The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-05-19
D THE SCENES OF HER FIRST SUCCESSES.

Away back In the beginning" sne eaiu'
II was taught to sing and dance Wy -"
Italian who had come out to. Cahtotni. ~
the rush Of the gold fever. I was oorh III
the East, but my parents came Wes ~n
l was a little thing and when so'o ~"
discovered Mrs. Crabtree. my mothe.,
keeping a clearinghouse at RABBIT Siss
a mining town.
This Italian arrived in the nrst stA"-
pede, and he brought a carpet pae OF s'
castles with him. They toppled over =: soo.
as he set them VI. and he had to feii Dacs
upon his music for a living.
H was full of II, like many Of his facs'
and he had the knack Of teaching. ne COY
up an orchestra and led It, and wnen nc
found that I had some talent In that ine
he offered to give me lessons. It didn't axe
me long to learn enough to amuse my soou-
natured audiences. and I guess Lotta was
something of a success from the nrst. AZ
any rate, I am proud Of n thing-A Wa
always a star. Even when / was . tiny
youngster I. was the leading lady OF .
stock company.
Fol q long time I knew more. % one
night stands In the little mining camps
than I did about swell ensaSsments IN ns
cities. That came later. Ny training Wa
transforming. We used to put up Il camps
and give performances in . tent or caoin-
blanket shows. they arc called now,
II wa Just 3 when I started In q an
amateur in .Petaluma.' At Il I was head
ling a company Of my OWE I wa . reasoned
success and rich. thanks to my mother. be-
fore I came OF age.
Though I did not know what II msane
then, I can look back now and recall the
| way the miners used to 9 Wild In thoss
days. They used to throw - gold pieces
| and bags Of dust and even watches over the
i~footlights. I remember that some Nsxicans
I'm, ono Of the Sierra camps threw their hats
at me a. though I were . ~bullfighter. and
one man in the same place threw me his
~jackknife. It was % funny that I stood
stNl and laughed.
And how I used to work. That wal
what saved me from going the way OF thu
infant phenomenon and spelling when I grew
up. Work, wofk-and I loved It. When ]
was not learning and rshearsiny ]
was On the trail or the road going from
place to place. In lots Of places there wers
not even stage lines. and I had to travel
1 oh III olSsSSu Ah " . 0hAS
You see. I was the goose that laid the
golden eggs in our family. and II q skir'
caught and I was hurt. there was an enc
Of the family income for q time.
az believe hat up to the time that I came
of age I had spent more Of my professional
career in the saddle than on the stage.
MY mother has always insisted that
never afterwards acted SO we'll a. I did IL
those days. I have often regretted that
the kaleidoscope had not been invented
then. so that I could see myself now a
others saw me then. Perhaps mother II
right. I had my. gift. and Il was blggel
than any art that I could learn
IAN that gift .was-
I'll gift OF comedy. the knack Of max
ing people laugh. II makes me furtou,
when people run down the gift Of comedy
II you are trying to be . comedian, tn,
comic gift. 10 ut the bottom OF 18th,
committeeman you can pile all sorts Of ar
on top of It, but without II you are neve
going TO show over. TIA. crowd. They cal
ICoquelin : great asti.tS but his art woult