DRAMATICS AS A FINANCIAL ASSET Many boys' work organizations rely for their income upon entertainments. When the boys want gymnasium suits, the woman's auxiliary new curtains, or the camp rowboats, the first means suggested is usually an entertainment. The better the type of entertainment presented, the more it costs to produce, because good work cannot be done cheaply. The reward of good work may not be immediately felt at the box office, but in the long run a well done piece of work will pay for itself in new friends and increased contributions.

The box office receipts from a well produced play are only part of the reward of well done dramatic work. A good play once a year, well produced, offers the supporters of the organization the opportunity to bring prospective contributors to see the work of the club. Many people will come to see a play who could not be induced to come and see the club work in any other way. As a means of acquainting the public and presenting the work to supporters, there is no better method than dramatics.

PUBLICITY VALUE OF DRAMATICS

The dramatic form of entertainment can be used to secure publicity and to sell to the com

munity the gospel of the "worthwhileness" of work for boys. To attract the attention of the public, the work must be presented dramatically. A class in cobbling may be only a group of boys mending their own shoes in some out-of-the-way corner of a club building, but when that same group presents in a small play the complete story of leather, immediately a much larger audience is interested and cobbling becomes a publicity asset. The Boys' Club of Passaic, N. J., have a traveling troupe of minstrels who appear frequently before the local civic and fraternal organizations, much to the benefit of the club as well as to the boys participating. The American Child Health Organization has found it can popularize the idea of sound bodies for the children of this country by presenting their story in the form of a play.

The Woodcraft League of America have a program for their council meetings, which has been used for the purpose of presenting the year's work at the closing of the winter's season. Each class, or group, in this council meeting becomes a unit, and presents at the proper time evidences of the work they have been doing. The class in cooking exhibits an apple pie or biscuits. The candy class pulls taffy and distributes kisses among the audience. The printing class contributes the program which they have printed, and the art class exhibits totems. The entertainment is furnished by the boys from the glee club or the orchestra. They challenge other boys to exhibitions of their special talent, so that songs, recitations, folk dancing and gymnasium feats are worked in as part of an enjoyable entertainment. The audience enjoys a living report of the year's work presented in this dramatic form.

Never have I seen the boy as the hope of the world more dramatically presented than at the "America Making Exhibition" some years ago in the 71st Regiment Armory. The stage represented America, the land to which the races of the world were immigrating and bringing their peculiar contributions to enrich this land. Those of the very old world were led by Leif Erickson, and when these Vikings, Portuguese, Spaniards, Negroes, and Englishmen had gathered on the stage, another group representing the French, Dutch, Finnish, Scotch, Irish, Slovak, Belgian, Pole, Hungarian, Greek, Armenian, Russian, Ukranian, and Lithuanian, assembled. Then an adolescent boy, representing future Americans, stepped to the center of this picturesque group, the embodiment of the hope of all these people. He was raised to

their shoulders as the Liberty Bell tolled and a trumpet sounded. Then the immense audience joined with those on the stage in singing The Star Spangled Banner. So can the adolescent boy be presented to the public if it is to be awakened to the tremendous possibilities of the boy.

The boy is the best advertisement of the Boys' Club.

Plays for Men and Boys

JUNIOR LIST

(Please order directly from Publisher or Book

shop. Addresses on last page.)

He May Be President, by Leon Edward Joseph. 1 act. 27 characters. Interior. A boy learns through a dream of famous presidents that history may be very interesting. French. 30c. No royalty

The Poor Boy Who Became a Great Warrior, by Perry Boyer Corneau. 2 acts. 10 characters. Exterior. The poor boy of the tribe goes on the war path with the braves and captures the medicine stick single handed. Old Tower. 40c. No royalty

The Discovery, by Herman Ould. 1 act. 7 char

acters. Exterior. Mutiny threatens Columbus near the end of his first voyage, in a stirring episode laid aboard the flagship of the expedition. French. 30c. Royalty, $5 The Animal Convention, by Charles Noel Douglas. 1 act. 13 characters. Interior. A humorous sketch in which the barnyard animals hold an indignation meeting to protest their various wrongs. M. Witmark and Sons. 35c. 35c. No royalty Tatters, by Richard Burton. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. A humorous, pathetic, and appealing sketch which champions the under dog in the social struggle. Well adapted to boys' schools. French. 30c. Royalty, $5

The Pathfinder, by Herman Ould. 1 act. 5

characters and as many others as desired. Exterior. An incident in the life of David Livingston at the time of his African exploration. Deeply religious. French. 30c. Royalty, $5

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The Boy Who Went, by Laurie Y. Erskine. 1 act. 1 man, 14 boys, any number of extras. Interior. Excellent play for Boy Scout Troops, plenty of thrills. Penn Publishing Co. 25c. No royalty

Little John and the Miller Join Robin Hood's Band, by Perry Boyer Corneau. 7 characters and extras. 2 exterior scenes. A lively dramatization of the beguiling Miller and stalwart John in Sherwood Forest. Old Tower. 40c. No royalty

The Perry Boys, by Harold Strong Latham. 3 scenes. 10 characters. 1 interior. 1 exterior. The boys' club undertakes to reform a young "tough" and finally succeeds through the inspiration of Commodore Perry's bravery and resolution. French. 30c. No royalty

Fingers, by the staff of the Big Brother Movement, Inc. 4 acts. 18 characters. Interior. A melodrama centering around a boys' club, showing the influence of the club on underprivileged boys. French. 30c. No royalty The Oaten Cakes, by Rea Woodman. 3 scenes. 8 boys and extras. 2 exteriors. 1 interior. The familiar story of the Saxon king pleasingly dramatized. The cottager's wife may be played by a boy. Eldridge Entertainment House. 15c. No royalty

Ten Boys' Farces, by Eustace M. Peixotto. Includes "The Last Rehearsal," "The Teacher's Pet," "Chips Off the Old Block," and others. Not noteworthy for literary value but amusing and easy to produce. Baker. 40c. No royalty

It Will Be All Right on the Night, by Jaxon

Knox. 1 act. 9 characters. 1 interior. A farce showing the difficulties of a dramatic club coach. Very funny. French. 30c. No royalty

Gassed, by Bessie W. Springer. 1 act. 5 characters. Interior. A comedy showing the lighter side of life at a middle west university. Recommended for the older boys in the junior group. French. 30c. No royalty

SENIOR LIST

The Laziest Man in the World, by Carl Webster Pierce. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. Two burglars enter the wrong apartment, are discovered, and one of them loses the distinction of being the world's laziest man in a most amusing scene. French. 30c. No royalty

4 characters. Exterior. Two vagabonds secure a toothsome meal through a bit of dexterous thievery executed with nimble Villonesque humor. The one woman's part may be played by a boy or the lines may be spoken behind the scene. Appleton. 50c. Royalty, $10

Two Blind Men and a Donkey, by Mathurin Dondo. 1 act. 6 characters. Exterior. A clever comedian extricates two blind beggars from a dilemma when each believes the other has been given a ducat to pay for a feast they have consumed. Appleton. 50c. Royalty, $10 A Night at an Inn, by Lord Dunsany. 1 act. 8 characters. Interior. Three sailors, under the direction of a gentleman thief, steal the ruby eye of an Indian idol and come to a hideous end when the idol claims his lost eye. A popular thriller with sensational supernatural effects. French. 50c. Royalty, $10

The Glittering Gate, by Lord Dunsany. 1 act. 2 characters. Exterior. Two thieves arrive at the gate of Heaven and attempt to enter. When the gate finally opens they find only an empty void through which is heard the sound of mocking laughter. Comic and ironic. French. 50c. Royalty, $10

Action, by Holland Hudson.

1 act. 12 characters. Interior. A travesty in which a dramatic director follows the advice of his critics and produces a play containing all their suggestions. The result is a piece of rapid-fire nonsense, amusing and enlightening. Appleton. 50c. Royalty, $10

The Net, by Percival Wilde. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. A well known burglar notifies a safe company that their new burglar proof safe is not beyond his skill and demonstrates his claim in an act of comedy, mystery and surprise. Baker. 35c. Royalty, $5

The Traitor, by Percival Wilde. 1 act. 7 characters and extras. Interior. The colonel, realizing that there is a traitor in the regiment, forces him to expose himself by a clever piece of strategy. Vivid characterization and high interest with strong ending. Baker. 35c. Royalty, $5

The Lost Silk Hat, by Lord Dunsany. 1 act. 5 characters. Exterior. A young man, finding that he has left his hat in the house of his fiancee with whom he has quarrelled, tries to regain it by various amusing subterfuges. Clever lines. French. 50c. Royalty, $10 Marse Covington, by George Ade. 1 act. 5 characters. Interior. Marse Covington, an impoverished Southern aristocrat, is saved the disgrace of being put out of a gambling house by a faithful old Negro. Delightful character delineation with a touch of pathos. French. 50c. Royalty, $5

Nettie, by George Ade. 1 act. 5 characters. In

terior. Three men find themselves equally tricked by Nettie, the diligent and delectable gold digger, who appears only as her character is reconstructed by the baffled suitors. French. 50c. Royalty, $5

Four Plays for Male Characters, by H. M. Ver

non. Including "The Case of Johnny Walker," an especially good play of intrigue at detective headquarters; "Something' in the City," a play of modern English business; "All Men Are Fools," dealing with the vicissitudes of love at a British army post in India, and "Squeaky," in which a prison governor is also a clever psychologist. Four excellent plays. French. 75c. Royalty, $5

Moonshine, by Arthur Hopkins. 1 act. 2 characters. Interior. A moonshiner captures a revenue officer whom he intends to kill. The officer, through a shrewd trick, inveigles him not only into refusing to kill him but into insisting upon his captive leaving the cabin at once. French, 35c. Royalty, $5

If Men Played Cards as Women Do, by George S. Kaufman. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. A brilliant satire in which men gravely discuss servants, clothes, and scandal across the bridge table. Recommended only for a sophisticated audience. French. 30c. Royalty, $5 Four of a Kind, by Constance Wilcox. 1 act. 5 characters. Exterior. A melodrama of the sea in which four rogues attempt to steal the Votive pearls from a ruined monastery but are out-witted by a priest. French. 35c. Royalty, $5

Undertones, by Phoebe Hoffman. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. A father is influenced by the ghost of his youth to sympathize with his son's love affair. French. 30c. Royalty, $5 The Medicine Show, by Stuart Walker. 1 act.

3 characters. Exterior. An amusing study of rural American types portrayed by two clodhoppers and a quack doctor. In "Portmanteau Plays." Appleton. $2.50. Royalty, $10 The Rising of the Moon, by Lady Gregory. 1 act. 4 characters. Exterior. A homeless fugitive from the law, disguised as a ballad singer, so wins the sympathy of a sergeant of police that the officer assists him to escape the law, though there is a reward for his detection. French. 50c. Royalty, $5

In the Zone, by Eugene O'Neill. 1 act. 9 characters. Interior. Sailors on a steamer crossing the war zone suspect one of their number to be a spy because of a small box which he has been concealing. In a strong denouement it is discovered that the box contains letters from a former sweetheart, renouncing him because he is a drunkard. Fine dialogue. In "The Moon of the Caribbees," Modern Library, Inc. 95c. Royalty, $15

Bound East for Cardiff, by Eugene O'Neill. 1 act. 11 characters. Exterior. A tragedy in which the essential kindness of a group of sailors is shown beneath their rough exteriors. Little action but intensely dramatic. Requires experienced players. In "The Moon of the Caribbees," Modern Library, Inc. 95c. Royalty, $15

Boots, by Ransom Rideout. 1 act. 4 characters.

Interior. An innkeeper, a cook, a coachman and a veteran of the World War are involved in a tense and terrible scene centering around the handsome boots worn by the veteran. The action takes place in the kitchen of a Russian tavern. Appleton. 50c. Royalty, $10 The Brink of Silence, by E. E. Galbraith. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. An antarctic explorer, learning that his wife believes him dead and has married again, remains in the south under an assumed name. When his son, returning from a successful expedition, stops at the cabin, the father glories in the young man's achievement but does not make himself known. In "Short Plays of Various Types," edited by Milton W. Smith. Charles E. Merrill Co. 75c. Royalty, $5

Just Two Men, by Eugene Pilot. 1 act. 2 characters. Exterior. Melodramatic father-son plot. Colorful and tense little drama of the sea. French. 30c. Royalty, $10 The Game of Chess, by Kenneth S. Goodman. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. A thriller in

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which a Russian aristocrat plays a metaphorical game of chess with a man who has come to kill him. His superior wit brings about the suicide of the peasant. Swartout. 50c. Royality $10 if admission is charged, $5 if no admission is charged

Release, by Edward H. Smith. 1 act. 5 men. Interior. Four jailed burglars, one a murderer, but all implicated in the crime, throw a coin to determine which of the group shall sacrifice himself for the others. Thrilling action and startling climax. Remington. 40c. Royalty, $10

The Zone Police, by Richard Harding Davis. 1 act. 4 characters. Interior. A police officer in the Canal Zone arrests an officer in the army who is a confirmed drunkard. The play shows a trick which the police officer uses to make the other realize his condition. French. 30c. Royalty, $5

Brains, by Martin Flavin. 1 act. 3 characters. Exterior. Three desperate ship-wrecked sailors plot for one another's lives. Obtainable only in volume, "Brains and Other Plays." French. $1.60. Royalty, $10

That's My Hat, by Doty Hobart. 1 act. 8 char

acters. Especially good for banquets. The one woman may be played by a man. An amusing skit concerning the ownership of a hat. French. 30c. Royalty, $5

The Ghost of Jerry Bundler, by W. W. Jacobs and Charles Rock. 1 act. 7 characters. Interior. Several men gathered at an English tavern tell ghost stories. A bet is made that no ghost can frighten one of the party and is won by another who disguises himself as the ghost of a bandit, long dead. An old favorite. French. 30c. Royalty, $5

The Touch of Truth, by H. M. Walbrook. 1 act. 2 characters. Interior. An aspiring young actor convinces an older actor who is trying to discourage him that he has unusual dramatic ability by doing a bit of acting so powerfully that the older man mistakes it for reality. French. 30c. Royalty, $5

The Gray Overcoat, by William R. Randall. 1 act. 3 characters. Interior. A melodrama in which the police inspector, the brilliant detective and the thief are involved in exciting action ending in the establishment of better relations between the inspector and detective. French. 30c. Royalty, $5

(Concluded on page 58)

Will you go with me out for a tramp through the park or along the river shore this morning? There is something peculiarly invigorating about an early walk just at dawn, always a time of greatest glory, freshness and music, especially during these weeks of Spring awakening.

It seems that the whole world is moving northward. Robins, bluebirds, woodpeckers, blackbirds, song sparrows are here and each day one meets new friends and so will it be for weeks to come. Travelers on their way from South America to Labrador-warblers: myrtle, blackthroated green, and yellow; catbirds, thrashers, thrushes, tanagers, orioles, vireos and fly catchers an army of them, coming like waves of a world wide ocean, some to stay, others merely pausing for rest and food. The trees are blossoming in rich reds and gold, yet how often I find that this tree blossom time is quite unknown to the man and woman with whom one works and plays. Have you seen the red glow on the elm twigs? It is already beginning to turn to the misty green of tender seed disks; no, not yet leaves. Are you watching the full tassels of the poplars, cottonwoods and alders swinging in the breeze? Do you know the crimson tongues of the hazel or do only their slender catkins win your attention? You have two kinds of flowers in all these; one having only stamens and the other having only pistils. Have you seen the velvet fronds of the ferns uncoil where skunk cabbages are blooming, while flies and bees hunt them out for their first taste of nectar and pollen?

I hope everyone who may be listening in has felt the quickening that comes with Spring and it comes as naturally as the air we breath. It brings us back from a walk in the woods or fields enriched and the fresh sweetness of the wild things we meet by the way will linger in our memories for days.

But I hear some one saying out there that such talk is all right for some few fortunate souls but not for those who live in crowded cities or ugly narrow little places. The hurry, the ugliness, is all too often within and we can, to a great extent,

*A radio talk over WEAF.

shut it out and know that the spot of earth on which we stand is the most wonderful spot on earth. In this spirit we begin to remember that man did not make the earth nor the heavens but that we are, in truth, standing on holy ground. Have you ever really seen the wonders spread before you? Heaven and earth unite to supply you with infinite variety of nature material. It is about you everywhere. You can't get away from it on the wing, under foot, hiding in holes and in crevices, in the tree top, curled in the leaves, sheltered in the blossom and the seed. It is sharing with us our home and garden, our shop and market cart. By day it soars and sings and calls, by night it prowls and hoots and howls. The day brings us the rustle of busy lives; the night brings us peace and best of all it gives us the stars.

Do you lack the joy of all this? Then, indeed, the lack must be within yourself for all is there awaiting you if you have the eyes to see and ears to hear. Do you know the secrets of the trees, the butterflies, birds, toads, snails, and spiders or are you walking through life as one in sleep? Every hour of your day might be made richer by a little patient effort in forming the habit of seeing things and wondering about those things you Whether you spend time indoors or out, there is always a bit of fancy here, a fact or two there out of which to build a romance, a tragedy, a fulfillment or a sacrifice. Every living thing about us, be it the wee conies harvesting hay amid the bleak storm-riven cliffs or the ant beneath our feet, has a story to tell and there is always an adventure in discovery awaiting just around the corner.

see.

Why, there is a tale of other worlds, of other times, lurking in the commonplace vegetables you are going to prepare for dinner. The tomato for your salad was once the love apple used to adorn the mantle shelf of your grandfathers but no one dreamed of eating it-for being a relation of the night shades it was supposed to be poisonous. Its closest neighbor on the market shelf is our old familiar Irish potato which came to us from far off South America. Yet, it had to cross the At