Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-19
LA TOILETTE HAD
LONGING TO ACT
SET OUT TO BE A THESPIAN,
BUT CHANGED HIS MIND
Wisconsin's Fighting Senator Still in
Doubt as to Whether or Not
He Missed His Voca-
tion

Special Correspondence of The Herald.
WASHINGTON, May Ex-senator La
Toilette comprehends the dramatics of
friendly discourse. There is sonata of
harmony between voice, language and
face. Against the light of the window
are two changing anu striking human
busts One Is Andrew jackson reduceu
-pompadour hair and gladiatorial nose
and jaw. Then the bent wrestler-proW
torn with burrows, gray eyej gleamlng
from thin, wrinkled Sits and small feat
ures strained with zeal and energy. Il
never quit" Unnecessary oral testlmo-
nv to a self-heralded truth.
Made Hit with Iago
"There is no reason why L shouldn l.
While a student at the state university
of Wisconsin / wrote an grafton, taxing
'Iago' in Shakespeare's 'Othello' for my
subject. 1 won an interstate oratorlcal
contest against six other colleges Ihere
was some enthusiasm at the university,
and Iaeo' was made into a pamphlet
and offered for sale at local pook
store. John Mccullough came to Madi-
son. read 'Iago,' and sent for me. He
nraised nv study of the character, and
finally said:
"'I should advise you to become an
actor had nature been more kind TO
you in stature.
~ am FIVE feet and six. Mccullough
nettled me. and 1 asked: Doesn't tai
ent count?'
THE eye of the public must be filled
as we'll as the head he replied.
"Then he lowered over me, and ne
wasn't a very large man, either. but his
chest, shoulders, neck and head were
magnificent Suppose he roared, !
and
7 took you thus and shook you And
felt his iron fingers in the collar OF my
coat. What, he said, in his aWful
voice. would the audience say? For
shame. for shame, would be heard from
all parts of the house
"in a few weeks Lawrence Barrett
played at Madison. He also read my
Iago and invited me to call on him. l
repeated what Mccullough had said.
'Rahv he exclaimed he is physical
actor. Why, Booth isn't much taller
than you
put to me them" Senator La Folette
went on to say, "I would have CHOSEN
the law, but there would have been a
struggle. I have always loved the
theater. and my recreation now is to
hear one of Shakespeare's plays: Bar
rett asked me to study Hamlet FOR q
wear and then to prepare such an artl-
Gle as 1 had written on Iago.' Later
he sent my Iago to Booth, who said
my analysis of the character was simi-
lar to his own.
Wrote Study of "Hamlet"
ct read Hamlet for year, but the
subject grew to be so large that L wrote
Barrett for more time. Occasionally
would see him and we would talk tn
matter over. So 1t went, 1 reading
and there is a whole library on Ham
Leland rejecting, but never writing
Five or six years ago L thought | hat
| become reasonably familiar with my
subject and wrote a paper, which L use
as a lecture when the committees vii
let me. Usually, however," and l de
tected some WEAKNESS in his tone, they
want politics and railroad legislation.
IF it is not too personal" L said, Il
want to add that you are reported to
have accumulated a fortune by lectur-
ing"
Nothing is too personal. The lid of
my whole life is open. 1 have made
some money, but have spent lot in
politics. l own sixty acres of land on
Lake Mendoza, three miles from Madi-