Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-11-25
Slackwire Dancer
Philosophers About
Youth, Beauty, Peril

Deeds of daring-physica daring
are expected from men. That lhey
should nonchalantly take their lVeS
| in their hands, If occasion demands
| It. without hinching, is accepted as
| a matter of course.
But women, think we, consciously or
unconsclously, arc doing quite Wen
their part toward making TINS ola
world livable. if they are nentany
| courageous. Theirs is the plaHe,S
that meets a mashed-up hero with
out a turning of hair, at least
until his wounds are dressed and he
Is made comfortable, after Which
faint Is eminently proper and quite
In the order of things, to mans idea'
For. though women are expected 10
be--and are--bigger and Drawer lhan
men-mentally, of course-they must
never, never let the fact come to the
surface and disturb Insecurity
complacency. A faint adjusts mat
ters nicely A mans sense OF SUI
neriority returns, to sit comfortably
nnon his consciousness and make him
tenderly condescending to the httie
hypocrite who sees through him-and
knows how to make him happy.
Which dissertation has little TO do
with the mather in hand, except, per-
haps. that ii serves to emphasize the
astonishment that enVelops us when
we see woman, no, not a woman
but a tiny slip of a girl, take her
young, happy life between her rosy
palms many times a day, sometimes
letting 1t almost slip through the
carefully-careless fingers, sendlnS
our hearts croWding into our throats
in the most unruly fashion.
The slip of a girl In question is
one Miss Bird Millman, dainty re-
cruit to vaudeville from the ranks
Of the circus. Miss Millman APP
reared at Proctor's last week, where
she skipped and danced and sang
and kissed her hands to folks from
n slack wire that swayed alarmingly
with every move of her active toes.
Her apparent disregard of danger
was the. most fascinating thing about
her turn. TO all appearances the rope
was solid floor. Miss Millman
seemingly ignored its existence as she
tangoed her happy way across it's
length
Asked about it, she laughed and de-
clared that it was nothing, then
added:
mo, 1t isn't fair to say that. In a
way. | realize every moment exactly
what / might expect IL / missed my
footing. I'm quite sure the back of
my neck would be the place that
would hit the floor first, and then
But let's not talk about 1t. Broken
necks are awkward things, aren't
they? And then ! haven't the least
idea of acquiring one. My apparent
carelessness is all make-believe. My
wire is carefully tested every night
before I go on.
"Of course, I'm self-confident. Why,
I've been dancing on a wire since my
fifth birthday, and that's ever so
many years ago" Miss Millman's
head when backward as she laughed.
Want to know how many?"
"I'll guess, Thirteen years ago."
said the writer, and the slack-wire
artist nodded gay assent, and then,
as the writer prepared to depart, she
cried: Don't say / worry about
the danger. | don't. Worrying causes
wrinkles. And | don't expect to ever.
ever have one"
Out In front, watching the act, one
wondered more than ever how 80
much craftsmanship fearless
ness-could be part and parcel of such
dainty. wholly feminine personality.