The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-07-20
ny A CHORUS GIRL.
One of Them Discusses Tights and
Other Things

QEnSE 411A&S-
Ever since the woman had known the
chorus girl she had wanted to ask neE
questions; but as the questions related
mostly to her stage costume, which was
very scant. she was afraid Finally
mastering up all her courage, she be-
gan Whereupon it developed that she
needn't have been afraid at all On
the subject CT her stage costume the
chorus girl hadn't the slightest aheSlta-
ton about talking In fact, the trou-
BILE was to get her to stop, says a
writer in the New York Sun
The first time you went on the
stage" was the question the woman
started with did you feel the CHASTITY
Sensation of wishing to grasp your
skirts and pull them down, when there
weren't any skirts there TO pull! I've
heard some say they do
BY the time you have passed the
EXAM the chorus girl replied, stood
up before twenty men in a critical row
and had your good and bad points crit
icised as if you were deaf. dumb, blind
and hadn't any feeling or interest IN
the matter whatever, you don care as
much as YOU might for the opinion OF
the general public. BY the time they
have half-closed twenty pairs of keen
cold eyes, looked you over as II you
were a senseless tWo-year-old and sald,
'Dunning, you're little or on the le1t
side there. PadH or, You're Dat 100
big in the waist. LaceP you nave
about got over any little squeam1sh-
ness you may have possessed DeIofe
the audience.
You never can tell how girl is go
ing to look in tights from her looks out
of them The managers can hold your
arm all they want to, hold it till they re
tired but they can't tell Anyway,
what's the difference Out or twenty
four girls in our chorus, twenty-five
wore syrnmetricals-
And what" asked the woman, are
symmetricals2
The girl looked at her disgustedly.
Don't you know2 They are the fig-
ures of the chorus girls They Duy
them for so much and put them on
The woman got to laughing
And what about the bald heads p
she gasped, by and by.
It's good enough for them" declared
the chorus girl They sit in the front
rows and gaze beamingly at them'
those synnetricals and smile and gig
pie and nudge each other and ogle.
They might as well ogle SO many rows
Of wax figures if they only knew IL;
but then they don't know it. SO what
harm does it do? They are just as Well
~ and those synmetricals help many
a poor girl into the chorus who would
be selling matches in the streets II II
wasn't for them
7 shall never forget a new girl who
came one night into the chorus looking
as near like a dream as a girl in tights
could. She was perfect, absolutely
never saw such a figure on anybody
and the rest of the girls said the same.
y
Of US. we said, Now. we are done for
That grill stand up before the foot
lights and take the looking at away
from every last one of US That's what
viii do We won't be in it
1T is exactly what she did, but we
laid for her One night she came in late
without her symmetricals. and we sized
her up. OF all the figures. We didn't
saw a word about it, Oh, mol
And as for making lightning changes
well if YOU think the life of a. chorus
girl Is all Strawberries and cream, yoil
ought just once to try making a light
ming change with the accommodations
usually given to the chorus girl. This
was what we had to do. Our rooms
were on the top floor. They always are.
We had. therefore, to run up five flights
of stairs to undress. We began IN
dressing on the way up We had then
to change from tights to skirts. change
slippers, stockings. neckties and gloves,
hook our bodices-always fastened in
the back-and run down again. all in
the limited space Of five minutes by the
clock
Imagine "a girls tearing upstairs at
breakneck speed in a jumbled row, un-
buttoning each others bodices as they
run, then leaping back down again,
buttoning them.
sOften / have gone on the stage.
smiling and bowling fit to kill. with my
bodice wide open in the back, because.