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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 1900)
THE SUNDAY OEBGONIAN, POBTLAND, TttLU 8, 1900. lit f 'P :, L j L wr ilJ The Ingenue. O Ingenue, with fairest face. With sylph-lilce form and airy grace. Thou unit of all charms that be. Thou dream of sweet simplicity, 'Twer bliss to feel thy fond embrace. So high In beauty's realm thy place. That truly he were doubly base Who owned not thy sjprcmacy, O Ingenue! What revelation can this bo. What arch-fiend vhlspereth to me, "The beauties rare which thou dost trace She culls from trunk and make-up case," O dire despair! O mockery! O Ingenue! SI. J. Fielding In X. T. Dramatic Mirror. CORDRAY TOPS THE LIST Shotra a Record of Over 350 Consecu tive Performances at Ills Popular Theater, Af ter what has. been probably the most successful theatrical season ever known In Portland, Cordray's Theater Is now "dark." During the Summer extensive Improvements will be made in the house, i James throws her Into the breakers, out both in the stage and auditorium, and ' side the lighthouse, and escapes. Tom's early next season the theater will reopen, , booked solid to July, 19Q1,4 -with a list of strong attractions. At the close of the recent production of "A Spring Chicken," since when there has been no performance at the theater. Manager Cordray counted up the attrac tions he had played, and found that they bad given over S50 performances since the beginning of the regular season, last Pall. Nearly every form of amusement found a place on the boards during the sea son. Most of the productions were of a better class than had ever previously been given in Portland at popular prices. Crowded houses were the rule, in conse quence Opening Production. Opening with Hojt's popular play, "A Midnight Bell," which was presented by an excellent company, at the head of which was that clever comedian, Mr L R. StockweU, the season was soon there after signalized by the appearance of Miss Nance O'Nell, always a favorite In Portland, In tragedy and me.odran.a. Miss O'Nell played a -successful three weeks' engagement, and added to the number of her admirers in this city. Shortly after this, "Ton Tonson" plaj ed to such a big business that the managers of the show were compelled to cancel other dates and extend the engagement here. Beach & Bowers gave the habitues of the house their first taste of min strelsy, and so whetted the appetite for that pleasing form of entertainment that Mr. Cordray arranged for the appearance of two more minstrel companies later in the season. "Brown's in Town" was among the "hits" in farce-comedy; Ibsen drama was expounded by Clara Thropp, and the Maggie Moore-Roberts company, in melo drama and comedy, drew so many people that they were booked for and played a return engagement It was by dint of clever managerial enterprise that Mr. Cordray secured the Frawley Company, and his success in booking that organization was rewarded by a brilliant engagement. Following Frawley and his players came the Bos ton Lyric Opera Company, which played to good business right up to "holy week." and after the Boston Lyrics there was a long series of popular attractions, topped off by "old, reliable" "Uncle Tom's Cab in," in which StockweU, as Lawyer Marks, made a Portland reappearance. The secret of Mr. Cordray's success at his Washington-Street house during the past season Is not far to seek. First of all, he Is a theater manager to the very tips of his nervous fingers; he knows every In and out of the business, from "a to izzard." Secondly, he is urbane and shrewd in his dealings with pat rons and the members of the dramatic profession. Third and well, lastly he has unerring dramatic and business in stinct and judgment, and can scent a paying attraction across the continent. He deserves success, and ho gets it. List of Attractions. Following is a list of the attractions provided at Cordray's Theater during the theatrical season Just closed: "A Mid night Bell," "The Girl From Chili." Nance O'Nell (three weeks), "Breach of Prom ise," "A Breezy Time," "Ton Tonson," Magnograph, "The Electrician," Beach & Bowers' Minstrels, "Flnnlgan's Ball," "Brown's in Town," Moore-Koberts Company (two weeks), "Human Hearts," "A Hot Old Time," "Hottest Coon in Dixie," "Gay Coney Island,' "Human Hearts," Kentz-Santley Company, Clara Thropp, Nance O'Nell (return engage ment), Richards & Pringle's Minstrels, Moore-Roberts Company (return engage ment), "Too Much Johnson," Frawley Company - three weeks), "Darkest Rus sia," Boston Lyric Opera Company (two weeks), "Have Tou Seen Smith?" "Suwanee River," Barlow Minstrels, "Knobs o" Tennessee," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "The Magistrate," "In Paradise," "The Real Widow Brown," "Quo Vadls," Clement-Stookwell Company, Nashville Students and "A Spring Chicken." FOR BENEFIT OF STREET FAIR. Acme Dramatic Club "Will Produce Treasures of the Sea." "Treasures of the Sea," which is to bo produced by the Acme Dramatic Club at Cordray's Theater on Wednesday, July 11, for the benefit of the Street Fair and Carnival Fund, is a play of a character which seldom falls to interest the public. It abounds in touching and thrilling situ ations which appeal to the tenderest feel ings of human nature and reach the heart. The plot hinges upon a crime committed years ago and its results, while the element of love is predominant throughout the story, which Is brightened and relieved with touches of refined hu mor. All ends happily, as every one would wish, and the old story that lovo is greatest of all is once more ex emplified. Tom Manly, the hero, is an honest THE DRAMA young fisherman, whole-souled and warm hearted. In his boyhood days, Kose Pres cott, the ward of wealthy Equlre Ham mond, was his playmate, and thpre is an affection between them which ripens Into love, when. In the first act, she returns to Harpswell from college. Tom proposes to her and Is accepted. Complications at once arise. Squire Hammond has acquired his wealth through a crime .committed years before, when Kose was a child, by an endeavor to murder her father, whom he threw Into the waves. Obtaining her lather's fortune, he came to Harpswell, on the coast of Maine, where he lived respected, his crime being undiscovered. However, to make his secret doubly secure, he con nives with his" son, James, an unprln clpled young man, that the latter shall marry Kose. She treats him with scorn. At the critical moment, when Rose avows her love for -Manly and Squire Hammond threatens to disown her, a lot tery ticket of Tom Manly's wins JIB 000. This propitious evont threatens to break off the nefarious schemes of James arid his father, and James eventually gets Into the room where the money la deposited and steals it. Little Nellie, a Waif of the sea, whom Manly, three years before, had rescued from the deep, Is a witness of the crime, and to save himEelf from her. boat comes on. In the nick of time, to save Nellie from a watery grave. A short time previous Rose's father, who escaped from the death which Squire Hammond had meted out to him, had come to Harpswell, where he Is known as "Uncle Davie." No one suspects his Identity, except Squire Hammond, who Is not recognized by him. In the subse quent developments. Uncle Dnvle learns that Rose Is his daughter, through a locket which she wore around her neck when she was a child. By an artfully forged letter James Hammond causes Manly to believe that Rose has broken her engagement with him and Is going to marry James, who procures a position for the joung fisher man In Boston, where, during the year that elapses, he endeavors to bury his sorrow. Finally, at the last moment, when the wedding bells arc ringing for the marriage of Rose and James Uncle Davie unravels the plot, and, v. lth the help of St. Kidder, who is In love with Ruth. Tom Manly's sister, fixes the guilt upon the true culprits. Hose and Tom i are reunited, and the wicked father and j. son meet their deserts. The humor of the piece is furnished by Ruth Manly's sweetheart, who Is a stage-struck young man, and he and Ruth are caught In many laughable situa tions. The most touching scene is the death of little Nellie, who never recovers from the emersion in the waves, and dies in Tom Manly's arms. The play Is writ ten in natural and expressive language; is clean and pure In tone, and does not fall In Interest from the rise to the fall of the curtain. No expense has been spared in properly staging it and in fur nishing tho elaborate scenic effects neces sary for the full development of the nlot. The following is the cast of characters: Tom Manly, a joung nherman Mr T. W. Grant William F&rren, alias Squire Hammond.... Mr. H. 1L Tomllnson James Hammond. Farren's eon Mr. George T. Coyne Davis Morris, known as Uncle Davie Mr. Al Rahlet Silas Kidder, stage ctruck.Mr. Charles Richards Rev. George Modherst Rose Prescott, Hammond's ward Miss Grace Walton Mrs. Manly, Tom's mother Mls Lucllo Bronson Ruth Manly. Tom's sister.. Miss Ida Jennings Little Nellie, a trait of the ocean MUb Phoebe Brown "Sapho," at the Metropolitan. Beginning Sunday next, July 15, the Aus tralian Comedy Company will open a week's engagement at the Metropolitan Theater, In "Sapho." Among those who will take part are: Joseph Fynney, Alec MANAGER JOHN F. CORDRAY, Cochrane, Percy Ward and Miss Madge Corcoran. Portland people will recognize these as some of the former members of the Maggie Moore-Roberts Company that appeared here earlier In the seaton. In a six weeka engagement at the Metropoli tan, and who were subsequently at Cor draya, for two weeks. Among the dra mas produced by tho original company 1 while hero. "The Silence of Dean Malt- land" and "The Prodigal Father," will be remembered. "Sapho" will be the bill for the entire week. FOOTLIGHT SCTNTTLLATIONS. " "Wit of the Pnrajrraphers Directed at th,e Stage. After William Tell had shot the apple from the head of Tell, Jr., he was urged to do so on subsequent occasions for the pleasure of those who missed the first performance. But he declined, saying: "What's the use? They won't book me MEMBERS OF In the continuous vaudeville, and It is too early to start a Wild West show." Baltimore American. "Yes, gentlemen," boasted the, man with strong features, "up In Minnesota I held the boards an entire season." "Thespian?" ventured the hat drum mer. "Oh, no sawhand In a sawmill." Buf falo News. Actress (Indignantly) I'll tell you one thing If you can't drive the mice out of this apartment, I'll move! Landlady Ah, shame on yel In tho theater you make believe to be the Maid , of Orleans, and at home you're afraid of a mouse! New York Press. "I want you to understand that I don't waste my time talking I act." "Don't you know that it Is always more dangerous to act the fool than to talk like one?" Chicago Times-Herald. "These pictures," the archaeologist of the distant future Is explaining, "repre- OF CORDRAY'S THEATER. spnt thA cakpwilk of th nnolonts, T Cakewalk consisted of a number of move- ments evidently designed to assist tho digestion of the cake. Hence the name." -Detroit Journal. "HI. there!" exclaimed Johnny's father. who was -grinding the ax. "What ari you trying to dor' 4 . "I'm trying to turn tho grindstone in IKsBssssssissssssssssssPflRj06Bss3"B VssSBs9HEbsssssCKv8sss9BssssssK t BB&E&'&f&YtEySfc F79lfiflflBlSflssssBllBBlS, 'PflssssssssBr6'i VaPttBBSBBSBBBBBaaBBBBBBBBBsfl HPnPVm'Lr WBtfKsBQQwXf ir" f T fJVfffmJUffS? - jWMfr-JHVSjfifMgBB )IP8sssssssssssssssssssssssl fsHIIBBBBBsSH'-FIBSssBsSRf'flPv P IisfiifeIHE & 'BbBIbsESbHisssIisssbBbsbbsMsW 4bsbbbbbbbbW7 j sr $ sbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbB ragtime," panted Johnny. Chicago Tri bune. "The tattooed man says he gets so de spondent at times that he thinks of com mitting suicide." "He ought to he watched. One can easily see that -he has designs upon his own person." -Philadelphia Bulletin. It, -was a hot day, and the elephant was thirsty. "I haven't had anything to drink to day," he said, turning to Jthe cameL "I am told you carry a supply for three or four days. Could you place a few of your concealed water-pouches at my dis posal without too much Inconvenience?" 1 don't have to carry "water for the elephant," Irritably answered the camel, humping himself along still faster. "X am a part of the show.'' Chicago Tri bune. "Well, how comes on the school exhi bition?" "Pretty fair. "When I left the BOldler of the legion was dying In Algiers, and they wero flxin' for the burial of Sir John Moore, though not a drum was heard not even a funeral note; and I doubt If we'll hear anything further from It, as some one got up and declared that the curfew would not ring tonight." Atlanta Constitution. , "The actors speak so indistinctly." '.Probably they prefer not to, compro mise the author of the play." New York World. .BEWARE, THE SUMMER GHtLt Do "Wolf Hopper's Warning Against Her Blandishments. i "The Summer Girl" writes De Wolf Hopper in the New York World, "Oh, yes, I have met , her. I have seen her caracoling from: crag to crag in the mountains tin It would make the chamois dizzy with envy. I have seen her on the beach in a bathing suit that would never go on a billboard without a one-sheet 'dato past ed across It. Tet also have I watched her swinging In the hammock on the farm down in that little nook In the far. corner of the orchard, you know. And wherever, whenever, I have seen her she has been the same a dainty, dimpled darling, gentle as the Summer- breeze, independent as the syndicate and THE ACME DRAMATIC CLUB, OF PORTLAND. as pleasant to the eye as the 'Standing Room Only" sign. "Do I know hor? Would I have gone to Midland Beach, Far Rockaway, Coney and Saratoga heart-whole and fancy free, to return a sighing, heart-broken per son, if I was not somewhat acquainted with her? . A- "Warn ins. "Oh, yea, mv boy; I know her. And it Is for that reason that I now hunt her in her lair, to steal up behind her, and with an eyebrow pencil mark upon her duck, silk, khaki or whatever kind of back the warning for all others: Beware! Tho Summer Girl!' "My boy, I was a happy youth when first I met the Summer Girl. 'Twas on my uncle's farm. I was a country boy, and she a boarder from New York. When she camo I looked at, her In awe. I had never seen such clinging gowns, such fluffy hair, such ankles and so much of them. I had never heard such silvery laughter or gazed into such eyes. Ah, me! "And she7 Sho led me on, e'en as the bull-pup is led to have his ears clipped. until I was neaa over neeis in love witn her I why, my boy, I even washed my faco and combed my hair twice a day. "She told me she loved me. I earned It. What I didn't do for her no slave could have done. Had -she expressed a desire to walk on me I would have let her. "Ana at last she went back to the city. She left with a ring upon her finger which represented all my savings She promised to write. Poor grl! Maybe she hod her hand cut off. .At least, I never heard from her. Thn, blighted, desperate, I went upon tfie s,tage. A Variable Quantity. "Since then, my boy, j have met the Summer Girl In every form, and mood, and I know no good ot, her that Is, if you try to regard her as a serious prop osition. She will let you" blister your hands and break your hack rowing her in a boat in the mornlngA And then when you land sho will Bhake'rou and go for a bicycle ride with that ribbon clerk at the hotel. When he is sufficiently worked up to have given her his mother's dia mond ring sho will dart away and Join a cheap dude at golf, only -to cast him away a little later and take up with an ancient and honorable artilleryman with three wives in the grave and a keen eyo for another. And tfae next day all over again. "Sometimes, often, she is married, and her husband Is busy in '.the city raising heads on a roof garden 4 That makes np difference to her nor to you, for you can't know It. "But whatever she is-j-rnarried. single or an actress beware of her, my boy, and and your Summer will be miserable. Miserable, did I say? My boy, without hor you will have no Summer, for she IS tho Summer!" GLEANIXGS FROM THE -WINGS. Mnttcrs of Interest to Play-Goers nnd Actor Folk. Edward Earle, "the American psychic." I trill shortlv start from San Francisco ' on an extended tour, embracing tho Pa- t ciqc coast, as well as the principal East- j ftrn clu under tho dlrocUon of Mr. w. ell-known and popular ! PorUand manager. r 1 ! Henry Roberts has made another hit -Mth the Frawley company as Vlnicius In tho elaborate jjroduptlon of "Quo Vadls?" at the Burbank Theater, Los Angeles. The critics of the angelic city are very complimentary to Mr. Roberts. Mbdjeska is at her ranch at Hi Toro, Col., for the Summer. She makes a fare well tour of 25 weeks, under the manage ment of Wagenbols and Kemper, the coming season, opening at Cleveland, af ter the Presidential election, in a fine production of "King John." It is reported from London that Mrs. Leslie Carter is the one distinct and un equivocal success in the theatrical field. The little Amerfcalne is the talk of tho town, and she has, if possible, secured more spontaneous recognition in Eng land than sho did in America, . DRAMATIZED NOVELS. Many Will Be Exploited the Ensuing Theatrical Season. A notable feature of the coming season will be the number of famous novels to ho .exploited as plays. Mary Mannering opens her season as a star In Paul Lei cester Ford'a "Janice Meredith," W. H. Crane will be seen m E. fc" Weacotta "David Harum," Viola Allen will pro duce "In the Palace of the King," by F. Marion Crawford; Henry Miller la to put on Many Johnston's "To Have and to Hold," "Caleb West," by F. Hopkinson Smlth will be produced at the Manhat tan Theater, New York, by Jacob Lltt; Henry E. Dixey will produce Dr. S. Wter Mitchell's "Tho Adventures of Fran cols," Wilton Lackayo will be seen In his own dramatization of "Jean Valjean," from Victor Hugo's "Les Miserahles;" Daniel Frohman's etock company will have "Rd Pottage," by Mary Cholmon dclcy; Marie Burroughs' puts- oa "A Battle-Scarred Hero." Julia Marlowe "When Knighthood Waa In Flower," by Charles Major; Otis Skinner, Robert Louis Stevenson's "Prince Otto," which recently closed a splendid season in Chicago; Henry Jewatt. in "Tho Choir Invisible," by James Lone Allen; and Sol Smith Russell in a dramatization by Martha Morton of a well-kncwn novel. It was announced that James K. Hack ett wouid play "Richard Carvel," by Winston Churchill, but It baa since been decided that he will play another season in "The Pride of Jennlco," which la, how- ever, a dramatization of a novel of the same name. "Richard Carvel" Is to be put on by Chanles Frchman. Adgle and the Lions Twice Today. The lions being exhibited by Adgle at tho corner of Eleventh and Clay streets have created a genuine sensation. The tent has been crowded at each perform-, ance. The great risk Adgie takes in en tering the cage with the huge African monsters Is fully understood. The lions alono are well worth the price of ad mission, being the finest specimens In captivity, but when Adgie enters the den and dances and sings among tho lions, the spectators are held spell-bound by this thrilling demonstration of the domi nation of human will over brute strength. An extra attraction has been added for tho evening performances when Millar's famous diorama is presented. It is un doubtedly the most perfect pictorial dis play in America, and Is properly de scribed by Clyde Millar. The exhibition will take place this afternoon and even ing. Admission, 25 cents; children 10 cents. Hott Cork Is Obtained. The cork tree is an evergreen, about the size of our apple tree. The bark is FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT. AfflUttWUI as r I I '. t W ftviVn im- YivwAAunuii a - trm - fTOWfC. It ' w bwWi Ml H MV -'tt1 Pl "Come. dad. don't be a hosr. Let me have a " 'Taln't worth it, my boy. Ifs only your stripped. In order to obtain the cork, which Is soaked and then dried. The mo- ment the bark is peeled off, the treo be- Hnn to trrow another cork skin, and eacn ' new one Is better than the last; so the older the better the cork. The trees are stripped about every eight years, and so , strong does It mako them that they often Jhroto tho age of 200 J"" J bark is 'foaitisMam dried and flattened, out. Then It k. packed .and shipped to all parts of tho world. Wmk ... Tj VVUftT W?X& vwxz - ..II MTZmM r J w - - tV. " I" VI NOT SO EASY, AFTER ALL TYPICAL EXPERIENCE OF STAGE-STRUCK DEMOISELLE. Getting on the Boards Rather a Different Under-talcing; Than f She Fancied It to Be. The fat proprietress looked at the young woman quite as indefinitely as she might have stared out of a window. The girl was attractive, but the woman at the desk paid no heed to her looks, as she waited for an answer to her question "You must know," sho said, impatiently, "what line of parts you want to play." Her tone alarmed the girl, who answered her quickly. "I'd thought I'd like to play serious roles Camllle, Juliet and parts like those. My teacher always said I could do those best." "Serious and emotional business. No experience," wrote the fat woman In a ledger on the desk In front of her. Then she slammed the book to and louahedlt aggressively out of her way. "You migKt come around every day, if It's con venient," she said to the girl, who had risen to go, "but you need not put your self out to do it. I can write to you a3 soon as there Is anything. You must un derstand, though, that there is very lit tle demand for the services of an Inex perienced girl, however talented she may think she Is. If you had voice enough to go Into a chorus somewhere " The girl winced. That word "chorus" always obtruded Itself painfully Into the conversations about her prospects, and she wanted to keep the thought as re mote as possible. "If you had a voice and was willing to go Into a chorus," the woman went on, "why It would not be difficult to find something very soon. But you want parts right away, and that Is quite a dif ferent matter. I might as well tell you now that the very best thing I can do for you will be to get a small part In some road company. A Cold Douche. "Or you may have to act several small parts In a play. The most they will pay you is $25 a week. You'll have to pay your own living expenses out of that, of course. If you're -very lucky, It may bo possible to find something of that kind. If I do, you will be more fortunate than nine girls out of ten. Come in, If you are in the neighborhood. Otherwise I'll write to you If anything turns up." Tho girl glanced Into the room adjoin ing the office of the ivoman who kept this theatrical exchange. She had never been In one before. It was the last step she had taken In her effort to get on the stage in New York. Seated about the room precisely as domestic servants are in Intelligence offices wero half a dozen women of various ages. The oldest of thorn was white haired, while the young est was a chubby-faced blonde woman of about SO They were apparently acquaint ed and were telling chiefly of their own experiences. They were all there for the purpose of getting an engagement, al though very one was anxious that it should not be thought she was too anxious over the matter. Their extreme Interest was shown by their presence In the waiting-room. They wanted to bo on the spot at the first sign of employment. "I didn't want to go out again with Hearts and Hands' for another season." said a handsome brunette woman dressed in a cheap attempt at finery. "I've been with them for three years, and I want to do something new. They wanted me to stay with them particularly because they're going West this year through a territory where I'm very well known But I thought I'd rather do something here. I've turned down several offers already because I want to stay In New York. "Well, Vm not going with The Rub ber Shoe again," said the little blonde woman, "because they won't pay me my money. They're making everything cheaper for next year, but that doesn't go with me. I get my money, or I don't work. They're still after me, but I've told them my terms, and I wont go back for a cent less than they gave me last year." SIsed 'Em Up. The oldest woman, who had added but a few words to this dlscusston. heard what all the women had to say. She had been In the business long enough to un derstand what all this talk was worth. She knew that none of the women there would not have been glad to renew their engagements with the companies they had acted with before. But they all thought It due their professional dignity to talk In the way sho had Just heard. The aspirant, who had dropped Into a chair for the sake of enjoying the sensa tion of being a professional which her presence In the room gave her under stood none of the undercurrents of the conversation, and, accepted It all as gospel truth. She did notice that all but the old woman seemed to eye her with an unusual Interest when she came into the room. For several days In succession she returned every day to tho agpney. The fat woman at the desk had nothing for her. . "Ifs difficult, yon know. Miss X," she wouldsay, "to find what you want. I placed 12 yesterday with The Flyaway Girl company, but they were all willing to do chorus work. May be something VU Jt,ft ji V-V" " s 7tt V,u',ft' 0 I . look, too." mothor." Ally Eloper. will turn up, though. At all her visits she found some woman out of the group she had seen on her first lsit. They were still waiting for the offers that suited them, which were, as a matter of fact, any offers at all. "Tho aspirant for the stage was not dif ferent In any Important particular from most of her kind. She was young, rather pretty, and poor. She had to make a living, and as she was a little more ambitious than some other women, she decided that she would try the stage. r - i. .., T- But she would never have formed this resolve, if she had not already been told by her friends that she had talent, be cause nobody could have acted as well In amateur theatricals or recited as" well in school without natural talent. "So she took several courses of elocu tion before presenting herself to the man agers In Now York. There wa3 very lit tle doubt in her mind that employment would be ready, and she had ambitious plans of beginning at the head of one oZ the New York companies immediately. She agreed with herself that it would be unreasonable for her to Insist on a lead ing role, if there should be for her a sec ondary part which would give her a good opportunity to show her powers and prob ably demolish the leading lady of tho company by her success. "These were the thoughts that went through her mind while sho was travel ing toward New York. Her assets were enough to pay her board In a very hum ble establishment for six weeks, and a letter to one New York manager. She had gotten that from the proprietor of the theater In her local town. She Imag ined that no other letter would be neces sary, as this first manager would no doubt engage her himself. "It happened that he had been long out of the business of engaging anybody at all, and was at that time employed by an actor who hod once been a mem ber of his company. He finally received her ono day, after sho had called on him half a dozen times and written as often. He read her letter, seemed to recall" tho name of the writer with difficulty, and exhibited no cordiality when he finally placed the country manager In his mem ory. " 'So you want to become an actress, he said, with glacial Indifference. She admitted that she did. He asked her if she had to support herself, and "after, the story of her reasons for attempting the career. Inquired if she were engaged to be married. Even to one so Inex perienced this seemed a matter but re motely connected with her talents. H. had not once asked her to recite or give him any exhibition of her skllL She said she was not engaged. " 'I asked you this, my dear girl,' h replied, to the astonishment of the as pirant unfamiliar with the freedom of theatrical life and almost shocked when he gently laid his hand on her arm, 'bo cause it would be very much better for jou to go home and get married. If you have the opportunity, than to attempt to win the uncertain success that may come In life on the stage. You're a pretty girl, and ought to find some good fellow who would be proud to make you his wife. If you take my advice, you'll go back home and give up this Idea of the stage The Ideal "This was such an unexpected turn of the conversation that the aspirant. In dignant and yet frightened, did not know what to say. Sho compromised by keep ing still. .But her lip trembled, and tho tears came Into her eyes. " 'Don't think I am harsh,' tho man ager continued, 'or that I am telling you anything but the actual facts. You will find that untrained talent Is not in demand. I can offer you $20 a week to play the smallest kind of parts In a com pany. You will hae scarcely a line to speak. You will have to play two or three parts. While traveling on the road you will find that your salary will pro vide only the most modest kind of liv ing. It is Impossible that any manager will engage you to play parts of any Im portance. I am making you a more lib eral offer than the majority of them would. You may, of course, succeed and have a very different sort of a llf after some years. But It is bound to be seven or eight years at the earliest, even If It comes then. Take my advice, and go home.' "In spite of the friendly tone of all this counsel, the aspirant could not help toss ing her head with a little air of scorn. It was all very well for this man who had never heard her recite or seen her act to talk so of her talents. He told her that his offer was ready for her when ever she wanted to accept It. She smiled as she thought of such a thing and thanked him. 'That was not an encouraging begin ning. Her letter of Irtroductlon had been wasted. She thought for some minutes over the manager to whom she would give tho first opportunity of engaging her. She decided and again wrote to him. Then she called. She wrote again and called again, but this manager sho never een saw. One day the stage man ager, who usually engages the unimport ant actors for his plays, talked to her standing under a sign which read: 'No Engagements' Will Be Made Today for Next Season.' It hung there constantly, so an uninformed person might have wondered on what day engagements would be made. "In spite of the sign, the stage manager told her that he would engage her aa an 'extra lady' for a forthcoming pro duction at the rate of 510 a week. Sho did not know Just what an extra ladj; was, but the salary seemed to Imply that It could not be a position of much re sponsibility. Lessening- Confidence. "So she declined that. Her confidence In getting a position of the kind she had expected was gradually diminishing. But she courageously stuck to it until she saw two more managers. One asked her if she could sing, and said he could en gage her for the chorus of a new musical farce If she had a voice. The other said that he might send for her if she would leave her name and address, although he did not think it very probable that he would have anything for her. "These rebuffs had, of coiirse, their ef fect even on confident y-outlL It wa3 Im possible for her to withstand the influence of such repeated failure. Sho had been in New York for four weeks and her funds were getting low. It was at that stage of her affairs that she had gone to tho agency. There the same experi ence was repeated Some offers were made to her, but they were all of tho most humble kind. To accept any of them would be to begin at the lowest rung of the ladder. In despair she re turned one day to the first manager she had ever seen here. There was at least one person with whom she could advise. The weary rounds of the managers' of fices every day, the disappointments that she had invariably encountered and mis erable hopelessness with which she had dragged herself back to tho boarding house every night had begun to show In her Iqpks. The manager greeted her. pleasantly. " 'Have you. come back to take the posi tion I offered you?" he asked, 'for it is still open to you, or are you going to get married? "The aspirant burst Into tears this time. When she recovered she told her ex periences. 'They were Just as I thought they would be,' he said to her. 'X could have told j ou the day you came here precisely what would happen. I could have written jou before you came to New York Just what your experiences would be. I can say without exaggeration that a thousand girls a year come to New York with Just the same Ideas that you have. They all give up the attempt to become actresses or do continue It In a way wholly differ ent from what they had anticipated. It Is now Impossible for any girl without experience, or previous preparation, to get an engagement in a New York thea ter, or any first-class traveling company, unless she has some particular Influence. My advice to a girl who persists in her desire to go on the stage Is to take one of tho subordinate positions offered, if she can live on the salary, and wait for the opportunity to show what she can do. If your mind is set on the stage, I again make you the offer I did when I saw you first.' He gavo her a week. But before the end of that time a note came to say that she had made up her mind to go home. " That was the best decision in her case,' was hl3 comment. Those who are frightened by the thought of incon venience and struggle should never start on the career of an actress." 'New YorV I Sun. ,t &?