Morning journal and courier., 1888-02-21
DIARY OF A RIANAGRR-

How He Worked the Press So His
 Star ssCaught On"
 From the Chicago Tribune.l
 January 20-One Mary Brown came to me to-day and wished to make a contract to star promised to see her again to-mor- row, when would judge of her ability.
 January 21-Miss Brown really has much talent. Her voice is very good and her ges- lures natural. I have half mind to engage her.
 February 2-Signed contract with Miss Brown. She is very enthusiastic and is vii :. ling to work hard I believe can make something out of her.
 February 14-Company engaged and in re- hearsal have billed Miss Brown as a tall ented American girl. am going to put her forward simply on her merits.
 February 15-Saw some of the critics to- day and told them who Miss Brown was. I said that she based her claims for patronage entirely on her ability to act; that she was not starring an elegant wardrobe and lot of jewels laid considerable stress on the fact that she was simply an American girl who was going on the stage because she honestly believed she was fitted for it. They did not seem very much interested.
 February 1S-Miss Browns debut set for the S4th. Inc papers nave nar0ly mentioned her outside of their advertising columns. The editors gay the public is not interested l in histrionic debutantes.
 February 24-Advance sale very small. Papers have almost entirely ignored the opening.
 February 25-No house at all last night. Papers very lukewarm this morning. They | ssdamn by faint praise" asked one of the critics about it and he said: 70, she is very good-very good indeed; but then there is not much to say about her you know" l March 1-Losing money right along An must do something.
 March 3-I met the critic of the Bugle on | the streets Ais morning and invited him in | to have bottle of champagne. Over the wine informed him that Miss Brown wasn't ! an American girl at all; that she was all English duchess travelling ineognito to escape | the brutal treatment of her husband, and | that she had in her trunk eighty thousand dollars worth of jewels, which she dared not | wear lest they should reveal her identity. l March 4-The Bugle had column and a half on the ''duchess" this morning. The critic of the Investigator called on me to as ! certain the truth of the article I told him | that it was lie from beginning to end; that Miss Brown was no more duchess than she | was a queen; that her real name was Henri. etta Montmorency, and that the story proba- ply arose from the fact that she had ruined | the Duke of Lawntennis. called his atten, ton to the little diamonds that she wore in her ears and told him that they were heir looms ot the house of Lawntennis, of fabu, lous value, which the duke in his mad infat
 uation had given her. notice that the ad-
 vance sale is much larger today.
 March 5-Big house last night. Investiga- tor gave two columns to Henrietta Montmor
 rency this morning. Miss Brown called al my office to ask what the meaning of it all was, and advised her to sue for libel, put,
 ting damages at five hundred thousand dol
 lars. Might as well make splurge while we're about it. I hunted up the critic of the
 Crier and told him that my star had beer
 grossly maligned; that sine was an English
 lady of high rank who was spending hel
 time in this country, while her husband go' | divorce from her on the ground of infdel ity.
 March e-Crier gave me two columns thii l morning and the BugIs had an editorial an swering the Investigators article of yester' day. The Gall had Miss Browns denial O
 everything and a column write-up of her Ii bel suit Business is booming. My star hat three recalls last night, and there was lin