The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-15
LoTTA IN RETIREMENT.
STORY OF HER LONG STAGE CA
REER AND ITS REWARDS.

Rosy views of an Actress Life-What
1t neutrality-suspicious. During
the Gold Fever in CaIifOrnia-She
Thinks the Merit of Actors May Be
Judged by the Money They Make.
Her Fortune.
From the New York Sun.
1--WE went out there in 1851. Lots of peo-
pie who expected to find fortunes were
disappointed My father was one of them.
So after a year we were living in log
cabin on the outskirts Of Bear Creek"
There Is still youthful, almost childish
quality in the voice that is reciting these
personal "reminiscences of the days of the
gold fever in California. The face of the
speaker is lit with the same expression of
infantile wonder that won popularity a
third of a century ago. The same curls,
as brown and crisp, are brushed back from
her face. Her big blue eyes are as bright
and deep as they were then, and her slight
figure is as 1.-THE and girlish. Sitting in her
drawing room in an uptown hotel she
looks no older than % years. Maybe the
4 searching daylight might reveal changes
that are not TO be noticed in the shades OF
the draped curtains.
] udACGu anu sang AAlcls Silt dQuS Will
a laugh at the thought, "in hall that ad-
! Joined a gambling saloon. But that was
/ customary in California in those days. If
it hadn't been for that gambling hall
might never have been an actress at ALL
! But the owner of it was angry because a
company OF actors came to town and hir-
! ed the other hall. So he got up an anna
teur entertainment for the same night to
/ get ahead of them; and we did,
1t is when she begins to tell the story
OF that successful career, probably more
! successful during its long course than
that of any other American actress, that
! one realizes the speaker is really Lotta
! who was for so many years one of the
/ is living now in retirement, and will never
return to the stage III health three years
ago compelled her to stop acting.
She was one of the fortunate women
| who, left the stage before it left her, and
| she was as popular in the west and south
when she ceased to act as she was a
/ her career she never played any part but
that of a very young girl. In her own
/ words, she was "a woman low comedian, -
| singing, dancing, picking the banjo with
an eXpertness that was remarkable, and
doing anything and everything that
amused the audiences in the plays in
| which she acted. These were especially
written for her and are not much seen
| on the stage to-day But her popularity
! In them was enormous. Her annual Wis
| its to the cities, particularly in the west
and south, were marked by cordially
VI nSlCOllC WHICH has D0cU rarely
Gated by any actress, New York saw less
of her, but in Philadelphia and Boston
she was as popular as she was in the
Il have one thing to be proud of in my
| career" she said to a Sun reporter, and
that is the fact that was always espec-
tally the faVorite of women and children
l tried studiously to avoid anything that
savored in the least of indelicacy. 1t
! wasn't hard, for nothing of the kind ever
occurred to me. / never thought of such
| things, and believe that an atmosphere
of this kind communicates itself 60
others. So l was al ways proud that It
was the women and children who were
! always my friends"
When a person has withstocd the effects
of time so well, and when she is, more
| over a woman, it does not seem fair to
| speak of the number of years that meas
ure her age In such a case years are
no test at all. But there is no harm in
| Lottas case in telling just how old she
is said to be-. People who are reminiscent
| and those who are fond of the reminis-
! cenees of others, recall the fact that she
| was born in New York at $50 Broadway
| in November, 1S47. That makes her-weiJ
| just about as old as any other woman Is
at thirty in appearance, and in manner
and spirit not much more matured than
| a girl of half that age.
Sometimes when people ask me how in
the world It is that / keep so young in
looks and feeling" she said to the re-
porter, I always remind them that for
| nearly thirty years Of my life I gave up
/ three hours a day to romping, to enjoying
myself, and trying to make other people
to me the other day.
MY dear Lolita, when l see you IL
| makes me more sorry than ever that l am
| compelled to spend so much Of my time
I tearing around In tragedy Weeping and
| tearing my hair certainly makes me look
| old and If had my own way 1 should new
er act anything but comedy, which has
| served TO keep you young for so many
| years She was right, for / always have
! attributed my youthful feelings in great
| measure TO my experience.
mot that / never made hard work of
/ acting for become more convinced every
| day that il Is only hard work that can
| ever make reputation for a man or wo-
| man on the stage. The other day l saw
/ for the first time an actress Of whom
| had heard a great deal. Everybody told
/ me that she was great. actors in partic-
| ular have praised her talent to me. l al
| ways asked why doesn't she make money
| why doesn't she succeedT Because the
| amount OF money an actor makes Is the
! real test OF whether or not he is great. 1t
! shows that the people come 10 see him,
/ and N the people come 70 see him, that
1 proves he has qualities which can touch
| their heart and hold them as his admirers.
! ] don't mean 10 say that AN actor who
| speaks "a foreign Language Is not great be-
| cause he doesn't make money, for that D.
| an exceptional case. But i have always
| held that the real standing BY which an
| actor ought 10 De- judged was the number
of people who are auxieus % see him aud