The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-05-10
New York. April %

woman was drawn to the average thea
ter to gaze upon the beauties Of an ac-
tress, to look with JOY and Il certain envy
at her beautiful frOckS, to wonder how III
the world she could keep such Il perfect
figure, and dream of Il happy day when
she would be like unto her and deserved
~ receive the applause Of Millions, for
there is Il time when every woman yearns
to go on the stage. There is 4 time when
every pretty young girl dreams of how
well she would play Juliet in Il white
satin gown and Il distracted look. The
more intellectual girl dnllips her hours
away thinking of her success as Lady
Macbeth with her hair down her back.
but while the average girl still dreams
of becoming an actress some bliSsful day
the average woman no longer finds great
charm in gazing at the leading lady. Her
heart goes out to the leading man, and
the hard earnings Of another man are
generously spent that she may enjoy the
romanticism Of Faycrsham. the Zig mag
nificencc Of Ifackett. the delicious vii
lainy of Courtlcigh. the gentle emotion
Of Morgan, or the perfection of art as
shown in the matinee idol. young Sothcrn.
You know he will be called young Soth-
ern if he pleascs Il world OF women by
living until he is ninety.
There is nothing quite as interesting
rs arriving ut one OF the thcltcrs. SHY
the lyccum, before the ticket takcr is
on hand, while little Miss Brightness
from uptown is waiting to join her chum.
Bessie Beauty. and every other woman
is either talking with her intimate friend
or wondering if there has been Il block
AIDE of the cable cars.
EACH HAS HER F.ANORITE.
Then each woman is discussing the
man OF the stage. The woman nearest
me clasps her hands in an ~ccstatic way
and says, in Il hushed sort of manner,
as if she were in some temple: YOU
see, he is so intensely manly looking. 50
big. and with such L voice. oh. | would
like to awe him preach my funeral ser
mon"
Then somebody laughs and wonders
who is meant. and she losses her head.
while ever Sc r:ltc flower on her new
spring hat Snakes in unison as she re-
plies. Only enc man answers To that
Observation-Disclosures, of course The
other woman looks ut her With surprise
and says: My dear girl, | thought YOU
could appreciate Il quiet, clever. %cultiva-
ted style of acting. Then bigness isn't
everything. Now. look at Courtleigh.
III IL tNdcIlA 1lht or ol lllbSt leu, Ut
licious villains that Ouida writes about.
You could love him for his very crimes,
and my only wonder is that the heroine
doesn't run away with him in the first
act instead of mcandering through four
before she really decides to spend her
days with him under Venetian skies.
Did YOU notice his mouth? He has the
most absolutely sensitive mouth. and he
wears his gloyes-well, he wears his
gloves the way Il gentleman ought to
wear his gloves as if they grew on his
hands. and not rs if they were picked up
according to some special size, at Il so
called gents furnishing shop. The very
name is eXpressiye-Courtleigh, But. III
addition to this. he is Il good actor.
Somebody said that he had had real ex-
perience: that he had not been trained
at some school for turning out ready
made Romeos and scmi-fitting-Hamlets.
but that he had gone through the hard
school of transforming. There never
was an actor worth anything from Hen
ry Irving down who didn't have to have
experience Of that kind to make him Il
success
QUARREL OVER THE ACTORS.
BY this time the two women were en-
emies. and all through the first act Of
the play the admirer of Hackett never
looked ut the advocate of Courtlcigh.
Between the acts Il @irliSh voice is heard
saying: We'll. You can think what YOU
please. but | will never change my opin-
ion. And another thing-you don't know
what good acting is when YOU see it.
1t is waste Of money to buy matinee
tickets for you. | tell you, the best act
ing | ever saw was when that young
Morgan played the Southern boy in
The Heart of Maryland TO have look-l
ed like him and have talked like him I'd
have been a spy, Il traitor or anything
else that was necessary. Look how
beautifully he puts his hand Oh Mrs.
Whiffen, Dear old lady. Some men
when they are being filial behave as if
they were in the midst of !; prize fight.
Mr.. Morgan would know better than
that. OF course he is married. All of
the nice actors are married. That IS
where they show their sense. They ap-I
preciate woman, and it is your duty rs
we'll as mine to learn to appreciate the
right man in the right place
Then her cousin from Boston, who has
listened to her with her nose tip tilted
and her glasses swung in her hand. said:
''Dorothy. | get perfectly weary listen
ing to you. The real actor who shows
dignity ana IlItlitSS anu a. tlol VtSh
understanding Of the proprictics Of life is
John Drew. You can talk about your
enthusiastic men and your romantic men
and all that sort of thing but John
Drew is essentially good form. lie ncl-
or makes mistakes. and when he IS III
Boston YOU can see by the manner OF an
audience. its perfect quletneSS, It's sub
dued applause, its apprcciatlye stiffness.
that it understands that Mr.. Drew would
be offended ut such wild enthusiasm as
New York girls show their stage favor
ties. | believe that he calls for an adj
miration that is more of the BRAIN ana
less of the heart
The New York girl laughed, and i
Baltimore girl sitting on the other SIDE
of her inquired: why do you two girls
quarrel? New York is nice place to visit
and 50 is Boston, but only the South IS