St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-11-09
Two Women.
ANNA DICKINSON AND MRS. LANGTRY.

ANNA DlCklNSON AND MltS. LANGIR1.
We alluded the other day to the fact
that Miss Anna Dickinson'S theatrical
company had been stranded in Detroit,
where its manager had abandoned it.
The case, as far as Miss Dickinson is
personally concerned, is a curious and
sad one. AS all the world knows, she
had made a great reputation and ac-
cumulated a handsome fortune as
lecturer and though the lecture sys-
TEN is now pretty much thing of the
past, Miss Dickinson could still COM
mand large audiences whenever she
chose to speak. But in an unhappy
hour she was seized with the ambition
to become an actress, though she was
il woman all of whose traditions were
opposed to the stage, who, ungallant
though it may be to say it, had reached
middle life, and who had had no pre-
viOus training in the profession and
who appeared to consider such train
ing unnecessary. Well, on the stage
she went, and of course she failed.
The Judgment of the critics was al
together aversc and that of the people
cOincided with it. She then turned
from the east to the west, organized il
company of which she was the star,
and set out on Il tour. This has now
come to an end. Her manager has de-
serted her and the company has gone
to pieces. After Years of hard strug
gle in Il hopeless enterprise she has
lost her old prestige, wasted her fortune
and has nothing to show for it all eX-
cept disappointed ambition.
Sn pnpb fnr npn woman Nnw Mrs
Langtry is said to have cleared last
season more than eighty thousand dol
lars. This season it is likely enough
that she will do even better. On her
opening night in this city she was
greeted with Il crowded house, tickets
sold at Il premium of nearly or quite
one hundred per cent, and one would
think from the rush to the Opera house
that an actress of transcendent merit
was seen. From Canada we hear that
the desire to see her is as great as it
was here. The question naturally
arises why Miss Dickinson is so flat Il
failure, financially, rs IN actress, and
Mrs. Langtry SO successful. To be
sure, Miss Dickinson is no actress, but
then neither is Mrs. Langtry. Miss
Dickinson'S name is quite as well
known as that of Mrs. Langtry, for she
has been prominently before the pub
lie for score of years. Why, then,
should til" public rush to see the Eng
liSh woman and turn the cold shoulder
to Miss Dickinson The answer is
not Il particularly flattering one for our
people, but is it not that nOtOrietv is
better advertisement than an unselfish
and philanthropic life-that we are
burning with desire to see the woman
of whom all the newspapers are talk
ing-that we would not 90 around the
block to see an actress who appeals to
us on her professional merits alone and
who has none of the meretriciOus at
traction born of newspaper notOriety
As Miss Dickinson is Il woman of pure
and unsullied life the public doesn't
care a button about seeing her if a
colossal scandal attached to her name
every one would be crazy to see her on
the stage. There is, perhaps, tinge
of eXaggeration about what we have
said, but the underlying fact is, we
fear. but too true. NOtOriety is Il card
that draws powerfully with the public.
Miss Dickinson's i'll success is no loss
to the stage or any one but herself :;
but one can hardly avoid drawing 4
comparison between her reception and
that of Mrs. Langtry.- Burlington
Free Press.