The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-28
FRIENDS OF LAST WEEK.

II there is any time which displays the dis.
agreeable points in the character OF an ac-
| tor or actress. 1t is that devoted to rehears-
1 al. The public at large knows SO little about
these nerve-straining ordeals and the trou-
bles and worries Incident thereto. that IL
can rarely determine why professional peo-
| PIE are not always as sweet tempered as a
rose, or as lovely. 1t was during one OF
| the final rehsarsais of THE Masquerade
ers'' that Times man recalled himself To
/ Blanch Bates and asked her about her pro-
fessional work ard prospects. Miss Bates
is as delightful personally as she Is artis-
| tically. and her tongue runs with deft-
ness and smoothness as pleasing as Fer
words are sincere and frank
Il had a great time this summer over
in Europe" she exclaimed. 81 did Paris
most thoroughly. and as I have som.
friends over there. it seemed more like a
visit than a pleasure trip. What's
that? You don't see how an Irisl
girl can twist her tongue to speak French?
Don't you remember that Fred Williams
used to say that no one talked good
French as the Irish? The death Of that
dear old fellow was a great blow to the
profession. for he did much to introduce
rationalism and uaturalness into American
stage business.
why did / come to Washington to work
in stock? Well. partially because I like
Washington and partially because I like
work. Nothing is so terribly difficult and
firing for me as doing nothing. You may
know that l was drawing salary all the
time l was remaining In New York with
my mother, but the temptation to get to
work and thus secure artistic advancement
was too strong. and when Washington pre-
sen,ed itself. / was pretty glad to come
back to the city which had been so kind to
me only a few months ago. Mr.. Belasco
laughed at me when I told him / would
rather work than DO nothing. but it is the
gospel truth all the same.
MANY people have asked me which part
Of all I have played I like the best. and
really, it is difficult to decide. All in all.
I think Nine. Butterfly is the finest of all.
Yes, ! like Butterfly the best. have played
279 parts, you know. I am hoping that
Washington will like me in this part Of
Dulcie, for then. maybe, Mr.. Bellows Will
let me do Rosalind, in AS You Like IT.
have assumed the role Of the love-sick
maiden before, in Denver Mr.. Ormonde
is the best Orlando I have ever seen. and
the other persons of the company seem
well suited for the Shakespearean comedy.
hope Washington will be considerate
enough to come and see US if they put it
on"
Are you not about ready for play Of
your very own, Miss Bates? You seem
close to stellar size"
There was wise little look in the pref
ty eyes of the actress as she replied:
THAT is all in the managers hands,
And the interview was ended.
Pref. E. J. Dunn, better known to Wash
ington as Farmer" Dunn, for many years
connected with the Weather Bureau is
very enthusiastic over his new motion pic
ture machine. which was exhibited at the
Academy of Music during the past week
and which proved to be by far the best CT
the many machines of the kind that have
been seen here. Mr.. Dunn has not called
his invention q scope, a graph. or any OF
the numerous other names that have been
seized upon by inventors of projecting pic
ture contrivances, but has contented him
self with calling 1t Farmer Dunn's Motion
Picture Machine"
IN speaking to Times interviewer about
the difficulty in getting engagements for
his moving picture entertainment, Mr..
Dunn remarked:
at was some months after I completed
my machine before I could induce any
manager to let me exhibit 1t. There had
been flood Of vitascopes. vitagraphs cine
metagraphs, and host of other machines.
all"lntenGeQ TO SNOW moving pictures anu
none Of them had been exactly satisfactory.
l could not convince managers that I had
overcome the great objection that had been
found with all Of the other devices-that
OF the webbing of the film. OF course, you
understand, it Is impossible to do away
with the minute white spaces that appear
between the different pictures, as this is
caused by the small spacing on the film
between each photograph. But I had de-
vised scheme whereby I could lock the
moving film to the machine and in this
manner do away with the pictures jumping
from one side Of the screen to the other.
1T WIS a most difficult battle that I
fought and at times l was about ready to
give up and accept the offer New York
newspaper made to me to open weather
bureau for the publication. But / finally
met the manager of Pains exhibition at
Manhattan Beach. He, in common with
the other astute managers, at first would
not have anything to do with my plan.
At last he made proposition that I show
my machine for one performance-r'ore Of
a free test than anything else. but it was
the chance / had been looking for. There
isn't very much to tell about after that.
The Farmer Dunn picture machine WIS a
great big success, and instead OF giving
but one exhibition 1 remained with Ps.u
all summer and have a contract for next
year"
Howard Thurston. the adroit manipulation
OF cards. who was seen at Chase's last
week. in talk with a Times questioner on
the evening of his first appearance at the