The San Francisco call., 1909-09-12

in and protested nightly when 1 sat
down. However unsociable her dog
was, there were no other evidences of
uncordialitv about.
Miss Bates has the gift of making
you feel at home, and she possesses in
rare measure that quality. so often dis
cerned in big people, of putting you at
your best; of making you feel like.
real conversationalist and of eliciting
frem even the most stupid. epigram
and quip and wisdom. She suggests it,
ID you say it; thereby you are per-
saaded that you are not so stupid as
YOU thought you were. and you are well
pleased with the figure you are cutting.
Meanwhile she smiles at you encour-
s-gingly, and the conversation ambles
along easily and like a winding stream
strikes many delightful places and in
spires many pleasant moods. Perhaps
she is wondering when you mean to go,
or is worried that somebody else is
waiting for scrap of her valuable
time. but she gives you no hint what
ever.
When I left little party was wait
ing for her outside the dressing room.
j heard TWO hurried exclamations of joy
md Miss Bates was clasped in the arms
of. woman who sobbed her 10Y at
seeing her Blanche again. Stin ster
Miss Bates met L. r. Stockwell-drolI,
delightful Stockwell-who has been
much 20 Miss Bates in her upward
climb along the steep and rocky road
Of achievement. Stockwell no more can
see Blanche Bates. His eyes are hooded
by a darkness which may never again
be lifted. but he knew her by that
voice. that laugh and that sob which
were once familiar sounds to him in
The old days at Stockwelrs theater in
Powell street.
BUT we had better get back to the
beginning again, or this story will be
as circuitous and as fun of bypaths and
diverging lanes as was the way of our
interview
esI Ii tell you why David Belasco is
Il like dear old Mr.. winn." she re-
sumed. He knows where to get the in
formation he seeks. and he has an al
most eerie intuition as to the persons
ability TO serve him well.
When he was staging The Darling
OF the Gods he knew who TO get to
write the music for him-WilIiam
Furst. He engaged five japanese TO at
tend rehearsals and assume a sort of
subdirectorship over the hve depart
ments in which they respectively were
concerned One was an expert in Japa-
nese manners, another in costumes, an
other in furniture and decorations;
there was a Japanese artist and there
was also Japanese wrestler. Each
added his quota Of knowledge TO Be-
lssco's storehouse OF information, and
the result was a perfect presentation
For three Consecutive years Miss
Bates played The Darling of the Gods,
and everybody knows how weary she
grew of the monotony of the task of
doing the same thing over and over
again. For three years the public de-
manoeo the japanese play, and for three
years David Belasco gave it, until Miss
Bates was weary of il. II
That episode is ended she So. 4.
I'VE both eat out Of the others hand
now.
David Belascos sensitive fingers on
the public pulse told him just the proper
time to bring forth this play of old
Japan.
Everybody was ready for it. AL
great wave of Japanesitis' was sweep
ing over the country. The little, heroes
of the Russian Japanese war were lion
ized, and everything that was Japanese
was in demand. even Chinese fabrics
which folks thought were from Nippon.
Wei, Mr.. Belssco had play about
medieval italy. 1t told the story of
the last OF the barons or something
like thst-maybe they were Italian