The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-31

President of tho Mansfield Company people
Thought and thought. The w!scacres saw trou.
bio ahead. Actors have a fatal propensity for
getting into trouble with their managers. ms all
wiscacros and a good many other people know.
No wonder, therefore, that tho Mansnelds' mat.
rimonial future looked dark to outsiders.
According to Mrs. Mansflcld's story, however.
| the wiscacrcs were unnecessarily alarmed-or
hopeful, as the case may be. Mrs. Mansfield is
both a President and a manager, but in very
| different spheres. She is tho President of her
husbands business company, but she says she IL
only a flgurehead. By this you are to under
stand-well, whatever you wish to understand.
Mrs. Mansfield will give you no further salts.
faction. Naturally one cannot expect a mere
| fRurehead to explain the problem of its exist.
encc.
But it is a different matter when YOU touch
uuon her managerial career. How her face
lights up. and what a convincing little nod she
gives To her head This head. by the way, Is
covered with soft, blond hair, so much prcttier
and moro becoming than her present stage
| couture. If her nod correspondent with the
great big chair of old black oak, in which she is
sitting, it would be fairly Olympic. The chair
is of monumental proportions, and. together
| with tho sombrc tone OF the room, forms u fine
| background for her delicate coloring.
The apartment is "A nondcscript affair, neither
wv 1 tSN''s 49, NNA ava
library. but n sort of thin slice of them all. 1t
is on the first floor OF Mr.. Mansicld's house.
and is IA mirror Of his personality. Not, to be
sure. in the most striking feature Of the room.
That Is its n~arrowness. 1t may be ten feet wide,
bur inasmuch as it is five or six times as long, it
appears to he much narrower; akind OF residcn-
tial canon. The pancllcd woodwork is dark
and massive; half Il dozen vases OF great yell
low chrysanthcmums are high up against
a.. 4 III. .--t .,-l .-,. .l..-t.
"A polished suit Of nrmor CLEANS in the
corner; dozens of good old prints hang
on the walls; there are enough sofa pillows upon
the divan to cover the whole floor. almost. This,
then, Is the room where Mrs. Mansfield, slender,
delicate. courteous, mods from her throne in one
OF the monumental chairs. Unfortunately. con-
ditions like these cannot be kept in the present
tense. II all happened the other day.
so you're only Il figurchcnd And you don't
manage your husband p asked the reporter.
Oh" exclaimed Mrs. Mansfield starting up
and leaning forward upon the big black oak
arms Of her throne, manage my hushaudi
Yes, indeed | do! But only in the domestic cir
only two of us. He and Mr.. Palmer manage the
affairs OF the company, and there is always
plenty for them 10 do apparently. But, at
home - There was another nod. which left
nothing more 10 be said.
"Uf coursc | can help a little. and when he
was so i'll ] took charge OF everything, rehearscd
the company, attended to all the thousand and
terrupting herself. how hard Mr.. Mansilcld
works Some people were dining here the other
evening and they said to him:
ION, YOU. You have such an easy time!
Nothing to do until after dinner at night!'
"Why, he is down at the theatre for re-
hcarsal every morning at H.. All day he is
the prey OF scene painters. and Costumcrs. and
carpenters, and anybody that ever had or ever
lie gets home in time to have a little dinner.
and then is back at the theatre until II o'clock
yet he is never happy, do believe, unless he is
hard al work, or prowling around after rare
books or old prints
DO you share your husbands enthusiasm
in that direction y
DO share IT, Mqmnh !" with another en-.
shop in st. Louis where | am sure | spend half
my time when we are in the city, have ruined
more gloves there and bcgrimcd more gowns !
Old books and prints are always dusty. you
know. 1t seems to re an unwritten law of old
book shops, never TO dust. Come upstairs into
my own den and let Inc show you some of my
pictures"
The den looked as il il were chuckling to
itself at such a name. WAS "A large, irregular
apartment. full OF light and flowers and pic,
But one mostly sat on those and thought of
Apparently Mr.. Richard Mansfield Ia, no
warmer admircr than his own Wife. She has re-
minrcrs Of htn AZ every turn pcncii drawings.
watcrcolor sketches. and a multitude of photo
graphs OF him in his various roles. However.
the first impression is rather startling. II
siSm nrc at IT th mc E'f ~ ri a" ,sJ II the "n rom IN W Ni %5 ltii of
and recoE1ize SiEiocii, Ricd"rd, III. BC"n
other familiar phases OF Mr.. Mansfield before
one is quite treasured. The photographs turned
Il like my part in The Devils Disciple"
said Mrs. Mansfield IN reply to a question.
isn't good enough for that. But | like best a
sort Of an everyday character. For instance;
cannot succeed in making it seem TO me any
thing but unnatural, artificial
finding i'm: f fac y" viii, E" .fndH H%T in " "fhs E M%!hF1 B prs
ciplc I They say she is an impossible woman
Il know some of Them say that. but l don't
agree with them. This is the way | conceive
JWdhh to be influenced. She was II romantic
girl of narrow experience. She married this old
man because he stood for her ms the ideal Of good
ness, nobility. courage. She loved him because
she saw this ideal in him. Then the indcpen.
dcncc Of the other man. of Dick Du10con. stirred
her interest. and when, as she thought, her hus
band proved to b" a miserable coward. and Dfck
his turn. Finally. when her husband proved 10
have deserved her love, she had q second reyul
initiation at The hands OF Dick.
we have had rather interesting experiences
win the risy: G Gi%oy would lo be surprised E at The
thing, there arc certain features. S speeches, sit
n4tions in ii play which are always applaudcd
points and at no others. With this new play
1t, is different. We never can be quite sure
eral sporadic cases, as you might call them
One night there was a group of handclap'
will go to the ends OF the earth with him
Surely there is no occasion for applause nj tina
point, ana. IN fhct, lhcfc mas never been any
except that ono evening.
ION the other hand, there is one speech which
has never been applauded. and yet anybod,
would have predicted that It would catch The
gallery Mt least. 1t is where -iujOr SIrindOi
, asks Dick If he denies being u rebel. i am NJ
) AmericanI' MEX replies. The retort hnsn'
been applaudcd, though 1t Is u good one. May
; be it is because t is so sudden and the dialogue
, moves so rapidly. by the way, Mr.. shaw vii
| have to make some decided changes in the plal
I when he brings it out in London. His reference,
5 TO 'pig.headcd, King George will hardly pass
the censor OF plays"
: "Is IL true. us some people say. that the piece
was written to Mr.. Mnnsticld's order r.
Not at all. Mr.. shaw probably wrote TO pleas
himself. DO You want to know the complain
r which most people have entered against tn,
play I They say there ism t enough love in it.
Is strange, but they don't seem satisfied that
man should be- IA hero simply because his owl
sense OF honor would not let him do differently
They object TO the very thing which gives III
play most of its strength aud novelty"
'Thcn Dick has no inclination toward .JWiHL
personally, when he is sitting at the table wit
Z her -
d $50. lie is simply touched by the vision q
a cheerful. happy home. He had probably nevc
seen anything Of the kind in his life. AT HON