The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-09-30

Instructions and obliivous to empty
ilattery. 1t is easy to proceed along
the lines OF least resistance but in do
ing so one must inevitably sacrifice his
Ideals and RESI- content with cheaper re-
wards. l chose TO cling to what
thought was the highest and best i'm
dramatic art. l realized that I had a
responsibility to perform toward the flu
ture OF dramatic art in America. and if
by cutting straight to the line and ia
KING the harder path l have antagon-
lzed some Of those not in sympathy
! with me, L am recompensed in other
ana more substantial directions, name
ly, the feeling that I've been true to
myself and my ideals of dramatic art"
~
Joseph jefferson was one evening the
sole passenger on board the AthoI-
Petersham stage driven for over TWEEN
| ty-five years by John Gibbs of Peters
nam. In order to break the monotony
OF the long ride from Petersham to
AthOl, Ny Jefferson began to recount
incidents Of his long experience on the
stage. Il have been on the stage for
over twenty years. SIR" he declared.
and can tell you many interesting
Stories"
For while the old stage driver was
silent. Then he smiled, rubbed the
I back of his hand across his mouth
! Enthusiastically, and. with every
feature denotiGg pride, exclaimed:
wal, an hain't I ben a-drivin' this
we're stage for nigh on Twenty-Five
years. But, by darn, eff l couldn't tell
a better story than any o. them non
senses you ben givin' me, I'd sell nv
outfit this here night" Mr.. jefferson
smiled. He had a rival.
That Christie Macdonald must want
TO spend her money in big punches. b"
said the little girl who claimed 10 be
friend of Miss MacDonald's before this
actress ever ventured to New York
from Boston.
why, when was in Paris last sum-
| mer, L called on NJ. De Reszke In the
/ first place i had to make an appoint
ment with his secretary. This gentle
mana regular Joe Herbert stage af-
! fair, with wide trousers, a Waxed mus
/ tache and q high vOice-tOld me that I
/ could see the great teacher in about a
week. He named q day and hour and |
called. When [ got there 1 was ushered
into the presence and was received wen
enough. This Is. he didn't bark at me
or insult me, but he certainly showed
that his time was valuable. I told him
/ had vague idea that 1 had a voice
which he might be able TO improve. He
remarked that perhaps ! had. He
would see. sang a verse of two songs
L had been singing when l was with
Lulu CHASER in The Madcap Princes
! While L was singing he was busy read
ing a lot of letters which his secretary
had handed him
When the ordeal was over-honest, I
felt as If 1 was trying to get some
money away from him while he wasn't
looking-he turned to me and said his
! secretary would render a decision on
the following day. Then ] went out
called the next day and the Joe Her
bert secretary told me that his master
said 1 had a pretty good voice that had
been abused: that he would help me
to place it. I learned then for the first
time that my meZzo soprano voice ought
really to have been a contralto, and
that NJ. De Reszke would fix all that
for me. Then l asked the terms. Say,
when he told me you could have
knocked me down with a visiting card
I don't quite remember now what they
were. but he said something about 100
francs for the first week and several
more hundred for course of lessons.
faded away and never returned to that
particular place again.
That's why l say that Christie Mac
Donald. who told me some weeks be-
fore she sailed that she would take les
sons of NJ. De Reszke during the sum-
mer, must want tc spend her money in
chunks. Not for mine-not at those
gilt edge prices, thank you