The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-05-20

attending late rehearSalS, would ex-
pend a similar amount of thought in
endeavoring to please her customers
in the store, or in learning to do her
work at the mill better than the other
girls, she would find the path for her
feet made not only pleasanter and
safer but more secure, more remuncr-
atiVc.
1t is a pathetic picture to see a fair
young girl, with only her little talent
and perhaps Winsome face, become
stage-struCk and with her pretty eyes
blinded by the glamor of the bright ar
tifiCial glow of the amateur stage. and
her ears composed by the plaudits of
her friends, who are as indiscriminat-
ing and incapable of real Judgment of
her merits as is she herself, so forth
into that false. alluring, but most per-
niciouS atmosphere.
She is often obstinate and Self-Willed,
and, even if she have wise advisers, is
too vain and determined to yield to
their wiser influence. Unlike the soci-
ETY. girls. who may have sung
in some charity entertainment. and
daZZled by the memory of the
enthusiastic tribute paid as much to
their position and prestige as to
their talents, she has not the potent
social ties to hold her fast in the beaten
track, she has not the traditions of
caste to stand about her as powerful
barrier and she has not the immediate
natural surroundings of adulation and
gentlenesS and assured respect She
has the yearnnG for all these, and little
| hope of satisfying the infinite hunger
The stage affords at least a possible
paradise where all the things she has
missed will be hers. The ambition is
indeed one that has many excuses, but
whose promise is as false as fair.
Letters have been received from in
Vulnerable girls. all of whom are en-
tirely confident OF their abilities to be-
come either prima donnas in grand
| opera or leading ladies in legitimate
! drama. Some are ill-speled, and near
| ~ all are crude in composition, but
] doubtless neither spelling nor compo-
| stion has entered into the heart of the
| stage-struck maiden to conceive as
necessary to the repertoire of an act
ress. They unfortunately demand in
| formation as to the procedure.
|
| They want TO know whether they
| shall apply to Daily for an engage
| ment or whether it would be better
to start out from Philadelphia; wheth-
| er comedy pays better than tragedy,
| or vice versa whether 1t would be
best to spend their savings in party
| gowns suitable for stage wear in So
| ciety plays or whether II would be
| well to insist that the lucky manager
| furnish the outfit: etcetera, etcetera.
There are other letters which are
pathetic. Here is one:
| Dear Madam: | wish you would say
| something in the paper about young girls
| In this town who want to go on the
| hundreds of them My daughter was
! as nice and quiet a girl as ever lived
| until she got this craze. She is only six
| teen but she thinks of nothing but going
| to rehearsals and praCticing before the
| glass in her room. Ii anybody didn' [
! know us they'd think we had a lunatic
| shut uD there she goes on so. Before
| she started this she never was late AT
| the store and she always stayed home
evenings and was so nice to her brothers
| and never thought of not minding what
| her father and l told her. But now she
| is entirely changed. She goes with a set
| OF young folks that l know aren't good
| for her, and when we try TO have her
keep away from them she gets cross and