The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-03-11
"Hoot Mon

Mr. Richard Mansfield, who has been accounted
as mild a hammered as scuttled ship or
cut q throat is out with protest against his
growing reputation a selfcentered cynic. Mr..
Mansfield declares this reputation does him great
injustice, that he is really and will eat out of
the hand, jump thru hoops and count up to nine at
command. He threw chops at waiter; he
never kicked horse in the side; never in his most
playful moments took beggar's crutch from him
and hit him the head with it. The dean OF
the American stage does admit having been rritated
once. It was when he was doing the dying scene
in one Of his plays. The house still and nobody
dropped pin, but suddenly athletic scene shifter
let off a sneeze that shook the stage and made the
footlights twitter The scene ruined. Mans
field felt the humiliation of the affair, but even then
he refrained from bloodshed. Stepping to the edge
of the scene he murmured: Skidoo, 23, and on
such slight foundation has Mr.. Mansfield $ repu
tation terror been constructed.
Actors naturally people. Playing
tragedy is process Of self hypnotsm, and when the
illusion is suddenly dispelled there is terrible fall
in stocks. Once, when the late Fanny Davenport
was playing duet with the asp in CLEOPATRA
two actors burst in upon her with request for
raise Of salary. Fanny mad she discharged
them both the spot without warning. The dis
charge posted the bulletin in terms which
declared by the attorneys for the actors to be
my misfortune to have wandered upon the stage In
quest of an interview with Miss Davenport just at
the critical moment She still SO mad that she
forgot to soothe with piece OF reprint descrlp
tive Of the trumpha character of her tour but gave
me real interview the subject Of actors, sal
aries, insults, ETC., etc. @-e~ ~.
u It was unfortunate because it led to my being
subpoenaed as witness when the suit was tried
-. ured tn hrin
interview into court, and with a bound volume OF
files weighing thirtysx pounds toiled to the court
house, mounted the witness stand, gave my name,
age and condition Of servitude. To the next ques-
tion, whatever it was Miss Davenport's lawyer OBJ
jected incompetent irrelevant immateria as call
ing for conclusion the best evidence, hearsay,
arson and high treason Then the lawyers went at
it and for half hour witnessed the joint debate
At it's conclusion Judge Hicks remarked IN tone
of fnality 'Objection sustained " .r
- The sheriff motioned sternly to me. -.
~, Glow much is the fnea'' I asked. ! !
He smiled mysteriously. ~-.. '.-. =:
els it bailable7'' Ill.,. ~.
''What bailabe9' -
t'Whatever it is I have done,' I whispered.
Bv this time we had reached the door. He pointed
up the street. I saw freedom ahead, and started:
am not whether I legally free or owed
my liberty to kind-hearted sheriff. 1t is sad
thing to be incompetent and irrelevant witness.
It seemed to be my luck to meet actors ana
actresses when they were not in the right mood to
talk shop. I was once sent to interview Maggie
Mitchell about report that she had dropped s60oOo
in wheat The city editor told me to note particu-
larly everything she said. I did. She opened the
market promptly and from the time the ticker began
to mark time newspaper stock dropped SO fast 1t
seemed tho the dark ages would fall again and
the art of printing be lost to- the world. In con-
!" cluson she introduced me to her new husband, who
was five feet ten but this occasion looked to
be ten feet fve and he corroborated everything
Miss Mitchell had said, adding little touches Of his
own which convinced me that actors are not always
beholden to playwrights for their lines The partial
reproduction of his remarks foundered the nigh
and delayed the paper two hours ~.s..
/ Colonel W. II. Foster, who piloted the Boston
Ideals about twenty years ago. may have been the
forerunner of the yellow press agent At any rate
he kept the Ideals at temperature bordering or
lO4 degrees continually. He almost made an old mar
of Henry Clay Barnabee with his badgering anc
bullying. One Of his freaks to have a constant
tension between Agnes Huntington and Lehe de LUIS
SAN When the company visited Minneapolis Miss
Huntington lived in remote from civilization
De Lussan lived in hotel near town and Coone
Foster stood in front of the theater opening hi
Pandora box. One day bunch of flowers arrived
at the theater, addressed to Miss huntington 1h
colonel gayy changed. the cards and sent them e
Miss de Lussan with his compliments There wa
an immense stir in the then village of Minneapolis
= Of course my city editor sent to see about it
1t never to him to do of these delight
full assignments himself. I saw Miss de Lussan-ma1
BILE Indignation at the audacity of the press; Mis-
neutrality-suspicious. and sulks; Colonel Foster" de
lighted to see you, my boy''-remarks that shout
have fitted the colonel for stripes ventured t
mention what thought the public thought it though
r of him. The colonel was astonished-at my Simple
< ity Suggested that my paper employ man CON
petent to handle great dramatic situation like this
I agreed with him. Lac Stafford has theory tina
we are all actors the only difference being that Pre-
fessionals act out loud and do not know ho
ridiculous they The rest of us do not know il
e but we are it just the same. james Gray
Il Is
The annual statement Of the Mutual Life show
the yellow dog fund hidden in the supply depar
y ment. Over $21s,o0O was spent for postage" an
h over half million for Stationery and printing.
J. Perry Belmont describes President Roosevelt