Telegram-herald., 1889-05-13


tEass-laS "a tA1s Or Azy ofoer eoQatEy.
sioeA Sa-eh = c4xss4liy esiell-4se1 - *
@etiy e@t.ast tAs lsasth Of hHs'sIaY Iou
nlsy o1eF ain t1s asssE Hsssaa el<ar in
tls sogid a11 &c si4 merely sLa0ks x
fen oo-sEGssy 4ad th~a tara slkh pl~4saEs
- tAs domestic a14iIs zoeaJ whlc6 ! have
stEe4 lsksG Alla.
Oae ctheF haoir q AIS an reminded of
~ lay HlsGt4on II hls foreign trzvsls
IL ais large safe ~ aoun= he kexps
carefully doae uD ia vyalsaux sBe
pAe1sls considerable amounts II TIA
Far.o2s moneys u s1ra countries
as he i Ikeig 10 ssir * las
Visited AID - - 4lsays provided viii
POCKET money a. ll s. ere for any j9ur1ey
hs a-Ay decide 20 take. felae1a ber once
Lls banalDg NE Ss0 a. 4 ats about =
start Tor AIurrica after my summer roll
DAY passed - Florence Oae hundred dol
iars sas IN Italian money. one hundred
aollars la English. and one hundred iu
American. Thus. sad ne. you viii
lot Dc nnler the necessity Of changing
glaF money az the money brokers
an tree leutly asked - nether uly father
id lot LFain ne himself for my stage
career, and toe question - put Ia such q
form that makes IL evident that the an,
sWeF - assumed 10 he IN the Affirmative.
This i 80 far from being the case that my
father designed me Tor quite another pro
fession, and. indeed, when | first visited
America lt wts 10 pursue here nay studle.
A. a civil engineer. | have acted indeed
from NY boy wood. but only a. an amateur.
When any amateur performance for sOms
charity or 30 forth was arranged In Flor.
ence the first cry was always for sal.
WINS children" and rather, fancy, 70
my fathers amused disgust my brother
and | were only too willing 10 accept the
invitation, while my father was rather
ebaded by his friends at bis unwilling
ness TO Il Us appear. As luck would have
il il thus more than once .ell 10 my lot 10
create "A part in some play, which pre-.
sented irst by the amateurs, WAS subse.
auentIy a success on the regular stage.
NY father, however, was firm In his deter
mination that | should not be an actor,
and he was glad 70 see me sail for America,
thinking that al any rate | should be
under no temptation 10 don the sock and
buskin IN n land " hose very speech was at
that time unknown TO me. AS II happened
though, l had not long been here and
gained "a sInattering OF the English
tongue when chance threw in my way
an opportunity 10 make my appearance
as an English speaking actor in the com.
pany Of one no less famous than Clara Nor
ris was mere lad and / think was
saved from failure as much by my own
boyish self-contidence and ignorance ot
what failure meant rs by the kindness
OF my friends and the good nature OF my
audiences. At all events, with great ce-
light my good friend Majerone and con-
cocted a cable dispatch announcing my
successful debut and sent il to my father
Then waited with trepidation and by and
by letter came. i was congratulated but
the question was put with parental incs-
iveness: why did you not ask my permis
sionl" My reply that did not ask because
/ knew be would refuse and so / thought
IL better TO succeed first and ask for leave
afterwards tickled nay father immensely
hut he gravely answered that for the pres
ent | could continue and that when he
came TO America, the year following, he
would make up his mind. / awaited his
coming with even more trepidation, and
the next year. in Baltimore, ne saw me act
ia English for the first time. | was play
ing Romeo, then. 10 Miss Nather's Juliet,
and at my first entrance l did not see my
father. When / re-entered from the op-
posite side OF the stage l caught sight of
those great eyes OF his at the back of the
box and for the first time l knew what
stage fright was. After the act he came TO
my dressing-room and said only one word:
why do you hold your hands sO?' i'm
itating the gesture / had prided myself
on as being uncommonly graceful.
Hold them so. easily and naturally"
and then he went out. At the end of the
play he came behind once more, saluted
me in Italian fashion and merely said, go
on" and that is all the stage instruction
my father ever gave me. We have discus
sed the conception of characters and stage
business and so on when | supported him
some years ago. but he has always refrained
from anything which looked like teaching.
Once, though. he saw me play Maccari in
Called Back. | happened TO use in one
act with some effect, red silk handker-
chief aud brought it to view again in the
course OF later act. Ny father came
behind As | WAS dressing for the street
and said: You were ali right, my boy.
hut tell me. has Maccari only one handker-
chiefs" His eve had caught the trifie
which Jared on his artistic conscience.
SO peculiarly sensitive to minute points OF
detail | was non-plussed for moment
pub Cruelty tIfucu the tdDlc Dy IcDlhI NH =
"Ah. you see You have been betrayed by
your ignorance of English. Maccari
belongs, As is pointed out In the
play 10 a secret society called the Red
Handkerchief Gang" and he Was satisfied
until later on | undeceived him.
have spoken at length about myself as
| think these little anecdotes unfold one
side Of my fathers character. He OBJ
iected To our going on the stage not be-
cause be belittled his art, but because he
feared we had no inbOrn inclination or
talent aud he firmly believes that the actor
is born and not made, aud he also feared
that in Italy his own reputation might
help us TO positions to which We were not
entitled by our own hard work. while on
the other hand our own artistic reputa-
tions might be unduly over-sbadOwed boy
the might OF his own I DO not know
whether this latter fear i not well
founded For myself can only say that
I would cheerfuliy pay that price and a
greater srill tor the pride Of being able q
call myself the son OF Tomaso SalvinL
ALEXANDER SALvINI.