Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-09-15

You ask what I think of the stage
from my viewpoint as the husband of
an actress.
acquaintance with people of the stage
was comparatively small. In a meas
ure, I entertained that exaggerated idea
OF their frivolity and insincerity which
such a large proportion of the Amer
lean public holds today.
Up to that time had little or no
interest in anything of importance. l
was a pleasure-seeker. Broadway.
/ which lures the young millionaire as
we'll as the young f~fty-dollar clerk, held
most of my attention. But l found my
wife's ambition, which to her had al
ways been paramount to all else in her
life, conveying all my thoughts. II
soon came TO mean almost as much to
to me as it did to her and / found my
aim In life gradually changing, and her
ambitions became mine. Her troubles
or her successes became my tribula-
tons or my triumphs. and in gaining
an actress for "A wife | gained a real
object in life.
Before we we're married l. had hoped
that she would leave the stage and
settle down to a life of domesticity
and Gas / see it now possible ennui
and discomfort. But l was easily dis
suaded when [ realized that her life
had been full of those very struggles
OF which l knew nothing, and through
which the REAL woman or the REAL
man energies. And / saw that here
indeed was the real woman-one who
had beer tried and not found wanting.
| soon found myself handling mat
tiers connected with her business life
which a few months before would have
been Greek to me. And, best of all, |
decidedly liked it, l discovered for the
first time in my life how much happier
a person Is who has some serious work,
and how much more enjoyable are the
hours of relaxation at home when they
| come after genuine labor-either physi-
cal or mental. =
i A.As surprised to find that the do
mesticity M hoine life was scarcely
interrupted by the fact that my wife
vas on the stage. It only meant a re-
arrangement of hours to a certain eX-
tent. The breakfast was later than
breakfasts in other homes, perhaps, but
the entire day vas ours TO do With is
we liked. and h necessity of going
into town to the theatre at a regular
hour each evening became a pleasure.
Miss La Rue Is an exceptional house
keeper. and Immediately after our mar
riage we took a house in the country,
In her home she is as far, distant from
the stage as anyone who has eve
stepped foot in a theatre. There is no
rouge or footlights there. go
Naturally, our home life is varied
when we GO out of New York with a
piece, but to no greater extent than ii
she We're not on the stage. We travel
about the country. visiting the larger
cities-a week here. another there,
perhaps two months in Chicago or Bos-
ton. instead of spending the winter
months, at Palm Beach, ,Bermuda 81
some other resort.
Mrs. Chandler is as much interested
in tennis and golf as l ann, and Is no
mean opponent at either game. She
adores riding and is an expert swim
mer, and while on a vacation is as
active in these things al sheN is in her
theatrical work at other times, l have
yet to discover anything she essays
that she does not do well.
If some of the cynical people whom
| have heard make remarks about peo-
pie on the stage only knew the weeks
OF labor which had been spent on the
production, the endless detail of it all,
the study which had been put on each
and every scene to produce the desired
effect, and could even partly realize
the mental strain under which every
artist on that stage is laboring, and
how conscientiously and untiringly
each is striving to make the play a
success, Nh Theatregoer might per
haps, be "a bit more lenient. :
/ have in mind. particularly, a part
which Miss La Rue once played which
was very distasteful to her, and in
which she was most unhappy. and |
never heard d criticism of her work
while / sat among the audience that
the desire did not come to me to whis-
per in the persons ear and tell him
how unhappy she was, and how
thoroughly well. she knew that the part
was unsuited to her and ask him not
to judge her unkindly.
Lastly, / wish to say that | con
slider nc class OF women so aptly quail
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