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Show the mm mi Produced Today Fefore an Immense Audience Au-dience and Its Presentation Is Sanctioned. DECENT PEOPLE DON'T FAVOR IT. German Roman Catholics in Convention A New Mail Service Equal Eights Association. Munich, May SO. Special. The first presentation of the Passion plav at Oberaumcrgan was givon today and will be. repeated at intervals until Sep-tember. Sep-tember. The 4000 seats of the theater were filled and several more thousands unable to obtain admission. At an early hour cannon were fired and bands paraded the streets to arouse the people. The orchestra was sunk between tho stage and the audience. The center of attraction was Josef Maier's rendition of Christ. The prince regent of Bavaria occupied the royal box. Almost as much English as German is heard upon the streets. Never before has the play attracted so large a multitude from all quarters of the globe. This Is due to the fact that the Bavarian government has absolutely forbidden any performances perform-ances after this rear. This is because the ecclesiastical authorities aud ail decent people have come to regard the affair as a desecration of religion. Tho last performance of tho play took place in 1880 when there crowded to this remote re-mote village a sensation-seeking audience audi-ence from all parts of the earth. A railway rail-way has since been constructed to tho place and tho people nowhere now-here are of the same class that visited here ten years ago. Tho virgin of the play, the last rolic of the mystery Animas of the middle ages, dates back to 1033, when a pestilence fell upon the district, whereupon its inhabitants vowed that at its stay they would act tho play decennially. This resolve was kept and only ouca in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war was the representation rep-resentation discontinued. It was, however, how-ever, repeated in 1871, ostensibly ns a thanksgiving for the peace, and in 1880 it drew to Ober-Animerganthe greatest multitude of sightseers that ever collected col-lected in the place, greatly to tho scandal scan-dal of European Christian society. Great but unavailing efforts were made thii year to induce the authorities to interdict it. |