The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-10-17
Mrs. Tom Thumb Tells OF
Career Among Great People
MOST WIDE ~ KNOWN WORLD TO-DAY RETAINS HEX
ABILITY OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES CHARM Or MANNER
AND IS BRILLIANT coNvERsATIoNALIsT

much higher figure than he offered me
in New York. So you see l made mon
ev by doing what my mother wanted
me to-" and the little old lady gazed
over her spectacles at ME with smile
fuu of subtle meaning, as old ladies
will.
well. when l left home that time
III was in November) the last thing |
called back to mother was I'll be
married when / come back meaning
if inst as a joke. for / had no idea OF
such thing; but sure enough it was
so. When l came back in February
7 was married, and the General came
home with me. l was 20 then, and
he was 25.'
"Tell me of your meeting with Cen
eral Tom Thumb" 1 said, whereat tbs
Count rolled a humorous eye In my
direction and blew a great cloud of
complacent tobacco smoke.
And just as quantity dear as any old
lady speaks of her first meeting with
her husband long dead the Countess
replied softly:
Il didn't want to meet him at first
but like all girls l didn't like the idea
of--er-well you know, my dear. A
OH
have some one else pick him out. We
met in New York when l went there
duced to him by Mr.. Barnum, and-er
that is all there is to tell But there
was lot more, for the little old lady
smiled quietly to herself, and we
changed the subject.
"P. T. Barnum was not great
manager" she said in answer to a
question, although the world rates
him as one of. the greatest that ever
lived He was a genius in knowing
what the people wanted and in adver-
Using, but when he undertook to han
die something himself he always bun
gled it. He succeeded simply by hir
ing better men that himself and hav-
ing sense enough to leave them alone
just so they got results"
"That is the secret of all great
men," interrupted the Count.
Nov. dear, that will do said the
little woman with an imperious wave
of her hand: whereat the Count smiled
wise and lighted another
cigar half the size of his wrist
Speaking of Salvini the great ac-
tor Mrs. Thumb said later, there
was another mistake of the world in
such matters. The older Salvini was
supposed to be all fire, but he was as
cold as ice. And he was all fire on the
stage-his Othello was perhaps the
greatest ever acted. But when ne sat
in his box and saw the younger Salvini
act for the first time and the audience
stormed and stormed in applause, that
man of ice simply sat there with his
arms folded and said and did nothing.
And the poor boy working his heart
out for mere look from his father.
When it was all over Salvini, the older
one 1 mean, simply remarked that in
time his son might make an actor.
How great a one he made the whole
world knows. Too bad he died. He
died, too, of a broken heart, a mere
boy"
1T was in Chicago interrupted Mr..
Speer, II knew Salvini we'll; in fact,
l was his first manager in this country
long before he became famous for his
own sake. In Chicago he and Otis
Skinner We're each playing Hamlet.
SINNERS Hamlet was cold and severe,
Salvini's full of latent fire, not even
pie fiocked to see Skinner and neglect
ed Salvini. The disappointment and
the worry of it all brought on cancer
of the stomach, and it killed him.
'Ah, Salvini was an Italian, my coun-
tryman," exulted the Count, and this
time his wee wife smiled on him in a
way that meant everything.
Then we arose to go, and it dawned
on me once more that this remarkable
woman was so small. For an hour I
had forgotten the fact. And it will be
long before 1 spend as pleasant and
Friday night over a midnight lunch
with Mrs. Tom Thumb c. T.