The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-03
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Anesied psur IIvss Uhravsrabiy.
A recent telegram from London has again
called attention 70 q woman who has rarely
failed during tho past ten years TO attract pub
lie notice to herself from time to time. She has
been on tho stage during that time. and this mo-
toricty may not have been Improbable to her
for notorioty II has como to DO. It has been
urged against her that che processes q complete
indifference to tho nature OF what 10 written
about her 30 long as she is not ignored.
Anything hut oblivion is tolerable. That
has never threatened. and there is little danger
that it will. Above all other women OF tho
American stage. she has been selected ns the
subject OF comment and gossip. That much OF
this is unfounded Ia we'll known. 1t 10 as truo
that she is not responsible for much that seems
TO cmnnate from her. But the real and the flcti.
tious have become so confused in her case that
few persons have ever been able to distinguish
between thcm. One Of her old friends was dis
cussinG the subject the other night.
Whatever may have been told about her"
he said, +" the most remarkable incident Of her
career has never been heard of in public. 1t o-
Cured before sho had become an actress, al
though II was directly concerned with that stop.
Its effects have been very far-reaching. People
sometimes say that four lives havo been fatally
affected BY her decision to become an actress,
her subsequent car or. and her personal con-
duct. There were at least three careers ruined.
One other may have been affected, but that
when It became known that she would GER
tainly step over into the professional lines she
received an offer from one OF the best known
theatrical managers in the country. He was n
man of decent. views and conservative methods.
At that time, there was another manager who up
to that time had controlled only a cheap Bowery
theatre. tie wanted to establish. himself at u
to n'0S Become i the %ana aHa Of Of '@ Woman T WRo
had como to the stage from the most
! he the mnat afpCtiva mama Of doing IN. He
knew that until Anna Cora Mowatt's time there
had never boon on tho American stage a woman
@afo almost any Terms. He would pay what
she wanted; he would produce whatever play
consideraticn. A near relative Of hers had
some interest in a FRENCH plSy, written BY a
and won celebrity, there as a dramatist. 1t
Vas much to the interest of this %Eelatiye that
manager was willing to do it. possibly because
he did not know one play from another. but
more probably from his desire to get hold q the
terms which experienced managers, who know
that the venture was speculative; would not do;
good taste for merely lavish vulEarity.
THAT was the mistake that was so big with
It. Life as an actress under the direction of one
of these men was very different from what it
incidents that made life intolerabio to the hus-
band Of this woman so long as she retained any
ton there camo tho first arrangement be-
tween man and wife. Under the management
Of the other man, this need never have
happened. The whole atmosphere OF stage life
would have been different. The acceptance OF
the play was another incident attributable
wholly 10 the engagement Of this manager. 1t
was a failure; The other would never have con
sented to try 1t. Tho near relative, in urging Its
acceptance and in q measure compelling the
woman TO make that a condition. was moro re-
motely responsible. Possibly to him belongs
advantage that there : was in it to him. Yet
there was no doubt allurement to the woman in
the larger salary offered to her.
From that mistake began tho series that has
produced q result which leads the world to say
that three lives have been ruined. Certainly
one career has been wasted. 1t was that actors
who has devoted himself for ten years with such
fidelity to her. wandering through the small
ing in desert places an art that is ono Of the
rarest and best in the English spcs king world
to-day. For every hour Of triumph they have
known there have been days and weeks OF
actors who travel through tho small towns
Occasionally there have been brief periods of rea,
success. and l hear now that one was substan
tiRl enough to bring them some moderate for
tune. But that is slight compensation to hin
for a career that might have been ono Of The
great ones OF the day. That 1t compensates the
woman for the loss of reputation, her child. nnd
her home. / doubt. Praise has never been hers
OF genuine success. Her life on tho stage ha,
been moro barren OF pleasure and heavier with
toll than that of any woman / know who hal
the slightest claims to reputation. Her hus
bands life could certainly have known littl,
happiness since her career as an actress began
What effect II may have on her child rematni
to be seen, Whatever trouble may have CONT
to any Of them dates from that stage In her ca
reer when she decided between the two mana
gers and took the wrong one. That one actor
!. changed the course of four lives"