Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-07-17

An Actress Tells How It Il Donc-Danger
of Getting Hurt.

An Actress Tells How It II Donc-Danger
of Getting Hurt.
'.Want to know how we fall2'' said the
beautiful. graceful woman. why. see.
this way. First your knee. and then your
hip, and then your shoulder, and you are
down." and the graceful figure was prone
on the carpet with outstretched arms.
Every fold Of her lace drapery in the pret-
tiest possible place, not an inch OF her
ankle or CLEAN of the snowy skirts was
visible. and the falling has been as noise
less and graceful as butterfly's dip and
swoop down to the heart of rose. Then,
with a supple grace and quick, agile
spring, she was on her feet in second
In this way-sideways, you see, and
with dip and curve and sweep of the
lace draperies, down she foated as swift
and noiseleSs as a swallows downward
sweep, and she lay apparently lifeless,
with her face hidden. Another little
spring and she foated backward into a
chair so limp and faint that even the
smile on her lips hardly reassured you
that it wasn't an actual sudden faintness.
I'VE are taught in the schools, and
practice on rug at home first, you know;
and of course we get many bruises while
learning We fall first to the knee and
then to the hip, the shoulder, and down.
OF course we do this very slowly at first
and awkwardly. but we do it over and
over again until one fall blends into the
other so completely that you cannot dis
tinguish it. Oh, yes, it is hard at first,
but all there is to it is to take all the
viii out of your body and collapse. Mako
your muscles involuntary and inspired
with the part you are playing, so that at
the proper time you will fall almost un-
consciously, and then you won't be hurt.
Our prompter tainted the other night,
and fell and hurt himself very badly.
Now, / could fall in faint hundred
times and not be hurt-you see my fall is
an unconsciously mechanical action. You
go into familiar room in the dark and
your body will unconsciously take the
right direction to avoid coming in con-
tact with the objects in the room, so my
body takes the mechanical curve and
poise requisite to avoid hurt without
my thinking anything about it IL l make
myself perfectly inert--give myself all
up, you know.
II have been hurt several times. Those
old fashioned sloping stages were treach
erous affairs, and very often when play
ing on an unfamiliar stage we were hurt
Iremember going down bang on my nose
once-almost broke it. Everything was
dark for minute, and then there flashed
out all the consultations known to man,
and several more that haven't been dis
covered, but l went on with my part and
no one knew. Then / had another fall
that made my hip black all over-thought
that would never get well, for had to
fall on 1t every night, no matter how II
hurt.
''Are we afraid of being hurt? Oh, no.
We are constantly in danger. Great heavy
fhiIlUc ara 1aporif1er er r,x-a1. ofII. heads that
if some stage carpenter shall blunder or
some piece of machinery break, would
come down and make short work of us ]
had heavy iron bar fall not four inches
from my face once, and man cut my
forehead with dagger, and other people
have accidents, but we don't think any.
thing about them after it is over. Like
nervous people on shipboard fancy before
they sail that they are going to think OF
their danger all the time, but two days
out they will forget all their fear and feel
as safe as on land. So we throw our.
selves down on the boards and roll oh
sofas and down terraces and out Of chairs,
knowing we might break our bones, but
never thinking of it. No one ever did
such fearfully dangerous thing as that
Miss Fetter, though. It seemed strange
the papers didn't speak Of it before, for it
just seemed cruel for her to endanger her
her health and even her life just to make
one more funny point in the play
Men say sometimes that women fall
more easily and lightly than they them
selves. This may be true, for women are
supple, 1.-THE and elastic and not so tall.
for the fall is just as mechanical People
only watch the pretty curves and grace
ful sweep of woman's drapery, and do
not see the mechanical studied action
underneath. We float down very grace
fully, but the floating is done as accu-
rately as a problem in geometry. New
York Sun.