Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-29
ANtERIcANAfrREssEs
What a Well Known Writer Has to Say
About a Few of Them.


About a Few of Them.
In one Of her letters, Olive Harper says:
On the ''home stretchD 1 was greatly en-
tertained by hearing one Of the ladies on
the opposite seat tell the other some little
gossip that might possibly interest others,
too, and so I repeat it as well as can,
saying, en- passaHt, that it is a pity that
more actual gossip, just as women talk it,
cannot be reproduced in literature gener-
ally:
''Oh, yes" she said, II know Kate Clax-
ton quite well, and several Of her family.
She is married, you know, to Charles Ste
vensOn, and they are very happy together.
They have very handsome house in West
Fourteenth street, which she told me she
bought with one seasons earnings. When
she is at liberty they live there, and her
father and mother and sisters all live
there, too. Her father is an author and IS
quite well known. and her grandfather,
DIR. Cone, was a Baptist minister. Her
sisters are on the stage, too, but none Of
them Will equal her in ability. They are
all pretty, with brown eyes and auburn
hair, and very delicate compilations.
Their home is handsomely furnished and
contains some paintings very old and very
rare-heirl00ms. At home they are all
just like any other family, without any
reminder Of the business they follow. Mr.,
Stevenson is quite fine musician, and is
YeTy good looking. At home Kate Clax-
ton dresses in pale blue wrappers mostly,
and lets her hair curl naturally. She is
very domestic, and aside from the exigen-
cies Of her profession, would make an adj
mirable housewife.
''Annie Pixley is another dear domestic
little soul. She makes all her own dresses
Frs. -Nu all 49,
vacation TO spend with her two little boys
in Canada. They are now about ten and
seven years old. She isn't nearly as pretty
of as on the stage, as she has a bad skin
and no eyebrows to speak of; Just a good
little soul, awfully in love with her hus-
band. She walks five or six miles every
day, swims when and where it is possible,
and drinks Epson salts every morning to
prevent growing fat, which is her horror.
She studies the hardest! No end OF exer-
cises in singing, and indeed she deserves
success from every point Of view.
''Did you ever see Mrs. Florence of the
stage! Well, she is just the same on as
of. She boards in the Fifth Avenue Ho-
tel always when in town, and to hear her
talk of her husband, whom she absolutely
adOres, and her dog Iipsey, which she
idOlizes, is just too tenderly sweet for
anything. You know she has for years
had the name of being the best dressed
woman on the stage. Well, she designs
nearly every one of her own dresses.
People always thinks she paints, but that
is not so, except to use white, which is
necessary on the stage. Her lips are
naturally scarlet and her cheeks pretty
color. She is Of a beautiful figure, too,
and isn't she just the kindest soul!
''NOw. Genevieve Ward is just the OPP
pOsite in most essentials. She cares for
nobody nor nothing but herself. She prides
herself upon the fact that she wears no
corsets and never did, but she wears
broad 'bracing board to keep her waist
down, and that is just as sinful, if sin it
is. She is not an angel in temper, bat she
can carve in marble, and while she dresses
handsomely, she losses her clothes around
her room with a sublime disregard of cost,
to say nothing of neatness, and While she
is called cold and heartIess, she is really
womanly and full Of sympathy and
charity.
Fanny Davenport has long been known
and acknowledged as the handsOmest
woman on the stage, and she certainly de-
serves the compliment. Once / asked Mr..
Price-this was before l knew her-if she
was really as lovely as was said, and he
told me enthusiastically, ten times more
sO.' I went to see her and found her just
after getting out OF bed, the worst time,
you know, for woman to show herself,
and it was true. Actually, her flesh was
as soft and falr as a childs, and / have
been in love with her ever since. She is
very good to those in need, and gives not
only literally but layishly, but she has
been in many instances treated with in
gratitude. An old gentleman l know says
gratitude is thankfulness for fayors to
come, and guess that's about it.
did you ever know Emma Abbott?
Well, you ought to. You like atfectionate
TaFf hot l-r,a ho,.
five minutes she would have her hands on
your arm, and in ten they would be around
your neck, and, what is more, you would
believe that you were the only one so fa-
yOred. Everybody believes that. She is
neither pretty nor ugly, but has a very
sweet mouth and pretty figure. She can't
sing for shucks, though.
Minnie Hauk is right the reverse of
her in manner and appearance. She is
very large, dark, and she would be hand
some if her nose was only little bigger.
She is not little caressing angel to live
with, Minnie Hauk isn't. She is kind but
never generous to those in need, and she
thinks her great part is Selika, while the
public thinks il is Carmen. She is very
hOspltable, and no one goes to see her that
doesn't have to eat a dried prune and
drink cup of coffee. Her husband is a
savant, with bilious look, and is about
half as big as she.
"Know Lolita? OF course do. She is
just two years older than land I-ahem
WE'LL was born in 1S43. She doesn't
amount to much to talk of, any more than
does any bright, sparkling little thing, but
she has borne up amazingly well, and |
dare say, won't look thirty when l do
seventy.
"But we are nearly back now, and can
only add that l suppose l know more Of
the 'ladies in the prOfession,' and know
them more intimately than almost any
other person not in that sacred guild, my
self, and some other time I'll tell the
rest"
And so ended the eavesdropping.