Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-06
ONE OFTHE ALEXANDRA DUMAS
Celebrated PersOnages of France.

Mary Harper IN tie Current.
The younger Dumas, as he is still called,
so vivid and vital is the personality of his
illustriOus father, is now man OF sixty
years of age. He looks somewhere about
forty-fve. Tall and well built, with fine
imposing head and noble carriage, he i'm
presses even the casual observer with a
sense of the presence of some one of ce-
lebrity and distinction. The dome-like
massive brow is crowned with crisp, cur
ly-hair, the locks of a mulattO, now
blanched by age and so robbed of much
of the peculiar aspect of such hair in
general. The eyes are blue and clear and
keen, the features regular, the mouth hid
den beneath a heavy mOustache. AS is
very often the case, the younger Dumas,
who is only an Octoroon, showed the mark
OF mixed blood far more than did his
quadroOn father. Before his hair became
gray the type was very strongly developed
in his physiognomy.
As is well known, Alexandra Dumas is
the lllegitimate son of the great novelist.
The stories of his being disOwned and ig-
nored by his father, and OF going to claim
recognition from his recalcitrant parent
when he had reached the age of fourteen,
are all sheer inventions. The elder Du-
mas was rejoiced at the birth of his boy,
and he recorded the event in his diary
with every mark of eXultatiOn. The
mother of this warmly-WelcOmed son was
OF low origin, uncultlvated, unintelligent
and possessed of a most violent temper.
Dumas would probably have espOused her
after the advent of his child had she been
OF more cOngenial nature. The boy
grew up, a pale, fragile, little fellow, with
great tlmld eyes and long golden curls
falling upon his shoulders. HIS school
fellows tOrmented him -pitilesslv. They
haunted him necessarily with the illegiti-
macy OF lis birth, and spared no pains to
wound his delicate and sensitive nature.
OI those days Dumas has retained an in
efaceable Impression. He has left a re-
cord of them in the opening chapters of
IL Analrs Clemenceau," and two of his
literary brethren, who figured amongst
| his tormentOrs, have found the portals of
his hospitable abode permanently closed
against them.
The boy grew 10 manhood, and the timid
chlid became brilliant, gifted youth. AS
might be imagined this dazzling boy, the
son OF the widest yet most winning lite
rarY man of France, was speedily
plunged into a whirlwlnd of dissipation
and expense. The day came Che was then
only twenty -nVe) when he found himself
lace to face with a mass of debts and
without sou wherewith to pay them.
His father coined money with his writings
/ 1t Is true, but he flung that money out of
the windows as fast as he earned it. So
the ldOllZed parent, whom he ALWAYS
called ''his greatest friend" could do
nothing to help him.
lie had no eXpectatiOns and noresOurces.
He had dabbled little in dramatic lite
nature, he had written a One-act opera
called "Atala," which had never been
/ played, and he had planned a piece for
/ the Odean which had never been written.
/ He contemplated his liabilities, perceived
u IGAg = -
/ up MS mind, with the cool resOluteness
/ which forms the background of his char
acter, to commit suicide. He wrote some
letters, set his papers in order, and locked
| himself up in his room with a case OF
| loaded pistols. But at the very moment
| OF taking up his weapon an idea crossed
his brain: suppose try my hand at lite
nature once more!-suppOse l write a
novel?"
The Dame Aux Camelias" was the
fruit of this idea. The novel and its still
more famous adaptation for the stage
! brought Dumas both fame and fortune.
and there was no more idea of committing
suicide. Years after he showed friend
the still loaded pistol which he kept as a
relic III a locked drawer. Il keep that as
/ an evidence that no man need ever de.
! spaIr," was his remark. 1t is a we'll
known fact that the heroine of the Dame
aux Camelias,' known to the French
/ stage as Marguerite Gautier, and to the
American boards as Camille, was a real
! parsonage named Madeleine Duplesss
one touching trait in her career deserves
/ recording.
When she died she bequeathed all hel
! possessions to her niece, young peasant
! girl, on condition that she should never
1 come to Paris. The victim of Paris de.
sired to save her innocent young relative
Madeleine Duplessis was originally a
WasherWOman. 'sWhat would YOU have
/ thought" said one of her admirers to her
one one di2Fb If so while yQn were Wrin cir
you all the splendor and gaiety Of your
present life?"
Il should have died of horror, and
shame and disgust" was the passionate
reply.
Her portrait in crayons now adorns
/ the private apartments of the younger
1 Dumas. He was one Of the two mourneTs
who were present at her funeral, and he
has lmmortalized her sorrow and her sui
( feTing.
After this first Overwhelming success
/ the world of managers and of actors was
at the feet of the young dramatist. Play
4 succeeded play from his fertile, polished
/ pen. lie became not only famous but
/ wealthy. He married a Russian princess
\ he installed himself in the most charming
I "a tAAN Netot-Aul uOLElS On luG Avenue Nt
/ Nlillefs; he is an adOring father to two
/ charming daughters, Mime. Lippman and
Madem0lselle Jeannine; he collects pic
I lures and bric-a-brac; and is in all re-
/ spects fortunate and happy man. he
/ enjoys large revenue from his dramas.
/ 'Le Demi-MOnde" being one of the staple
| commodities Of the COmedie Franchise,
! While lie Dame aux Camelias" is con-
tinually being performed in the provinces
and IN the foreign countries OF Europe.
! His method of composing play is pecu.
! liar. He thinks it out thoroughly, shut
/ ting himself up and meditating over his
work, sometimes for weeks and months
/ Then the piece once thoroughly thought
/ over, he takes the train for some distant
and lonely country place; he engages a
/ room, shuts himself up in it and writes
! necessarily for some ten days, emerging
finally with his completed play. Then
| comes the labor of correcting and alter
/ ing, for he is the most careful of writers
and pOlishes every word and phrase to the
| utmost extent. His father used to say OF
his MSS, "AleXandre does not write
/ prose; he writes music. There is a lot oil
bars and here and there a few words be-
tween them"
Personally NJ. Dumas is one of the most
polished and fascinating of men as he is
also one of the most kind-hearted. He is
a great discOverer of dramatic stars, and
always testifies the warmest and most
disinterested friendship for his proteges
The Partisan stage owed to his keen APP
probation of talent the lamented Desclee
the gifted and Inflated Tallandiera, an(
the unhappy Feyghine, whose tragic fate
Paris has scarcely yet forgotten. TIL,
brilliant coincidence, Nine. Celine Chau
mont, was discovered by MIN in a little
suburban theatre, and owed to him hel
first engagement at the Gymnase.
What's in "a Name?