The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-13
REAL HEROISM
 ON THE STAGE Many Such Acts Not Set Down in the Programme
ARE WELL CARRIED OUT
Actors Have Need for Constant seH- Control Under Difficulties-Wat Till Curtain Falls Before
 Collapsing
From the Indianapolis News.

From the Indianapolis NeWs'
 Stage heroes, it appears, are of two kinds, the fine swashbuckling gentlemen of the play and the actors behind the frappings. According to Rupert Hughes many a fluffy little soubrette has to do sundry heroic stunts, and does them cheerily, too.
 There is Sam Bernard for instance, who declares that the hardest thing he ever had to do was to eat "a dish of sherbetp every night in Nearly Hero. He seems to think 1t justified the title of the piece.
 q had to eat 1t eight times a week with apparent relish.'' he moans. That's s real acting, that is. And every actor has some pet aversion that gives him a trying moment on the stage Joe Weber, for instance, hates candy. It gives him 6 frightful headache. But in one of the first burlesques he had to eat nearly a pound at every performance.
 You can't substitute properties. He had to mash the candy between his thumb and forefinger and nothing but the real article would do. The run of the burlesque was shortened because the candy scene couldn't be cut out and he couldn't go on playing it.
 Always everybody has seen the hun gry farmer gobble a huge slice of tur- key in Shore Acres Few people knew that the necessity for eating turkey eight times a week for years hopelessly ruined the digestion of the poor wretch who was lucky enough to play the part. He tried slices of angel food cake, but that made little difference, because it was supposed to be turkey, and his stomach grew hys- terical.
 Ross Has Troubles
 'sCharlie Ross had trouble with his teeth for almost a whole season. Some nerve disease, I believe. He has been on the stage and kept the audience bowling many a night when he could scarcely keep the tears back on account of the pain In his face. I've seen the tears ooze out of his eyes the moment he was out of sight of the audience.
 "De Wolf Hopper tells me- continues Hughes, that he has a floating cartilage ln his right knee joint. He can never tell when it will slip out of place, but when it does he cannot straighten his knee and every step Is excruciating. Yet he goes through his dances and hunts down his laughs as If nothing were the matter but the libretto.
 Ada Rehan opened in The Great Ruby In such pain that it was necessary to have doctor in each wing to inject morphine the moment she left the stage or on occasions when she would seem 10 wander idly to a window or door and put out her hand.
 'Dodson Mitchell opened in The Doll S House in such distress that a doctor waited for him in the wings. giving him morphine whenever he left the stage.
 "Blanche Bates played several per- formances after she had developed ty- phoid fever. The stage seemed to keep hitting her in the face and she lived in hospital when she was not on the ptage. At length an ambulance took her from the theatre to stay.
 Stuart Robson died on the stage, act ing against the doctors orders. Sil Henry Irving acted almost to his last moment.