ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841 - 1901)

THEATRE REVIEWS

Roger la Honte; or, A Man’s Shadow (1889)
(The American Production)

Roger la Honte; or, A Man’s Shadow
by Augustin Daly and Robert Buchanan (adapted from A Man’s Shadow by Robert Buchanan, Roger la Honte by Jules Mary and Georges Grisier and based on the novel by Jules Mary).
New York: Niblo’s Garden. 8 October to 6 November, 1889.

The New York Times (10 September, 1889)

THEATRICAL GOSSIP.

     William Terriss and Miss Millward, of all the foreign stars who are to appear in this country this season, are the only ones who will present a new play adapted by an American. The English version of “Roger La Honte,” which they will produce, is the work of Mr. Augustin Daly, and the company which will support them is composed exclusively of Americans, who have been selected by Mr. Daly himself. The scenery for “Roger La Honte” has all been painted at Niblo’s, and is now ready for the stage. Rehearsals will begin Sept. 23, under the personal direction of Mr. Daly himself, who retains control of the management of Mr. Terriss and Miss Millward during their New-York engagement, turning it over afterward to H. C. Miner. The tour will open at Niblo’s Oct. 7, and a season of five weeks will be played in this house. The later bookings include the Hollis-Street Theatre, Boston, two weeks; the Park Theatre, Brooklyn, one week; Miner’s Theatre, Newark, one week; the Chestnut-Street Opera House, Philadelphia, two weeks; the Grand Opera House, Chicago, two weeks; the National Theatre, Washington, one week, and the Academy, Baltimore, one week.

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The New York Times (18 September, 1889)

TERRISS AND MISS MILLWARD.

THEY RETURN TO AMERICA TO ACT IN
“ROGER LA HONTE.”

     William Terriss, the English actor, arrived on the Ems yesterday. There are more gray hairs on his head than there were when he was here with Henry Irving six years ago, and he has arrived at that period of life when he tells younger men that something or other happened “before your time, I fancy.” But he is as tall and handsome as ever.
     He said at the Hotel Brunswick last night: “I shall resume work again almost immediately. Thursday we begin rehearsals of the play ‘Roger la Honte,’ which has had such a long run in Paris, and which was produced last Thursday at the Haymarket, in London, under the title ‘A Man’s Shadow,’with such success. We shall open with it at Niblo’s Theatre Oct. 8. I shall give Mr. Augustin Daly’s adaptation of the play and be under his management during the six weeks’ season in New-York. Then I become jointly associated with Mr. Daly and Mr. Miner. The company, with the exception of Miss Millward, will be composed of American actors.”
     “Why do you retain the French title of ‘Roger la Honte?’”
     “Well, the English translation, ‘Roger the Shamed,’ is not so good, and it was Mr. Daly’s wish that the French name should be retained. We shall also give ‘Frou Frou,’ and I have thought of putting on ‘Othello’ during our stay here. I played ‘Othello’ in London some time ago with quite a good deal of success.”
     Miss Jessie Millward, who accompanied Mr. Terriss, was at the Hotel Vendome. Her face is not unfamiliar to New- York theatregoers. She played in “Called Back” several seasons ago, and she was also with the Madison-Square company for some time. She came with Mr. Irving on his first visit, playing juvenile parts.

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The New York Times (6 October, 1889)

     “Roger la Honte” is a melodrama taken from a story written by Jules Mary, which was published in Le Petit Journal, a cheap newspaper read by the masses in Paris. The plot is like that of “The Courier of Lyons”—an innocent man is suspected of a crime committed by another man, who is his exact physical counterpart. Roger la Roque, a wealthy engineer, is the innocent hero, and Luversan his deadly double. Both characters are necessarily portrayed by the same actor. At Niblo’s on Tuesday night that actor will be Mr. William Terriss, a handsome, agreeable, well-trained English actor, who was in Mr. Irving’s company at the Star Theatre six years ago. Terriss has lately been associated in London with Adelphi melodrama.
     One of the great scenes in “Roger la Honte” is the trial of Roger. He is defended by Lucien de Noirville, a former schoolmate, and a man of prominence at the bar. De Noirville learns during the trial that Roger, who will not say a word in his own defense, was at the time of the murder in the company of his own wife, Mme. de Noirville. The revelation of the frailty of his wife and the falsity of his friend is a crushing blow, but he determines, from a sense of justice, to speak the truth in court and secure the acquittal of Laroque at the cost of his own honor. Just as he is about to speak he is stricken down and dies of heart disease. In Paris the actor who played this character won the greatest triumph. In London, where the play is now current at the Haymarket Theatre under the title of “A Man’s Shadow,” Mr. James Fernandez, acting the part of the advocate, has likewise made the greatest individual triumph of the production. Mr. Wilton Lackaye will be Lucien de Noirville at Niblo’s. The principal woman of the play, de Noirville’s faithless wife, will be portrayed by Miss Jessie Millward, who is remembered as a pleasing Hero in “Much Ado About Nothing” and a fairly successful representative of Pauline in “Called Back,” and who acted very nicely in “Sealed Instructions” at the Madison-Square Theatre.
     The play will be called at Niblo’s “Roger la Honte; or, A Man’s Shadow,” Mr. Augustin Daly having used Mr. Robert Buchanan’s London adaptation as the basis of his version of the story. Mr. William Gilbert and Mr. Dan Collyer will appear as two comic amateur detectives, Miss Henrietta Crossman will be Mme. La Roque, and the precocious child of the play will be Marguerite Fields.

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The New York Times (9 October, 1889)

“ROGER LA HONTE.”

     “Roger la Honte; or, A Man’s Shadow,” a four-act drama, founded on a romance published as a feuilleton in Le Petit Journal of Paris, was performed, for the first time in this country, at Niblo’s last evening. The principal characters were taken by Mr. William Terriss and Miss Jessie Millward, from England. Mr. Terriss is a comely, well-built man and an actor of very respectable powers. Miss Millward is a handsome, graceful woman and a fairly good actress. Neither of them seem to have improved in their art since they were last in this country, but it is likely that they would both be seen to better advantage in a different sort of play. “Roger la Honte” is a melodrama of the most strenuous description. Its principal materials are assassination, robbery, and illicit love. The last element is treated very gingerly in the version now on view, described as the joint work of Augustin Daly and Robert Buchanan, with the result that the motive that inspires some of the action seems to be rather vague. The play, in its present shape, would undoubtedly have been very successful at Niblo’s some years ago—at the time of “The Two Orphans” and “A Celebrated Case”—when the public taste seemed to crave French melodrama of this description; and we are not prepared to say that it will not be very successful now.
     All that is worth telling of the story of “Roger La Honte” has already been told in this place. The play resembles that known in Mr. Irving’s repertory as “The Lyons Mail” in this particular, that the two principal male personages are men who closely resemble each other in outward aspect and are totally unlike in disposition and moral characters. Roger La Roque is an upright man; Luversan, his double and shadow, a wretch so unspeakably vile that words would fail to describe his baseness. The pictures of the play include the brutal murder of an old man by Luversan in sight of the wife and child of La Roque, who are thus led to believe that that worthy husband and father is a murderer; the trial of La Roque in the court of assize, concluding with the death from heart disease of his advocate and friend, Lucien de Noirville, who has discovered that the prisoner is indeed innocent of murder, but that to prove his innocence in court he must couple his own name with infamy; and, finally, the killing of Luversan in a roadside inn by gendarmes, who mistake him for La Roque, who has escaped from New-Caledonia.
     The plot is involved, and the drama has little to commend it as a work of art. It will be understood that its climaxes are exciting to the last degree, and that it contains some scenes that are very effective in a purely theatrical sense. Not the least successful of these, in the view of the multitude, will be the scenes in which La Roque’s daughter, a child of eight years, who says her prayers on the stage, figures. This infant sees the murder and believes her father to be the murderer. She is taught by her mother to say, when questioned, “I heard nothing; I saw nothing,” and thus equipped passes, with brilliant triumph, through the ordeals of the police examination and the trial in court, to the manifest joy of all mothers of small girls in the audience. The child employed at Niblo’s is a cunning little thing and has been well trained. But the precocious infant is becoming a dreadful bore in the drama.
     Mr. Terriss plays La Roque and Luversan. As the man of honor he is handsome and graceful, though oversentimental and affected in manner, and vociferous to a degree. As the man of dishonor he is scowling, spasmodic, and still vociferous. Luversan has been a spy. The conception of the part an ordinary actor would form would be a catlike, sneaking, whispering individual. But Mr. Terriss—in this part, at least—is an extraordinary actor. His Luversan is a noisy, boisterous fellow, with a meaningless cackle. The likeness to Mr. Irving’s thrilling Dubosc is not very close in the performance, but there is no doubt of Mr. Terriss’s aim. The result is that he makes the success of Luversan’s plot against La Roque seem incredible.
     Mr. Wilton Lackaye, now a member of Mr. Daly’s company, has one of the best parts in the play, in a popular sense, one that is comparatively easy to act, and in good hands sure of effect. He is Noirville, the advocate, whose sense of justice is so strong that he determines to save La Roque at the cost of his wife’s good name and his won honor, and dies before his declaration in court is finished. Both in Paris and in London the actor who played this part made a great hit, and Mr. Lackaye, who does very well with it, got a large share of the applause last night.
     Miss Millward is the wife of Noirville, whose lover La Roque has been—before her marriage in this version of the play. The character is unsympathetic and not very interesting. Miss Millward, like Mr. Terriss, is vociferous. The play is acted throughout, in fact, in the old-fashioned melodramatic manner. It is all well done, after this fashion, though, the minor characters all being in good hands. What humor there is is supplied by Mr. William Gilbert, Miss Hattie Russell, and Mr. Dan Collyer. The scenery is all good.
     Mr. Daly appeared twice on the stage last night to acknowledge the applause, and Mr. Terriss, Mr. Lackaye, and Miss Millward were recalled repeatedly after the trial scene.

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New-York Daily Tribune (9 October, 1889 - p.6)

THE DRAMA—MUSIC.
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“ROGER LA HONTE.”

Two more English players began their American season last night, at Niblo’s Garden, and received a welcome and a manifestation of approval that must have been extremely gratifying. William Terriss and Miss Jessie Millward are not entirely new to the stage of this country, but they have never before appeared here as stars. The play of last night was “Roger La Honte, or a Man’s Shadow,” adapted by Augustin Daly and Robert Buchanan from the original of Jules Mary and G. Grisier. It is a melodrama and an unusually strong one, with parts calculated to show the good qualities of other actors besides those who play the leading parts.
     The story is the plots of one Louversan against Roger La Roque, whom he greatly resembles in face and figure. La Roque, as a military officer, has ordered Louversan to be shot as a spy, but he escapes. La Roque has a wife and a child, but before his marriage he was the lover of a woman now the wife of his comrade-in-arms, Lucien de Noirville. This woman, Julie de Noirville, still loves La Roque, but he spurns her advances and bids her be faithful to her husband, as he will be to his wife. Louversan finds her half maddened after the scene with her old lover and urges her to join him in a plan of revenge. La Roque is on the verge of financial ruin; in the house next to his lives a rich banker. Luversan kills the banker and steals 100,000 francs, which he sends to Julie, who sends them in turn to La Roque, under a pretence that she wishes to save him from ruin. La Roque’s wife and daughter, a child of eight years, see the murder from their window and believe that it has been done by La Roque.
     Next follows the trial of the accused man, and it closes with a remarkably powerful dramatic situation. Noirville defends his comrade in the court. The prisoner’s child is made to testify, but not even her father’s pleading can make her say anything against him or tell what she saw. The verdict seems about to go against the prisoner when Luversan gives Noirville a letter from his wife to La Roque, which seems to him to prove his innocence of murder and his sin with Julie. The advocate is weak from a wound, and can scarcely stand to make his plea, but with a supreme effort he declares to the court that he has proof that La Roque did not kill the banker, and he is about to denounce his own wife when he falls dead into his chair.
     In the closing act the characters are brought together at an inn on the frontier. The child meets Luversan, sees his likeness to her father and guesses that he is the murderer, and as he springs up a stairway in pursuit of her, that he may kill her, he is shot by the police who are seeking La Roque, now an escaped prisoner; Julie repentant and longing to atone for the wrong she has done, tells of her conspiracy with Louversan and the hero is reunited to his wife and child.
     Mr. Terriss played both Roger La Roque and Louversan, and was skilful enough to make the expressions of the two faces constantly different, while the features were, of course, the same. His faults are tendencies to overact and to rant, especially in the case of the villain. In the hero’s quieter scenes, he is strong and manly. Miss Millward did excellent work as Julie de Noirville, and was especially good in her repentant scene in the last act. But she appeared at her best, perhaps, in her silent listening to her husband’s speech in the court, and momentary expectation that he would denounce her. Mr. Terriss, in this scene, in his nervous attempts to silence the man who is pleading for his life and his own dishonor, appeared to good advantage, if allowance be made for the different surroundings and conditions of a French court from one in England or America. It was here, too, that Wilton Lackaye, as Noirville, showed a remarkable power and command of the situation, and won applause equal to that bestowed on the actors of the leading parts. The child acted and talked prettily and easily and among the other actors who deserve mention are Eugene Ormond, as the president of the court; Miss Henriette Crossman, as Madame La Roque, and Miss Hattie Russell, as a servant. The principal actors and Mr. Daly were repeatedly called before the curtain, and at the end of the play Mr. Terriss thanked the audience for their reception.

[Advert for Roger La Honte from the New-York Daily Tribune (9 October, 1889).]

The New York Times (13 October, 1889)

     It is strange that playgoers should express disappointment about the acting of William Terriss, for what promise was there that Terriss would prove an actor of unusual skill, except the appearance of his name in large letters on fence posters and his likeness in shop windows? Mr. Terriss was an efficient and agreeable member, six years ago, of a stock company controlled by the firm hand and indomitable will of a master of stagecraft. He did Don Pedro and Bassanio as Mr. Irving told him to. He has since been reveling in the boisterous Adelphi melodrama. He has acquired an affected, exaggerated manner of displaying emotion, and he has not increased sufficiently in skill to compose and delineate a dual rôle such as that of La Roque and Luversan. There are a dozen actors well known to frequenters of Niblo’s who could act this part and differentiate the two halves of it quite as well as Terriss. His La Roque is noisy and stagy, and his Luversan ineffective. He does not make the rogue, as Beerbohm Tree does in London, a whispering, sneaking villain, but tries to imitate Irving’s Dubosc, and fails.
     Miss Millward is a handsome woman and a pleasing actress, and her acting as Julie de Noirville makes the spectator desire to see her in a more effective and attractive part. No such longing is inspired by Mr. Terriss’s acting. One feels that he has had quite enough of him before the play is finished.
     “Roger la Honte” is an ordinary old-fashioned melodrama, with plenty of exciting situations, which outrages probability in every scene. It is done in the good old way at Niblo’s. No pains have been spared to make the piece go. Mr. Lackaye makes a good effect in his one strong scene, though he is always inclined to be grotesque, and this work will add to his popularity. There is little in the performance, however, to commend it to thoughtful playgoers. One does not sympathize with La Roque, and Julie is a repulsive personage. The suffering wife is played in a pretty, colorless manner by Miss Crossman, and the infant is interesting only to people who have not yet wearied of prattling children on the stage.

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The Era (26 October, 1889 - p.9)

THE DRAMA IN AMERICA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

     NEW YORK, OCT. 9.

. . .

“ROGER LA HONTE.”
Melodrama, in Four Acts, adapted by
Augustin Daly and Robert Buchanan, first played at
Niblo’s Theatre, New York, on Tuesday, Oct. 8th, 1889.

Roger La Roque
Luversan                                     }Mr WILLIAM TERRISS
Lucien De Noirville                        Mr WILTON LACKAYE
M. Gerbier                                   Mr J. H. FITZPATRICK
The President                                Mr EUGENE ORMOND
The Commissary of Police             Mr FRANK NORCROSS
The Attorney-General                   Mr LIVINGSTON B. MORSE
Julie De Noirville                           Miss JESSIE MILLWARD
Madame La Roque                      Miss HENRIETTE CROSSMAN
Little Suzanne                               Miss MARGUERITE FIELDS
Victoire                                         Miss HATTIE RUSSELL
Madame Benardit                          Miss MAY SYLVIE

     Mr William Terriss and Miss Millward are not entirely strangers to the stage of this country, but they have never before appeared here as “stars.” You know all about Roger la Honte already. Mr Terriss as La Roque and Luversan is skilful enough to make the two impersonations quite different. He gives a powerful, striking, and altogether excellent interpretation of both these exacting rôles. Mr Wilton Lackaye as De Noirville plays with force and finish. Miss Millward as Madame De Noirville does excellent work, pleases everybody, and is especially good in her repentant scene in the last act. Miss Henrietta Crossman and Miss Hattie Russell acquitted themselves creditably in minor rôles. The play has been received with great enthusiasm, and Mr Terriss and Miss Millward have already made themselves warm favourites.

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The New York Times (31 October, 1889)

THEATRICAL GOSSIP.

     The business of “Roger La Honte” at Niblo’s has improved so steadily this week that Manager Gilmore has decided to continue the play until next Wednesday, postponing the appearance of Mr. Terriss and Miss Millward in “The Lady of Lyons” until that evening. Bulwer’s comedy will be presented until the close of the engagement on Nov. 9. An extra matinée of “Roger La Honte” will be given on election day.

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Reynolds’s Newspaper (10 November, 1889)

     On Tuesday night (says a New York journal) William Terriss, Miss Millward, and their company, made their début at Niblo’s Garden in Augustin Daly and Robert Buchanan’s adaptation of “Roger la Honte” to a tolerably good attendance. Until the court scene of the third act the play is dreary, especially the two low comedy French soldiers and their noisy female companion. It was noticeable that both Mr. Terriss and Miss Millward shouted effectively throughout the drama. The hit of Roger la Honte was achieved by Mr. Wilton Lackaye, who received persistent calls which were responded to by other people who had not been called for. The representation was sufficiently boisterous to gratify the most ardent admirers of vociferous acting.

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The Salt Lake Herald (23 November, 1889 - p.1)

THEATRICAL GOSSIP.
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The Dispute Between Miss Hollis and Augustin
Daly—The Causes and Consequences.

[Special to THE HERALD—Examiner Dispatch.]
     NEW YORK, Nov. 22.—The recent sudden peremptory dismissal of Wilton Mackaye and William Gilbert by Augustin Daly from his stock company caused considerable comment in theatrical circles and to-day when it became known that Miss Hollis, the recent addition to the company had suddenly left it, the tongues of all the managers, actors and actresses in town were again set wagging. When Daly took his company last spring to San Francisco, he saw Miss Hollis act the part of Stephanie in “Forget-Me-Not” at the Baldwin theatre. He was so favorably impressed with the performance that he made her a very liberal offer to join his forces. The contract was to run for three years, and Miss Hollis was to be furnished with wardrobes for whatever characters she was to play. She was informed that during that time she would travel with Terrish through the country. When Terrish opened at Niblo’s garden a few weeks ago Miss Hollis was told to understudy Miss Crossman in the part of the wife in “Roger La Honte.” A short time after that she was called upon to act the role at a matinee performance. Daly, it is said, was present at the performance and expressed his satisfaction at her interpretation of the character, and at the same time informed Miss Hollis that she was prepared to go on the road to act the part. He also told her that she would have to wear Miss Crossman’s costume for the piece, and it was over this point that the trouble arose. Miss Hollis objected, but Daly was obdurate and said that if she did not like it she could go to h—. As this was, it is asserted, a violation of her contract, Miss Hollis thought she would wait a day or so before acting in the matter, in the hope that Daly would rescind his order, but she waited in vain.
     Miss Hollis was seen last night at her residence, 45 West Twenty-seventh street, and when asked for her version of the affair, said that Daly wanted her to wear Miss Crossman’s costume. “Miss Crossman,” said she, “is short and rather stout, while I am nearly a head taller and thinner. So you can imagine how I would look in any of her clothes. I would not have objected had it not been specifically stated in my contract that I was to have a wardrobe made for whatever role was given to me. After I declined to wear Miss Crossman’s dresses Mr. Daly sent for me again and asked me to lead the chorus in ‘As You Like It,’ saying that he wanted some experienced person to lead them. I declined the part and told Daly I wished him to make a settlement, which he did.”
     Miss Hollis is a tall, handsome young woman. She comes from a prominent Virginia family who are opposed to her following the stage as a profession. For the present Miss Hollis says she will remain in New York, but later will return to San Francisco.

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Brooklyn Eagle (26 November, 1889 - p.4)

THEATERS.
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“Roger La Honte” Produced at the Park.

     Mr. William Terriss, who made a pleasant impression as a member of Mr. Irving’s first company on this side of the sea, has returned, bringing with him Miss Jessie Millward, also one of that interesting group of players, and a drama new to our public. “Roger La Honte,” adapted from the French of Jules Mary and G. Gresier by Robert Buchanan and Augustin Daly. It has already been played many times and successfully in New York. It is a clever example of the class of works to which it belongs, a class dealing with situations and exceptional events rather than with the indication and growth of character according to the common process of human evolution. The story turns upon the physical resemblance of two men, Roger Laroque and Luversan, the former a respectable merchant and veteran of the war, the latter a scoundrel and criminal. Through the confusion of identity resulting Roger is suspected of a murder which is really commited by Luversan. Not only do circumstances artfully contrived point to him as the assassin, but, by a fatality beyond the reach of the conspirators against him, the act is witnessed by Mme. Laroque and Suzanne, her daughter, a child of 7 years. One of the conspirators is Luversan—who was once condemned to be shot for desertion in the army by Lieutenant Laroque and who, consequently, thirsts for revenge. The other conspirator is Julie, the wife of Lucien De Noirville, an advocate, also a veteran soldier, and a warm friend of Roger. Matters are complicated by the fact that the latter was the lover of Julie before his own marriage and hers, and, of course, without the knowledge of Lucien, who, as she affirms, believed her to be “spotless.” Although Roger has wearied of his attachment Julie still cherishes hers, and his refusal to resume relations kindles the hate of “woman scorned,” so that, at the instigation of the timely Luversan, she readily enters into a plot to effect the ruin of the man who rejects her. The financial embarrassments of Roger and the payment by him of a large sum of money to a creditor, Gerbier, whose house is opposite to and in full view of the Laroque residence, facilitate the scheme. The material is skillfully handled, so as to strengthen suspicion to the point of demonstration and to make the belief of the wife and daughter in the guilt of the husband and father natural and inevitable. The professional sense of De Noirville which impels him to defend the prisoner, even at the expense, as he learns after he is committed to his client, of his own domestic honor, contributes an intense and sensational factor to the histrionic problem. The effort is unavailing, though the advocate dies in making it, the prisoner passionately confesses his guilt and is convicted, and it is not until after commutation of his sentence, his transportation to a penal colony, his escape and his return to France that the case is satisfactorily cleared up. The real murderer perishes by the bullets of gendarmes, Julie is remorse stricken, but, happily, the wife and daughter survive. Mr. Terriss’ handsome, manly presence and natural, graceful action made much of his double part of Roger and Luversan, and Miss Millward was effective as Mme. De Noirville. The comedy of the evening was embodied by Messrs. Kendrick and Roberts in the persons of a corporal and a sergeant, and by Miss Sheldon, in Victoire, the three causing confusion and provoking merriment at the trial—a purpose which often seems the chief aim of the judicial proceedings of melodrama. marguerite Fields, a child actor of singularly mature methods, exhibited remarkable and successful training. A large and deeply interested audience was present. Next week, the Kendals.

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The Salt Lake Herald (2 February, 1890 - p.5)

The New York Herald on the Dramatic Season

. . .

     William Terriss and Miss Millward did not set the North river on fire while playing “Roger La Honte” at Niblo’s, and their houses rarely averaged more than $500 a night.

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The New York Times (25 May, 1890)

LONDON IN FINE MAY TIME
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     LONDON, May 24.—

. . .

     The other case illustrates that the paths of dramatic criticism are not to be made easier by judicial action. When William Terriss was about the play Roger La Honte in New-York on Oct. 8 last there appeared in the so-called cablegrams of the London Sunday Times on the 6th a message, duly invented and sent by mail, that the reception of Mr. Terriss by the New-York audience was “noticeably cool.” This previous criticism, coupled with the fact that Mr. Terriss stated that his reception was warm, aroused the wrath of the actor, and a sympathetic jury assessed the attempt to disparage him in his profession and fair fame at £200. The defense pretended that the word “cool” referred to the reception of Mr. Terris in social circles, and Walton, Q.C., in addressing the jury, informed them that “the verdicts pronounced by Americans on distinguished foreigners were proverbially uncertain and capricious,” but the jury were not to be beguiled, and promptly appraised “noticeably cool” at a thousand dollars.

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The New York Times (24 November, 1892)

A VICTORY FOR MANAGER DALY.

MR. MINER’S “ROGER LA HONTE” SUIT DISMISSED BY JUDGE PATTERSON.

     The suit of Theatrical Manager Henry C. Miner against Augustin Daly for $5,000 was dismissed by Justice Patterson in the Supreme Court yesterday.
     The action grew out of a contract Mr. Miner made with Mr. Daly, whereby the former was paid $5,000 for all the American and Canadian rights in the play “Roger la Honte.” The play was originally produced in Paris. While in that city Mr. Miner saw and was impressed with it. He learned that the American rights had been purchased by Mr. Daly. On his return to this city Mr. Miner made the contract referred to. The first production of the play in this country was at Niblo’s Garden, in January, 1891, under the direction of Mr. Daly.
     The complaint alleges that Mr. Miner began the production of the play soon after. He then learned that the play was being presented in various parts of the country. He called upon the defendant to bring suits to protect his (Miner’s) rights in the piece. This was refused and then Mr. Miner demanded the return of his $5,000. This was also refused, and the suit followed.
     After putting in testimony to the above effect the plaintiff rested. The defense moved that the complaint be dismissed on the ground that Mr. Daly was not bound to protect Mr. Miner’s rights in the play to the extent of bringing suits at law. The court held the same opinion and dismissed the case.

Further information about William Terriss, including the circumstances of his death in 1897 (fatally stabbed by fellow actor, Richard Archer Prince outside the Adelphi Theatre in London) is available on wikipedia.

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