The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1907-04-07
The Passing SholU
By j. MarDin Nichols.


theatrical attire. The other day one
Of her venturesome Solons dared to in
troduce a bill. II required that the
skirt OF an actress shall reach at least
four inches below the knees. 1t came
In an ace of being defeated. 1t was
a terrible blow at the modern effort
to elevate the dramatic art. Will an
other one of these Solons now dare to
introduce another bill? For instance,
one that shall require the skirt to reach
at least four inches above the waist,
or that the collar shall begin within
twelve inches of the neck. But that
invades the privileges of the elite and
destroys the peculiar demonstration of
expert massage. The bill would never
pass.
Another thing reminds me of the
glazing Inconsistencies. Everywhere
hands are raised in holy horror over
"Salome." Olive Fremstad goes
through the dangerous feat of remov-
ing, one by one. the seven filmy wells
that drape her dreamy form, while she
dances. 1t is dangerous-the critics so
advertise. And the very next night
these whiskered Protestants rush for
reserved seats in the play house, close
up under the footlights. They propose
to see for themselves. Oh, fudge!
And now "Salome" is to be so moderated
as not to offend their sense of pro-
priety. There are those content il not
called to cross the line. They are will
ling to toy and tumble with the thing.
They're going to put out the lights
now just as the bewitching Salome
presses to her breast the severed head
of John the Baptist. The lights will
go out just as she kisses the gruesome
lips. Oh. fudge, l say-fudge! That's
the worst ever.
Most the kisses are the worse because
they are given in the dark. But, for
sooth, we don't see, the rest Is all
right.
X X X
There is society and then there is So
ciety. We are face to face with one
strata of the 400 sort. 1t proves to be
no more than the phantom march of
ghosts. Only the winding sheet is
lifted-nothing but hideous bones. Jer-
ONE is doing that for some of New
York's elite. Many a skeleton has
grown restless in the family closet.
One can almost hear the muffled clank
of the chains that bind him.
Suppose your web of life were like
wise tangled. Suppose your private
life were dragged into the lme-light.
The horrors of it all! Truly in
very dim past, one said: without We
are as whited sepulchres; within ye
are full of rottenness and dead mems
bones" Men and women tramp our
streets. Smiles hide their deadliest Sc
crets Put your ear close to the heart.
The sound is like the meanings of a
tired and restless sea. 1t will not
hush. What If the curtain were drawn?
Is there one whose real life steps to
the front? He who risks IT must be
pretty sure of his hiding places.
We must not curse the one whose
skeleton stalked out in broad daylight.
In cursing we may curse ourselves.
z 4 4
For months before and during the
trial of Harry Thaw, chorus girls have
proffered their testimony to both the
prosecution and the defense. That
gets me all befuddled. The show girls
land others. not show girls) are SO
rapid. They do not hesitate to uncover
the scarlet letter. They forget it was
hidden by a flmy drapery, anyhow.
They talk of the mirrored room" as II
it were no shame to mention. And Co
tham's best sit for hours to hear the
devoured the tale with raveonus ap-
petite.
1t came to us all like the sensation
of breaking into the harem of a rich
and princely Oriental. Curiosity does
not breathe the atmosphere of shame
Properties are suspended when there's
chance to be put next The times
NdtA Aoi ddiiHB llLtfdTy pioneer. Let
him call his book The Jungle. )" It
will not be a commercial gusher that
tells the story of brutes on their
march to death. 1t Is to be a tale far
more narrowing. 1t tells of mirrored
rooms where the innocents are slaugh-
tered. It will tell of inhuman moth
ers-accessories to the suffering of vir-
tues flame. These mothers are blinded
by the glitter of gold and the glamor
of genius. These are they who drive
their daughters through the chutes in
to gilded palaces where the shadows
never lift.
What is needed in my beloved
France? Mothers" shouted Naponeon.
Poor Stanford White whispered that
wrong lay not in its commission, but
In its discovery. A dangerous doctrine
but how far from a commonly ac-
cepted fact? We all monkey with the
trigger. We all blame the trap If 1t
happens to fall on u.s. The soft ca
ressing whisper of the magnetic White
checked the sobs of the deluded and
beautiful Evelyn. So fits the FREELY
about the flame. Shall we altogether
blame the flame?
This long, drawn-out trial reveals
one thing for sure. Stanford White
had his friends-scores of friends. He
was not alone in his unbridled life.
Dozens were mixed up in this Sodomitic
1ury. NOR are they all In New York.
We must teach our girls (unsophisti-
Gated as yeti the meaning of the verse:
Wont You walk into my parlor?" said
the spider to the fly
TITS the prettiest little parlor that
ever you did spy"
But don't be so quick to decide. ne
most dangerous power in all the world
is the ravishing eye--the caressing
laughter of an elfsh maiden whose
beauty is like a fairy dream MANY
poor fellow is wrongfully held re-
sponsible for the. spectacular career of
pie girl" 1t may be she deliber-
ately chose her way long before she
ever saw him The hour strikes when
the door opens
1 have read somewhere that it is
the queen of spiders who spins the
silken web. Some of US believe it.
anyhow.
4 x \
An avalanche of Americans move on
Europe every year. Millions Of our
country's gold are dumped on the Con
tinent. 1t has come to pass that an
ocean voyage Is only a jaunt You
have but to don your cap and grab
your baggage. One starts for London.
nowadays. like he would start upstate
out of New York
Travelling with some is an art-wlth
others, fad. You're somebody II per
chance your toggery bears the pasted
tags of foreign taverns. Luggage must
show by all sorts OF labels that 1t has
been through the worlds custom hous-
es. 1t is popular for mothers and
q