The Washington herald., 1913-12-28
WOMANLINESS AND
COMMON SENSE
Janet Beecher, of "The Great Adven-
ture," Company, Says They Are
Synonymous Terms.
BY CATHERINE LEE.

Womanliness-that hitherhto underlined
quality which ''antis'' say the sutfra-
gists Iack-has at last been pinned down
and defined. 1t is just plain common
sense. Janet Beecher. who plays the
part OF the wsrm-hearted. common-sense
wife in Arnold Benefits comedy, THE
Great Adventure which comes to the
Belasco Theater this week says so. And
she ought to know. because critics have
been talking about her attractive por-
trayal OF womanliness'' even before she
played the wife in THE concert"
You remember the story of The
Great Adventure don't your" said Janet
Beecher. 1T is that of Buried Alive
you know. A great artist, the very
greatest painter in the world. allows
himself to be mistaken for his valet. and
when the latter dies. to be buried as the
artist while ne, the great man, falls in
love with a plain. middle-class woman of
the suburbs of London. with whom the
valet had been corresponding through a
matrimonial agency.
Many people seem to consider it i'm
probable that an ordinary middle-class
woman-such as Janet Cannot is sup
posed to be. could attract and win the
affections of a superior man like liam
Carve, England's greatest artist. But
her wOmanliness. Janet Cannot was
what 1 would call a true woman. She
may have lacked distinction and polish,
but her heart was all there. And then,
as you know, she was SO common sense.
Common sense, Is that the essential
attribute of a womanly woman"
why of course" Miss Beecher an
swered, as IL it had been settled long
ago. Common sense stands for wom-
lfVAE Gta de
for that which is poised and stable; WELL
balanced and reliable"
Really
Most certainly. You remember Janet
There was nothing silly or foolish about
her. Nor was she ever affected. She
went straight to the point. When she
met liam Carve, whom she took to be
the valet, after having corresponded with
him. she explained calmly: When you
want to get married you want to get
married. and IL, being in England, she
had to resort to a matrimonial agency to
find a husband, she did so. Because
those who don't frequent matrimonial
agencies stand a chance to get let in
just as much as those who do trust their
fate to the unknown. Besides, Janet
knew what she was doing. Had she lived
in America she would doubtless have set
about things differently. But the story is
laid in London.
Showed Common Sense.
Her going straight to the point, then.
showed common sense. 1t showed that
she had a straightforward manner. She
was never affected. She was plain
woman with large heart, and, although
she met the man without knowing wheth-
er she would like him or not she soon
took pity upon him because he was all
alone and broken down in health. and
she proceeded to nurse him back to
strength. Her heart overfowed with
warmth and good cheer, but she always
kept it in place by her splendid common
sense. Nerves and hysteria were un-
known quantities to her. Exaggerations
and fads never found favor with her."
But would you call ner womanly
woman? Doesn't womanliness. as 1t Is
ordinarily understood, consist in a super
abundance of absurd tribes? In a pow
der pun concealed in a glove. in dab Of
rouge on the lips. in a love Of fine clothes.
in a fondness for high heels? Isn't wom-
anliness synonymous with illogic?'
Miss Beecher smiled in a slightly puz-
zled way.
DO you really mean to imply" she
replied, that women who dress them
selves as fashion plates or throw them
selves heart and soul into every new fad
''womanly women" How absured that
would be! Why such women are mere
caricatures of real women-deluded souls
who do not realize what true womanii-
ness Is
'1f you look little beneath the sur
face Of things you will find that woman
Is the stable, the calm, unchanging force.
She is the mother. the center of the home.
When all is said and done, 1t Is on her
shoulders that the responsibilities of the
world rest. Man provides for the family,
II is said. but down in her heart a woman
knows that she is tied closer to her fam
lily than a man Is. Sometimes when /
look at young mothers one sees In street
cars and In the parks, for instance. /
think how sublime they are-often young
girls, fond Of good times and fun. but
who uncomplainingly and smilingly go
about their daily tasks while their sisters
are dancing and enjoying themselves. 1t
is not that these girls do not still care
for good times; they do. but they are
true women: that Is. they feel their re-
sponsibilities. and they live up to them.
Ard r.1lsf ha rar inns rrr