The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-15
LILY LANGTRYs YOUTH.
mas Recalled by Two Old Photo
graphs.
From the Chicago Tribune.

as the reception room OF ner parlor car
Iee.n which lay in the yards of the
m DEPOT. Out of doors the trains went
wing by, making the day grirny and
1;obt hideous Indoors the beauty, in
use Turkish robe, sat among her rugs,
litter of silks and her books. There
Y 80 hooks of all kinds -Swinburne and
4 o,,en Meredith, Shelley and Shakespeare,
mo on the cart Of Acting" and an OBJ
se treatise on botany.
% YOU have unearthed this old photo
ob i She said II have not seen it since
as unite young girl. So this is how
,oi-ad in those long forgotten days in Jer-
e. Dear deari And people sometimes
ay; Mrs. Langtry, you must have been a
L ely little girl. ,"
Al was lust IA. l remember the occasion
veil On certain festivities, just as we
adj new bonnets at Christmas, we were
IT to the photographers. The photo
. aPner of W. ". Onless, who is
Dnw famous as an artist. / was quite proud
- the nOrtralt at the time. And, even
gan' signing swain had proposed for my
hand"
Nv no was heT'
.sHe was Lieutenant in the Forty-third
not and I was a tomboy, playing cricket
nd football and saddling my own mare.
a was the son of former Archbishop of
antqrbulv, and my father, who, you know,
ii was Dean of Jersey, thought it would be
delightful to marry me to the son of an
j arch bishop"
81 "Were you engaged!
ri "No. hated the man. You can't think
how hated the man. He was very nice,
n 10 doubt; but had girlish dislike of him,
4 and muc preferred the society of my seven
4 bg brothers and my lesson books. For, do
YOU know, was quite studious when was
n simply Miss LIE Breton, of jersey"
What did you study ~
Latin and eek Even mathematics.
n could translate vi, gil and bible in Xe.o-
4 phon. was pretty good, too, in algebra
A and trigopometry."
do YOU remember them now
Not in the least. they have vanished
like dream | sometimes feel, like Roger
Ticbborne, that good education has been
4 wasted on me-"
did you play in amateur theatricals
when a girl e
Never. Many people have said that |
4 had an early training for the stage But
n had none. never trod the boards. even at
home till l appeared at Twickenham Town
Hall il "A Fair Encounter. And all
knew of the stage | learned from the boxes
Of the little theatre ia Jersey, where Wy
bert Rowsby was manager, and the beauti-
fIl Mrs Rowsby-was she not lovely a.
PLAYED Ju let anu Ophelia befo gong to
tnchalt London in 'rwixt AK and Crown ~
Mrs Langtry, when was this second pho
tograph takenp
30, the horrid thing Where in the
world did you get it: Tne face is mine; the
bat i, mine; tins dres: is mine. | remember
it now. 1t was taken By Onless, too, just
after | married Nj. Ian try. | was 10
years old Is it not horrid"
Does it res mble Mr.. Langtry~
Yes, as he was in those days. And it is
funny that his ph tograph has never yet
been published. How it brings back the
past | can see him coming over in his
yacht, the Red Gauntlet; l can see him at
lie bail Whic4 he gave in the Town Hall,
the men of his yacht smartly dressed and
receiving the company with naval salutes
can see him as saw him in the days Wien
- All mel"
Ard the actress Travelled back in memory
10 a day Wien she was neither famous nor
thought of fame--to day when she only
thought of love, and Viking came over
the seas TO win her.
"Though only IS, he was a widower, :"
she said, after a pause. His first vile
was Miss Price. The Prices were Irish
people living III Jersey; ID Mr.. Langtry
was Irish, too, his people being among the
chief landowners OF Belfast. One Of my
brothers MARI ed his sister, and so our
families contracted their intimacy"
"Was be rich?'
my father thought he was richer than
be was. He was nearly at the end of his
fortune. AT the time when that photo
graph was taken believed that my life
was assured. knew nothing of what was
in store for me.
How long did Mr.. Langtry's money
hstF'
For three years after l married him
When we vent to London we were misera-
bly, poor. My father had taken me to Lon.
don before, but had mere Y seen the Tower
and Westminster Abbey. | knew nothing
of the social life of the town"
who introduced you to ij!'
Lord Ranelagh. | had known him in
Jersey. He was the o1ly man of position
whom | knew in London. Lady Seabright
gave party o night and Lord Ranelagh
wrote to her, / have pretty young woman
whom want you to know" And he took
men
Was it your first London party?"
my very first. Everybody wanted TO be
Leighton, and all the artistic world.
How do you account for your social sue
Cessp
81 was an artists success. The paintings
made me famous. My face belonged to the
Ureek type, which wa. popular in London.
Watts used to M assure my face when sat
Tor him. He would say, Good God! Not
hairs breadth out Then my pictures
We're exhib ted at the academy and that
made everybody talk of me-"
Were there any other clements in your
success"
Yes, one that was notable. / think that
my poverty did even more than the paint rs
70 bring me into popularity. | had recently
lost one of my brothers, and | weHt TO par
ties IN pa black dress. 1t was the only
black dress that possessed, and wore 1t
everywhere. The women sneered at first,
but the men commended. Notice her sim
plcity,' they said. She always appears /
plain black dress. She wears no jewelry,
no ornaments of any kind And in this way
they thought me to DO lovelier, perhaps, than
really was. But after all it is luck-bl.nd
luck! There are so many pretty women in
Lon ion that there was no reason why |
should be singled out"
Was your head turnedF'
never realized my success"
Ivy no advised you TO take to the stage"
Mrs. Labouchere CHI efiy. Her own
career on the boards, as Henrietta Holds N,
made her anticipate similar triumpns for
ne. And then Edmund Yates, of the
World, would insist on my tempting
theatrical fortune | was so poor that they
pltled me. They saw there was a chance
Tor me 10 do better than wear plain black
dress through the entire London season.
Mrs Langtry,' said Edmund Yates, John
HOlliul9Shaad If the Eaietv and I will nav