Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-16
ADIPOSE AMERICA.
How Well-Known Actresses Reduce
Their Weight.
TO PREVENT CORPULENCY.
How Fanny Davenport Has Scaled Down
Pedestrianism and Careful Dist-Adelina
PATHS Rules-Lillian Russell's Method to
Prevent Increasing Flesh.
Written for The Evening Star.
rCopyrighted.

GNOOD LOOhS AXE ALMOSI IdE cIOCh
" in trade Of the wearers Of the sock and
buskin. Therefore corpulence is fatal to that
perennial youth which they are supposed to
possess. As long as the form retains its STEM
derness the face can be made up to look young
at the footlights, but as soon as the player be-
comes stout he, and more especially she, is
obliged either to retire or to take to the imper-
sonation Of mature roles, while those who, like
Maggie Mitchell and Agnes Booth, still keep q
girlish figure are accepted in "young par ts'
long after they have passed that romantic
period Of life known as the "first youth"
Some actresses become obese even in their
youth; witness Fanny Davenport and Lillian
Russell. Their fight with fat is interesting
even to those whose livelihood is not affected
or interfered with by their avordupois.
HOW FANNY DAVENPORT REDUCED HER WEIGHT.
About seven years ago Miss Davenport had
attained such proportions that she cast about
for some means Of reducing her weight, and
first tried the Banting system. Being tall
she could carry of, ;" as it is termed, more
flesh than q short woman. At the same time
lat La Tosca, Fedora or Camille was ludicrous
and not to be tolerated. Before Banting Miss
Davenport used to drink quantities Of water
and eat bon bons to excess. These two bad
habits she abandoned, and at once noticed a
ucCTettS6 WQcu Bcal1ng. 1ulS encouraged
to pursue her experiments further, and she
turned her attention to the table, beginning by
cutting off bread, next vegetables and then fat
meat. The American Cleopatra drinks moth
ing but cold iced tea, summer or winter, and
eats nothing but beef. mutton, poultry, eggs
and hsh-no butter, soup or sauces or dessert
WALKING.
Very hard diet this, but it repaid her by re-
turning some trimness of outline. In her case.
Ill
ness reduced her to the desired minimum Of
weight. So she gave up her carriage and took
to walking. When her time permits she starts
out in the morning and walks all day long. At
first she used to become 80 tired as hardly to
be able to get through the performance at
night. but now she is such good walker that
she could win in a walking match. There are
few, however, who would have the perseverance
and the will power to keep long at Miss Daven-
ports rules for the reduction of adipose tissue
After many trials Of the various 'anti-fat"
modes in vogue Miss Davenport has struck out
three very simple rules, but hard to follow.
She says:
THREE RULES
'Tn my opinion, which is the result of some
years Of experimenting, the only way to be-
come thin, and, what is more difficult still, to
keep thin. is, first, no fluids: second, no food
worth speaking of; third, constant walking"
Probably the youngest looking woman of her
years on the stage is the famous Adelina Patti.
Born in 1913 she is now, when nearly fifty
years of age, slender and as well pro-
portioned as when she was but sixteen. II there
be such a thing inheriting tendency to cor
pulence she certainly had that disposition, for
her mother was very stout. What occult cor
respondence there may be between a mothers
fat and a daughters voice am not prepared
to say, but famous cantatrices and feshy
mothers seem to go in pairs. Adelina's sister
Carlotta was fat. So also, have been told,
was her father.
HOW PATTI KEEPS THIN.
PATHS light and willowy form is due to the
trouble she has always taken to keep it 80. To
this, and to her marvellous voice. all her mature
life the great diva has been a slave.
In addition to understanding the importance
of rest, sleep, bathing and exercise Patti has
reduced her system Of eating to dietary
science. Although living principally in hotels,
she is never tempted to partake Of the rich food
provided by them, but year in and year out
confines herself to the simplest and most mo-
notonous fare. She never eats fresh bread. 1t
must be toasted dry and hard before she will
touch it. In winter she lives mainly on oysters,
lean meat, bouillon carefully prepared for her
by Niccolini every night after the performance.
She takes no dinner upon the days when she is
to sing at night. She never drinks ice water,
but occasionallya little watered claret or lem
onade. The great singer avoids all starchy,
fattening foods, such as hominy, potatoes. peas,
turnips. corn, carrots, beets, macaroni, pud-
dings, pies and cakes, confning herself to lean
meat, light soups, green vegetables, such as
lettuce, celery, dry toasted bread and fruits.
She rarely drinks tea or coffee, and beer never.
She rides as little possible, exercising on foot
| all that her time will permit.
II 1.-THE profession" would generally follow
PATHS simple and abstemious manner of living
they would seldom become too feshy to APP
pear in youthful roles. Patti has from an early
OiYynar laA into
primarily for the development Of her voice and
afterward adhering to it as preventive Of COR
pulence.
LILLIAN RUssELL's METHOD.
The American queen of light opera. Lillian
Russell. has at earlier period of life than
most others succumbed to that bane of her
calling, obesity. But for her determined
and strenuous efforts to reduce her flesh it
would soon be said of her as it was of the
enormous Parepa Rosa, that she resembles an
| elephant with a nightingale in its throat"
1t is well known that Miss Russell began her
professional career on the variety stage. Here
she attracted the notice of manager of a light
opera troupe and he offered to give her the
leading role in a new opera he was about to
produce, provided she would train down sufi-
GENTLY to look the part. That manager was
John McCaul and the name of the opera (if I
| remember rightly THE Serpent Charmer' She
| had one summer in which to learn the role
and to reduce her weight to the required num-
Der of pounds. She succeeded, evolving a
course Of training which, as the years have
| gone on and her flesh is obstinate in increas-
| ing, she has added to until she is able to keep
| down to $50 pounds. This she regulates by
scaling every day. II she finds herself going
up in weight she outs off some fat-forming
| food in which she may have been indulging,
such as bread and butter, potatoes and: sugar.
Like Patti. she eats only bread that has been
| dried hard in the oven. OF late years Miss
Russell has given up beer. champagne, wine
and late suppers. to which, however, she was
| never Unfortunately addicted.
That snack after the performance is what
lays the foundation Of the obesity of the pro-
| fession. 1t is the meal for which thew have