Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-02-09
BERNHARDT TRICKS OLD AGE

woman who was born in the Latin
quarter of Paris. the daughter of a poor
| dressmaker, is now touring America as
the most celebrated actress of the day
and from this tour expects to return to
france with earnings amounting, APP
proximately, to 100000, says The, San
Francisco Bulletin.
At 90 years of age she Will play the
part OF mere youth. 1t is this wo-
man OF whom Chicago humorist, in
1871. wrote that IAN empty carriage
drove up to the theater last evening
and Sarah Rernhardt got out" Those
were the days when the celebrity was
THINNER than now, and when the comic
paper cartoonist and the funny para
grapher reveled in her presence; when it
was not SO difficult to believe that she
could take dip in gun barrel and
dress herself in shoe lacing." These
humors did not fail to stimulate the Gu
riosity over her during this first tour.
and so much was written of her at
that time-so much that was purest fic-
tion-for irritation and a sense of hui
NOR on the part of the actress often
led her into strange vagaries when rep
feSentatlVes OF the press We're about,
ana aided in giving a very distorted
view of her--that during her later visits
everything has been devoted to her
work and her personal appearance and
little to her career.
One day she happened to enter a
Protestant church and heard the min
lister denounce her as an limp Of dark
ness. female demon, sent from the
modern Babylon to corrupt the new
world Before the day was over the
clergyman received this note:
My Dear Confrere: Why attack me-
so violently? Actors ought not to be
hard on one another.
SARAH BERNHARDT."
Her second American tour. mad. in
the season of 1861, again served to re-
YlVe her eccentricities and again gave
the huinorists scope but her last tour
made in 1895, found her greatly changed
physically and less inclined to news
paper notoriety. Financially this tour
was not so successful as her first-a,r
ing that she is said to have earned
$lS',e% in 1866 performances-but she
left America with good round sum
and announced that she had made her
final tour here. And yet, after an alb
sence of five years. she has returned to
renew her remarkable triumphs
H' estimate OF $JOO,OOO is made con-
tingent on possibilities. although. in
any event. Nine. Bernhardt will not
leave these shores poorer tnan when she
came. Her contract with Maurice Grau
calls for $1,000 a performance, and a lib
eral percentage of the receipts, inst
how much this percentage amounts tn
has not been told, but there have been
many shrewd guesses. and one may he
sure that Sarah Bernhard will not
come to the United States unless she
receives goodly allowance. Her
friends say that it vii, not be less than
. per cent of the gross receipts. One
may imagine what this will amount ia
when 1t is realized that the theaters
where Sernhardt appears are alyay.,
crowded. and that the price for seats
jump hundred fold and more when
she is billed to step the boards In the
larger cities of the country s. a seat
Will be charged for the performances.
In some places ii will he advanced and
- a seat will be the price to view the
genius of both Bernhardt and Coquelin.
and the latter will appear in all plays
IN the repertoire. NJ. Coquelin will re-
ceive $4,000 week during this tour and
small percentage of the profits.