The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-09-28


 n.E LL theatre-goers and a good many
 who are not have by now heard
 of the wonderful pink paja- ma girl' and "The Liberty Benes," both of which will be seen at the Jefferson theatre next Saturday matinee and night. The story of the play is as follows: More than year ago the firm of Klaw 6 Erlanger of New York city accepted from Harry B. Smith, of modern musical comedies and operas, a book for a new musical comedy entitled "The Liberty Belles, which dealt with, for the first time, several subjects which to say the least appeared daring at the time. After due deliberation Messrs. Iklaw & Erlanger determined to make a production of Mir. Smiths work. To this end they commissioner their lieutenants in the matter of costuming. scenic effects, etc., to spare no expense: and in the matter of the personnel of the com pany they engaged the best specialists and the handsomest women they could get on the American stage Rehearsals were put in progress and when it came to the night of the dress rehearsal there was gloom and dejection over everybody con nected with the organization. In spite of the efforts of the managers, the author and the stage manager the outlook for the piece was diseouraging, everybody was unanimous in voicing the opinion that the play would not be a success.
 And this play last season on the very best authority made for Klaw 6 Erlan- ger more than $75,000. The pajamas weSe responsible for 1t all. There was un- doubtedly a fatality about them. They s.Hk k1aa flaRTs They were purely accidental and crept In on the opening night of the piece as the result of the mistake.
 MT. Smith had designed the first scene of the play to represent a dormitory in young ladies' seminary. This scene rep resents the young women in a seminary engaged in a clandestine midnight sup per during the absence of their teachers. This act is said to have been written to show as nearly as possible the doings at a young women's seminary attended by young women kept in stern restraint, and to give the characters appearing in the act lines fully as enane and foolish as those that might actually be spoken by the ordinary love-sick, stage-struck mati- nee-dol adoring young boarding-sehool miss, and it was written to show noth- ing else.
 The usual audience Is astounded and somewhat puzzled to account for the re-
  who are discovered asleep in their beds when the curtain goes up on the first act There is a. succession of giggles and timid screeches, a mixture of slang and foreign tongues in a general conversa- ton, scrambllng out of beds to enjoy a midnight lunch spread on carpet, lit- tie singing a cigarette or two, and the entire school climbs back into bed.
 The audience then has time to discover that each dressing-table Is filtered with photographs of matinee idols, that one young woman has arranged an electric light to take to bed to read with. and still another has taken a photograph to bed with her. It is bit of school life which is not down on the curriculum and which Is forbidden to every masculin eye.
 When the young ladies of the company were cast for their respective parts In this act the author declared that they would have to actually appear in night gowns in order to artistically preserve the atmosphere of the scene. When these costumes to be worn in the dormitory scene in the first act of the piece were designed and ordered, no provision was made for pajamas. Twenty-two night robes of various degrees of fluffiness were ordered, and when the box was opened at the first performance of the piece 1t was discovered that but twenty one had been sent. And since Pauline
 
 ma girD was the last "belle" to dress, she was left without costume. Not un- iii that moment had the pajama idea oc- cured to anyone. Finally the sugges- tion came from Stage Manager Gresham, that some one be sent to nearby haber- dashery which kept open in the evening for a pair of pajamas-silk pajamas. He suggested blue and white striped ones for Miss Chase. just to add novelty to the general scheme of costuming. When they arrived they were pink. Miss Chase strenuously objected to appearing in pa- iamas, and in fact went on under pro- test with the stipulation that if the things were not warm enough. she might change them at the next performance for a nightrobe under which she could wear more clothing.
 But the next morning the pink pajama girl'' was the talk of the town. And herein fate and the pink pajamas played their part in the game. From failure 'The Liberty Belles'' jumped into a sem sational success It's pretty girls were pictured all over the country and the pink pajamas and the general novelty of the performance tended to attract audi ences which tested the capacity of the theatre. Instead of resuming the costume of the night-robe, originally designed for her, Miss Chase retained her suit of pink pajamas. As the weeks passed by the pajama girl grew more popular. She
 
 she met Mir. Alexander Dow, a new York olubman and the president of the Dow Composing Machine company. MT. Dow's fortune is estimated to be easily one mill lion dollars. Within three weeks she was engaged to be Mrs. Alexander Dow. Mir. Dow desired. an immediate marriage. hut Miss Chase had signed a contract with hlaw & Erlanger for one year and desired to keep faith with them, so for inc time she remained in her position. The marriage was then planned to take nlaca immediately at the close of the season. As the time drew near Miss Chase received permission from her man agement to withdraw from the cast for about ten days to prepare her trousseau. During her absence from the cast Miss Marie Murphy was chosen from among the bunch of beauties to represent the now famous character of the pink pajama girl. Miss Murphy wore the pajamas for only ten days but fin that time she was seen. wooed and won by MT. J. E. Muhl- deld' the superintendent of the Grand Trunk railroad.
 When the season closed last year of "The Liberty Bellies" these two happy