The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-02-26
C0QUEL|N' WIFI {
REAL CAUSE OF
HIS SUCCESS
De CASrELLANE REVEALS A
CHARMING SECRET OF THE
GREAT FRENCH COMEDIANS
LIFE.

PARIS, Feb. 26.-Few out OF Coque-
Inns innumerable admirers the
world over suspected how much OF
his artistic success hc owed TO
modest wife, who kept herself In the
background. Though she had no so
cial ambitions. and SO left her hus-
band free to seek diversion alone,
Madame Coqueln knew stage tech
nique from having been an actress
herself. and she was always his Sc
verest as we'll as his most enlighten-
ed critic
She would never interfere with his
conception of new part until the
| night OF the dress rehearsal. Then
she would come to the theater ana,
holding notebook and pencil In hand,
would graVely note down every defect
she observed. however small. Then.
OH going home she would mention
one BY one the faults she had found
with voice. look and gesture.
Coquelin, who was very vain, would
argue, defend himself, grow hot and
sometimes nearly burst with rage.
But in the end he always listened
10 his wheat least In regard 10
stage matters. And In his calmer mo-
ments he would confess how much
the excellence of his acting owed To
that merciless supervision which no
one else dared attempt over him.
A Diatribe on Fashions.
Fashion is the topic OF the hour
fashion, that tyrant adored by women.
Never has its rule been as paramount
as today when its yagaries border on
the absurd and even the grotesque.
Why do fashions exist? Why
should all people be dressed or un'
dressed alike?
Simply TO enrich dressmakers in
whose creations neither ART nor taste
has Il part 10 play. That is the pain
fully true answer. Bald interest is
master of the domain of hats and
dresses. You fatter yourselves you
possess artistic taste, dear ladies, be
cause you submit TO certain uniform
laws. But YOU are mere plagiarists.
flouted and Knocked by cunning limo
vators who outwit you.
The truly artistic women are those
who never depart from their tradi.
tiCnal types. Ike the women OF Ara
bia, OF Turkey of Egypt. of Asia Min
| or Travellers who loiter on the banAs
| OF the Jordan or OF the Nile, have ever
| before them scenes OH which Biblical
patriarchs might have gazed But you
women OF Europe and America. what
have You TO offer our eXpectant eyes?
We see thousands Of corsets crush
ing In innocent ribs. thousands OF
waists varying according to the lat
est dictates. sometimes rising up 10
the Level of the arm-pits. sometimes
| sinking down to the region OF the
hips: thousands of hoped balloons
| giving you the appearance of haunches
OF mutton with a saddle at the back,
| fortunately concealed b. the bow OF
a large sash. or else We see other
| thousands of women longdrawn out
until hey look like parasol handles.
Fancies in Head Dress.
And the heads OF fashionable wom-
EN-, which | nearly forgot to mention,
but which have considerable import
| ance in the general effect Some have
| heads swollen out To the size OF cush'
| ions. while others seek 10 hatten
down their skulls beneath bands
which conceal the ears.
Needless to say. these fashionablcs
. have long since renowned the ambi.
ton To BE- beautiful The supreme OBJ
| legation is TO affect the very latest
style. however hideous. ana personal
appearance drops 10 secondary con-
| sidCPa ten.
II you stop to reflect for few mo
mcnts. dear ladies. you must needs
acknowledge that ii YOU are chic
you do not worry as TO whether YOU
are beautiful. And You are proud or
proving that the tyrant fashion can
resist the hardest assaults.
Heavens. what an idiOtic fashion"
you will exclaim with laugh How
badly must a woman be made in order
to adopt IT,"
Then YOU hasten to adopt II your
self in its most exaggerated form. To
offer yourself as an object-lesson that
well-made woman can display her
self To advantage after all.
But. alas. Mine is voice crying
in wilderness where no woman will
roam. What well-bred woman OF to-
day will agree with me that II is bet
ter to be beautiful than TO advertise
the very latest mode?
And yet we men ought to have some
say, since IL is we who pay for our
wives embellishments,