The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 22

topics of 0 the erXma THIS Is the Kuon of Rainbows on Broadway Emblems of Hop. which Angels trace In the April Heavens with rosy Infers, and at the feet of which they bury Pots of Gold. If the play runs Ions enough, and strong enough, actor and author find the Pots of Gold again and dig them up, or so it is fabled. None of the Rainbow Chasers has ever yet been known to find the Pots of Gold; but still the Angels keep on tracing the Rainbows Hope with their rosy fingers, and burying the Pots of Gold; and still the youthful author and actor go rainbow chasing all up and down Broadway, believing In smiles of April, but never In April's tears. Sometimes there are even frosts In April.

The Angels and the 3falnbows of cBroadwy. "Th Shepherd King." at the Knickerbocker, is the largest and the most gorgeous of all the season's rainbows. As for thepots of gold which Mr. Wright Liimcr'e angel has burled, the production Is so elaborate and gorgeous that Rumor speaks only half the truth, it would seem. In whispering that they hold fifty thousand dollars.

But to dig them up again! The David that would do on Broadway must smite music ffom the harp that would dispel more than the saturnine rages of Saul. s'ay a giant of cynical Insolence more than Goliath. Neither as author nor as actor has Mr. Ii1mer more In his scrip than five smooth stones from the brook; and, alas, he lacks the marksmanship of David to plant them between the eyes of the Goliath of Broadway. Last Tuesday night that monster, huge and horrible, winked gayly as he dodged missile after missile, and when the five smooth scenes of the play had been shot across the footlights, he roared with delight at the discomfited David.

Very sad. Very sad! And so, as it seems, the rainbow Is vanishing and the pots of gold will forever lie bulred. The piny, to be sure, is Incredibly dull full of childish Ineptitude and shal lOH, TO PLAY SHAKESPEARE ALWAYS! I BUT JUSTIN It's Dorothy Hammond, Wjho's Been Page in Hamlet, Portia With Mansfield, arid All in Four Years. Now the Proud Prince. 2 LEADING woman to three prominent American stars in one season Is Ine rather exceptional record of- Miss Dorothy the young English actrraa, who la about to succeed Cecelia Lortua as Perpetua In support of E.

H. Sothern In "The Proud Prince." Miss Hammond came to this country last season under contract to RU-hard Mansfield. In his production of Julius Caesar she was cast for Portia, playing that part In New York and during the actor's tour throughout th count rv In this rnnnu-llnn Mlaa Hammond makes a confession which Is surprising In these days. I would like always to play Shake-. speare," she said.

It never grows tlre-. some, as does the playing of modern roles. No matter bow long the season la, one can always look forward to the evening's work as offering opportunity for something new, something- interesting. Juat to stand in the wings listening to the Shakespearean verse that In Itself is an Inspiration. That Is one of the reasons why I welcome this en gagement with Mr.

Bothern's company. TMt im ma Ch. ka.i Kilt It I tuut. leal drama. And I love It." 'Quite remarkable, isn't it? that confession.

One rather looks for such sentiment from blushing novices and blooming ama- tears, but the rank snd file of experienced professionals, whatever their views on the subject, are loath to express themselves so freely. But Miss Hammond, though she has been Identified most recently with modern society drama, ss leading woman to Henrv Miller lu Man Proposes "an engagement fulfilled, by the way. while she was PtIU under contract to Mr. Mansfield, who has an option on her services when he has a leading part suitable for her comes nat-. wrally enough by her love for the more classic forms of dramatic expression.

In England she was associated with Mrs. Patrick Campbell and Forbes Robertson. She appeared with the London Stage Society In plays by Hauptman and the poet Teats. idea of the rapidity with which success sometimes comes is Illustrated In her 'race. She attended Forbes Robertson's professional matinee of Hamlet the other day.

It must Interest you greatly." remarked a friend who happened along, "since you played with him In It In London. By the way, how long ago was that, and what part were yew cast for? Four years sgo," answered Mill Hammond. In the beginning I played one of the pages In the last act. Later I was cast for the Player Queen." From a page In "Jlaralet to leading woman for America's foremost actor In four years Is something of a record for any woman. At the same rate of progression Dorothy Hammond may possibly be an American star In an equal length of time.

For she has evidently cast her lot with the American players. "My experiences over here have been Intensely Interesting." she said. Conditions are quite different from those which prevail on the other side. To begin with. find American audiences more prompt to respond that la.

I mean they seem to make up their minds Instinctively whether what they see Is good or bad. Is that an indication of superficial Judgment? Perhaps. I can't say. But they seem to be right in the majority of cases. So, too, the press Is rather' more frank and outspoken.

It doesn't leave much to the Imagination. It's all an outcome, I pre-sume. of the intense, active, eternally progressive life you Americans lead. Men and women who go to the play don't hare lowness, and not a trace of childlike charm. Saul, with his mighty love ot David and his barbaric man Jealousy of him.

is reduced to a stage bugaboo. The friendship of Dp.vid and Jonathan, passing the love of woman, is expressed in a mere passage of declamation, while the centre of the stage is occupied by a prettified, modern, matlnee-glrl romance between David and Michal, which is crossed by stagified modern melodramatic villainies. But not all this equals the ineptitude of the language. It is versified prose, flat, flabby, modern. One of the characters was called Dowle, (his name on the programme was spelled Doeg.) and he was always saying "Peace be with thee, brother." Jonathan a very lanky and American Jonathan, was always called Brother Jonathan." Plainly Mr.

Lorimer lacks a sense of humor, and with it the complex intelligence Indispensable to the art of play writing. His best points as an actor are simplicity of port and a resonant voice. Is It in the nature of things that, in a year and a town where the Ulysses of Stephen Phillips failed, with- all iti. advance reputation and Its theatric skill, this stripling David should win? The saddest thought of all was that if Mr. Charles Frohman had given Ulysses In this theatre and with this splendid production, it might not have failed.

But let us not overlook our few blessings! "The Shepherd King" was but the mistake of one night. The angel of the Century Players buried only twenty-five thousand dollars at the feet of that other Broadway rainbow, and think of all the hubbub-they have kicked up! One shudders to think what would have happened If Mr. Lorimer's angel had painted and potted Mr. Rosenfeld's rainbow. The "Dictator" aid "Saacy Salty." It would be a bold man who would set up a cry for novelty and truth to life in a farce, and especially In these farces that bloom in the Spring, together with angelic rainbows.

But when novelty and stateness arc so patiently contrasted as II. MCCARTHY WILL time to sit down and think it all out analytically and They are guided largely by first impressions, and who, after all. shall say that they are wrong? I think that Americans go to the theatre primarily for amusement but it Is a mistake to assume that there is not a pub- i tt DorothyiHammond. New Woman for; 1 Nt H-JSothcrrv lie here which demsnds something more than musical comedy for the attainment of that end. There will always be In every country a class which seeks only the flippant and the garish.

But my observations here lead ma to believe that throughout Amerlcu. there is a large class of thoughtful persons who are capable of appreciating all that is pest in literature, art, and STAGE HUC1 TOO STRENUOUS. ONE of those little mishaps that try actors' souls occurred on the opening night of The Shepherd King at the Knickerbocker Theatre, and. as usual In such cases, the Incident happened at a time when the situation was such as to heighten the ludlcrousness of the case In the minds of the people in front. Wright Lorimer.

the David of the had returned from war amid the approving shouts of the assembled multitude. Decked out in all the trapping of glittering gilt, he was a picture of youthful beauty. Dignity, reposed la a massive crown ot gilt set upon his head. But. alas, in plays, as In real life, pride often goeta before destruction.

In the play David Is loved by and himself loves Michal. the daughter of King Saul. What more natural. therefore, than that she shall be among the first to welcome his return? This she. did.

Indeed. and her arms went about; him In a fond embrace But May Buckley, the actress) In the role of this lovelorn maiden, was for once too strenuous. la passing her arms shout the neck of her lover aha struck the helmet, and It i fell to the stage with a Of course, the audience Uttered tt always does on such occasions. But It Is safe to say that neither Mr. Lorimer nor Miss Buckley was the least bit In sympathy with the mirth the Incident provoke 1 1.

X-' THE YORK TIMES; SUNDAY. In "The Dictator" and Saucy, Sally. one may perhaps be pardoned for pointing the moral. 1 la not. so much the warshlpa and wireless telegraphy In The Dictator that claim our admira tion, as the main subject of the satire, -j which Is the Latin-American revolution.

Mr. Richard Harding Davis knows bis Latin America, and has a strong, breesy, boyish sense of humor." The -present pleco. moreover, having been originally conceived for the stage, is a far better performance of theatric construction than he his hitherto given us. It has very real and tangible theme, and work it out consistently and with spirit, the only fault being that after the marve-lously breesy first act the other two, laughable as they are, somewhat Blacken the Interest. In one place, If the truth be told, a false note waa struck, and that was when the dictator hero used his new authority to dispose of his rival In love.

Jt didn't seem quite fair, even In farce, and especially In a farce that in so many respects waa truer to life than many a so-called comedy. If the objection seems captious. It Is at worst a compliment to the general quality of the piece. And It la the only such objection. One feels no hesitancy In prognosticating a long and prosperous run.

Is it possible. adapt Falstaffs eulogium on himself, that Mr. Davis, having so long been the cause that satirical wit la In other men. has found himself as one who Is most witty In satire? As for Saucy Sally." our main quarrel with it Is not so much on the ground of its antiquity; though this very play, In different adaptation, as Mr. Hune-ker has discovered, has already been given on Broadway; and the plays on a similar theme are legion.

The really, offensive feature is that the main character has been so desiccated in the present adaptation. Surely there are married men enough who deceive their wives, and are hard put to Jt for expedients to conceal their wanderings from the fold; and surely their adventures are even more a subject of satire than of serious treatment. Bt4we are so conventionally proper on this blessed Anglo-Saxon stage that we cannot, or think we cannot, laugh at their dilemmas. So our playwrights make believe that the affair with t'other dear charmer is only a flirtation, thereby reducing all the fuss and pother about it to the flattest absurdity, and making It impossible for any one out of the level of paretic mentality to enjoy them. But would have us laugh at such thing? cries the matinee girl of accept them like the French as conventionally trivial and venial? Of course not; for we do not as a people regard them so.

However much we might laugh at the husband's dilemmas, the sympathies of the audience would be with the wife. In order to make the satire go. the tale of Hon so to speak, would have to be told by the Hon the husband would have to be humiliated before his wife even as he was made ridiculous to the audience. And until such situations can be transmuted Into terms of our own life, they should not be adapted at alL They should either be presented aa written, leaving the characters and environment French, in which case It la possble for people of broad Intelligence to laugh at them, or preferably they should be avoided altogether. Stfi Greet And the Harvard.

ArchaeotoghU Mr. Ben Greet has been to Cambridge to see the Elizabethan production of "Hamlet," which the Harvard English department has arranged for Forbes Robertson in Sanders Theatre, and has come back full of mingled enthusiasm and misgiving. The enthusiasm Is for the artistic effect of the performance, which he says Is greater than that of Mr. Forbes Robertson's recent rerfor-mances here. Even the Ghost, he says, lost nothing by the lack of the glimpses of a limelight moon, in the closet scene.

In fact, which (like the play within the play) was done in the gallery at the back of the stage, the ghostly effect was greatly enhanced. Mr. Greet's misgivings are with regard to the use of theatrical properties and set pieces. The stage was far 'rom being bare, as the historians of the theatre have so often told us it should be, and as the London Elizabethans always make It. It was audacious Innovation supplied with whatever appurtenances the text calls for.

The throne and other royal furnitures were in fact those used In Mr. Forbes Robertson's scenic production. Ophelia's grave was in a -trap cut In i the boards. What particularly aroused Mr. Greet's misgivings was the curtain.

It has been generally aald that Shakespeare had nothing corresponding; to our modern curtain, a statement apparently deduced from the fact that he had no proscenium arch, together with the fact that De Witt's drawing of the Swan Theatre in 1500 shows no curtain. But there remains the stubborn fact that curtains and traverses are mentioned in numerous old plays. On second thoughts we have this on the authority of The Boston Transcript It occurred to the authorities at Cambridge that in a sketch of a modern stage the curtain would not be visible. Then came the question, would it have been possible for Shakespeare to have a curtain? The answer was obvious. The larger part of the stage was surmounted by a loft support-ed on columns.

By rigging three cur-tains between these columns and the wall of the theatre, the main stage could be1 cut off from view at a moment's notice. These three curtains or traverses were what so disturbed Mr. Greet. It became further evident to the Harvard Innovators that when the curtain was' drawn it waa possible to have front scenes) to continue the play while the few properties and set pieces were being shifted. In point of fact, as any one can see by looking, tt la Shakespeare's custom to supply front scenes whenever an elaborately -set main scene requires to be rearranged or cleared, as In the case) of the forest scenes In Midsummer eight's Dream" and the woodland scenes la As You Uke It." In present production of Hamlet the only elaborately set scene was that at grave: and behold, the encounter with Osrio waa at hand and waa played aa a front scene while the stag behind was cleared for the fencing.

JOHN CORB1N. PROF. MACDO WELL'S SUCCESSOR. D' R. CORNEUU8 RUBNER.

who has been, called to be the bead of the Department ot Music at Columbia Uni versity In the stead of Prof. Edward Mae-Dowell. lately resigned. Is at present Director of the Grand Ducal Conservatory of Musle at Carlsruhe. Germany.

Dr. Runner has composed music for the piano, for the orchestra, and for the voice. He Is also said to be an excellent pianist. He la by birth a Dane and Is about forty-four years of age. He has received decorations from the Emperor of Germany, from the King of and from the King of Sweden and Norway in recognition of his work as a composer and pianist.

It Is expected that Dr. RUbner will enter upon his duties at Columbia next Autumn. DOa ACTORS ARE SPECIALISTS. HILE watching troupes of trained dogs one often asks the question, "Have dogs any real intelli gence? None could be more qualified to answer this than Edward Gillett. who has made the training of dogs a life study, and whose musical troupe has been before the public for years.

Well, I should say so," he replied to the old question. They have lots of It. and the more I have to do with them the more Intelligent I consider them. Some of them are almost as knowing as a human being. Many of the things they do cannot be explained by mere Instinct or mechanical habit.

They show understanding, reasoning powers. Dogs display as many differences among themselves as men do. Some are regular dunces, or bad tempered, and cannot be Jaught any trick. Others are bright and gifted, and quickly comprehend and master their business. Dogs, too, have their moods, and their states Of mind and body as we do.

They are more apt to learn and perform at one time than another. I have no special system of training, but to be a success one must have a strong if WHAT TO-DAY'S STARS-s WERE DOING IN OLD TIMES ITH the revival of drama. The Two Orphans," uppermost in the minds of theatre patrons Just now. it Is interesting to take a retrospective glance over a list prepared with the assistance of Annie Irish, Clara Morris, and James O'Neill. This list tells of the parts played by some of our leading actors thirty years ago the date of the first presentation of "The Two Orphans." Of these some are dead, and only a few of course are to be In the all star production.

Ada Rehan was appearing as Big Clem-ence In Augustln Daly's production of L'Assommoir." Francis Wilson, then W41.MI -mtmm Tiifta In An TTnaonal Match" at the Chestnut Street Theatre In Philadelphia. John Drew was a member of the newly formed Daly May Irwin and her sister Flora were doing songs and dances at Tony Pastor's Theatre on Broadway. Annie Russell went to the West Indies, where she played the children roles In a company that Included Felix Morris, J. H. Gilmour and Tommy Russell.

Jennie Yea-mans was a Topsy In a revival of Uncle Tom's Cabin." Ro'se Coghlan appeared In Bouclcault's drama, Rescued," at Booth's Theatre. Henry E. Dlxey was seen as Tom Bowline In Pinafore." Mrs. Minnie Mad- fiAf If-io JJMlrr dern-Flske was playing the leading part In "The Messenger from Jarvis Section." Thomas Q. Seabrooke appeared as Bertie Cecil in Cigarette." Lillian Russell was singing 'ballads, at Tony Pastor's.

Richard Mansfield played a part in LesMsnteaux Nolr at the Standard Theatre. Maurice Barrymore was a member of the stock company ax Wallack' a. Nat Goodwin made a hit In Hobbles" at Haverlys Fourteenth Street Theatre with his Impersonations of well-known actors. Effle Shannon- had been playing the part of Eva In Unci Tom's Cabin." E. M.

Holland was at Wallack's. E. H. Sothera was a super of his father's company. Modjeaka was drawing big houses at the Gfeand Opera House in East Lynne." Charles Coghlan appeared at Wallack's as Felix Feathers tone In Sidney Grundy's play.

Thi Julia Marlowe was with a Juvenile Pinafore company. Robert Mantell was In England, playing the leading rples In a company headed by Miss Wains. Otis Skinner was seen In Bronson Howard's "Wives." De Wolf Hopper was playing a comedy part in Our daughters," which mis cLAiTvrt I xyl-i 4KX i 4 CT 'Jm To APRIL 10V 190 inn fnr th animals, a disposition. and patience. The master must train his m-fthmit harshness, for a dog scoidea or.

beaten loses his spirit or becomes sul- ln nd will not learn so readily. It us any takes considerable gentle and tedious teaching to make a dog unaersiana -ju what you want him to do and to get him to do It well. -1 simply study each new dog and Una Atit hit tnlner ha ia beat fitted for, and hn 1 trv to educate that bent In him. do not try to force him to attempt what Is entirely against -his Inclination or aoiuuee. That' would be a waste of time and exertion.

Few dogs make good all-around performers, but most of them are. equal to onlv one or two good stunts. "It Is an Interesting fact that the applause of an audience Is a great stimulation aa performing dog. He realises Just kt la meant, and hendclappina; and laughter have the same effect on bim as on a human performer. In my estimation the French poodle Is the most lnwugem uu A PHILANTHROPIST.

AS he stepped out of the theatre he stopped to light a cigarette, and at tho same moment nearu if please. Sir, gimme someuuns tbev'ra borne. me little brother an' cold an' hungry. an we got no tt. tiimod and saw' a diminutive girl.

about twelve years old. He had seen the arirl before, and had watched her piay ine same game, and bad heard her tell the same story to people outside the tncatre sever times, and knew It aU for a iaae. He walked on. "Jest think no parents ain't It awfuL Sir? Them little children! She was keep- In mm with him. Go home." he said, not unkindly, do you want to be arrested for bogging? Go home." How kin I go home with nuthln er the kids? Ah! If they only had some parents to look after- em! But dero's only me.

Ha out his hand in his pocket. The child hastened to clinch matters with the old, tiresome wail: Jest to think. Sir; no The hand emerged from the pocket, and In it was a dollar bllL "Here, little giri," he said, "I oughtn't to give you this, but what you have told me touches my heart. Take this and buy them some parents." e-e-ese SCOLDINO SET TO MUSIC IN one of the big One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street beer' gardens a brass band was playing what purported to be a Wagnerian selection with positively deafening effect. The good-natured people around the tables had wisely abandoned all effort at conversation.

Not so with one woman, a shrewish-looking person, who was leaning over a table shaking her finger at her husband and doing her best to make him hear the abuse that she was evidently hurling at him. Suddenly, with one grand blare, the music stopped, and the woman's voice, pitched In a veritable scream, was heard: You bald-headed, sour-faced Idiot, I'll Checked by ber own strident tones she looked about her In consternation. Not so the He was calloused to abuse. Picking up his stein- he looked at his wife and Shut up 'till the band starts again." was presented by the Criterion Comedy Company. Richard Golden was a member of Rice's Evangeline company.

Cora Tanner appeared in "The Danltes." John T. Kelly was at Tony Pastor's. W. J. Ferguson was In Gilbert's "The Wedding March at Abbey's Theatre.

Joseph Jefferson was appearing in a play called Rip Van Winkle." Lotta and Maggie Mitchell, now living In New Tork City, were starring In their repertoires. Mrs. Charles Walcot played at the Grand Opera House under Augustln Daly's management. Charles Walcot and Joseph. Wheelock.

were Mercutlo and Romeo at Booth's Theatre. Mme. Janaus- Plaed Mary Queen of Scot. In New Tork. Agnes Booth appeared with John McCulIough In "King John." Salvlnl appeared at Booth's under Maurice Grau's management.

Kitty Blanchard. now Mrs. McKee Rankin, the original Henriette la "The Two Orphans," appeared early during that year with Charlotte Cushman In "Meg Mer-rlles." Jeffreys Lewis appeared as Esmeralda i In Notre Dame," at the old Fourteenth Street Theatre, Nov. 28. 1874, and afterward Joined the Wallack company.

Clara Morris played "Camllle" at the old Fourteenth treet Theatre on March 28 of that year, supported by Kate- Claxton. Marie Wllklna. (the original Frochard In Two F. F. Mackay.

and Frank Mayo. Ed. Harrigan was starring with Harrlgan nd Tony Pastor was singing topical songs at Pastor's, in the Bowery. George Holland, the father of E. M.

Holland, was leading comedian In the Wallack Stock company. E. II. Bothern's father was starring In Lord Dundreary. 7 Leslie Allen, father of Viola Allen, and new In her company, was a member of tn atoston Theatre stock company.

-xe8e The Last Resort. Trem The Boston Herald: Tks Nxw Tons: Tins notes the ease of a young woman who haa taken step to prevent tbe aee of her picture aa magasiae adrertlse-sneat. wherein She is represented In bathtub with only one arm and her face visible. Xever-thl this oa traced yeang woman la informed la advance by the court of last resort that the offense of which she complains is not one of which the taw can take cogniaaaee, and that she eaaaet mahitala aa application for Injunction or for daskagaa. la which ease she woald seem te be Justified la resorting to a horsevhip.

APRIL FOOLS' DAY: ITS ORIGIN AND HOAXES IT HAS ft ft SOME years ago, when the possession of watches was rarer than It Is at present, and when many Individuals relied on clocks In public places for telling the time of day, a firm of clockmakers In Philadelphia perpetrated a wonderfully good April fool's Joke. They had in their window a very large clock with a face so clear and heavily marked that it could be seen some distance off, and this clock came to be regarded by tbe public as absolutely Infallible. Every man in the business section Invariably consulted this clock oft his way to his office In the morning. There It stood In the window, a faithful public servant that was never known to fall. But one rooming, the first day of April, as the trusting public trooped past and flocked to the clockmakers' window to ascertain the time, they, were confronted by a grotesque face that completely covered the dial, and to cap the climax the figure bad his thumb at hla nose, with fingers outstretched In the attitude of the small boy so familiar to every one, and below the face was the legend In large letters: No, you don't." Everybody appreciated the Joke so much more harmless than many April fool Jokes, and the Ingenious firm got a huge amount of gratuitous advertising.

The spirit of fun that prompts a man to play a Jokeat his neighbor's expense la as old as the human race. The Romans had their saturnalia, a feast when all sorts of license prevailed, and when even slaves had tho liberty of playing practical Jokes on their masters. We read of things in the Bible itself that might be regarded as genuine hoaxes, and ancient llteraturojreeords several Jokes that have the true lirst of April flavor. Herodotus, the Greek historian, tells of a deception practiced by an ancient Queen of Babylon, who. however, was not alive to enjoy the fulfillment of her artifice.

Over the main entrance gate of Bcbylon she had her sepulchre built In the sight of all. and caused this Inscription to be cut on It: Whoever of the Kings of Babylon after me may be In need of money let him open this tomb and take as much aa he wants. But he must not open it unless he is really In want; for it will do him no The tomb remained untouched until the kingdom came into, the hands of Darius, the King of Pcrria. When he captured Babylon he made up his mind to open the sepulchre and take the money. With great troublo he demolished the tomb and found only the moldenng remains of the Quten, and an Inscription which read: "If you had n6t oeen sq rreedy and anxious for filthy lucre yvu would net have entered the chamber of the dead." Let us hope the Queen's spirit waa around to enjoy the monarch's discomfiture.

It wns certainly too i ssod a Joke to lose. The Dove the First Victim. 1 we believe some perfectly sincere an tiquarles, we are led to think that the April fool Idea is about as old as the human race; for they go back, not to Adam, to be sure, but to Noah, for their explanation. The custom of making fools, they say, arose from Noah's sending the dove out from the ark on a fruitless errand on Lhe first of the month a month which, they main tain, corresponds to our April. Thus the Innocent, Inoffensive dove was the flrat April fool! So far will the desire to find explanations for things lead men to make fools of themselves.

i Two other popular explanations; for the origin of the day are the fickleness und uncertainty of April weather, and-another Biblical Idea the trial of our Lord. This latter idea has its rise in the sending back and forth of Christ from Annas to Cal- aphas. from Calaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and then from Herod beck to Pilate again, each mission being bootless one. To popularise this Idea still further, this scene was made the subject of a mlr- acle play given during the middle ages at Easter time, which occurs near April 1. A Reasonable Solution.

The best solution for this much vexed problem, and possibly the true one Is this: France was the first country to introduce the new calendar, which she did i in 1364. When the Julian calendar was adopted the equinox fell on the twenty-fifth of March, and this was New Tear's Day. For eight days thereafter the New Tear's festivities were at their height, and they reached their culmination on April 1, when they ended. in 1504. In France.

New Year's Day was changed from this part of the year to Jan. jan 1. and this change left the old date destitute of anything but a burlesque of Its former significance. But for several years after the change the gifts and the ceremonial visits that had marked the New Tear were kept up on the old date, and thus they became mere travesties, and were Intended to catch those who had forgotten the change. Certain it Is that France was the first country to practice the custom of making April fools, and from) there It spread all over Europe.

I Addison, who was the first English writer to refer to the custom, was decidedly op posed to this kind of practical Joking, but bis contemporary. Dean Swift, practiced several hoaxes In his day. In his 1 Journal to Stella for March 31. 1713. he tells how he, Dr.

Arbuthnot, and Lady Masham spent the evening concocting an April fool Joke for the next day. It seems that (some of the conspirators backed out. but the scheme as devised by Swift was a good one. and might have attained tbe proportions of a gigantic hoax. A man named Noble had been hanged: the incident had made a great stir at the time, and Swift's plan was to circulate reports that the man had come to life again, or, rather, bad never Idled, and was to be seen as a guest of the Black Swan Inn In Holborn.

This Jest, had It been put Into effect, would doubtless have rivaled soma of the magnificent hoaxes perpetrated a little later by that prince of Jokers, tho great Theodore Hook. One of the best Jokes still practiced In Scotland Is called "Hunting the! Gowk." Gowk Is a word that means cuckoo," and hence "dupe." Tbe Joke Is to get some unsuspecting- rustle to take a not to another man who Is in the scheme, The en velope Is sealed, of course, and Inside Is the sentence: This to the First of Aprils: Beat the gowk another aula. The man 4o whom the note Is addressed says he is not the right person to receive It. and sends the bearer on another! mile by. following the directions inclosed.

Tbe game goes on until the messenger discovers the trick. There are not many Instances on record of tho April foot custom doing anybody any particular good, but on one occasion at least tt tared a nobleman's life. The story SEEN 5 How the I Custom Saved the Lives of the Duke and Duchess of Lor- rainc. goes that Francis. Duke of Lorraine, and his wife were confined In Nantes.

One day tt happened to be the 1st of April, though they had not thought of It, they planned make their escape, was necessary 14 getting out or the town to pass the sen tries at the outer gates. Disguised aa pea ants the walked along In the direction of the sentries, when one them and ran ahead to wsrn the guards. But the latter were not to be so easily caught. Oh. no! "Polsson d'AvrlL April Fool!" they) yelled at their informer In derision.

Ton can't fool us." And so the whom fhey disdained to examine for fear of making themselves April fools, passed out and made good their escape. After all there seems to be some good in everything Police In This Joke. Another April fool story, with a good moral In it for those who have a tendency to carry their practical Jokes too far, come aiso from France. A Parisian lady, as a Joke. stole a watch from a friend's bouse on the 1st of April, and then to con tlnue the trick still further, she Informed the police of her friend's loss and had them scurrying all over town In their ef fbfts to catch the thief.

Finally the dee tectlves located the watch in the Joker'g own house, whereupon she announced he Joke and delightedly called the officers "April fools." Nevertheless she was hure; T-A ntt (A itrill trial Hn tKa tav of Ka I trial she announced to the presiding Maglse trate: Monsieur. I took the watch merely s4 an April fool Joke." "Then, madam," Mid the Impertusbabla; Judge, "merely as an April fool Joke, sentence you to prison as the real April' foci until the first of next April." A real April Fool Joke was perpetrated some years ago by New Tork dally whicbl -has since ceased to be published. It was in the days when Edison was first electrifying the world with his marvelous discover rles and Inventions. Nothing seemed tof difficult for him. The public was Just ill the mood to be deceived.

A Newspaper Hoax. Taking advantage of this gullible condM tlon, tbe newspaper published on the lsj of April an account of a process Just dls covered by Edison for making a cereal food out of earth and wine out of water. The) article made a great stir, and the Patent Office at Washington was deluged wlthl Inquiries as to whether such an lnventtotf had been patented. Papers all over the country copied the article, and many edl-e torials were written on the The) most enthusiastic of. these appeared la ef staid ana reputame uuiraio paper, wmcjs stated In glowing terms how Edison had) solved a problem more difficult than the) to this gifted genius, snd how glorious si thing It was that Edison was allowed to g9 ihMd with hla arork unlumMml thai foolish superstitions which some decades) ago would have condemned him as sjj sorcerer and magician.

The day after this glowing eulogy wag) written the hoax was discovered, for ther New Tork paper, having accomplished ItsK end, published tbe Buffalo editorial in it own columns with the heading The Bite." One of the most successful hoaxes even perpetrated, because It Imposed on such St large number of people, was the great cat hoax of Chester In 1816. Whether this waa an April Fool Joke or not Is uncertain, but as It contains the true flavor It deserves place here, although the brutality it led up) to was deplorable. In 1616 the-great Napoleon was fretting) his life away In exile In St. Helena, and) news of him and his doings, however trive laL was received with the greatest interest all over Europe. One day a paragraph tsj a Chester 'paper told the people of that quiet and usually sleepy little town that the Emperor was having his life worrteA out of him by the swarms of rats and mlcsj that Infested his quarters In St.

Helena The paper went on to say that the English Government, desiring to make the Emperor's condition as comfortable as possible was offering a good round sum for cats to be shipped to St. Helena. 16s. for well grown males, 10s. for females, and half crown for kittens.

All who wished to la I pw ol cm" prices were requests! present at a specuiea puce on a given day. The mercenary and patriotic souls that gathered about the designated house oat the appointee? day numbered about 3,000 and the cats they brought numbered a great many more. The small boys had scoured the back alleys and bad gathered In all the stray and homeless cats they could find. Cats, of all sixes, kinds, breed, and conditions filled the air with their meowings and caUrwaullngs. But alaat the crowd was doomed to disappointment.

It was soon found that the house to which they had been summoned was empty, and had been so for years. When tbe crowd discovered that It bad been duped It vented Its impotent rage on tbe poor, and for several days the carcasses of this drowned felines floated past the town down tbe River Dee. Washing the White Uon. A very good April fool hoax, less tracts In Its results; and more wholesome la its fun than the one Just mentioned, was played by, some merry spirits and boon companions In London In 1800. Toward the end of March some two thousand worthy Londoners, and even people outside the metropolis, received Invitation cards, bearing soma Insignia which looked perfectly official.

and reading as follows: Tower of London Admit Bearer and Friend to view the annual ceremony of Washing the White Lions, on Sunday, April Ad- mlttance only at White Gate. It Is partlo- ularly requested that no gratuities be gtvea to Wardens or attendants." Tbe usual Sabbath calm was lacking on that particular Sunday, when bnn-dreds of. cabs and vehicle of a-descriptlons went rumbling and clattering -about the historic old pile In a vain en- -deavor to find the White Gate." or to get any whatever. Such officials -and guards aa were In attendance thought they had a crowd of lunatics to deal with, and were almost thrown into a panic. It was not tintU tbe cards of Invitation had been officially condemned and the crowd had besieged the various entrances for some hours that they came to their senses and realised that they had been tbe victims.

of a monstrous and exceedingly ciersx 1 7.