Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-14
Children of the Stage
Bv Frederic j. Haskin

fession, and whose parents keep them
in dramatic schools as long as possi
| BILE. In some few cases children have
permanent places in the cast and
| travel with the company on its circuit.
| Those which come from the better
walks of life are usually accompanied
by some member of the family, but in
many cases the little ones have no
such protection.
Under such circumstances they often
become bumptious, and their moral
nature so stunted that what might
| have been a successful career on the
stage under more favorable circum-
stances is blighted. The New York
! Society for the Protection of Children
has found many instances of unguarded
childhood on the stage falling into the
snares of evil, and has made strenuous
efforts for the protection of such chill
| dren Sometimes their appeals have
been upheld by the authorities, and at
other times they have gone unheeded.
Some years ago the question of em-
| ploying children on the stage was taken
up by some of the leaders of the move
ment for the conservation of child life,
and a symposium of the opinions of
| the leading managers of New York
was made They were agreed that
wherever possible the child ought to be
kept off the stage, and that only in
those cases where they were absolutely
brought into the play. They especially
declared that immature childhood
ought to be kpet out of the chorus,
and allowed only in such places that
they would be under the watchful
eyes of careful guardians at all times
The gifts of the mimic world seem
to be inherited gifts, and there are
MANY families which illustrate the
tendency of the children to succeed to
the laurels of the parents. The Drew
family, the Sotherns, the Boucicaults,
the Hacketts, the Booths and many
others are instances that might be
mentioned but most of the children OF
these families do not grow up in the
profession from infancy. but are care
fully prepared for 1t before they make
their initial bow.
The circus affords what is perhaps
the best example of children growing
into the profession. Most of the aero
battle stunts in the modern circus are
performed by families acting together,
the smallest acrobat In the group often
being only a few years of age. The
children take naturally to initiating
the feats of their elders, and before
many years tricks of the playroom
are transferred to the circus arena.
One reason why acrobatics run large
ly in families is that the child who ls
to be a successful acrobat must be
LTalDGu
are flexible and the joints easily forced
beyond their natural position. And of
course acrobatics is something that
appeals to every child, so that almost
without exception the children of per-
formers follow in the steps of their
parents.
The home life OF the circus also ia
vors the child's becoming a circus per-
former AS soon as the little folks are
able to travel they are taken on the
road with their parents, and few chill
dren who have ever smelled the saw
dust ring from the standpoint of the
Snowman ever care to find a living in
other vocations. There are perhaps
more children in the circus tents of the
country than there are on the stage,
but almost without exception they are
children who were born in the busi-
ness.
There is perhaps no other walk of
life where, a child becomes a high sal
aried individual so soon as in an aero
batic family. Before most children
could earn a dollar a week the circus
child may be earning fifty times as
much. The stork is not an unwelcome
visitor in the acrobat's home, since 1t
brings a promise of at elast $4,000 to
the family during the minority of the
child it brings. Such an earning ca
pacity on the part of minor is almost
unheard OF in other walks OF lire.
The evidences of returning prosper
ity have been carried to the theatrical
world, and there are said to be promises
of the most prosperous season in the
history of the American stage. This
is resulting in most elaborate prepara-
tions for meeting the situation, and
many of the leading plays will have
child roles in them. Wherever it Is
possible these roles will be taken by
NxyI1n m
stead of by children themselves. Girls
Of small stature will usually be found
playing the small-boy roles, and in
every way possible the managers of
the better class OF plays will be care
full to live up to the spirit and the let
ter of the laws which aim to keep
children from work on the stage where
it might blight their moral natures.
Tomorrow-Taft and Diaz.