Evening Star Newspaper, January 31, 1932, Page 87

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 31, 1932 Daniel Frohman. dean of the theater, would want his daughter to go on the stage after she had acquired the proper background. BY BETTY ROSS. HAT would you like your // daughter to do?” Lawyers, business men, artist philoscphers, sci- entists all sat up at atten- tion when I hurled this question at them. Admitting that fathers, alas, have all too little to say about the upbringing of their daughters, their role in the scheme of things usually being to approve the mother’s decision and foot the bills, each man, whether he had an actual daughter or not, began eagerly to set forth his plans and specifications for an ideal daughter. “Would your ideal daughter,” I persisted, “be a modern woman; efficient, self-support- ing with her goal her own business or a cabinet post? Or would you have her skip this generation and bloom again a sensitive plant like her crinolined grandmother with hearth-fire ideals? Would you create her to carry on your wcrk, or, contrarily, encourage her to follow any career but your own?"” ANIEL FROHMAN, starmaker and dean of the theater, who for fifty years has written Broadway's history in bright lights, has no daughter, but immediately commenced to chart one “If I had a daughter——" he began. “Would she go on the stage?” I asked. “D F.” as he is,fondly called by his asso- eiates, held up a warning finger “Pirst, she would have a good education, study music and about three languages, then turn to dramatic art. Then, whether or not she became an actress, this enlarged mental horizon would qualify her for many activities. “Languages would open to her the best in literature, for, as Emerson ys, ‘Every man reads himself out of a book.” Music, the fine meorterpieces of great composers, brings her jnto a world of unspeakable delight! She would not just be pleased by harmonious sounds, but understand the composer’'s motive and purpose “I would want her to become an actress because her knowledge of light and shade of feeling and emotion would give her a well balanced mental and emotional stature—an individual poise and authority which would help to illuminate her own character. My ex- perience has convinced me that the best actresses are those with a knowledge of music, because they could bring out the elements of rhythm, sound, light and shade in their acting rolesc.” “But what of the struggles and temptations of stage life?” I broke in “I don't deny the hardships and obstacles of theatrical life,” answered Frohman. “I would want her to overcome them and to triumph. Life is a struggle, and success and happiness come from overcoming this struggle. Achieve- ment is only possible in overcoming obstacles, whether it is a general, politician, composer or actress. With a background like this, my daughter would really know whether or not she was in love! Most girls think they are in love be- cause a man proposes to them,” he pointed out. St. John Ervine, famous English dramatist, is unwilling to have his hypothetical daughter act like a character in a modern play. “I would hate to see her swallowing cock- tails and smoking,” he said, “and I should Joathe her if her conversations were of the ‘Oh, top-hole,’ type. Generally speaking, I should like her to be a lady.” Sam E. Morris, the movie luminary, has no daughter, but if he had, says: “I would not want her to be faultless, for she would be far too lonely. But the unlovable faults she must not have are loudness, immodesty and other evidences of poor taste. “My ideal daughter must be pretty,” he in- sisted. “Any man who is absolutely honest will admit he is proud of his daughter's good look She must be intelligent, with good, old- fashioned ‘horse sense’ The days have passed when heroines with graceful feeble-mindedness were admired. She would be a college girl, but not a bluestocking,” he continued, “then trained for some business cr profession, engage in it for a few years and then marry. This training would be of inestimable value in run- ning a household and bringing up a family. Besides, a business education would fit her for an emergency were she forced to take care of herself.’ A thorough educaticn in every branch of housekeeping, begun in early childhood, is what a prominent author, Albert Payson Terhune, father of a married daughter, stresses in his ideal-daughter specifications A Symposium //_v Prominent Men ‘ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE— “No career unless she showed strong aptitude and stronger desire for one. I would advise her to keep out of politics.” CHARLES EDW ARD RUSSELL— “First of all, I should wish her to begin early to take on some form of expression in the sense of beauty music, poetry, art, anything that would develop later into a relief to her soul and a refuge from the horrors of a machine civilization.” JOHN F. HYLAN— “Every girl should prepare herself before marriage to make her own living if misfortune befalls her.” PETER FREUCHEN— “I want her to develop along the lines she herself already fancies.” ST. JOHN ERVINE— “Generally speaking, I should like her to be a lady.” DANIEL FROHMAN— She would have a good education . . . this enlarged mental horizon would qualify her for many activities.” SAM E. MORRIS— “She must be pretty, intelligent, with good old-fashiolwd ‘horse- ’ sense. ‘Albert Payson Terhune would have his daughter thoroughly schooled in the art of keeping house. Charles Edward Russell, lecturer and publicist. would have his daughter learn that life was not loaned her to play with. “A mother can do this better than the best scholastic housekeeping course,” he adds. “Otherwise I would educate her as I would a son, to the same extent and for the same rea- son; a grammar-and-junior-high schcol edu- cation. These are all-needful for later life and usually any higher education is merely orna- mental and a waste of time. Then I would send her for one year to a good business school A woman nowadays requires such a year of general business education as much as does the average man.” HWOULD you encourage her to have a ca- reer?” I asked. “Not unless she showed strong aptitude and stronger desire for one. If that desire was merely based on a desire to get away from home ties, I should discourage the idea. Too nany girls confuse the terms ‘career’ and ‘neu- rotic unrest’,” continued the author whcse fa- mous dog stories have endeared him to youth the world over. “I would prefer she should not marry be- fore the age of 25. Many a girl goes daft at 18 or 20 over a man she would not look at when she is a few years older I would advise her to keep out of politics; not because of her sex, but there are pleasanter and more worth-while things to occupy the life of man or girl.” “A family?” I suggested. He nodded. “Yes Three children at most; preferably only two children. A ‘large brood’ is prone to be ill equipped and ill provided for: and such broods also spell privation, overwork and lost life chances to both their parents. “I would try to influence her personal habits. She could do as she chose about smoking. In moderation, its worst effect would be to give her a bad breath and stained fingers. As to drinking, I should advise my daughter and my son alike to let it alone, because it is dis- tinctly bad for young people’s health and is liable to interfere with work and true happi- ness.” A DAUGHTER with some outlet for the beauty of her soul and contributing a ray of sunlight to the world is etched by Charles Edward Russell, lecturer, publicist and biog- rapher and winner of the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for his biography, “The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas.” For further details St. John Ervine, English dramatist, would have his daughter loathing cock- tails, smoking and using slang when with her friends. “about that daughter of mine,” he continued: “Pirst of all, I should wish her to begin early to take on some form of expression of the sense of beauty she would have in her if she was normal. Music, poectry, art, anything that would develop later into a relief to her soul and a refuge from the horrors of a machine civiliza- tion. Next, I'd try to find a school for her, if there is such a thing on this green earth, where she would not bz taught to call a bath a ‘bawth,” nor to singsong her speech, nor to believe her country a colony inhabited by simians instead of a nation of men and women. “I should like to have the fact drilled into her head that life was not lent to her to play with, to have a good time, to find out the best lipsticks or to snare some unwary youth into a wedding, but was something for which at the end she would have to give an accounting, like a cashier in a restaurant. I should like to have her come to understand thoroughly that this world is a kind of jungle, and her job must be to try to help better it. “I'd wish her to join early some unpopular cause and pusl. it along; she could always find plenty of them. “If she would take up any of these, I'd not give a hoot for a basketful of college degrees by comparison.” A husband, a home and children, “the more the merrier,” is what John F, Hylan, ex-mayor of New York City, wills for his ideal daughter. And he also insists on some equipment for her to make a living. This outline coincides almost exactly with his own daughter’s life. The former mayor, now judge of the Chil- drefi’s Court in Brooklyn, continues enthusiasti= cally: “My daughter has a pretty good career in taking care of her babies She is following exactly the path I outlined for her. She mar- ried a fine young man who is kind to his father-in-law and mother-in-law and & de- voted husband and father. Such a career every lovely, homelike girl should follow. My daughter has nice children and is helping educate them. “I always believed that every girl should prepare herself before marriage to make her own way and earn her own living if mis- fortune befalls her. My daughter is capable of doing this. She went to college and passed the examinations enabling her to receive a teacher’s license before she married.” “By what profession should a girl best sup- port herself?” I asked. “A course in stenography and typewriting is a practical way,” he counseled. “It is well for a girl, even after she is married, to follow up some remunerative work and help her husband. Thus she and he can work together and save for a home. A wife's outside work should not interfere with her home life. A business girl %ith a sensible husband can work and take care of herself under any circumstances arising in life as well as in work! “While she is doing essential work, I think it all right for her to employ some one to dS the laundrying and cleaning, because in so doing she gives employment to another who is not equipped for business or professional work and helps them earn a living. But she should know how to do these things in order that she may properly manage her own household, and, after all, that is the big thing in a woman’s life.” HAT a woman should be molded to her environment is depicted by Peter Freuchen, famous Arctic explorer. This tall, red-bearded giant is regarded as one of the leading authori- ties on Eskimos, aid lives at Cape York, Green=- land, in a house lying farthest north in the world. “My ideal daughter is very much alive. She's 13—and getting bigger every day,” laughed the famous explorer. “If I had my way, she would be like her mother, who was an Eskimo. My son is an Eskimo, and I never even taught him to write. But my daughter goes to school in Denmark and wants to specialize in zoology 20 she can uncerstand the bird life and ani- 12al habits on the island where we life. Now she can imitate any bird and make gulls come in. She can also imitate any animal's cry. “I want her to develop alorfg these lines she herself already fancies. She goes to school and comes home to the island every Sunday. Our island home is in the Baltic Sea, near Denmark. It is only 300 acres large, and we have no neighbors but birds and animals. My daughter hasn't accompanied me on any ex- peditions yet, but I want her to when she gets older. Then. like my wife, she can ac- company me on expeditions to the ice cape, living in tents and snow houses and driving among icecaps and dog sleds.” (Copyright, 1932.)