OFF WITH THE OLD

In the midst of a storm of booings and hisses Stage Manager Big Bill Thompson has been obliged to ring the curtain down rather hurriedly on King George. Unlike his royal son the sovereign has proved unpopular, even in the comparatively fat role of arch-villain. And there was racing and chasing behind the scenes until they found the very sets to be rushed on and save the reputation of the house--the big flood scenes of the Mississippi River. Human interest, gripping incidents and, looking east'ard to the sea, timeliness.

On Monday the major and his fifteen hundred boosters, every one with his "America First" badge on his bosom, reached Washington. His main purpose in making the trip he announced, shouting to make himself heard above the din of his combined quartette and sailor orchestra "is to assure the President that the people of Chicago are virtually 100 per cent in favor of legislation that will settle the Mississippi flood problem." Chicago is a large city on Lake Michigan.

Whether the mayor will take west with him a record of accomplishment that can be measured in other terms than those of columnar publicity only the next few days will determine. Some of the less confident of the henchmen of the king's enemy are doubtless patching the larger holes in whatever is to be the third act if this one is ill received.