The National tribune., 1908-12-10

people, however, look beyond these
small matters, and see in this sensible,
careful young King and his simple, un-
worldly, healthy, country-girl wife ana
| in the normal, happy, domestic life OF
the Quirinal a great promise of future
prosperity and power for Italy.
One is forcibly reminded Of feathery
thistle-down blown hither and yon by
a soft Summer breeze as one watches
| the dancing of Isadore Duncan, the in
terpreter of Beethoven symphonies and
other classical music after the manner
of the ancient Greeks. The great stage
is entirely bare, hung in the form of
semicircle, with soft. ight-gray cur
tains. The floor of the stage is COW
cred with a flood of golden light, such
as one sees in a sunset. The gray cur
tains are parted and the dancer ap-
pears, stepping out just as one might
imagine a beautiful Greek goddess
would from behind place of protec-
ton in the forest into the open. She
is dressed in the softest, lightest, most
diaphanous material, short of skirt and
draped about the waist in Greek fash
ion, the arms, neck, legs and feet quite
honestly bare. Then in perfect unison
with the music she is blown as lightly
as the thistledown from one part of the
stage to another, the wonderfully eX-
pressive grace of arm and hand playing
quite as important part in the dance
as the beautiful, eloquent foot and leg.
In the rapid movements her dancing
becomes enhancing. The flowers fall
from her breast and hair, which es-
capes from its Grecian fillet and covers
her bare shoulders, her expression is
brilliant, her every motion full of ex-
quisite poetry and grace. bringing out,
too, most marvelously that joie de vivre
which was SO markedly characteristic
of the ancient Greeks. Aside from the
interest attached to the novel idea of a
dancing Interpretation of the music of
the old masters. the performance of
Miss Duncan is distinguished by an ar
tistic delicacy and refinement, a grace
and charm which can only be realized
by being witnessed.
If you happen to find yourself in
Paris and see a man about to cast him
self into the Seine, think twice before
you venture to restrain him. One of
our countrymen, so the story goes,
standing on the bridge of the Pont des
Arts in Paris not long ago, saw the
form of living man borne toward him
on the flood of the Seine. Obeying the
generous impulse which came to him,
he quickly stripped off hat, coat and
waistcoat and jumped in after the man,
rescuing him. The would-be suicide
did not Seem at all grateful. the crowd
not particularly impressed, and the
American returned to his hotel feeling
a little bit crestfallen. No reporters
visited him for an account of the affair;
in fact, no one seemed to hear of it;
but he was visited the next day by the
man he SO gallantly rescued-a little
old man with sad face, tired eyes and
poorly dressed-who upbraided him
roundly for interfering with his plans
and wishes, and who declared that
having prevented him from dying, it
was up to his rescuer to at least help
him to live, demanding a certain sum
for that purpose. The bewildered
American, quite unable to grasp this
unusual point of view, and astonished
at this evidence of French ingratitude.
stared at the old man for a moment in
speeches. amaZement, and then, as
the sum was not a very large one,
agreed to the strange demand.