The Washington times., 1914-08-02
Theological School Taught Him Tricks Of Stage,
So Brickert Forgot He Was to Be Minister
Leading Mans Career Illus
trates Difficulty of Parents
Training a Lad in Direction
He Should Go.
By GARDNER MACK.

youth in the way he should go Is
perfectly safe proposition. provided
the train utilized for the purpose is
one of the express variety. with no
stops between the point where the
youthful idea is embarked until it
arrives at its destination of fulfill
ment. The great difficulty always
has been that along the road to the
achievement of parental desires
there are so many cut-offs and
switches. and it is necessary for the
engine to stop on so many occasions
to procure nourishment of various
kinds in order that the steam OF
ambition may be kept at the highest
possible pressure-in short, there are
so many opportunities for side ex-
cursions from the main line that It
rarely happens the youth arrives
safely. 800 i--
There have been many novels
written with this curious condition
Of things serving as the basis Of the
plot. and there are many romances
of real life that have not been writ
ten, but which could be based upon
this self-same idea.
One of the things that adds
zest. not TO say tang. TO the
otherwise dull work of living
is the manner in which old
Mrs Fate cuts into the predestina-
ton business of fond and foolish
parents and starts little Willie or
pretty Geraldine into paths that are
tangential-if not diametrically op-
posite the straight line marked for
them at their birth.
Life of Uncertainties.
ITO the casual observer there may
/be no connection between the pre-
cedIng paragraph and the business
of being a leading man. But there
is a very strong connection. When II
comes to hazy ideas as TO just where
they get off, in a manner of speak
ing, there is no way OF earning a
living subjected 20 so many side
traclings and cuttings-off ss the
leading man trade. And while 1t
may not be generally understood,
PROBABLY the uncertainty OF the job
frequently lies in the fact that the
individual who becomes a leading
man started out to be something en-
Iirely different, and got the
habit of going off the beaten paths
on excursions for knowledge so
strongly set that he never quite
got over II.
Nothing here stated must be un-
derstood as depreciating in the
least the very important place OF
the leading man in the history OF the
drama or the business of the stage.
Quite the contrary. He is one Of
the most important products Of civi-
lization as IL now stands, and when
ha iS q cy0.d HnneRfanffr,fo ha ~
working, earnest, leading man he
doesn't very often have to worry
about what the future holds for
him, except in comparative way.
But his life is so curiously BAL
anced on the keen edge of public Y
opinion and he is called upon 70 ex-'
hibit his talent in such varied light
that he never knows what really is
going to happen .te him from one
week TO the next. -r -.-. E - z
Considering an these facts. there
fore, il would seem. that the person.
who had the best chance of safely D.
yeathering the storms that beset a
leading mans career is one who had
more or less practice with the un- -
certainties of fate.
Brickert's Chances Good.
And that is why it is our candid
opinion that Carl Brickert. the new
est specimen of the breed we have
now in our midst, has much more
than an even chance of becoming
one of the most popular leading men
tnat has ever been entertained in
this city. All that is necessary for
him 10 do is 70 run true to form.
and he will continue to make good
IN the way he has done during the
past few years-which is about the
steadiest way Of making good that
mas been called to nv attention for
some time past
BTckert is one of those personc
whose parents asiduousIy worked TO
train him in way he should go
ana who was put on the wrong train
Ior the realization Of their homes
Curiously enough, the parents should
be eXonereted from all blame in this
connection. because this is one of
the cases where old Mrs. Fate took
personal charge Of the proceedings.
Not trusting to her tricky handma.-
oens- temptation and Desire, she
manufactured with her own hands a
tan. slender opportunity into which
she pushed BriCkert ana nailed down
the lid before he had a chance 70
know what was happening
The young man is a Hoosier, a ma
tive of Indianapolis Probably that
was one Of the determining factors
in his career. so far as the unseen
forces that shape his course We're
concerned. For years Hoos,erdom
has been producing novelists and
plsywrights and critics and pro
ducers. but up to the present time
1t has not done much for the leading
man end Of the dramatic game.
Hence II may be that IL was thought
necessary to round out the list OF
contributions 10 the stage with q
big actor-big in several senses. How
ever. that may be. the story is eH-
tremely interesting.
Grew Up In Indianapolis.
Young Brickert grew up in a reg
uar indianapolis home. And an In
dianRpolis home can De one Of the
best little places to grow up in the
the entire world. There is some
thing about the public square and
the beautiful soldiers monument IN
Indianapolis thai MAKES everybody
who has ever been there, remember
the city kindly. My personal recol-
lectionE of Ethc place are such that
! can even forget the chaUffer who
took me in and out and around
eight or ten blocks in making the
trip of two blocks straightaway. be
tween the Union depot and the hotel.
on the occasion Of my first visit 10
the place. Indianapolis has more
Hoosiers living within its limits than
any other city in the country-eN-
cept, of course, Chicago.
II was in this kind Of an atmos-
phere that young Brickert grew.
From the day he first showed a dis
position to obtain every edible NOR
sci of his portion of the spring
chicken served at his fathers table
the endeayor OF his parents was to
make Of him a minister in the
Methodist Church. He was given