The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-12-24
SARAH BERNuARDT.s HOUSE.
Full of Costly and Luxurious Hang
inGs-A Prosperous Woman.


Full of Costly and Luxurious Hang
ings-A Prosperous Woman.
Pail Mall Gazette
What first strikes one on entering from
the porte cochere is the profusion OF rich
and heavy hangngs One ascends thence
five or six wide steps that face the door.
heavy, at the top. These portieres must
be fearful microbe nests, since shaking
and beating them often in the open air IS
impossible If they were shaken and beat
en- within doors all the microbes In the
dust would fall back them The walls
are covered with precious textiles Where
ever you see a door, there YOU see another
pair OF pOrtieTes. One has "A vista of the
sale a manager. and sees again d super
fluffy of curtains and tapestries. Nine.
Bernhardts maid. IL you call in the morn
ing, and man servant. IL you come in the
afternoon, takes you to the end of the hall
facing the dining room, and then down
other steps into lofty. spacious room.
which may be greenhouse studio, salon,
tent, or all four, and is furnished a good
deal as might have been the tent of some
Mesopotamian Kings daughter OF the
Abramical time. had it been possible Tor
her 10 have filled IL with palms and other
tropical plants in Persian vases. portraits
Of herself by Geryex, Bastien Lepage, and
a number Of others not less well-known
artists busts (also of HERSELF, couches
draped with rare Stuffs or warmed up with
fuTs not less valuable. floor rugs Of tiger.
leopard and South Australian sheep skins.
tokens of admiration from princes and
pOtentates, TO make which exhausted the
skill and fancy of artists who worked In
The mistress of the house looks as fresh
as a rose. and tres avenapte. a term that
ant will convey, though each Of these
words gets near il. She is StOuter than
she was when the portrait in front of which
she stands was done of herself, and a favor
lite Persian greyhound lying with nose be-
tween outstretched paws beside her. 1t is
a sinelllarIy odd and interesting picture
and was a good likeness when taken, but
ia not now The Journal Amusant parOdied
t as "a dog beside bone Sarah Bern
hart was then at the Francois, and, wor-
ried by the tyranny of NJ. Perrin and the
jealousy of her fellow-actors and actresses
who had been driven wild by the praises
bestowed on her by Victor Hugo. She was
also worried with creditors But she has
since. guided by her wandering instinct
found Eldorados and come back wealthy,
healthy, and contented with the fruits OF
her long tours. Part of these fruits are
worldwide reputation Every Australian
North or South American, New Zealander
Russian. Scandinavian, Austrian, Hungar-
ian or Briton who has money to spend in
play going will want to, spend an evening
ager. This she and NJ. Graux knew when
they signed at Rio their deed Of partnership
which gives her the absolute managemef.t
| of the stage. a share in the profits proper
| tionate TO her deserts, a voice In the ar
rangements of the house. and the right,
| after consulting her associate ana nearing
what he has TO say, in accepting or refus-
ing plays and assigning the parts. Tnls
| Sol Marie de Neuburg, Theodore, Dora, Cleo
patra with Sarah Bernhardt pure ct sim
| pie. is just on the stage. what she is on IT.
but in the latter case has more good-na-
| tured suavity of manner.
In private life she is not STACEY, because
| not Obliged to make her words and mo
items suit a given character Those who
\ live about and on her seem TO be in clover.
| for she Is profuse, though exacting of the
work which servants, secretaries, dress
makers and so forth are employed TO do.
Her femme de chambre must be a woman
L of genius, for on her constantly devolves
the task of revising and improving Nine.
| sarah Bernhardt's toilets. The taste of the
great actress is Oriental, and at variance
| with the taste of European ladies. in which
straight-laced bodies of the coats of mail
Of by-gone days. The male European has
| dropped everything crustacean. but the fe,
which served as personal defense from
| rough fingers in rude times. and was more
useful than a veil to hide away plastic
| Charms Sarah Bernhardt instinctively
| drapes herself like an Eastern woman. She
| has the carriage of one descended from
| sells from wells 1t is this erectness, which
| is not an effect of purpose. but of ancestral
| habits OF the muscles, that makes the drap-
| cries OF her SOFT robe de chambre fall 50
| tremendously. This garment is in silvery
| blue damask, edged everywhere, at neck.
chest, down the diagonally closed front
and round the hem that touches the floor
with a deep fluffy trimming, furnished
| doubtless by the marabout ostrich. AS she
turns round to take chair the under
trimmings OF the skirt appear and answer
but in soft lawn, which is arranged In mar
row ana pam nemmeu THIS overlapping
| each other, to the depth perhaps of half
yard Nine Bernhard has a lace scarf
| twisted round her head
Nine. Bernhard vouchsafed some partic-
ularS about present occupations. She is
| n fairly early riser, and likes pottering
| about in the morning, looking at her
| flowers, her pets, her laces, and what not
| and then reading the letters delivered at s
| N the morning, marking the ones TO be
answered an by her secretary She lunches at
| hearses and attends to business until s.
| dimes in her dressing-rOom, and has two
| good hours pour faire la digestion before
| she goes on the stage. Her most trying
| task is the fitting on Of dresses. 1t is i'm
| possible to get Reconsideration eyes be-
| ing vitiated by long habit of the corset
| tight body and abrupt hip and dorsal
| curveS-to follow properly the lines of the
| body, or to indicate them in seeming TO
| veil them. When a dress is a success sew
eral copies are taken of It, When LES
| Rois'' was being rehearsed Nine. Bern
/ hardt and her company were at il every
| day from to $50, and from $50 until 1 in