The San Francisco call., 1909-10-31

Gates. urged on the conversation.
was the difficulty he was experiencing
in keeping on friendly terms with
Belasco.
Here is the proposition" he ex-
pounded. ST wrote the first draft of
the play. 1t was partially successful.
Then the governor (meaning David
Belasco) took hold of it. and subse-.
quently the play was a collaboration.
He, with the stage of experience of
25 years behind him. sought to give
me the benefit of his accumulated
knowledge, and got just as much of
it as I was able to assimilate at that
time Together we thrashed out the
play, and it was a success. Whenever
assume with an intention of pleasing
me, that David Belasco had little or
nothing to do with the ultimate sue
cess of the play and that L am being
robbed of my rights to fame for the
career that the Rose has enjoyed.
On the other hand, the governors
friends, seeking in misguided way
to please the great man from whom
possibly they anticipate future favors,
attribute all the success to him and
wonder at his benevolence in letting
me in on the proceeds. Thus we both
are being besieged by our friends, and
the fact that the relations between Mr..
Belasco and myself still remain friend
ly is due to a miracle of forbearance
on his part and enormous admiration
on mine.
ELEANOR GATES was born and
raised on the plains. She saw
= the inside of a theater for the
first time when she was 1s years old.
Il claim" said her husband. with
perfect conviction, that she is writing
the best fiction that is being done"
please DON'T said Mrs. Tully.
DO you know" said she with a
smile, 'our friends are trying to create
the same trouble between Richard and
myself that they have been making an
effort to establish between him and
David Belasco? His friends say that
he writes my books and my friends say
that write his plays. Isn't it funny?"
I'VE don't even collaborate"
But we do criticise,'' said Tully.
That we do. but not at inappropri-
ate times" said she.
Suppose" said he, that you have
worked all day at a chapter in a book,
or an act in a play. The thing is finally
completed. The foot pounds of energy
have all been stored and the result, in
the first blush of creation, looks as
beautiful as a new born child appears
circumstance you bring the completed
thing TO your dearest friend-your
wife, as in this case. Then suppose
she, without the fatigue that you feel
after the work has been done. puts her
finger on this and that. and condemns
it. No one could live through such an
experience. matrimonially. So we have
established a rule in our little house
hold. Nothing but praise when the
chapter or the act is finished. We see
only the good things. Next day, or
after we have ridden over the crest of
a
the redwood shadows of a gulch in the
Santa Cruz mountains, where we are
perched-then we will criticise the 9TH
er's efforts. But that's not collabora-
ton. Mrs Tully is Anglo-Saxon; 1 am
Latin, and we propose to keep the races
from a struggle for supremacy so far
as our own household, at least. is con-
cerned; but our friends make it hard.
sometimes"
rs Cupid the Cow Punch better
as a play or as a novel?" asked.
IT'S better as novel," said Tully.
with sincerity.
ITS better as play" said Eleanor
Gates.
<kI HAVE 20 years ahead of me-" said
Tully, 'to prove that am capable
of big work. To my friends and
to Belasco's friends let The Rose of
the Rancho stand as our elaborated
effort His friends think that by be.
Iittling me they curry favor with Mr..
Belasco, and my friends think that by
belittling him they make themselves
popular Win me. EdCn oL uS hnOWS
the part the other played. and so far
we have been friends in spite of our
friends. Money could not buy what
David Belasco taught me- He is too
clever to be fooled by the sycophants
who talk to him. Only one thing would
hurt him; that would be my ingratitude
and disposition on my part to forget
the benefit derived at his hands and
the knowledge 1 received OF the stage
Might after night" said Mrs. Tully.
"he would come home and tell me of
those wonderful evenings spent in Mr.
Belasco's studio. and of thu vividness
with which the producer would present
sthe characters in the play. Mr.. Be-
lasco, as you know, did his literary
work at night, and IN his pajamas"-
Il know. 1 know" broke in Tully.
sbut there's no need of talking about
that. Some folks might think it was a
pose. or that 1T was ridiculous
Il doF't see anything ridiculous about
it." said Eleanor Gates.
Neither did at the. time," said her