The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13
81 BLANCH

Mrs. Theodore Roberts should know
and sne says that Mr.. Theodore Roberts
is An actor in his leisure time and an
inventor when he is al work" This is
.lot the only thing Mrs Roberts told
me about Mr. Roberts. ] went TO see
AIr. Roberts the other night behind the
scenes and found the dressing-room
fun OF Robertses, the tremendous six
feet one and a half OF the actor, the
oomely five feet something Of Mrs.
Roberts and still more Roberts, for Mr..
Roberts is a native son and owns much
kin here.
Mrs. Roberts told nne that Inter
viewers generally found that she could
give them points" She can The one
trouble is that the vastness OF the
material rather induces despair. Page
after page I scribbled down, Of witty
and interesting conjugal comment, ana
an utterly embarrassed by choice
among il. Suffice TO say that il Mrs.
Roberts ever turns biographer for one
OF the oldest and most original char
acters that ever trOd the stage there
will be q book worth reading
Big, bluff, in the linen vest and
dragged coat Of Jim Hacker in The
County Chairman" the actor stood
there, uopping no stage dew from his
great brow. Il was election night and
he had just been reading the returns.
He gave a final swab with the Hacker
red handkerchief and said. after greet
ing me: Its a landslide for Roose-
velt-no fight. The people are not in
terested in the returns any more. Par
ker had no more show than 1 had"
As he patched then at the jointure
Of wig and brow. somewhat disturbed
by the excitement. he laughed: This
wig was copied after Brysn's-they say
We look. somewhat alike. Do you see
it?"
No" I said, 4 think Mr.. Bryan
looks like an actor and you don't"
But Mr.. Roberts certainly looks some
kind Of genius. After his great height
and breadth-the former Of which has
prevented his appearance in the 'legit-
mate" drama-one Immediately notes
the burning, brilliant eyes. clear as a
chnd's. fiery brown as TO color. some
times restless, sometimes again in
tenseIy concentrated in gaze. He has
the inquisitive nose, bridged hawk
fashion and pointed, and the long chin
OF the searcher. Add a head that takes
a ~ hat-"made TO measure" as the
actor laughed over 10 me as he put
ii on 10 return to the stage-and you
have other presumptive evidence OF
unusual capacities.
Il was Mrs. Roberts that told me
what direction these had taken. as her
husband went back TO the mimic cleo
tsoneering Of the stage. She told me
first that il was from Captain Roberts,
q well-known figure in earlier San
Francisco history, that Mr.. Roberts in
herited his inventive genius. The coal
screens stiI used along the water front
testify 10 Roberts pere's creative fac
ulty
our house" Mrs. Roberts began,
laughing-'this reads charmingly for
pubhcstion-bears witness in every
corner to Mr.. Roberts inventive ca
pacity. He really is a genius that way.
We have bookcases. chifoniers. shelves
shelves to the right Of you. shelves to
the left Of you-everything in the car
pentering line. But oh! the shavings
and the smells and the noise, 1 often
wonder what the neighbors think.
Last spring Mr.. Roberts was working
on a bottle that could be smashed over
Uncle Toms head by Legree and that
would hold water. He made one all
right II is q compound OF tar and
shellac and shfvers into fragments just
like real glass. But the smell and the
smoke we had And then Mr.. Roberts
thinks nothing in the heat Of invention
Of taking-as he did-an old silver tea
pot, an heirloom. to pour out the tart
7 offered sympathy and asked for
more.
TT is bead bags now" Mrs. Roberts
pensively added. and you would Won
der at the work he puts into the study
Of them. He is a marvellous worker.
indefatigable in the pursuit Of his
schemes while the fad is on-and he al
ways goes through with them And
have never once heard him regret
either time, money or labor spent on
them. Once"-she laughed-"he was
working on a way to catch crabs. He
did not know enough to dye the nets
and OF course they rotted in a few