Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-12-28
MRS. MARTINS
PLAY is COMING
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Lancaster. in the very midst of the
Pennsylvania Dutch" by which
term is meant that class OF Pennsyl-
Vania Germans who are uncultured
and uneducated, and who seldom,
If ever read a newspaper. Mrs.
Martin had ample opportunity
to observe their ways and customs,
and to become thoroughly saturated
with their manner of expression.
Their funny side always strikes every
body and this fund of humor which
the future famous authoress then alb
sorbed has given to her books the
characteristic quality which renders
them so charming.
How She Started to Write
NO matter how uninteresting peo-
pie are" said Mrs. Martin, you can
always find something human in
them. And so / became absorbed in
the Pennsylvania Dutch who are
funny, but intensely interesting. But
l would not have you think that all
Pennsylvania Germans are of this
class, from from it.
Il find that in the dramatiZation of
Barnabetta l have to Dutch the
manuscripts, because Mrs. Marian De-
Forest, who dramatized Little Wo-
men and has done the same for
Barnabetta, does not find it easy to
adapt herself to the eccentricities of
their provincialisms."
When asked how she first came to
select this particular field for her
literary work, Mrs. Martin replied
that she used to return from market
and mimic some of those who at
tended for the benefit of her
family. They saw the possibilities
in her and urged that she write
up these people with whom she
had been in contact for such a long
time. And in that way she was per-
suaded to write the books which have
appealed in human interest to the
many book-lovers who have enjoyed
Mrs. Martins works.
She was always ambitious as a girl
to write, and being young and roman
tic, wished to write of romance. The
editor of the Ladies' Home Journal
about that time wanted an article on
the Mennonites, and requested Uhler
Hensel, a prominent citizen of Lam
caster to write them for him. Mrs.
Martin was very intimate with the
Hensel family, and the opening was
given to her, which she seized with
eagerness and determination. For
weeks she boarded with different
families and became familiar with
them, and finally wrote two articles
which were Immediately printed This
was her start, and soon magazines all
over the country were demanding
articles on the Pennsylvania Dutch"
and the craze became widespread.
Finds She is Famous
"Tillie, the Mennonite Maid" ap-
peared about the time her first little
boy was born and it was not until
seventeen months later, on shipboard
bound for Europe that she was
brought to a realization of the fame
that had become hers. David Belasco
sent her kilograms, expressing a de-
sire to allow him to have the book
dramatized, but contracts held her
tied up. Barnabetta is the first of
her books to be dramatized, but 1t
promises to be great success. 1t has
been found necessary to change the
story slightly to adapt the part of
the step-mother of Barnabetta to
Mrs. Minnie Madern Fiske, who will
take the leading part in the produc-
tion of "Erstwhile Susan" to appear
in Harrisburg on January 5.
The first appearance will be in
Syracuse on New Years Day. From
there the company will move to AL
lentown, and then here, after which 1t
will be staged in New York City.
Mrs. Flske. who is a charming
actress, was tremendously taken with
the character of Barnabetta's stem