Evening Star Newspaper, June 12, 1921, Page 59

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €. JUNE. 12, 1921_PART ‘4, 3 Trilby and the False Alarms 'LL say this much for Inez: She's a self -starter. She may not look it, with those placid eves and the restful Way she has of manipulating her gum. And her con- versation is surely as sketchy as it can be made without using a code. But somehow she manages to get things going. Even here, when we're spending a few workless and jobless days at Miss Wellhy's boarding house. And when we first came to this prunery, You know, Inez acted just as much at home as if she was a young ele- phant lately imported from the jun- gle. Of course, she didn't sway rest- less and flap her ears. Imez hasn't that kind of ears. But for a week she hardly took her eyes off her plate during meals and I couldn't get a word out of her when any one clse was in the dining room. She seemed to lapse into a rigid, wooden state, almost as lifelike as a dress model in a show window. I under- stood. Part of that was due to her Swedish disposition and the rest was . her backwoods bringing up. By degrees, though, she got so that she would stare around cau- tious, until she saw some one look- ing her way, and when she found it was quite possible to size ‘em up without personal injury she rolled her eyes quite a_lot. “Well, Ines” I asked her once, “what's your verdict on Miss Well- by’s collection of home more-or-less sapiens?” “Hey?” says Inez, blinking suspi- clous at me. “What do you think of the bunch?” I translates. “otta freaks” mpt. ~Eh? Pegh no more so than the usual run® says L “Theyre strangers, that’s all. We may look freaky to them, too, you know.” “Huh!" says Inez, unconvinced. “Fact” says 1. ~But they're get- ting used to us and don’t gawp quite as much_as they did when we first came. Some seem almost human. For instance, the stout lady With the high chest and the gray streak through her front hair. She's been nodding at me almost folksy. See! She’s smiling across at you now. “Oh, yes-s-s'™ says Inez, ‘almost returning the smile. *I kinda like P the's a Mrs. Marvin and has the says I “Ruby. announces Ines, third floor fromnt,” Duluth every season on his western trip. Building hardware is his line, you know, and he simpy despises being on the road because he has to be away from me so much. I get {rightfully lonesome, too, but he hopes to be made eastern sales man- ager next year and then we shall have a home of our own, a dear little apartment where I can cook dainty things when I feel like it, and en- tertain my friends. I'm horribly do- mestic, you know." “Yes " sa; L I shouldn't have guessed it if she hadn't said so, but I tried not to look surprised. Anyway, after a few more chats with Mrs. Marvin we almost felt as though we'd lived at Mrs. Wellby's for years. The different people seemed a lot more like regular per- BUT RUBY SAYS PVE MADE A POOR GUESS. “THAT'S MR. BARRY the waitress told me. Then there's [PLATT,” SAYS SHE, “WRITES the young lady vamp, who 21Ways|pIECES FOR THE NEWSPAPER. wears a big floppy hat: the one over at the little table by the wall. How about her™ “Her I no like,” up” = % %% says Inez. “Stuck MART, HE 1S.” By Sewell Ford N 00 000Se0 e sons and we got to nodding friendly to a few of ’em. Inez was especially taken with Mrs. Marvin. She's a necessarily,” says L “Sec-|prize listener, Inez, and, while at first ond floor hall bedroom. from some little town in Maryland and is taking voice culture. Proba- dly a village bells who hopes to break into grand opera. snappy young person just drifting in Comes | she’d sit with her ears and her lips ut. at last she got so she'd chatter away folksy, saying almost a dozen Wwords during a half-hour session. And it must have been once when Here's a |l Wasn't present. about the time Inez Wwas enjoying her one-day engage- ment as a movie actress, that she Now how does he strike you, Inez?’ | shattered all her speech records and “Fresh,” says Inez. : *None fresher,” says I "t ex: a high- g:l“e;meanp &l‘;‘ be a Shrinking violet. do you? Ruby says he’s a free tipper. too, and she ought to know. favorite. ~But you confided in Mrs. Marvin the full de- tails of her wonderful run.of luck. 1 didn’t guess it at the time, but it class automobile | came out a little later. To be exact this was the third day of our big loaf after I'd convinced H:r Inez that with a whole hundred dol- though, seems to be the|llars to the good there was no need other young chap at the same table—|of our rushing frantic into some job CheCone with the slick light hair and | that we wouldn't care for. I notice 8he [to worry Ines to be without any the smiling blue eyes. = always serves him first’ Inez ventures a B8i and nods approving. “What's he do”" ‘Kinda nice, It seemed regular work, even for a short time, 'wise glance [but I persuaded her that the wheels of commerce would spin along just the same if we kept our hands off So on this particular evening we he. S let’s ask Ruby” says L “MY|for a little while. guess is that he’s a clerk in a jew- y store, flat l:‘:gks sort of quiet and refined. and ‘as if he eould say, ‘Yes, madame; e'll have them marked and sen? Certainly, madame.’™ But R“’I‘"}{ ays. ss. “That's .5:\(':5 she. “Writes pieces for the . T ey Gives me tickets to shows sometimes.” “There's your as Ruby goes out after two orders of lamb stew for us. “Put the ©of the Iron Range on him. Show him 've made & Mister Barry Platt.” |says she. silver department |were lingering over the dessert— canned peaches and bakery jelly roll—and chatting with Mrs. Marvin, when Ruby comes in with the big announcement. “Gennlemen to see Miss Petersen,” ““He—he’s her uncle.” “Wha-a-t" says I Smart, he is. Nice fel-|you think he's her uncle?" ‘“He say s0,” says Ruby. “He—he got whiskers?” demands chance, Tnez.” says L |Inex. “Mustache.” says Ruby. “Funny ol’ spell | gink. Tall hat, cane an’ all.” ““The rich uncle at last!" says Mrs. [ pent-up affections until you get |hpi . your dimples. Eh? Don't think you|Marvin, patting Inez on the shouider. can vamp him at this distance? Say, When he's so easy he gives theater vasses to an Afro-. from East 135th street, ‘American brunette or seems to be. a roal ash;tiough, that as yet the idea has only {I was toid that Inez Petersen “Isn’t that splendid™ As usual, Inez is taking it calm, The real facts are, Plonde from Duluth like you ought to | begun to percolate down through the bhave a walk-away." ‘But Inez only ducks her head and simpers. ‘“Maybe~ with him first.” she suggests. “If that's a defl, watch me,” says 1. Somehow I had a hunch that this|or be mighty clever with the ouija |part the Ao Marvin was the one to get on|board. How could he know you were [ you on the waiting list. Step inside, Where have you parked him, | ploase.” chatty terms with first. 0 know almost everybody in the din- ing room. nodding familiar to the dif- ferent tables as she came and went, 2and stopping here and there for a .word. i my smile on her next time she passed, and before the week was out we were real folksy. Knowing yehile, too. It was almas takin, e local pal *lnwu:_g She could, and did, tell ‘us [ doll up, Mrs. Marvin, while I hold . & ed young something about nearly everybody in | doll, up, Mrw Marvin w party, & spectac the bouse. “Isn’t Miss Wellby a d ehet rattles on. “Note the sort.of per- ‘Son one usually finds running a Doarding house. Very well connected, 7 am told; old Baltimore family—her -father was a judge or something. And there’s quite & romance about her ‘being married. She was a beauty nineteen and became engaged to a young man she met in Washington, Fome one connected with a foreign embassy. It turned out thet he’ was Teally of royal blood and wasn't al- owed to marry A ’.rwr an affair such as that—well?” At which Mrs. Marvin spreads out her - hands. “Naturally,” says L “If one can't be « princess one can at least be a land- hi . h"(gm that happened years later, mfter shé'd lost nearly all her prop- erty~ explains Mrs. Marvin. “You've noticed that sweet little Miss Polly Fowell. too, haven't you? The nn; in} why should a retired lumber plute |Other candidate.” has a wonder-| wear a shiny black frock with the 1ne picture hat. She oo Dhice. they say, but I do hope 4t isn't so that she’s thinking of going on at the Winter Garden in fiho chorus. Wouldn't that be a siame”” 1 agreed ‘begrudged _that mething which would make it easy B en o as well as casy to see, but 4 meemed to be the thing to say. Also Mrs. < 3am’ man with the very pink bald Nead was Mr. Campbell, & Scotch clerk in the linen department of a big Sth avenue store, and that he was a . good deal of a grouch. but wrote Eery Sunday to his old mother in slasgow, an R aper than the Glasgow Herald, *hich came.every Friday. She point- vd out a dried-up little old lady who Sore a neck ruff and a big cameo She seemed | here? So I didn’t hesitate to spring | sure! d never read any other| Petersen?" bony part. “Uncle Nels™ asks Inez, turning “That's the rumor,’ says I. if it is, he must have second sight you get acquainted | to me. Ruby?” “Front parior,” says gotta big box of candy.” “Oh,” says Inez. “That’s 1 must fix my hair. “Of course,” chimes in Mrs. Marvin. Ruby. says he. little girl I used to—"" L] 1 | “Back up.” says I "It can’t be anything of the kind. 1 wouldn't| ie more than half of Inez. Yeu're | Tncle Nels, are you<* A says he, “and 1 am 1mest | anxious to— “Naturslly,” I breaks in. “She'il be rizht down, too, and it you'll wait here fcr a minute I'll arrange for the reunicn.” Witk that T slips room, prabs entry and leads him into " says I, t you in here” s nuy niece coming soon?" You bet” says L “but there’s such a rush of callers on tonight that—There's the bell again!” I had just time to hustle No. 2 into the front parlor when I hears Ruby assuring a third party that this is where Miss Potersen lives, so shuts the door and steps cut where tnis poddy person with th2 pop eves and the prominent store teeth was waiting with a sad bunch of half! wilted roses in one hand and a dus!yi felt_hat in the other. “Can it be Uncle Nels?" savs 1. Inez!” says he dramatic. as into the front 1 by the arn the back parlor. “but I'll have to he he | ~What makes | Shirt front. “But | was born.” “He | ynderstand.” Uncle Nels, | front ‘parlor isn't crowded yet and reaches out to fold me in on the chip; dixmond pin which ornaments h But by this time my foot- I side-| work was getting good. stepped him skillful. “My. but you're easy pleased when it comes to nieces, aren’t you?' saysi 1. “Do I look like I was 100 per| cent Swede? Say. hold back the right dope. I'm Miss Dodse, and( thers are times when it's Jucky for me that I can live up to my name.” “Pardon me, miss,” says he, “but; “That's right, too,” says I “How long have you been her uncle?” “Why.” says he, “I was—that is, I've been her uncle ever since she ‘“That ought to qualify you for the says L “Anyway. it gets “I—1 don't | “The “Waiting list™ says he. “Oh, it's all right” says L “Can it be that this is the | Inez will be down to meet you pres- ently. This way.” And I shunted “And hadn’t you better change YOUr [pim’in with the other old sport. blouse for that fetching champagne Mrs. Marvin was worth | colored net affair? You want to look It was almast as good as | your b you know." says Inex. “All right,” says L *You help her Tl admit I was a bit excited myself. It was natural enough, for long ago | M xx %% had turned for a dash upstairs after Ines when Ruby lets in a fourth hick with a college band around his straw hat, o vest and a soft collar. He Td given up ever finding this rich | couldn’t bave been a day over twenty- uncle that Inez had talked so much about. I'd almost come to believe he hot | Was a myth; and here, just as we're at | wondering what we'll do next. he ap- | tell me yow're Miss Petersen’s uncle.” pears like a bolt from the blue, or words to that effect. I wondered if | aimost blushing. he'd come in his limousine. As I went through the front hall I took a peek outside, but I couldn't locate Y [wrmen whats the merry idea? Who out of his class. And | classy motor. And when I spots this freaky look- ing old boy sitting on the edge of the | o *PONERS BE S ST maet sofa with an antique Ben Harrison 1id balanced on his knees, I was some disappointed. Of course, knowing that the Petersen family had been shipped into Minnesota with yellow immigrant tags tied to ‘em only a generation ago, I wasn't_looking for any snappy dresser like Bob La Fol- lette or Charles Evans Hughes. Still, silk facing showing soup spots, and a gray mustache yellowed by cigar- ette smoke? well up on the fond uncle lines. I'd 0 sooner poked my head in the room | Ruby,” says L ‘T've got to inter- that 1t would, not that I |5, 2°0aSPoe up prompt, dumps the |view Ines and find out exsctly how particular chorus | gncient 1id and the candy bex on the |long on stray uncles she happens to sofa and opens his arms. But for all that he's|band. two. “Now, come, Buddy,” mys I, “don’t “Oh, most decidedly no,” says he, “Nothing of the sort.” “Not even a opusin, eh?™ mays L and why?” “Reporter,” says he. “T understood her long lost uncle here tonight and—" “You are a grand little guesser,” says I, “although how you do it is past me, Yes this is the spoi and the touching spectacle is to be,pulled oft right in here just as soon as I can—There, Ruby. See if that's an- It was. He's a round-faced, rather good-looking middle aged gent who holds e newspaper clipping in his “Pass him In with the others, be, for if there are many more we “Ah, my dear Inez!” ssys he, and I|ought to rent a hall. Just line ‘em had to block off an impetuous clinch |up in there as they come.” * x ¥ % Marvin told us that thelpy shoving him awey with both hands. ‘And upstairs I burst in on Mrs Marvin and Inez putting the finish- ing touches to an elaborate coiffure, VW/RONG number.” says L “Bay, take i which made Inez look more than ever another look and then tell me |like a corn-fed Goddess of Liberty if I have any of the earmarks of a “But—but, I was informed,” he be- gins, “that—" “Oh, she’s here, all right” says L pin and whispered that years ago she | «inep]l be down in a minute. I'm * had been named as co-respondent in a had tional divorce case, but that now she was qu ite respectable and|SJ you're her lost Uncle Nels, are ad a married daughter living in|you> Flushing. “Really!” the two youn: Anything thrilli “(Oh, you mean ficld White?’ “Barry is such & quiet. He's trying And_Penny's a good sport. Food game of bridge, goes around 2 lat. They room together, though 1 chould'nt think thev'd be’a bit con- 1. Men are odd that way. But, =0 are women, too. at times. you two girls are such opposite yet you scem to be great Always known each other, s I “And how about sung men at your left? ng about them: Barry Platt and Pen- says Mrs. Marvin. nice boy, but have you? * k k% O 1 had to sketch out for her how *) Inez and I met for the first time at Tamarack Junction only two years ago, how we toured Minnesota < a waitress team, and how we had | mered Ruby. come to New York to look for an 1mele Nels. who seemed to be Der- nently lost in the discards. interesting!™ says Mrs. Why, Mr. Marvin makes “I have that honor.” says he. ril say s s1y.” says “Not at all” says he. always was my favorite ‘was not a bit “Dear Inez surprised to write a u]‘? she had developed into & fascinating Plays | and talented young woman.” “Eh,” says 1'staring at him. do_you get that dope?” “Why,” says he, that—' But just then Ruby sidles in from | somewhere,” that's putting it real polite, g:r who had dropped the torch for the curling tongs. “Is—is Uncle Nels there yet?™ asks Ipex and there was Miss Welby, looking shocked “Will and indignant. you please tell me, Miss says she, “whet all those men are doing in my par- says I. “How many did you or ten,” says she. “Who are ‘Well” says I, “barring one or two reporters, lost uncles. “But I—I don’t understand,” says she. “Neither do we,” says I. “They be- £an to come about an hour ago, and the supply hasn't given out. Begins to look like a convention, doesn’t it?" most of them are Inez's hard ¢koosing, wouldn’t it? The col- lection 8o far isn't an especially choice one, either. They're all very fond of you, though, Inez; I'll say that for them. They're the hug-on-sight kind. “Yes-s-87" says Inez, her cyes get- ting bi; We were still in the midst of the debate when a rap came at the door “But {t—it's absurd.” says Miss Wellby. “Something must be done about it.” “Quite right.” savs I “And as Inez seems to be suffering from shell shock I suppose I'll have to be the goat. Let's all go down and have a look at the congregation” wakn't a bit cheered up, either, when we struck the lower hall to see Ruby steering in a late arrival. He was a shabby little man with a long nose. and he. too, had a piece torn from a newspaper. That gave me my st hunch. 1 stepped in pre d held out my hand. prompeand “I'll take the cli 2 s ipping, please, “Oh,”thanks, Miss Tnez Eays De. ““Perhaps And may I see . “Line’s bus Push in and find a chats 1t you mn Wh: says Mrs. Marvin. “I saw Barry Platt in there. It may be that he _can tell us something.” cqualt!” £ays 1. This looks like a * x x % AND I hadn't read more than a few lines from the newspaper piece before we all began to get an inkling— that is, all except Inez. The heading alone almost told the whole story. ‘Screen Favorite Searching for Rich Uncle.” And then it went on to relate how the beautiful blond movie star, Miss Inez Petersen, who had been engaged as leading mfifi"&.‘i latest True Art production, had come all the way from her home in Duluth to hunt for a wealthy uncle who had dis- appeared from that city several years 2go and was believed to be living in New York under an assumed name. It’s one of those human interest yarns, where plain facts are not allowed to Interfere with any frills of fancy that might produce heart throbs. And at the end there's a paragraph which ts that if Miss Petersen’s Uncle Nels really is In town he ought to drop in at such :.'::;::er Jrest Sith street almost any 8oon and soo ears Sl e e the fears of an “Huh!” gays L *So you've been tell- ing some reporter the st h.“;; Yon. Thezt ory of your life, “Me?” ‘says Inez. I don’t see any reporters. Never. 1 Marvin, that's all.” to0 M 2 says I, turni to the “Then it 'was aps® the friendly y.” says she, “I—I may ha - tioned something of the Kind to Bacry . e's sucl 2 think ne woulgeh » "ice boy I didn’t “Evidently he has,” says L *And he's Some press agent, if you ask me. Of course, I don’t doubt that he meant all right. He couldn't guess that New York was full of volunteer uncles for lovely movie acrtesses. I wouldn't have, either. But that seems to be the case. :;luner'e! ;:e flen&l:gh for a_couple of jury els, ane s paper s the street but a few Togke | been on “Just suppose, though,” puts in Mrs. Marvin, “that ofie of them Hoald be her come to find her.” 08t sincyiasd “Yes,” says I. ‘There’s that ch: 5 “How you find out?™ demands Ines, who has been peering through the door. “Whatever you do,” says Miss Wellb; I trust you will not be long about it “T'll make it as snappy as I can, never fear,” says I ‘“Now let's see: “The returns aren’t all in,” says L|what's the acld test for a genuine uncies “but there's enough for & quorum,|An if that’s what you want to know.” “Why, n. “More or less what I said,” says I. “Both pariors were filling up with what do you mean? de-|here in the corne just her friend, Trilby May Dodge. |manded Mra. T think I have it! Hi Word on the side with you. Fes mack answer in my sag ) Whisper the She did it. Then T borrowed pad and some pencils from Mise WeliE lost uncles when I left. Ines tell me | took Inez by the hand and marcheq incy something; ‘mother have in this or any ntry”’ “She—she got only one” needn’'t count the dear ones,” sy 1. How many brothers did | the front parlor. other | have been scared says | fussed very easy. _niece, and I|Tnes. *“Except two who dle in Swe-|my chin out and asked to learn that|den.” “You'rs positive thero wes|crowded, but perhaps we shaw: “Where |only one alive at the last ocensus?"|you long. e :fl;unme II‘ should » bu ‘Wasn't As perhaps you've noticed, T domt get I stood there with The back raom £ meve un® Sclesates 1n ““That's right,” says L *“It's a bit t To begin with, "will ali o} Inez nods. “Only Uncle Nels,” says|You who are not Miss Petersen's uncle “js it pot true |she. “Then says L the front hall and starts wigwagging { Nelses had been parked in the parlors excited, with mo$t of the whites of | when I came away and it seemed her eyes showing. “Just a moment,” says 1, excusing myself, and slips out to see what has | how odd!” worked her up to such a state. And I finds her holding back a siim, with white hair and a red necktie. h‘;Well. Ruby,” I whispers,” “who's this?” 2 “He—he's Uncle Nels, too,” stam- “Wha~a-a-at?’ I asks gaspy. “An- other! Sure you haven't got twisted? if the procession had just started.” there's something wrong | mantelpiece? “Four Uncle | Three, four, five. All reporters, I take please group yourselves in front of th Thank you. Thank youf 1t? ot me,” gays the shabb; man with the long nose. "I,ryptgf “Four!” squeals Mrs. Marvin. “Why, |sent the Watchful Eye Detective “Yes, it's all of that” says L “And if you don’t mind my mentioning it, [ morrow neat-dressed, pink-cheeked old party, |it's a little pusziing to know what | uncles. to do.” “Why, that should be simple,” says|more. Agency and I'd like & word with—— “You're excused,” says L “Call to- bout noon. Now for the ere, gentlemen, is Miss Inez Petersen. She isn't- a movie star any. In fact, she had only a two-| Mrs. Marvin. “Let Inez o down and | day trial at it and was fired. At pres- pick out the right uncle. “Think you could, Inex?” T asks. “I—I dunno,” says Inez. Who is it you're looking for, Mis-|looks” says I, “especially those who. ter For my dear niece, Inez Petcrsen,” > drift oft_by themselves, get rich and change their names. So it would be ent she has no job of any kind and 2 very low cash reserve. So'you see. “I don’t | she could use a rich uncle now—an it | see Uncle Nels since I was little." 9 Here, let me talk to him.|* “~And . uncles are so shifty in their | that.” he needn’t be so scandalously rich at There was a little shuffling of feet inethe back rows about then. but 1 held up my hands. “Don’t -anybody {never heard Pareppa Rosa. who came | ‘'Pany, you've never heard real sing ! THE ‘RAMBLER WRITES OF OLD DAYS AND FAMOUS PLAYERS IN WASHINGTON THEATERS HE -shows were gayer, the music liveller, the actresses more entrancing, the com- edians funnier and the trage- dians, bloodier, more murderous and more bolsterous when you and I were young, Maggie—or 18 your name Bill? Other things were much better then than now. Peaches were juicler, and watermelons sweeter; strawberries had a finer flavor, roses a richer color and a more alluring scent, and it is probable that there was more spice and vinegar In pickles.” Also it is likely that cocoanuts had harder shells and hickory nuts softer shells, that onions were stronger and red peppers much more pungent. A fear comes to the Rambler that these changes may be in us and not in the music and the onions, the actresses and the roses, the comedians and the chestnuts, and the tragedians, the lemons and the eggs. Our fancy is not as lively, our taste and appetite are not as keen and our teeth are not as good, cven though they be of purest porcelain. ‘When you and I were growing up there were some actors, men and women of great genius, who made us feel that they were kings and queens, cardinals and ministers of stat They made plots that broke the laws of nature, or the laws of nature so far as we understand them now, seem real But even when we were young and impressionable, there were not many of these master. play- erson the stage, measured against the large number of excellent, good, fair and poor players. These great play- ers were truly great, for they not only enthralled us when we were young and fair, but they exercised their magic on our fathers, whose tastes' were- dulled and blunted by long living and. experience, as the taste of some of us has been. * X x ¥ BUT even our fathers were not al- together satisfied that stage art did not flourish brighter and more splen- did when they were young than when golden youth was ours. They knew that Edwin Booth read Shakespearean | blank ‘verse about as well as human | tongue and lips have ever done it; but then, my boy. you should have heard Junius Brutus Booth the El- der! He‘was the only actor whose art gave him the right to wear the mantle of Edmund Kean! The El- der Booth was beyond all doubt the greatest Richard and as good a Ham- let as ever trod the boards since the Ryu] of David Garrick took its flight! Yes, Adelina Patti sang with magic. but then you never heard Jennie Lind! Why, when she sang at Cas- tle Garden in September, 1850, lower Broadway and Bowling Green were jammed with people, and after the first concert the crowd stretched to the Irving House, and the New York A\!unlcnl Fund Society of 200 musi- cians serenaded her and she was es- corted to her hotel by 300 firemen bearing torches! Why, P. T. Barnum paid her $1.000 each for.150 American | recitals and cleared net over half a| million dollars on her tour! Bavard Taylor wrote an exquisite ode to Jen- nie and William Allen Butler wrote a poem about her which was printed, far and wide. And then, Jennie Lind “was not a circumstance” as a singer to Mme. Malibran, Grisi and Pasta, who were before her! Oh! yes, Nellie Melba, Sofia Scalchi and Mme. Sem- brich are very good. but vou are not | old enough to have heard Mme. Al-|{ boni and Sontag sing—that is, when| they were young! And then, if you| here with the-Carl Rosa Opera Com-| ing! Yes, my boy, I grant vou thati Tomasso Salvini is a_first rate actor in the heavy roles and when he plays Othello with John Lane as lago~snd Viola Allen as Desdemona, it is a striking performance. but you should have heard Edwin Forrest as Meta-| mora, Spartacus, Virginius, Coriolanus, | Damon, Marc Antony. Richard, Shylock. Lear, Macbeth and all the rest! Why he carried in his company twenty people, each of whom would be now a star! There were W. E. Sheridan, | H. F. Daly. Mrs. Thomas Barry, W1I. liam Warren, James . Murdock. Joseph Jefferson, W. B. Wood =nd J. R. Scott. 1 will agree that Lawrence Barrett is an actor of skill and polish and he plays the role of a gentleman as a gentleman and like a zentleman, | and as a villain he is a villain, and among_his troupe Louis James and JMarie Wainwright are very good, but | you should have scen Kemble and | Macready in those roles! Yes, indeed. Bernhardt, Januschek. Modjeska! Well, they are the best | we have now and they are excellent | actors. but then you never saw the! French tragedienne Rachiel! Why, sir, | the people of Paris still keep a chap- let of immortelles upon her tomb in! Pere La Chaise! It was Rachel| who Interpreted Moliere, Corneille, Racine! You have really never seen an actress! Fanny Davenport, Clara Morrls, Minnle ~Maddern, Minnie! Palmer, RoseEytinge, Eliza Weathers- by—very clevah people, indeed, but| not to be compared to Matilda Her- | ron, Kate Fisher, Lucille Weston, Fanny Kemble, Maude Granger, Laura Keene! Gabrielle Rejane! Yes, my boy, this generation. has in her a most acceptable actress! Particularly as Clothilde in~ Henmrl Becque's ~“La Parisienne.” * * %% UT, my son, Rejane and many others who have won distinction tn your generation ought not to be compared with Charlotte Cushman. A public school building, erected in 1867 on the site of her birthplace in Richmond _ strest, now _Parmenter street, in Boston, was named for her. There was no Lady Macbeth, no Meg Merrilies, no Nancy Sikes, o Queen Katherine and no Rosalind like Miss Cushman, She was also a great Fomeo, strange as that fact may seem to you, She played opposite Edwin Forrest _and the _great Willlam Charles Macreatly. Her sister Susan, six years younger, was an actress of note. Let me turn you to an old e G = gays I, “for Ines is anx- }:::‘no’t"lo misg any real uncles that may happen to be present. .True, she has only one Uncle Nels, so some of you must be trying to horn in. But I ihink we can sift out the genuine, dyed-in-the-wool article. Barry Platt, ®ill you help untangle this mess you've got us into? Then pass around these slips of paper and bor- Sow the tall gentleman’s silk hat. ATe you all set? Everybody got his ballot? Then write the name of your dear sister, who was Miss Petersen's mother. Yes, that's all. Her maiden Pame. And I may say that any uncle Who can’t remember his own sister's pame Miss -Petersen hasn't any use “come! Don’t scratch your Lo s Chnd chew those pencils that Way. Or it you want to withdraw entry simply drop your blank m;t in the hat and pass out. Ruby, have the front door open. * x X % 1T was the pink-cheeked old boy with the red necktie who started the parade, ‘and after that they crowded on his heels as fast as if they were taking part in & fire drill and were not sure they didm’t smell smoke. Inside of two minutes mot a candi- ‘was left, and the group of re- dp;:':eu were standing !her; wearing ns. broad ETILR dies,” says I "but the Petersen family reunion seems to have been called off. Better luck ne‘fitfl:‘:a what those fresh young hicks can't think up to put in the papers. I didn't mind what they said about my carrotty hair or the freckles, but that part about my hav- ing Portia -acting Hke a tongue-tied o014, maid who'd just had her tonsils out—that was almost personal (Copyright, 1921, by Sewell ford.) RE There Really A Any Changes in the Actors, 'the Singers and the Stagecraft? The Famous Company of Jeannie Winston, Who Now Lives in Washington—Popularity of Singers and Players of Old Days. program of the Howard Athenaeum in Boston. It is a benefit perform- ance for Miss Charlotte Cushman, The date is Friday evening, Apri 12, 1861, and the play is Shakespeare's comedy, “As You Like IL” Rosalind is Miss Cushman, Jacques Davenport, Adam is John Gilbert, Or- lando s Lawrence Barrett, Duke Frederick is John McCullough and others in the play are W. S. Lennox, T. E. Litton, F. Hardenburgh, J. A. Smith and actors whose names are set down as Alken, Setchell, Jones, is E. L. | Ideal Opera Company. the Carleto= Opera Company, the Jeannie W{sslon Opera Company, Rudolph Aronson New York Casino Operz ¢ompany, the Minnie Hauk Grand Opera Com- pany, the Pauline Hall Comic Opera o/ the Washington Opera mpany, the Mary Beebe Opera Com- pany and others that do not immedi- ately come to mind. Yes, there were also the Aimee Opera | Company, the Emma Juch Opera Com- | pany, the McCaull Opera Company and 'We had the Bostonians, the Boston | nd Seth King), 1419 Pennsylvamia enue (opposite Albaugh's Opera House). The most fashionable hat- ters and men's furnishers.” “Auerbach & Bro., 623 Pennsylvania - avenue, Washington, D. C.” “Chris Heurich, Maerzen beer.” “The Shoomaker Company (former- 1y Shoomaker and Hertzog).” “Chris Xander, wines and liquors.” “Lower Cedar Point, the paradise of the Potomac. Wil open Juiy i. The safe, swift and magnificent steamer Jane Mosely. B. C. Davis, supexntendent.” Three other Jeannie Winston pro- grams are bofcr the Rambler. One is the fourth regular summer season, week of July 2, 1888. The company now bears the name of the Lyceum Opera Company, and the play is Of- fenbach’'s comic opera, in four acts. “La Perichole.” Miss Winston is Piquillo, & street singer. and the oth- er players are Alice Gaillard, Minnie De Rue, Marie Donelle, Anna Car- man, Edith Ellison, Helen Feltham, Rene Rogers, Martha Torrens, Walter Allen, Arthur Bell, Harry Ratten- FORD'S OPERA HOUSE, ONCE WALL’S OPERA HOUSE. Snow, Blaisdell, Hills, Verney, Otis, | Jennie Kimball's Comic Opera Com- | berry, Joseph C. Fay, William Wirt! and Browne, and Misses J. Orton. O.|pany which entertained us at Herzog's | Charles Myers. W. L. Alsop, peasants Marshall, A. Clarke and Mrs. Syl vester. The prices of admission are Private boxes, $5; dress box_chairs, 75 cents; orchestra chairs, cenis; first circle boxes, 50 cents; parquette, 50 cents; family circle, 25 cents; gal lery, 15 cents. Charlotte Cushman was the first member of the theatrical profession to be given a tablet in the Hall of Fame in New York University. Five women were previously honored by memorial tablets there, they being Harriet Beecher Stowe, author: Mary Lyon and Emma Willard, pioneers in thejcause of women's higher educa- tiont Frances E. Willard, the tem- perance reformer, and Maria Mitchell, astronomer and sci st. Charlotte Cushman made her “last farewell to the stage at Booth’s The- ater, southeast corner of 6ih avenue and 23 street, New York, November 7, 1874. "The play was ‘Macbeth George Vanderhoff playing the lead- ing male role. Among the prominent people present were Samuel J. Tilden, then governor-elect; Peter Cooper, Abram Hewitt, William Cullen Bryant, R. H. Stockton, Col. John Hay, William H. Vanderbilt, Rufus Hatch, Clarence A. Seward, R. B. Roosevelt, Gen. Hancock, Joseph Jef- ferson, Dion Boucicault, Lester Wal- lack and John Gilbert. At the close of the performance a farewell meet- ing took place on the stage, and William. Cullen Bryant made an ad- dress, an ode written by Richard Henry Stoddard was read' by Prof. Charles Robert of the City College. and Miss Cushman spoke. She died in Boston February 13, 1876, in the sixtieth year of her age. Then look at your modern pianists. This new player. Raphael Joseffy, is good and Marini's Hall is crowded every time he comes here. Viademir De Pachmann, whose right name is Waldemar Bachmann, is an eccentric genius and a wizard with the keys. Von Buelow, Carrena and d'Albert are good and this young chap with the strange name of Paderewski seems to have something in him and he may turn out well, but people who applaud these newcomers never heard Gottschalk., Thalberg, or the king of them all, Franz Lisst. Then here is this new fiddler Ysaye! He lacks the art of Wilhemje. Yes, Remenyi plays well, but not 80 well as Ole Bull or Sivori And when you youngsters talk of Mary Anderson and Lily Langtry as being beauties, why, for- sooth, young man, they are not to be compared with Julla Dean, Mrs. Sid- dons, Adelaide Neilson, Christine Nilsson and Adah Isaacs. * % ¥ % Nmn heard of Adah Isaacs? How ignorant these young people of the 708 and the 80s are. She was a New Orleans girl, born there in 1835, and became a dancer in the old French Opera House. - She danced through Cuba, Mexico and Texas and then became a teacher of French and Latin in a seminary. She made her debut as an actress in 1858 at the New Or- leans Varieties, went to New York, roused the town, appeared in the big cities of the country, came, I think, to ‘Washington, was in Qalifornia in 1863 and went_to England in 1864 She was a sensation in London, Paris, Vienna and Rome. She was married four times, her second husband be- ing John C. Heenan, the great prize- fighter. - ‘What! Never heard of Heenan! Never heard of the international prize fight between Tom Sayers and John Heenan? Good night! Heenan, for the United States and Tom Sayers for England, fought for two hours and six minutes at Farnborough, near London, April 17, 1860. It was a draw. Parliament did not have a quorum, and the courts were closed because of interest in this fight. Very likely you have also never heard of Tom Hick- man, Bill Neate, Tom Cribbe, John Broughton, Tom Hyer and John Mor- rissey! And yet you talk for hours about these young fellows John Sullivan, Paddy Ryan, Jake Kilrain, Charlie Mitchell, Peter Jackson and Bob Fitz- simmons! I tell you, my son, the pub- lic schools are not teaching children right. Adah Isaacs’ first husband was Alexander Menken, a southern musi- clan, whom she married in Galves- ton in 1856. She diyorced Heenan, her second, in 1862 and married Robert H. Newell, the humorist. This mar- riage was dissolved by the courts and her fourth husband was James Bar- clay. Adah bade farewell to the stage at Saddler's Wells Theater, London, in May 1868 and died at Paris in August, that year. She was hailed by thousands, tens of.thousands of men, as the most beautiful woman of the stage. Perhaps the Ramliler has rambled too far afield in giving reim to these memories. What he started in to write of were the pleasures of the theater when you and I were young. Two Sundays ago he told of .opening of Albaugh’s Grand House and last Sunday he told of the remodeling of Ford's Opera House and some of the amusements we had a generation or two ago. He mentioned some of the sumier opera attractions in the 80s. It really seems to the Rambler that ‘Washingtonians had more music and patronized it ‘better ‘then than now. Museum, later Herzog's Ninth Street Opera House, remodeled. And al there was the | Clara Louise Kellogg |Opera Company. It may be that you will recall others. LAt his moment the Ramhler's typewriter suggests mention of the Jeannie Win- ston troupe, because Miss Winston, i young enough to sing charmingly. is @ permanent resident of Washington and has been for a long time. = * * % % TTHE other avening the phone bell rang. The Rambler was sitting down in the coal bin enjoying an old black pipe because it's against jrules of the house to smoke that pipe upstairs for you are apt to drop some ashes on the rugd and the perfume. of the pipe gefs in “the druperies” and won't air out, etc. All you married men know the restrictions that are put upon us! Well, the phone bell and Mrs Rambler called down through the tube, “You are wanted at the phone. No. he doesn’t sound like a collector. 1 think he is one of your centenarian friends and he probably has some very interesting information for you about the revolu- tionary war.” The Rambler came up to the phone and said. “This is me” The “party” at the other end was Jack Armstrong of the surveyor's office, a man whose collection of oid thaxtir progzams is now before me. He said: “Can you Buess who was in the office today to get a permit for a retaining wall or a new roof or something or other?” *For goodness sake, tell me who it w: “Jeannin Wilsol You don't say so “How does she look?" Just the same as when she used to sing Fra Diavolo and all the other opera stuff at Al- baugh's.” “Yes, I heard she was liv- ing here. T have a neighbor across the street who has the proud privilege of calling on her and she’s promised to take me along sometime if I'll talk about something that's up to date and not slop over about ‘the good old days of yore and that kind of bunk.’ Then Jack called up Morgan Sher- wood (Shirley), who used to be the property man at Albaugh's in the Jeannie Winston days and is now stage manager at the National, but Shirley told him he saw Miss Win- ston every day or so. Jack was what was known as “super-captain” and general assistant without compensa- tion at Albaugh’s back in the eighties and he studied the stage there for about five years. Turning to the files of The Star in the summer of 1586, the Rambler came upon an announcement in the issue of Monday, May 10, 1886, that the second summer opera season would begin that evening. The fol- lowing members of the opera com- pany were named: Jeannie Winston, Louise Searle, Minnie De Rue, Wal- ter Hampshire, Vincent Hogan. Joseph’ Fay. Virginia Evans, Annie Meyers, Walter Allen, Arthur Bell and Thomas Daily. Lying before me are about 200 old programs and the first to hand is this: “Albaugh’s Grand Opera House, W. Albaugh, lessee and managér (aiso of the Holllday Street Theater, Baltimore); S. W. Fort, acting man- ager; Harry C. Fisk, treasurer; week of June 28, 1886. Every evening, Sat- urday matinee. Second supplement- ary season of the Summer Opera Company. Tuesday evening, June 29, and Friday evening, July 2, the charming masterwork of Auber. in three acts, ‘Fra Diavolo.’ Fra Diavo- lo, Jennie Winston; Lord Allcash, Vincent Hogen: Lorenzo, Walter Hampshire; Beppo and Giacomo, rol bers, Walter Allen and Joseph Fay: Matteo, an innkeeper, Thomas Daily. Roberto. Harry Meyers: Lady All- cash, Alice May; Zerlina, Louise Searle.. Soldiers, 'Bandits, Peasants and Villagers. Ten minutes’ inter- mission between each act. Musical director, John Itzel; stage manager, A. H. Bell. Next week, first produc- tion in this city of the New Comic Opera, The Golden Hen,' an adapta- tion of ‘Serment D’Amour,” by M. Au- dran. Librettos for sale at the box office and in the lobbies. Ice- water in the lower lobby. Photographs of Miss Jeannle Winston, each bearing her autograph, for sale at the box office. Prices of admission: Admis- sion to all parts of the house, 25 cents; orchestrs and first row or- chestrawcircle, reserved, 50 cents; private boxes, seating six, $5; single seats in a private box, $1; packages of T2 admissfon tickets, $2.75. Opera glasses for hire in the lobby.” * % %% < IN the program publication called *“The Stage,” are some of the: reminiscent advertisements: “Steamer W. W. Corcoran will make daHy. trips to Mount Vernon and Gly- mont.”* < “The average temperature of soda at Standiford’s St. Cloud pharmacy, southwest cornér of 9th and F streets, is 33, but one degree ‘above freezing. Open all night” 3 “Don’t forget :to attend the sixth grand excursion to River View, Sun- day, July 4.~ > “Prof. R. C. Bernays has returned to the city and has taken rooms at 913 New York avenue, where he will give lessons on the violin at sum- mer _rates. until October 1. “Kennedy and King (Sam- Kennedy l which was Lincoln Hall ! the | court ladies and gentlemen. guard: etc. Next week, “Princess of Trebi | zonde.” Here follows one of the ad | vertisements from this ancient pro gra “The Evans’ Dining Rooms, : 924 F street northwest. Board, $1f . a month: two meals with lunch (per { month). $16; single meals. 25 cents | breakfast. lunch, 15 cents; noonda !lunch, 10 cents; C. B. Smith, propri tor.” And the eating was very good. Many of you remember that the cld bill of fare read: “Cholce of bean or {vemetable soup: one meat or fish and |two vegetables: pie or pudding: tea, coffee or mi That was a 15- \d imeal and bread and butter and m! nd sugar for_the coffec were in cluded. ~ For 25 cents you got tw meats and three vegetables, with pi pudding, tea, coffee or milk were 2 number of other restau- One was the Vatoidi. on 9th street above F, and another was the old Vienna. on F. east of Sth. Another program of the Lyceum company is that of the week of July 16, 1888, The play is Strauss’ comi opera. “The Merry War." Miss Win- stof the Marquis ippo Sebas- tiani and among the players mnot named on the preceding bill are J. B Richard, Frank Mitchell and Harry Winters. The next week was “The {Grand Duchess” The week of June 14. 1888 ¥ 5 voa Sunpe's opera. “Donna Juanita” Jeannie is Rene Dufaur and Donna Juanita and all the familiar names are on the bill with |one not seen before. Miss Letitia Fritch. Next week is “Prince Methu- salem.” i Miss Winston and the members of her troupe were popular. The house was full at each performance and lthere was alwavs a. crowd on the sidewalk on 15th street waiting for the doors o open to make a rvsa for the choice 25-cent seats which were those just back of the first row in the orchestra circle. Miss Win- | ston’s public receptions were a fea- jture of the summer. ' t She held_them in the main lobby of the Opera House every Tuesday afternoon from 2 to 3 o'clock and women swarmed and crowded there to say, “How much 1 have enjoyed your singing and act- Laurel Disappears \K,'!LD flower oconservationists in the eastern states are calling at- tention to the passing of that beauti- ful and once abundant plant general- ly known as mountain laurel. and more specifically known as “Kalmia latifolia” or *“broad-leaf” Kalmia— “Kalmiz" being derived from the sur- name of Peter Kalm, the Swedish botanist who in some way must have been associated with this plant. It has been one of the commonest and most familiaf wild growths in the Appalachian and Piedmont regions and extended well down into the coastal plain, where wooded hills and wooded ravines gave it shade and shelter. Probably the best examples of th plant near Washington are mow in Rock Creek Park, where they have been safe from molestation for a number of years. The plant once grew in thickets, called “laurel brakes” about this oity and most other cities in the east, but now, even where it lingers, its growth is thin and small. In spring the bushes are broken for the flowers and through all other seasons, and especially iIn ‘winter, the shrubs are broken down or chopped down for their glossy green foliage. Mountain laurel is the state flower of Connecticut, and in a recent issue of a Connecticut newspaper it was written: “Connecticut may have to find an- other flower within a few years if residents and visitors do not take it more seriously upon themselves to conserve and protéct the shrub (mountain laurel) "in its native haunts. Raids upon it are becom- ing more and more severe. In many places extermination is a fact or ac- tually threatens. Acocordingly the eading for moderation P ng l:l.nd gathering the branches for deco- rative purposes” A note of alarm has also been raised in the case of the wild spike- nard, or false Solomon’s seal, a once familiar plant with a palmlike stem of great ribbed leaves and a ter- minal panicle of ivory-colorsd hilos- soms. A writer in a New York pa- per complains that “not only hmve the Sunday excursionists been bring- ing back motor loads of it. but cer- tain florist's shope have been drv- ing a roaring trade in it” ‘The list of conspicuous wild flow- ers once abundant near our city and which are now rare and nearing ex- tinotion, is & long ome. In other cities as well as in Washington the Sodiety for the Preservation of Wild Flowers is doing valiant work. but_ the education of the public has not yet been brought to that degree of ex- cellence when it will let the wild flowers live and prosper.