The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1907-11-09
NEW ORLEANS LETTER.
New Orleans, La. Oct, 30, 1907,
STAFF Correspondence Of Tho Chief.
Interview with MRS. Minnie Msdderu
Fiske-An Saints and All Souls
Days-Eeeantrie aIetormen.

| pleasure snd privilege oI per.
soaal meeting with Mrs, Minnie If
detn Fiskel who is appearing at the
Shnbeft this week in Leah Kleschna a. =
Mrs. Fiske is a thoroughly charming
and cultured woman with an astonish.
ing distaste-when one considers her
calling-for furnishing newspaper in,
terviews. "The actor should give his
message to the world through his act
ing," declares Mrs. Fiske, mot the
newspapers. y But Veyou thought,
| protested, "that there are many
| and many people unable to see
you act who would at least care to
know of your views and ideas aud
,, gain some knowledge of your genius,
and whose only medium of so.doing
is the public press?n 'tBut why can It
all who care to know of me come
to see me aets" questioned Mrs. Flske,
briskly. "a newspaper only costs two
cents. observed Significantly.
"Dear meln she laughed, s'how fright
fully poor some people must bep'
Mrs. F'iske is small and rather slight
in stature, very bright eyed and pos
sessed OF most gracious charm of
manner. She is native OF New Or
leans, but left here when only seven
years of age and grew up and received
her theatrical training in San Fran
cisco. Mrs. Fiske is q great advocate
OF the school of suppressed emotion.
In ''Tess of the D'Urbervilles, !" which
is an intensely tragic and passionate
drama, there are moments when her
tense, quiet acting grips your throat
like wise and does remarkable things
with your spine that no amount of
rant could possibly accomplish. In
the murder scene of the fatal act where
the actual killing of "Alec D'Urber-
vile" takes place off the stage and
out of the view of the audience, during
twenty seconds of absence from the
stage Mrs. Fiske, by nothing short of
her forceful personality and supreme
genius, keeps her audience in breath
less and absolute silence, unbroken
by even the slightest sound from the
room into which she disappears as
'sTess'' to take the life of the man who
is responsible for her moral Wrecking.
In "Leah Kleschna" Mrs. Fiske is
up to her same standard of high-class
acting, and Messrs. Post and Arliss
are certainly worthy of more than
honorable mention in the interpreta-
tions of their respective parts.
Ia the words of "Patricia O'Brien, !"
the winning character whom Miss Rose
stahl impersonated in 1.-THE Chorus
Lady, at the Tulane last week, Miss
Stahl was zone big scream" in this
city. ''The Grand Mogul" follows
''The Chorus Lady dy''-theatricaliy not
literally speaking and is nothing
more than Klaw & Erlanger melee
of music and fun along the usual comic
opera lines. The Awakening Of Mr..
Pipp' at the Crescent last week was
decidedly above the average of Cres-
cent offerings. Mr.. Charley Grapewin,
who played the leading role, is an Or
leanian by birth.
The beautiful feasts of All Saints
and All Souls days were observed
with the usual ceremonies in New Or
leans. Gloomy weather prevailed,
L &I11o ~,
thronged with thousands of visitors
bearing simple or costly offerings as
the case might be with which to.deck
the graves of departed loved ones.
Some of the tomb decorations this
year were more than usually beauti-
| fu1.
It amuses me to note the differ
ent characteristics of the various mo-
tormen on the Prytania line, the street
car line with which / am most familiar.
| One fellow is an incessant whistler:
another is friendly with every truck
and wagon driver who happens to
meet his car and exchanges greetings
with every mothers son OF them; q
| third has more friends than enough
among the little children who live
along the route; fourth is given to
punning a1d firing wittieisms at the
conductor or passengers who chance
to stand out on the front platform,
while another is as cross and grouchy
/ as a bear and wears a sour face and
glum eyes hall the time. The other
morning I went down on car with the
punning motorman. The electric fuse
burned out, as frequently happens, and
when the car slowed down and came to
halt an impatient passenger growled,
whats the matter noW?'' s'Fuse
burnt out, volunteered the cheerful
idiot of motorman, ''and that's
what makes the car refuse to go.
Every body laughed but the grouchy
passenger who had asked the question
and even he came dangerously near
smiling behind his morning paper.
/ f. 3.
| The Amite City Florida Parishes,
leading Sanders paper, emphaticaily
indorsed the letter of Col. f. P
1 Stubbs of Monroe urging a specia1
session OF the general assembly, which
was published several days before tn.