The times., 1897-08-22

York and on n short tour. One day laid
10 Mr. Florence:
Ely. let's do THE Yankee Ilcu2e
keeper ever in London
" That.' he exclaimed, opening his eyes
wide. Then he burst into q laugh. and
said no more about it. But few days
afferward he remarked:
- That wasn't such tad idea OF yours
about giving "The Yankee Housekeepcr'
on the other side. / never heaIo q: a
typical Yankee gal being done over there,
and ii ought to be a so with the English
men,
The upst art OF the matter was that the
Irish Boy and the Yankee G al went sailing
overt the seal the summer of S5S ndone
night, about u month afterward, an eX-
tremely nervous young woman was stand,
ingin the wings OF the Drury Lane Thea ter
waiting for the cue TO make ner debut as
the first actress who had ever appear ed
before British audience in the part of
an American girl. / remember il ell very
vividly Tie audience was most brilliant
one The Queen and other members of the
royal faInil y werethere besides any number
OF the nobility. They were all very curious
about the Yankee Gal that was to appear
before tneIn most of them having never
seen ali American actress. And l think,
too, that they were inclined TO consider
me somewhat presumptuous in coming out
OF the American wilderness into the great
city of London. SO you see | didn't have
the easiest kind of an audience 20 play to
/ had, you remember, come a long dis
tance. made great preparations for this
appearance, and felt that my whole career
depended upon the success of this one night.
DO you wonder that l had a bad case of
what tie street boy calls the 'rattles?
When ] peeped through a little window
ont into tie audience and saw that great
mass of upturned. eNpectant faces, and the
Queen sitting complacently in her box,
exclaimed TO Augustus Harris, who was
the manager:
Ion. heavensl 1 can never do it. Not
for worries would l go out there
and ] ran away, back into the green
room as far as l could get from those terri
ble creatures out in front. When my cue
came, Mr. Harris caughtme by the heshoulders
and pushed me Icy sheer force out onto the
stage. The audience broke into great
laugh / must. indeed. have been an anus
ing object as / stood down near the foot
lights, howing and sniil ng in response to
the laughter and the applause from the
pit. wore big GrotesqCc hat, large
handkerchief around my neck a short
yellow dress and W hite stockings. In my
hands / Pad bird cage, d band box and
an umbrella, and led cat and deg |
was supposed to represent Il typical Yankee
girl and / think that most of the audience
believed that my costume and generalap
pearaRce was true TO life. When the
noise snbsided, / said in a shrll voice:
.. Wall I've come a long ways fer to
see You: and hauw daou yo all daow?
Then the laughter broke out afresh.
The placid features of the Queen, who had
heen looking al me intently, relaxed into
what / would call q broad grin, if it
were not disrespectful to royalty, and L
| little boy in velvet suit, whom after
wand learned was the Duke of York, known
| to fame III after years as Collars and
| Cuffs turned TO his august gr1ndmamma
and made some laughing remark. Then /
sang them 'Pohbin' Around, and, one
after another, the other songs of my roper
toire. ! hadn't been on the stage five
| minutes before ! knew that / had scored
& great success the triumph of my life:
4 and my feelings when realized this, Were
more than ample compensation for all the
worry and all the preparation. They were
| feelings which can come to none but those
who are bold and ambitious enough to pla V
for a great stake. A day OF two after my
! first appearance 'Fobbin' Around was sung
or whistled 10y every young fellow in Lon
don whp .ould produce d musical note,
and evsu tie Toys and girls of the court
pracDced On it, The words 'Eo5bin
| A round hAg-ftlp a Sl2nU inn -
The haiitual theater patron reads with
an eager interest the critical expressions
in The press upon plays and players that he
| has himself seen and enjoyed and formed
| opinions aboat. But while the auditor
stands on an equality with the actor in
/ knowlCdgeOf what the critics say, the actor,
in cases of rare stage achievement, enjoys
fund of appreciation Of which the public
may know nothing. This comes in the
form OF praise from individuals some OF
them notable, others not in tie public eye.
bCI most of them, as rule. rarely apt in
| opinions. 1t is a question, perhaps. wheth-
er an artist is better pleased by the impnl-
sive and enthusiastic piaudits Of an audi
| ence at the moment of triumph than by
the sincere and discriminating praise of
/ ligkEls sltfLGiN- WHO. iilON St 10y :.
| are constrained afterward to give direct
expression to the artist OF the pleasure
| they have experienced in the theater.
Mrs Fiske's achievement in Tess OF
the d'Urhervilles," which viii he seen
in this city the coming season, affords a
case in point The critics in New YORK
last season were moved to unwonted en-
,hIsiasm bv Mrs Fiske's work, but il was
nothing more than a reflection of public
enthusiasm over the actress, who was
deluged with letters of appreciation that
r..ust have pleased her as greatly ;is did
the public applause she received Some
of tie expressions in these letters, made
by persons in public life, indicate more
clearly than anything else could the meas
ure of Mrs Fiske's triumph in IT ess -
Robert Ingersoll wrote: "We were all
overpowered last night. Mrs. Fiske was
marvellous. Her acting was ira gic, and
even her laughter was filled with tears
Ella Wheeler Wilcox said in letter: Il
had read and lived with Tess Sc, keenly,
and dreaded to Sc e it, lest it be spoiled for
me; but you We're all the book and more.
/ never saw such wonderful work on the
stage as you did that first night. France
may have its Bernha rdt and Italy its Duse;
but i do not believe either Of them ever
did such marvellous work as yours in Tess.
Hamlin Garla nd, the novelist, was quite
as enthusiastic. In letter he said:
"P ermit me tn thank you for your fine
production of Tess. There were moments
last night OF the finest literary. feeling,
and the whole play lays hold Of the most
vital and tragic themes OF our day. Your
own work was most original and natural