their Governments is that such an Association is necessary, for it is in their territories that the business is based, largely in certain European countries. Manufacture of these drugs calls for a highly developed chemical industry such as only we of the Occidental nations possess. If we had the courage and decency we profess, we could crush the evil. News that the Chinese Nationalist administration at Nanking is planning an ambitious program for suppression of opium smoking by high taxes is encouraging, but opium eating and smoking from China to India is by far the less vital part of the problem compared with the world-wide growth of the use of drugs. The battle with that enemy must be won in the West. By MALCOLM WATERS DAVIS nese equivalent for "O. K." So cor- How can outsiders expect to un- HA AM AND EGGS and hot cakes for The friendly personal approach that sis on respect for Mexican independence has created a reassurance in Mexican minds which should open the way to settlement of all difficulties. M ANY UNPLEASANT THINGS are being said of us in Latin America, and more are being thought, according to Ambassador Poindexter, home from Peru. He attributes political, racial, and social propaganda against the United States to British, Russian, and other European sources. But some basis for any such campaign must exist, or it cannot make headway. And we do not have to look away from South America for sources of unfriendly criticism. President Coolidge has shown that he recognizes the importance of Latin-American sentiment by appointing for the Pan-American Congress in Cuba next January a delegation headed by former Secretary Hughes, Ambassador Morrow, and former Senator Underwood. With such men in charge, we may hope that our policy toward Latin America will be fixed on lines that will offset any propaganda in South America-native or foreign. officials is the best possible omen. It is To Katherine Mayo-be it said significant that President Calles invited That word "sovereign" caught the THE CREDIT OF INDIA-and of Miss that the Indian Assembly has approved in principle the legislative prevention of child marriage. Miss Mayo exposes this ancient Hindu practice in her book "Mother India." Evidently her study has made an impression not only on American and European but on some Indian minds-despite the remonstrances of Mahatma Gandhi. Mr. Acharya, an orthodox Brahmin Deputy, who for merly opposed the suggested measure. said in a notable speech that his wife favored it and that he would support its reference to a select committee. There by vote of the Assembly, it rests. It is intended to render invalid the conscience clauses in the marriages of girls below twelve and boys below fifteen. The fact that it is up for consideration, with a chance for adoption, is, I submit, largely the achievement of one clear-headed and humane-hearted American woman. THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT İŞ is ready to pay the debts and revolutionary damage claims of the United States in return for recognition "provided that such a settlement would not constitute a precedent compelling Russia to grant similar treatment to other countries." So reports the American trade-union delegation to Soviet Russia in a plea for recognition of the Moscow Government. An interesting new idea for private and public finance in settlement of preferred debts: "I'll pay you what I owe you so we can do business-as long as it's not a precedent!" U NCLE SAM sees no objection to General José Maria Moncada as President of Nicaragua-although he was Commander-in-Chief of the Liberal forces in the late revolt against President Diaz. The State Department recognized Diaz, and sent in United States marines, who stopped the civil war and made the rebels hand over their guns-all except one Sandino, still rampaging around in the northern hills and rallying insurrectionists. Sacasa, the leader of the Liberals, protested bitterly. Now he is practicing medicine in Guatemala, while his Chief of Staff, who acquiesced and held his peace at the time, is in Washington being patted on the back. Citizens of the United States are to supervise the elections. Study of Nicaraguan laws and of the Convention of 1923 with the Central American republics, so despatches from the capital say, convinces the State Department that no grounds would exist for refusal to recognize Moncada, if successful. But it feels quite differently about General Chamorro, the leading Conservative of Nicaragua. It sustains an attitude of coldness toward Chamorro on the ground of the same Central American Convention, arguing that his occupancy of the post during the present term debars him. Actually Chamorro is the man who drove out the elected Liberal administration and then got Diaz put in office by the Congress when the United States refused to recognize him after his military overthrow of the Government. L BRIZGRAIN CO COMPANIES No institution is more nationally or publicly owned than the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which in turn owns more than 91% of the common stock of the operating companies of the Bell national System. The average holding is 26 shares, and no one person owns as much as 1% of the total stock. The Bell System was developed in the interest of telephone users and is owned by the public that it serves, augurations, anniversaries, and centenaries, either large or small, nor speeches of whatever caliber" in Italy. His reason is that the authorities must not be distracted from their duties nor the people wearied with too many holidays! Supposedly his ban upon speeches includes his own. At any rate, Italians should welcome suppression of public addresses as the greatest benefaction of Il Duce. Cannot this one Fascist principle be applied in America? our THE genius of America expresses itself in many ways, but in none more effectively than in raising the general standard of living. The best scientific, inventive, and artistic brains in America are being applied to the production of things that minister to our comfort, our amusement, or our sense of beauty. top he flips up a little metal flag of his color. Basically, this game is old, too -as old as horse racing. Keno is a game which has lapsed from polite society for many years, but which is again becoming fashionable. The new keno sets at Abercrombie & Fitch's have a cage holding ninety numbers. We are informed that it is a very exciting game. Personally, we have never played it. The editors believe that no view of current affairs is complete that does not include some account of these things. own devices. Although our aunt invariably won, we still think that our play showed a superior brilliancy and finesse, since our endeavor was to lose as speedily as was consistent with an appearance of good faith. And our aunt never suspected us. To this day she believes us to be a skillful, but calamitously unlucky player of games. Needless to say, she does not take The Outlook. As a result of this, we have always had a warm spot in our heart for the old backgammon boards, and it was with pleasure that we learned recently that they are coming back into favor. Abercrombie & Fitch reports a great demand for them, and we are informed that backgammon clubs have been formed and backgammon tournaments are being held all over the country. Like all the best games, it is centuries old. Another new game which is very popular is Gee Wiz, an English importation. Six little horses race in grooves up an incline propelled by little metal shot which are driven up against them by a mechanism at the bottom. Each horse is a different color; you place your bets, and when the winner reaches the A new development for the bridge player is the bridge set with tiles instead of cards. The tiles are about the same size and shape as the Mah Jong tiles of blessed memory, and the game played from racks. This has found favor particularly among travelers. W HATEVER we may think today of the pre-Raphaelites, we have to be grateful to them for having given friendly encouragement to Arthur Lasenby Liberty when he opened his shop in London for the manufacture of the silks which we have come to associate with his name. Our mothers and grandmothers wore these materials, and the hand-blocked silks and scarves which Liberty still makes carry on the tradition effectively. We saw some of these things the other day at McCutcheon's, which has the New York agency for Liberty goods. The designs in which the squares and scarves and shawls are printed are not only unusual, they are good. Which doesn't always follow. Witness some of the weird batiks that have been offered to us in the past decade. And there is a wide range for choice both in designs and color combinations. Some of these scarves have been made up into handbags. Then there is the colored table damask. This except for very formal dinners is coming into more general use. Some people feel that colored table linen lacks dignity, but these cloths and napkins are by no means garish. Some have the design simply in a deep border; others in an all-over pattern of yellow or green or soft rose on a white or tinted ground. Combined with the colored glass and colored candles which have been so much used recently, these soft, clear colors are pleasing without being bizarre. We feel, however, that-if you wanted to be strict with your color scheme you would have to use care in planning the menu. A few sliced tomatoes, for instance, would æsthetically knock your dinner into a cocked hat. We saw also a hand-painted tablecloth. A design of roses was woven into the damask and the flowers and leaves painted unobtrusively in very faint tints. Ourself, we didn't care for it much, although with the proper table decorations it might be very effective. Liberty makes the Tudric pewter, containing no lead, which we mentioned last week. There were teasets, serviette rings, boxes, and some very friendly looking little ale tankards with lids. Some of the Moorecraft pottery, which Liberty also makes, has pewter mountings. We liked the Liberty cretonnes very much. None of those muddy colors and shaky designs that you see in so many otherwise well-appointed houses. F interest to those travelers whose bag or suitcase is always either too large or too small for its contents is the Revelation suitcase. Other adjustable bags have gone before, but the telescope bag is clumsy, and the case that has a sort of accordion fold at one side is apt to be both clumsy and rather heavy. The Revelation has adjustable hasps and hinges, so that it can be extended or compressed, and is no heavier than an ordinary suitcase and smart in appearance. It has been suggested that it would be a splendid bag for burglars to carry. A suit of clothes and half 1 dozen oyster forks can be carried without rattling, yet a larger haul can s easily be accommodated. With the Revelation you make the bag fit the contents, instead of making the contents fit the bag. W. R. R |