BUTTER AND CHEESE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1922, Page 4

BUTTER AND CHEESE.

LATEST LONDON QUOTATIONS. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Sept. 22, 7.30 p.m. London, Sept. 21. The butter market is quiet and steady. New Zealand choicest salted is quoted at 216 s to 218 s, and unsalted at 222 s to 2245. Australian salted is worth 204 s to 208 s; Danish 220 s to 2225. The cheese market is firm. New Zealand colored is worth 90s to 92s and white 94s to 96s. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. “THE THIRD DEGREE.” THE NELLIE BRAMLEY COMPANY. A WELL SUSTAINED DRAMA. Those who missed the “Third Degree” at the (Empire Theatre last night lost the opportunity for the nonce of witnessing not only a drama thrilling in the intensity of its dramatic appeal, but with touches of comedy drawn from the everyday quips and sayings of a New York girl, native of a quarter somewhat remote from Fifth Avenue and its environs. The play in itself stands complete, but when to it is added the acting of a company strong in dramatic ability, it provides a treat which rarely comes the way of the. smaller towns. And of this company, strong as indeed all the members are, Miss Nellie Bramley stands out supreme. Possessed of a dainty personality, freedom of movement, ability to emphasise in the right degree the touch of pathos required of her part, and yet withal an ability to turn quickly from the tragic to the humorous, she is a clever actress. The story hinges round the forced confession, under the third degree methods of New York police, of Howard Jeffries, Junr., to the murder of Robert Underwood, in whose flat and in an intoxicated condition, he happens to be when that gentleman quits this vale by his own hand. How his wife gains the assistance of the family lawyer, Richard Brewster, despite the strong opposition of her husband’s father and step-mother, how he in turn proves that the confession was obtained by the use of hypnotic suggestion and the final discomfiture of the police and the proof to Howard, Senr., that his son’s wife is truly noble though of lowly birth, is told in four acts. It is a story of the intense devotion of a wife and her belief in her husband’s innocence; of the narrow and austere outlook of a father who has cast off his son because he has married, as he considers, below his station ; of police methods in America, and of the final triumph of justice. It lost nothing, but rather gained, in last night’s telling. As the devoted wife, Mrs. Howard Jeffries Miss Bramley was afforded full opportunity of displaying her powers, and she did so to a marked degree. She never overdid the point, nor did she emphasise any marked Americanisms or slang, but when her part required them of her they came out with just that amount of force that made them tell and get home. Probably with Miss Bramley, Mr. Guy Hastings, as the lawyer versed in international law, but driven at last to give in to the imnortunings of Mrs, Jeffries to take lip her husband’s case, shared the burden of the plot, and he gave to it the dignity and force characteristic of the part he' was interpreting. His crossquestioning of Captain Clinton, of the New York police, played by Mr. Victor Fitzherbert, was very good and lie displayed undoubted ability as a fine dramatic actor. Mr. Fitzherbert’s exhibition of American police methods was sufficiently convincing to enhance the desire for British methods. Arthur Correll admirably bore out the part of the self-sufficient and austere, scandalhating Jeffries, Senr.. while as his wife, Nellie Calvin sustained in an effective manner the part of a lady to whom social standing means everything. The other parts were all in capable hands and the company well merited the applause that was freely given. To-night the company will present “Bought and Paid For.” a tale of a modern marriage, which gives Miss Bramley another opportunity of displaying' her talent for dramatic roles.