Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-11-24
OUR NEW YORK LETTER,
Mr.. and Mrs. Kendall and Their
Varying Views of America, g.

i+'''H' VPihiOns of Our
Newspapers.
NEW York, Nov. 23.-[Special. Mrs.
Madgc Kendall and her husband. who no.
gan their American season in Pbilodol.
phia, have now accomplished a satisfac.
tory opening in this town and seem Hl,elv
to enjoy a fairly prosperous engagement
here. 1t is only the truth, however. that
they will probably never again create
such a furore in New York as thev aid
few years ago.
Their extraordinary popularity at that
time was something not quite easy to
understand. They are competent actors
to be sure, Mrs. Kendall extremely so and
Mr. Kendall well above the average hu+
they are not dramatic geniuses by any
means. Yet for one whole season they
received more of that unsolicited adver-
Using which is far more valuable than
any which money can buy than any other
couple then on the American stage
Every managing editor in town was
ready at any time to give space to a story
about the Kendals, particularly the fe-
male member of the firm. Her sayings
were quoted son every page of the ma
per" as pearls of wisdom, and her move
ments were chronicled with all the care
that could have been devoted to one of
the potentates of the earth. In fact.
only one other woman visitor to this
country ever received more attention in
the press than Mrs. Kendall. and that
was Eulalia, the Spanish infanta. Mrs.
Langtry and Sarah Bernhardt. one of
whom is to be seen on our boards again
this winter and the other next season,
were favored with as much perhaps, but
no more. Besides, Mrs. Kendall was
received" to some extent in New York
society"
How She Loved America,
There were several special reasons for
this, the most important perhaps being
the ELUSIVE love which she professed for
America and everything American,
though this was an afterthought. ~
her very first visit to the United States,
when she presented THE Second Mrs.
Tanqueray," she was moved to make
many sighting remarks about us. 1.-THE
Second Mrs. Tanqueray," it will be re-
membered, was one of those plays in
which a woman who would not be ex-
actly acceptable in correct social circles
Is the leading character. The criticisms
it aroused in the papers and among the
people angered her so much that she
talked back with great freedom for
awhile, to the noticeable detriment of
the box office receipts. Perceiving this,
she changed her attitude with great
shrewdness and marked effect
The average American thinks pretty
well of his own country and his fellow
Americans, but he is so used to hearing
everything and every person American
roasted" by visiting foreigners that
words of praise from European lips
sound extremely sweet to his ears. This
is particularly true of travelled Ameri-
cans, some of whom seem actually to
have fallen in with the general foreign
view. Persons of this type are to be
found in society" more generally than in
any other circle, and to such Mrs. Ken
dal's honeyed phrases were especially ac
ceptable. She even went so far in the in
term between two of her visits here to
speak of her approaching return as "com
ing home" and for long time she piled
on the agony by wearing the American
flag in the form of an enameled pin at
her throat.
When she got here after that declara-
ton, she gave out column after column
of interviews in which she declared the
United States to be the land of the most
beautiful women, the greatest social pu-
rity and the most magnificent newspa-
pers in the whole world.
This Years Kendall Play.
The chief piece in the Kendall reperto-
ry this year is entitled 1.-THE Elder Miss
Blossom" 1t is as unlike 'The Second
Mrs Tanqueray" as a play well could
be and decidedly unlikely to rouse any
criticism on the score of its characters
morals. Still, it is agreeable, ''just the
play" as one critic reflects, "for the Illus
tation Of Mrs. Kendal's matronly quail
tiles and the light comedy of her hus-
band" This being the view of the stu
alton taken by an expert, it is possible
that much of the adverse writing brought
out by the play in which she first APP
peared here was due to the evident unit
ness of Mrs. Kendall for its leading part.
As much was intimated to her, in truth,
through the medium of a piece of widely
copied verse, the closing stanza of which
reads:
Go back to plays where you can still delight us
Darning your babies stockings on the stagei
Let others shock, alright or mortify US;
Don't spoil your reputation at your age.
Since Mrs. Kendals struggles to win
In "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" several
plays far more Objectionable than 1t have
scored enormous successes here, note
worthily "Zaza," not to mention an un-
speakable comedy that held the boards
here for months last year and then did
an enormous business on the road. In
fact, "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray' was
little if any below little Mrs. Fishes
Becky Sharp" in moral tone, and no
body is making much cutlery over that.
Scoring the Newspapers.
Since her last visit to the United
States, however, Mrs. Kendall seems
again to have changed her views, in one
respect at least. With regard to the
newspapers, particularly the American
newspapers which have done so much to
help her, she has said in fairly vindic-
tive strain that she "loathes newspapers
and never reads them" that she can
not understand why any self respecting
woman should have them in her house
and has never shaken hands with any
one connected with the press" Further
more, she AYERS, she has persuaded her
husband to her "way of thinking"
Mr.. Kendall is habitually spoken OF by
his spouse as willie" and there are
some evidences besides his persuasion TO
her way Of thinking that she is the cher
Parsonage in the Kendall firm. He Is tan
deep chested and handsome, just the chap
to play the manly fox hunting Eng 'h