The San Francisco call., 1907-06-16

Mana oS factor IN the de-
velopment OF the plot.
Nana's outward semblanoe is St
Bernard girl dog. The inner works
are an American young man. His
name is Charles H. Weston. Mana
takes care Of the three children of
1fr. and Mrs Darling. and so essen
ia' Is she-I propose to stick 70 the
feminine pronoun-so the bringing
about OF the great happenings in the
May that II is difficult 20 imagine how
he could be dispensed with.
SO long has Mana been associated
,si.h Wendy MORA Angela Darling
I'd John Napoleon Darling and
Michael Nicolas Darling that she has
become superior 10 the point OF be-
ing able TO act as their nurse. The
particular catastrophe that brings
about the story Of Peter PAN is
due 70 the TACT that Mr. Darling plays
q trick on Nana-in fact. does no
less thing than put some horrid tast-
ire medicine in her drinking dish
OF course. Mana feels greatly hurt
and looks reproachfully at Mr. Oar
Ing. which makes him so angry that
he drags her out 10 the yard and
Grains her un. Then. when the chill
freu have pone TO bed in their
nursery. Peter Pan comes N At the
r,indow and cnfioes them TO a. away
with him 70 the Never Never Never
Land
Vow. no such thing as thar could
have occurred If Mana had been on
guard She would have prevented the
fg1t Then there would have been
no sdventures-no bloodthirsty pirates
and noble redskins-notting in fact.
worth writing about
So. YOU can see II vou reason it
out as reasoning Is done n the Oar
Ing household and IN the Never
Never Never Land. that II there were
no Mana there would be no play
Mana has the FIRST curtain When
tic play opens on TIE nursery scene.
she enters. turns on the electric lights.
goes TO each Of the three little beds.
turns down the covers. picks up pair
Of oajamas. carries them TO fender
before the fireplace hangs them UP TO
warm. trots into the bathroom and
turns On the water-in the doing of
n Of which she employs her mouth
Thus She makes the earliest hit in
the play
A Menagere Repertoire
Tor such IN important canine as
Nana 81 was necessary that FIRST
class actor OF animals be engaged.
and that Was how Mr. Weston got the
Job He has never appeared IN a
human role or the stage but has
rlavcd 2 regular nlenagerie Of ZOO
logical ornitl,ological and reptilian
parts n addition to being the in
sides of Mana he Is the motive power
Of the ostrich that opens the second
at WITH a dance. and also OF the lion
whose tail Peter amputates. When he
was 10 years Of age he ran away with
z circus and has been in the profes-
sion ever since.
You must have studied canine man
rers and tricks?" ] remarked to him,
remembering how the children
soreamed with delight while their
elders chucl<led. as Mana showed all
the ways Of big. awkward, intel
ligent and afTectionate dog
II had to" he said. "Mr Barrie's
instructions were to the effect that
Nana was not to be burlesque dog.
but as natural as art could make her
and they have been obeyed to the
best Of my ability I bought big
Newfoundland dog with lots OF sense
and taught him every trick that Mana
has 70 do. Then il was easy enough
for me to initiate him because had
been initiating ali kinds Of animals :"
II you have seen Peter Pan" you
remember how Mana shambles in with
The awkward trot Of big dog. When
she hangs up the pajamas she does
It with that peculiar ross OF the head
which dog uses when operating
with mouth that is singularly un-
fitted TO duplicate the work OF human
hands
But probably the best acting Mr..
Weston does Is in the incident of
Papa Darlings medicine. Little
John doesn't want to take the bitter
drsught which Mana has poured out
for him. Father promises to
take some nasty medicine himself
at the same time that Johns goes
down, but father reniges To save
his dignity he pretends that he has
just been playing trick on Mana
he Is going 10 empty the stuff into