The Irish standard., 1904-01-16

Herne admits that there are no great
players in the company, for she could
not afford celebrities, but it is pleas
ing, all round company and not bad
actor in the cast. Mrs. Herne has sew
eral other companies out on the road
and although she is general manager,
she does not travel with any of them.
To hear Mrs. Herne talk of their
home life is to long to have been one
OF the Herne family. There were three
daughters and one boy. Mr.. Herne
was genial to fault in his home, in
fact, his pranks at the table at times
used to drive his wife to mock des-
peration when she would assume a
most digni6ed manner and exclaim
austerely: Jim, you must try to be-
have yourself" and Jim, properly dis
ciplined, would subside long enough
to let the meal proceed.
Most of the great feminine parts
were written for Mrs. Herne for, with
an interruption of only few years,
Mrs. Herne appeared almost continu-
ally with her husband. She was the
original of the beautiful character,
Margaret Flemming.
Two of the daughters have followed
in the footsteps of their illustrious
parents Miss Julia is with the Ben
Hur company, and although this is her
first pretentious part, she is winning
universal favor and it is conceded that
she makes the most ideal Esther of
any who have attempted the part. Miss
Chrystal Herne has just reached her
majority, and is already playing lead
ing woman with Nat Goodwin. She is
ambitious to fault and every one pre-
diets great things from this daughter
of greatness.
Dorothy, the third daughter, is just
IS, and queen of domesticity. She
keeps house for her mother in their
charming country house on Long Is
land, near the historic Sag Harbor. 1t
is related Of her that when she was S
years old she heard her sisters discuss
ing their future vocations, both of
which decided in favor of the stage.
"Well," said the 5-year-old, senten-
tiously, II don't want to be an actress.
I'm going to have lot OF nice babies
and nice home and good things to
eat"
"But you have to have a husband,
too," exclaimed her sister, discourage
ingly. mo, I don't, either she in
sisted; Husbands don't count" Then
deeming herself sighted by the lack
of interest shown in her declaration,
she continued, II don't believe you
girls care bit about my ambition" a
word which she had picked up from
others.
Financially, Mr.. Herne was not a
success" said his wife. II really be-
lieve if he had not had manager for
Sag Harbor' he would have lost
money on that"
One of the greatest plays ever writ
ten by Mr.. Herne was Griffith Daven-
port" which was produced only in
New York, and was as much an artis-
tic success as it was financial failure.
Mrs. Herne says she can never put it
on herself unless she becomes the pos
SCISSOR of millions. 1t is drama deal
ing with home life, showing the after
effects of the Civil War. When it was
first written, Lincoln was one of the
characters, but at Mrs. Hernes advice
he was eliminated, even though the
writer felt as if that character was the
backbone OF the play. After rewriting
the play, however, the wisdom of Mrs.
Herne's suggestion became apparent
When asked if she did not dread to
be separated from her two daughters,
she replied, II told my girls that I
could not afford to send chaperons
with them, but that l had implicit faith
in them and though they might have
unpleasant experiences, they must face
them bravely"
Mrs. Herne will remain until her
daughter is able to resume her work.