The times., 1899-10-15

every confidence in the piece and shall
always have"
How did Frances Hastings come 20
think of dramasizing the book"
Her determination may be said - have
been the result of an accident While we
were in Boston with Richard MsnShsld We
were entertained by party o. friends and
one OF them asked ii either OF us had ever
read The Choir Invisible. We had not
neither my wife nor l. The volume hal
only been published a short time and one
has not many hours for literary pursuits
when on the road The individual VINO
had spoken to US would not be satisfied
with our promise 10 make up the dsncien-
cies in our edueati0Rs. but insisted upon
our hearing the story then and there
I Miss Hastings-who Is Mrs Je~ett-irn-
mediateiy saw the possibilities OF the work
/ and We thought them over during the en-
I tire season.
"In the spring went TO the Macmillan
! Publishing Company and through the
manager OF the firm was introduced 70
James Lane Allen. a kindly Southern gen
/ tleman, so courteous aud affable that he
himself might be put into an atmospheric
| idyl- / unfolded my plan TO him He
laughed The Choir Invisible is one OF
my day dreams. he said. 1t woald lose
all its beauty hy being put into play.
/ asked how many minutes he could spare.
and he granted me ten.
Then l told him how my wife and had
dreamed, too. and OF the result Of our
dreams I talked to him for over two
hours. At the end Of that period he would
give me no positive answer, but made an
other appointment with me. Finally be in
formed US that. while he had been impress
ed, he was 10th to give his consent to ths
adaptation. / replied that IL be would Ief
me have his word that no one else should
get the right l would go ahead Mr. Al
/ Ian rpd a mo TT nj hen wi
condition. aeeeded to all my requests \
am getting out my new story qloth he.
and am very busy I cannot give you an
! other two hours. But do as you please with
THE Choir Invisible. When you have hn-
ished secure the commendation Of prac-
teal manager and OF . practical author.
II they like your piees and like It yeu
may go on Less than week after even
that restriction was removed.
; Last spring my wife and / went to Mr..
: Allen and read him the result OF Frances
Hastings lahors- He was unfeignedly
E pIeased-plessed as a child would be. a
D friend Of hiS-she editor Of The Book
S man was present Mr. Allen blushed like
{ a girl as We delivered the speeches that
: had been transpozed for the play. Fre-
1 Queutly he would rise TO open window
or 10 offer one OF US glass of water When
T the session was over our point was gained.
: Then we began on the presentation To-
gether we have toiled constantly in order
| TO prepare for the trial of day after tomoF-
\ row. and--weil. you know how anxious We
, are. Mr.. Allen will not be down. / don't
think he could stand witnessing the first
! production. Never was man so modest and
: unaffected So Mrs. Jewstt and viii face
it out. Wish US triumph
Good luck to YOU, said the Times man.
And Mr.. Jswett smiled
This is a decidedly modern age and the
advancement of science is manifesting IL
: self even in the theatrical business.
qucsh Aazie King during an intermission
one afternoon at the Academy. Il refer.
of course, to other matters than the use
I of electricity and that sort OF thing on
2 the stage. The incident which calls forth
this remark occurred in New York last
summer, while / was appearing on the
Madison Square roof. Seine one OF the IA
nous ''footologists OF the metropolis be-
came interested in my dancing, and ar
ranged for me to give a sort OF exhibition
before society of medical men. You
I should have heard those experts talk-it
made one feel as though under a cold
shower. An elderly individual proclaimed
that he thought my peculiar powers rose
from an abnormal development OF the
, extensor digitorum longofr, while another
had an idea that my ability was resultant
, | from extraordinary powers in the tibialis
: antieus, and the hypertrcphiet muscle. He
: agreed 10 some extent with the first doctor
. and believed that the extensor digitorun
lengoir was atrophied in proportion to the
q | oyerde yeIopment of the other.
; by this time I had begun to feel as
though an executionsr and his assistant
were discussing how many volts OF elec-
2 tricity il would take TO Kill me. / fear
n | hadn't the slightest idea about what
rs&f nd fr,I
v frightened TO object when someone pro-
: posed the use Of the Rcentgsn rays. The
a apparatus was put into position, and, in
. few moments, they had a skygraph OF
i my dancing feet. This they all examined.
deciding that the muscles OF the lower
= leg were unusually large, but that the en-
:, tire StraiF fell upon the great toe and the
= bone behind 1.-THE phalanges and the
= Internal cunsiform bone. l took notes OF
ie some OF these terms and looked them up.
10 Then | knew less than before can only
20 remark that. when l first tried this work,
IS | was easily tired, but that conditions
ct have changed The only thing I do that
y causes me any Inconvenience is that Jump
N from the table to the stage, on which I
strike with the tips OF my toes. / shall
get over even that and ultimately win be
able TO double the distance. At one time
1 did a deal of acrobatic dancing. but in
- jursd my spine slightly and now am COM
=. | pelleu 10 TEST LOC1i
- people seem 10 like my act pretty well.
e and. in this branch Of the business. we
g are glad of a good reception in Washing
.e ton, which has the reputation Of being
q very critical"
= Nine years ago there landed in New York
= a young German actor named Leo Deit-
: Tichstein. He unable to hire cab
= ! in which to proceed uptown. Not one
= word of English had ever passed his lipz-
- He had merely failed as a lawyer and as
= a civil engineer and had decidsd to adopt
= the stage for a profession. He had beea
- induced to this determination by a recep-
! ton accorded him at an amateur perform
a ance. The company with which he kE
cast his lot visited these shores and was
seen in Gotham in play the possibilities
of which afterward made il an Americaf
success. Among the managers who witt
:, messed the representation OF the piece in
the tongue OF its author was Charles Froh-
= man. who had been attracted by rumors OF
= the comedy's utility. So impressed was
y this magnate with the work of Mr.. Deit-
40 richstein that the newcomer was sent for
4 and offered place in one of Mr.. FToh-
~ mans companies.
~ Il was much inclined to laugh said Mr.
: Deitrichstein last night, in speaking of ths
ot matter There was something truly iu-
dierous in being rendered a position re-
~ quiring complete mastery of a language of
ed the barest rudiments of which l was alto
K gether ignorant | was anxious TO remain
it in America and therefore inclined TO ac-
e cept but failure stared NE in the face.
lg Finally Mr. Frohman said to me- You 20