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David Belasco 281 tions and measurements. Nothing could dispel this dull at- mosphere but a complete reorganization of the theatre. It will later be seen that this break-up is now (19 19) in process. The only manager who, early in the nineties, seems to have had faith in the native product was David Belasco, and his belief was founded on faith in himself. His early training, as ' secretary to Dion Boucicault, as manager and stock-dramatist at the San Francisco Baldwin's Theatre; his ability to work over material supplied by others at the Madison Square Thea- tre — all served him to excellent account when he finally began for himself and fought against the Trust which did not care for his independence and grudged him his success. In his long and useful career we find his interest as a manager prompting his ability as a writer; we find his genius as a trainer of "stars " like Mrs. Leslie Carter, Blanche Bates, David Warfield, and Frances Starr regulating his selection of subjects for treatment as play- wright. The advance from The Heart of Maryland (22 October, 1895) to the adaptation of Zaza (8 January, 1899) represented ; his discovery of increasing ability in the emotionalism of Mrs. Carter ; and his successive presentation of her in such spectacu- lar dramas as Du Barry (25 December, 1901) and Adrea (11 January, 1905) measured his belief in her histrionic power. In the same way, his faith in Blanche Bates prompted him to write many scenes in Madame Butterfly (5 March, 1900), The Darling of the Gods (3 December, 1902), and The Girl of the Golden West (14 November, 1905) for her. Taking Warfield from the Weber and Fields organization (a combination which , produced about 1 897-1 900, by their burlesque of current Ameri- can successes, a type of humour truly Aristophanean), Belasco had plays cut by himself and Charles Klein to fit Warfield's personality — and this impulse was back of The Auctioneer (23 September, 1901) and The Music Master (26 September, 1 904). But there was something more behind Belasco's ability to create stage atmosphere by lighting and scene. His love of the West suggested The Girl of the Golden West and prompt- ed his acceptance of Richard Walton TuUy's The Rose of the Rancho (27 November, 1906) — a collaboration which left Tully with a love for the spectacular, apparent in his own independ- ent dramas, The Bird of Paradise (Daly's Theatre, 8 January, 1912) and Omar, the Tent Maker (Lyric Theatre, 13 January,