Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-29
Their First Appearance.
BY MINERVA SPENCER HANDY.
The ereatesf exritemant refrnad In II

iilSS, SttItb anu mysterious IHSellEsS WtiS
taking place. and some important fun was
certainly on the carpet. The mothers were
just as curious as curious could be. but
not word would the children say. 1t
was a secret. and secret 1t remained I'M
til Isabel. the youngest of them all, dropped
q word that gave clue. She told her
mother that she must go over to Christmas
to ''rehearse." Her mother smiled. and
Isabel would have felt badly. indeed, had
she known that she had let the cat out
of the bag. There 1t was, for her pet kit
ten, Tammany," smiled and washed his
face as If he were very important. indeed.
He must have whispered his knowledge to
all the other cats in the neighborhood. for
from that time until the great day arrived
not mother objected In the least when
they were asked morning and afternoon IL
Il can go over to Christine
On Saturday at lunch time a merry troop
Of boys and girls dashed into their re-
spective dining rooms and handed to their
mothers blue pieces Of pasteboard, which
read:
FAIRIES PLAY.
GOOD FOR TO-DAY. - AT O'CLOCK.
The secret was out! What "a relief 1t
was to tell of the trials and troubles that
had beset the paths OF the young enter
tainers. The mothers learned OF how hard
1t had been to remember the parts and
how tired every one was of gathering and
making wreaths Luncheons were hur-
ried over. for each player had been hidden
to. be on hand AT so prompt" and you
may be sure that none was behind time.
A few minutes before six ladies, two
nursemaids, two babies, ten children. three
dogs and 'Tammany' himself arrived at
Christmas house. The scene that met
their eyes was most pleasing. On the
green shady lawn chairs and benches were
grouped beneath he piazza. In which Jap
anese screens were tightly drawn. The
audience was not supposed to know what
was going on behind the screens but snick-
erings, whisperings and scraps of advice
like Isabel. do for goodness sake, speak
loud enough to be heard" and George.
forget that you are 6. boy instead Of
prince. Princes have TO do a great many
disagreeable things
The ladies were discussing what happy
thought 1t was to use the piazza as
stage. 1t was elevated like real stage.
The awnings could be raised and lowered
like really curtains, and the plano could be
played by one of the children in the par
lor beyond, and thus answer for real
orchestra. Just before the play began Ma
RE, aged three, handed around the pro-
grams. which were typewriter by Rosa
mond, who was only eight years old. 1t
was such an interesting program that you
shall read it for yourselves. Some older
folks might be rude enough to criticise
the spelling Children, however. would
never think of such impollteness. They
would remember that Rosamond was only
eight and despised spelling anyway.
FAIRIES PLAY.
Written by Christine MCGEE.
Copywritted.
Wasn't Rosamond clever to put this last
on? The other children objected to 1t, but
Rosamond (whose papa was writer told
them that all plays or stories that We're
worth anything were copyrighted II
these magic words were not on them other
people would steal the play and pretend 1T
was their own. This possibility was so
dreadful that the children objected no more
and told Rosamond for goodness sake to
put cit on in great big letters And so 1t
was decided.
Inside the program was very satisfactory.
The players wisely used their own names,
and the audience knew before the curtain
rose that the characters were taken as fol-
lows:
FAIRIES PLAY.
Ethel Wand OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. Princess
EDNA Diisefta Girl rI a@y
Franklin Wells. Poor Boy
orence Lawson Agnes
Isibeii Keys .....s......'.......,... Fairy
lSlDeIi Mctree. FAIRY
The play proved very interesting from the
moment the curtain-or rather curtains
rose on the first scene. How the mothers
applauded and the babies cooed and the
dogs wagged their tails the entire COM
pany marched around the piazza-excuse
mel meant the stage! One of the chill
dren played a march. but as the shades
were drawn in the parlOr 1t cannot be said
who the performer was She played
Marching Through Georgia" and this
march gave the audience a chance to OBJ
serve the costumes And they were worth
observing! They belonged to no special
period. That is, unless II was the past"
They We're very bright, and being all DIFF
ferent. gave one a great deal to look at as
the children marched round and round.
Perhaps you would like to know Just how
they did look.
The princess wore a red Powered organ
die skirt of her mothers. AS the princess
was very short and her mother very tall IT
was difficult to know Just what to do with
the length of the skirt. At last 1t was
decided to fasten 1t around the princess
neck instead of her waist. The effect was
very pleasing, for the organdie Skin. looked
for all the world Ike the flowing robes that
members of the royal family are always
pictured as wearing. The princess wore a
crown made of gold paper. This showed
that she would some day be queen and
entitled to this most becoming head-dress
The prince was equally good to look upon
He was blonde boy and the color Of his
costume was most becoming. 1t was blue
and was fashioned out of a blue velvet
piano scarf, embroidered with red, yellow
and pink roses. This scarf was draped
over his shoulder and on his head he wore
a red Tommy Atkins" hat As his legs
showed bare above his tan socks 1t is pre-
sumed that this prince was Scottish one.
The program said nothing about this, but
at any rate he was bonnie prince indeed.
The poor girl Amy looked poor indeed be-
side the gorgeous richness of the prince
and princess. She wore as an outer gar
ment faded blue Bingham apron and to
make 1t appear more poverty-stricken. red,
blue and purple patches were pinned all
over 1T. AS Edna was thin anyhow, the
skinny apron with its low neck made her
look as II she had never had good meal
in her life.
Ruth, the rich girl Ane. presented a
wealthy appearance. An elaborate lace I'M
derskirt of her mothers was fastened
around her waist with u richly Powered
sash of pink. A blue rosette, very soiled
but very much bowed was an effective
for her corsage Cher waist Her
feet were clad in pink bed room slippers:
seven. gold rings decorated her fingers and
two necklaces and watch left no doubt
that Ane's father had a good bank ac-
count.
The two fairies were all IN white. Over
their long white skirts, lace-trimmed maids
aprons were worn as capes and each head
was adorned with white-pointed caps
which their baby brothers had outgrown
As they entered and departed from view
they were very pretty and fioaty
But 1t Is time to come to the play the
boy readers think. The first scene showed
the children quarreling over what game