The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-23

, sons, and you realize there's good deal
of him for a slrl to put her arms around
| when she's his sweetheart. Later, when
| [ played opposite Mr.. Edeson, he guyed
me numerically about the way l
stretched out my arms in such huge cir
cles to embrace him. | had acquired the
| habit from close proximity to Mr. NC
| Intyre"
And your present role, how do you
like it?" / asked.
Il have played it for two years, now"
said Miss Wood, ''and I've grown very
fond of being telephone operator.
IF you weren't an actress, would you
choose 1t as profession?" l asked.
II certainly would, said Miss Wood.
/ when | was studying the role of Wanda
Kelly (Which, by the way, came to me
through very sad coincidence, the death
oe Mr.. Belascos daughter, who was my
very, very dear friend, bringing about the
cffer from Mr.. Belasco TO mel, went to
the big telephone exchanges in Chicago
and Washington, and sat for hours watch
Ing the girls, SO that | might get at
mosphere for my Interpretation of the
role. / found that being a good tele-
phone operator requires not only char
acter and poise, but brains and intelli-
gence. Few people realize the power OF
a phone girls job There's nothing from
a love affair to market orders that isn't
transmitted over the phone. OF course,
in the play the fact that the phone girl
heard the conversation upon which hangs
the big political game that is being
played, makes her out an eavesdropper,
but as a matter of fact in real life
switchboard gossip is nuisance to the
clever operator. In the play the girl
had to overhear the conversations, else
there would have been no play
after ALL said Miss Wood. prettily,
4 L., ..la fl,a dc
one of the big central stations-north or
southland life is all on the switchboard
good and bad, love stories and death no-
tees, winners and losers all going on at
once and the phone girl is a sort of
fate who sees that the right people get
each other, though she could often save
lot of trouble if she mixed in"
"And of the political side of your play,
do you happen to know any politicians
who are just the type of the men rep
resented?" / inquired.
Its "A curious thing, said Miss Wood,
hut the way the different classes of poll
ticians approve and disapprove the play
is quite amusing. | have the pleasure
of very pleasant friendship with Post
master General Hitchcock, and when
discussed the play with him he declared
that the politicians he knew were not
half as black as they were painted in the
Play. On the other hand, / have a friend
who is the private secretary of a well
krown western senator, and he insists
that the politicians that he has met in
ard about Washington and elsewhere are
even worse than the play represents them
in their grating and their wire pulling.
So. there you are.'
"Outside of your stage life, what fads-
ana fancies have youY' ! asked Miss
Wood, as the first strains of the orchestra
waited the message to us that it was al
most time for the curtain TO go up.
Il love pictures, and I've turned per-
feet fend recently about my Kodak" she
answered. EVERYWHERE | go l take snap
sncts. and | really am an enthusiast. One
of my keenest faneies is the Drew fam-
ily-'uncle john as l call Mr.. John
Drew-his wife and his daughter, Louise,
are very, very close friends. | spend the
greater part of my summers with them
at their country home at Northampton
and-yes, / think my fads and faneies
consist of kodaking and the Drews''