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INTRODUCTION

ican life in its picturesque Western form, not the "bad man" type of life, but the real life of the great ranches, with real characters in them. Arizona had a successful London production in 1902. Mr. Thomas produced next some charming comedies, either, like Oliver Goldsmith (1899), an imaginative treatment of literary history, or like The Earl of Pawtucket (1903), or Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots (1905), clever treatments of modern life.

The Witching Hour, produced first in Providence, Rhode Island, November 16, 1907, and at the Hackett Theatre, New York City, November 18, 1907, is probably Mr. Thomas's greatest play. It represents the next phase of his work, the study of modern modes of interest. One would call them "problems," except that the word suggests an element that is absent from Mr. Thomas's plays. The central theme of the play, the influence of human minds through the strength of suggestion, had been with Mr. Thomas for many years. Incidents that had proved to him the possibility of such suggestions had occurred in his early days when he was managing companies in the West, and he waited till the time was ripe and public interest was ready. In As a Man Thinks, he treated the relations of the modern American husband and wife, and put into dramatic form the real reason for the prevalence of the so-called double standard of morality. It is a sane and wholesome play, for it not only deals with this question without morbidity or suggestiveness, but also shows the futility of race antagonism and calls attention to the permanent force of character, through the masterly portrait of "Dr. Seelig."

A list of Mr. Thomas's plays checked as to dates by the playwright for the present editor includes the following, those starred being adaptations of other material: Alone (1875), A Big Rise (1875), Editha's Burglar (1883), A New Year's Call (1884), The Burglar (1887), A Proper Impropriety (1888), A Night's Frolic (1888), The Music Box (1888), A Man of the World (1889), A Woman of the World (1889), Afterthoughts (1890), The Outside Man (1890), Reckless Temple (1890), Alabama (1891), Surrender (1892), For Money (1892), Col. Carter of Cartersville * (1892), In Mizzoura (1893), The Capitol (1894), New Blood (1894), The Man Upstairs (1895), Chimmie Fadden * (1895), The Jucklins * (1896), The Hoosier Doctor (1898), That Overcoat (1896-1898), The Meddler (1898), Arizona (1899), Oliver Goldsmith (1899), Colorado (1901), Soldiers of Fortune * (1902), On the Quiet (1902), The Other Girl (1902), The Earl of Pawtucket (1903), The Education of Mr. Pipp (1903), Delancey (1904), The Embassy Ball (1905), Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots (1905), The Ranger (1907), The Witching Hour (1907), The Harvest Moon (1909), The Matinee Idol (1909), The Memler from Ozark (1910), As a Man Thinks (1911), At Bay (1911), with George Scarborough, Mere Man (1912), The Model (1912), Indian Summer (1913), The Battle Cry * (1914), Rio Grande (1915), The Copperhead (1918), Palmy Days (1919), Speak of the Devil (1920).

Arizona and Alabama have been published by the Dramatic Publishing Com-