Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-22
Women S Clubs
BY NJ. N. F. BRIDGHAM

BY NJ. N. f. BRIDGHAM
n NE of the red letter days Of the
year in local club circles was the
" reception with which the Friday
Morning club entertained yesterday aft
ernoon in shonor of David Warfield, the
distinguished actor, who for week
and a half has been playing "The Music
Master at the Belasco and who TO-
night and during the remainder OF the
week will present 1.-THE Grand Army
Man" on the same stage.
| Preceding the formal reception Mr
| Warfield made a brief address.
| Standing room was no longer avail
able in the big auditorium or in the
| balcony at o'clock, the hour an
nounced for Mr.. Warfelds appearance,
and the beautifully gowned and repre-
sentative throng of clubwomen over
flowed into the reception hall, the Office
and the courts into which the doors at
the sides were opened, the harmony OF
coloring being accentuated here and
there by the dark coats of the several
/ score men who were present.
Mrs. Shelley Tolhurst, president of
the club, gracious and charming and
exquisitely gowned, prefaced her intro
duction of the guest of the afternoon
with a graceful little speech in which
she said that once in while some rare
soul is gifted with a larger share of
those qualities which go toward the
making of q great artist than is vouch-
safed to the rest of mankind, and that
in speaking of such an one all ordinary
words seem inadequate, only one re-
naming which is big enough and great
enough, the one word-human. And
then, from the platform made memoir
able by the presence of Mansfield, she
presented to the club David Warfeld.
Amidst a storm of applause Mr..
No oI1 o1zH -
parently with hesitation, and an
nounced that he was experiencing bad
case of stage fright, that the cordial
ity expressed warmed his heart but the
thought of his speech chilled him.
His address was very brief, and had
for it's subject, 1.-THE Drama" concern
ing which he said that for a success
full drama there are two essentials
the quality called humanity and the
power to convey sermon or teach a
lesson.
"The actors drama he said, "the
kind he himself cares for, is not for the
public-they will have none of 1t. He
needs must go to his audience for ad-
vice. and here he learns that the nor
NAL mind demands the same characters
on the stage as one meets in every day
life. The people must be taken from
the age which we know, and must live
the familiar life of the farm, the cot
tage and the factory, experiencing the
romance with which these places
TEEN. There must be the same heart
throbs, the. same tears, the same laugh
ter the actor must present the coun-
terpart of the neighbor next door, the
man and the woman living just around
the corner and moreover they must
be alive and breathing everyday speech.
"Abstractions, such as psychology
and the poets ideal, canot be repro
duced on the stage, epigram and wit
do not make a play If the human ele-
ment is lacking.
"The drama to be force for good
must have a message. To me the most
potent message to be found in the
drama is that of love. Let us have
in our drama both laughter and tears,
the laughter to tonic you, the tears to
chasten."
When he was recalled, Mr.. Warfield
reeited Riley's verses, THE Old Man
and Jim," and returning again and
again in response to applause, only
bowed his thanks.
At the reception which followed in
the parlors, Mrs. Tolhurst was as
sisted in receiving by Mrs. Willoughby
Rodman, Mrs. John r. Haynes. Mrs.
e. K Foster Mrs. John w. Mitchell
Miss Laura Smith.
OeNuDllaS orcneslrd pidyeu uurlnS
the reception.
The Ebell program for November is
as follows: Monday, November 2:
Alfred Allen, playwright, reading his
original prize play, "Chivalry." In
competition with seventy-five other
prominent playwrights, Mr.. Allen.
through his dramatic play "Chivalry,"
was awarded one-thousand-d dollar
prize.
Monday November o.: Lecture
Man, the creative artist. in his rela-
tion to nature" Charles Keeler.
Monday, November 16: Recital,