The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-02-14

sufferanco, ms thoy regarded 1t. shall
never forget her appearance as she walked
OH tho stage that morning-n tall, rather
lanky girl of 10, who would have boon n
particularly handsome boy, but who gave
very little evidence of tho possession of
that stately beauty which was afterward
to mako hcr famous In combination with
her ability and that marvellous voice Of
hors which even then was n source of nd
miration to everybody who participated in
that rehearsal Tho young dobutnnte
came to mo as the star of tho weok, sup
pose, and modestly requested that give
hor any suggestions which I thought
might BIO OF benefit to her, and of course
ohocrfully consented, sho seemed 80 terri
bly, in earnest. The rehearsal proceeded
Some of tho old.notors woro not rs oonsid-
crate rs they might have been. They
rather resented tho changing Of their woll
defined ideas of tho business Of tho play to
conform to that OF tyro, but Mr.. Mac
Auley and had determined that no OBJ
staole should be put In hor way, and whor-
ever she desired modification 1t was
made, even to the putting of the balcony
on the sido opposite to which 1t Is usually
placed. Miss Anderson has evidently OK
aggeroted our consideration in these little
matters, rs wo should have done it for any
one. was impressed with the fact thnt
whatever other shortcomings our now star
might possess, nervousness was not one of
thoni, for I never In my life have seen "a
person more determined to take full ad-
vantage of tho opportunity thus acciden-
tally afforded her.
"Well, the oventful night oame, and
with 1t tho first large audience Of the week.
We were naturally ovorjoyed. Miss An
derson and her mother were Mt the theater
hours before tho time for tho curtain to
riso and sho did not appear to BIO in tho
least embarrassed. She dressed simply for
tho part and mado very winsome picture
Everything wont fairly we'll up to tho first
sceno of tho third act, where I, rs Nor
Quito, was killed, and, ut onco drawing
my trousers on over my tights, started In
q cab for tho station to catch tho train for
Cincinnati, en- route to Now York, whore,
may say, arrived In timo to appear at
Booths thenter Monday night.
81 was told afterward by Miss Andor-
son and Others OF several coptretemps
which occurred aftor my departure. Tho
thing, however, which seemed to have an
noyed her most WAS tho unfamiliarity of
some of tho actors with their lines and
their apparent Indifference to their remiss-
ness Thor conduct cannot be too severe
ly condemned, and subsequent events
served to show that tho young, awkward
girl whom they sought to ridioulo and hui
initiate was really the natural superior of
any of them, so far ms acting was con-
cerned. fnin GLAD that Miss Anderson hns
seen flt in her memoirs to state the facts
as thoy occurred.
My impression Of Miss Anderson on the
occasion of her debut? We oil know what
sho did accomplish within surprisingly
short period, and post-success opinions III c
not apt to be regarded very highly To be
perfectly frank, had not the slightest idca
at that time that she would over rise to
tho cminenco that sho subsequently
reached, but I did believe that she pos
scssed the dramatic instinct in marked
degree, and with her temperament and I'M
questioned conscientiousness and perse-
vorancc, I expected that she would in
time become q prominent leading woman