The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-31
ISIT 4 pRoFEsSIONs

al
people that the number of professions
| has increased al such Il wonderful rate.
There are men teaching in the best uni
verSities who have degrees in plenty. yet
who refuse the honorary prefix because
anybody may place Professor before
his name.
Trades have been merged into this
| uew-fangled sort of profession"
| Skilled laborers in no small number
! jauntiiy assert that their business is a
profession. Well, may he ii is true in
many cases. Yet it is well to seriously
| consider what claims Il certain line of
! activity may have upon the professional
! title.
| Mr.. Franklin Fyies. the wellknown
! dramatic critic. discusses the profession
of acting. the existence of which he
| vehemently claims. He says that only
of recent years could acting be called a
! profession. but that it now fultil.S the
| dictionary definition of an occupation
| that properly involves liberal educa-
| ton and mental rather than manual
| labor.
1t is only recently that the mechanism
of the play, the glare and the trumpetS
and the tinsel, have been relegated to
secondary consideration. The plays Of
| the present day are rather better than
ever before, he asserts. The actor has
much more to do off the stage than on.
1t demands study, says the critic, and
| of a kind that requires brains.
| Mr.. Fyles is very positive that the
morals of stageland are not as bad as
believed by the popular mind. THE
stage did not degrade them: they de-
graded the stage" he argues Of the dis
reputables who may be back of the foot
lights. Then he continues: THE moral
average Of the dramatic profession is as
high as that of the legal or the medical.
The steady gain in this regard has had
| much to do with the advancement in
the art of acting. The recruits during
the past decade have been preponderat-
ingly young men and girls of good rear
ing and education. Culture has become
common back of the theatrical curtain. -
There are no Edwin Booths in
America at the present, says Mr..
Fyles. yet he maintains that the gen.
eral ability Of the actors has risen in
high degree. He maintains that the
plays are better than in former years
and refers the disbeliever to the files of
any old newspaper.
Then, as a final argument for a pro.
fessiOnal consideration of actors, be
quotes some of the profits that are being
made by the best known actors. He
estimates William Gillette's income a
over $4,000 year; Miss Adams's ant
Mrs. Carter's at between $4,000 ans
$4,000; and Mrs Fiske's at $4,000 o.
$4,000. He thinks that the average in
come of the twelve most popular WON
. en- on the stage to-day is over $4,000
Mr.. Mansfield and Mr. Sothern cut dow
!, possible incomes of $4,000 or S60,00t
last year by investing in expensive
Shakespearean productions. He say:
that they did not clear cent.
All together, Mr.. Fyles makes out
good case for the professional recogni
ton of the stage. They work. mental.
as well as physically, their morals viii
average with other professions. the.
have ideals. and they earn more none
! than the average professional man o
woman in other fields. All of which w
would like to believe: some of whicl
may be taken as truth.