Evening star., 1901-09-21

| caste at once. for it is not enough that a
girl should not do evil; she must also avoid
the appearance OF evii. she VIII De 'uusea
| by the character of her companions and
| few half-hearted denials, shrug OF the
| shoulders, a discreetly suppressed smile
will place her among the list OF his mash
| es"-oh hideous word!
Again It's the Real Thing.
| OF course, now and again at long, long
| intervals. a man really falls in love with
woman whom he has seen only upon the
stage, but no "masher' proceedings are
| taken in such cases On the other hand,
very determined efforts are made to locate
| the actress family friends, and through
| them, to be properly presented
| Believing as i did, that every girl had
| perfect right to humiliate ''masher' to
| the extent of her ability, ! once went, it's
| hard TO admit it, but perhaps l really did
| go too far in reprisal. Well, at all events, L
| was made to feel rather ashamed of my
| self. We were presenting alike" at Mr..
| Daly'S Broadway Theater, just after the
| fire, and the would-be lady-killer was
| abroad in the land and unusually active
| There was seldom a night that some one
| was not laughing contemptuously or froWn-
| ing tiercely over a drop letter., as we
| called them. One evening my box held
| most infiamnable communication 1t was
| not written upon club paper, nor had it any
| private monogram: IN fact il was on legal
| cap The hand was large. round and labor
| ously distinct. The is were dotted, the ts
crossed with painful precision While
toward capitals and punctuation marks the
writer showed more generosity than under
standing. His sentiment and romance We're
of the old time rural type, and 1 certain
he longed to quote: THE rose is red, the
violets blue" I might have been a trifie
touched, but for the signature. L loathed
the fainteSt hint of anonymity, and simply
could not bring myself to believe that any
man really and truly walked up and down
the earth bearing the name of Mr.. A. Fix.
Yet that the signature appended to the
long, rapturous love letter. l gave it
pitch into the waste basket and dressed for
the play. OF course I spoke of the name,
and of course it was laughed at, but three
nights later another letter came-oh, well,
it was just a letter.!
Plenty Desk Materials.
The writer was very diffuse and evidently
had plenty of paper and ink and time at his
disposal He dwelt on his sufferings as
each day passed without letter from me.
He explained just what efforts he had
made, vainly made, to secure sleep each
night. He did not live in a large city, when
at home, and he described how nearly he
had come to being run over in trying to
cross our biggest street while thinking of
me. Oh, Mr. FiXi He bravely admitted he
was due at the store out home but he kept
letter. or. may be, 1 wanted to look him
over before writing. So he had waited and
was coming to the theater that very night
and his seat was in the balcony-No J. left
side, front row-and for fear l might not
feel quite sure about him, he would hold
high to his face in his left hand large
white handkerchief.
1t didn't seem to occur to him that such
an attitude would give him a very grief
stricken aspect-he only desired to give me
a fair chance Ito look him over Without
a second thought 1 read that portion of the
letter in the green room, and the laughter
had scarcely died away when that admir-
able actor, but perfectly fiendish player of
tricks, Louis James, was going quietly
from actor to actor arranging for the
downfall of A. Fix. So it happened that
James, Clarke and Lewis. instead of en-
tering in a group, came on in Indian file,
each holding in the left hand large white
handkerchief. | being already on the stage,
there was of course, d fine spread of cam
vas in the balcony. The audience, ever
quick to catch on to joke, seeing each
man glance upward, followed suit, spied
the enormous handkerchief held high in the
left hand, and realizing the situation burst
into hilarious laughter. Uselessly plead
ed-at every possible opportunity the white
handkerchief appeared in some left hand,
while the stage manager vainly wondered
why the audience laughed in such unseem-
ly places that night.
Afraid She Was Cruel.
The next day that young person whom
I had treated as a common "masher'
heaped a whole shovel of hot, hot Goals
upon my. guilty head by writing me a
letter. less carefully dotted and crossed,
somewhat more confused in metaphor than
before, but beginning with: 81 am afraid
you are cruel. l think you must have be-
trayed me to your mates, for 1 do not re-
member that they did such things before
last night with their handkerchiefs'
Then, after telling me his home ad-
dress. his business and his exact stand
ing socially he laid these large hot Goals
carefully upon my brow: so, though you
make a laughing stock of me. now don't
think l shall be mad about it; but re-
member, If any trouble or sickness comes
to you, no matter how far from now, if
you will just write me one word I'll help
you to my plumb last cent and truly
Mr.. Fix left me ashamed and sorry. He
had suffered for his name, which | be-
lieved to be assumed one. Poor young
man. l offer an apology to his memory.
Mr.. DaIy's Way.
One scamp wrote so brazenly, so per-
sistently, demanding answers to be sent
to certain prominent club, that l one
day laid the letters before Mr.. DAILY and
he advertised in the theater program that
eff Mr.. B. M. B. of Such Club would
call at the box Office he would receive
not the answers he expected, but the one
he deserved" And Mr. Daily was highly
delighted when he heard that B. NJ b.
who was 'masher'' par excellence had
been literally chaffed out of the club
rooms.
Those creatures that like poisonous
toadstools spring up at street corners to
the torment of women should be taken
in hand by the police. since they encum-
ber the streets and are menace and a
modification to female citizens. Let
some brazen woman take the place Of
one of these street 'mashers and pro-
ceed to ogle the passerby, and see how
quickly the police would gather her in
But so far as the stage 'masher' is
concerned, dear and anxious mama,
| aunte, or sister, don't worry about the
safety OF your actress to be. The
'masher is an impertinence-a nuisance.
but never, dear madam, never a danger.
CLARA NORRIS.