The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-17
ALI ACTRESSES DREAD Eat.
Fanny Dnvenport's Illness Attributed to tn
Ordeal She injured to Get Rid of 1t.

Fanny Dnvenport's Illness Attributed to the
Ordeal She Endured to Get Rid of 1t.
The present illness Of Fanny Davenport,
which has continued now for several months,
has been attributed by some persons to o strain
she underwent about fifteen years ago. and
they believe that the weakness which has made
her unable to struggle against the disease that
now threatens to end her life came from the
heroic efforts she made at one time to reduce
her weight. She had become o little too large
to represent the youthful heroines of the plays
in which she appeared. although she was al
ways well proportional and her facial beauty
was not lessened by her increase In size. But
the public is prompt to resent increasing weight
In an actress. The moment she begins to TAXI
on flesh not only do her audiences notice It
with increasing Indifference to the actress but
the newspapers are likely to make henrtless
references to it. All the jokes that Sarah Bern
hardts thinness produced probably had little
effect on her feelings compared to the distress
that has been experienced by actresses who
grow stout. No doubt Sarah Bernhardt smiled
when some wit remarked during her first Lon
don visits that the door OF an empty car
riage opened and Sarah Bernhardt got out.
But when it was said OF Fanny Davenport that
her Marguerite Gautier in Camille" died OF
dropsy. not OF consumption. she was really
hurt. Her sensitiveness over her flesh was
great. 1t finally served to drive her to one OF
the most heroic cases Of flesh reduction that
was ever known. Next to Amelia summer
vile, Fanny Davenport produced the most re-
markable results ever obtained in that way.
Her effort was crowned with complete success.
II she had remained stout, her career probably
would have come to an endin a few years. Re-
notable successes OF her career and began to
accumulate the greater part OF the large for
tune she ls now supposed to possess. In 1888
to Europe. During this period she saw sardou's
Fedora " and decided to acquire the rights to
wei asig s + f as much S? s. skke d ia S was fe aaItS
dieting. Astonishing stories were told Of the
thirty-mile walks which she took daily and OF
her abstinence from food, One story was that
tomatoes dressed with vinegar and OCCASION
ally a little potato salad saturated with the
doubtedly exaggerated. but her cure. was siren
nous enough to lose for, her about fifty pounds.
S Ser. 1s seS il se9 Mas aston Is 1saG tc' the he o oSdl.
ence to observe the change in her figure.
She She was again again slender sRsCImd and graceful an
R ReysF tie sa mse af RRsauttKE; tx se SSTsv Strain W Ss
One efect OF these reductions is TIN, invarilSbic
lines made BY the skin when the hes6
beautiful after the. reduction, although she
WIS never again threatened with. excessive
S Sf%TeT her ~h lsur see R Riayed atI III t slsnd ftsy a lasdi
Symmetrical. But the ordeal through which
s befieTRe sdfiSS Sd m sD e e Rgr tIiend th is h shen Ess.t Is
Of present unable, to struggle with the disease
led q healthy life. Her summers IN, her home
tent. As a swimmer she Is much better than
the average non -professional.
Margaret Mather was thought by some Of the
persons In her company to have caused her
death by the use OF some reduction remedy
which she was taking in large qusntIties. 70
was not on her last, appearances in this city. any
stouter than she had been SIX, years before.
1 1ss she Sd feared ID the Rp tl%s Ssss o sSe sso %lRSrni sl HaS
,"There, will be too much q me in the coming
by and by" 30 she took the medicines WHICH
some persons believed had an eject on the
chronic Disease from which she was suffering
has apparently escaped all syil effects q her;
heroic course OF reduction, Nine; Melba keeps
h hss,r fe'h TS dlST n, BY bs sxoiSS aP rS I'll S fSs ssvs snd
years, and is done az much 70. preserve her
voice as her figure; During p~erfoSmSnces she
sb5Sst that PSS eG iaEu s0 sspssr WIZ WIZ 81 y s BErRfsTf1an aie So
Struggled STR led without success against dfesR and
tries vigorously every method OF reduction. Mar
celia s lem srGh:a se SerS year. nG.s sEFSS s 3reSti SSit e
lpOul phu IShtSOh Az 2DAA w
DIR. Schwenninger. and to-day diets very strictly.
Virginia Harmed. who grew stout at one time.
eats only meat and toast and drinks only tea
during those periods she dedicates to reducing
her flesh. Rose Coghlan. about 1--WE years ago.
repeated Fanny Davenport's effort on a less
heroic scale, but was careful to explain that
she reduced herself not because she Thought
she looked too large but because she felt too
heavy for comfort; Mime, Caiye 70 reduce her
flesh takes. a French medicine In which she has
u~nbounded faith. As she is q small eater and
alton In her weight from year TO year;
There 4. scarcely a woman. conspicuous on
the stage who ls not more or less actively con-
eerned 10 keeping herself from aoWin 700
or Mabel Fepton. They know how valuable 9
feature OF their stage work their ayoirdnpois
Is. and they would not lose q pound OF 1t, May
Irwin hes been for the past ten years quite as
stout as she Is now, and has never once troubled
herself about trying 70 train dPTn; hliiISa
about the unfortunate features Of a tendency
to flesh. and lives on sweets. Pauline Hat ten
years ago, devoted one summer TO getting thin.
and has mover since, been troubled, The biey-
Gle did wonders for her. and she, now regards
herself as permanently beyond the danger Of
excessive weight.