The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1916-09-22
WHY | LIKE THE MOVIES
BY PEARL WHITE
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From n very early age / have had
positive fondness for doing reck-
has been connected with them the
more pleasure | have taken in them.
l am not unique in this. ! have met
during my career II number of other
| persons who confessed to having the
same strange tastes. Speaking for
myself, II hum-drum existence would
bore me to distraction. / think
| would sooner die. For instance when
was child about five or six years old,
despite the fact that received repeat
ed warning from my father and moth
er. l used TO delight in going out to
rattlesnake den which was not far
from the house and teasing the rep
tiles until they made repeated jumps
at me. My father caught me at this
amusement one day, and decided that
radical action was required. | will
never forget the punishment that
got, but dTter that | let rattlesnakes
alone
Later on while still mere slip of
girl, | Joined circus. The most
dangerous end Of the work seemed
to be that Of the trapezc performers,
so | begged until | was given a chance
at IT.. / made good at this from the
start. My instructress, n lady who
had been doing trap work for years,
told me that the reason for my sue
cess was because | lacked the ele-
ment of fear. She said that in this
profession many were called, but few
chosen, and those few persons were
all like me, utterly Indifferent to dan
ger. / suppose this sounds rather
cOnceited to the reader, but l certain
ly don't mean to make II so, because
am telling facts. l can claim no
credit for the daredevil spirit, since
II was born in me. | was with the
circus several years, only leaving it
because | was offered more money
with Il theatrical troupe. The COM
pany l Joined was nos well-known
company; as Il matter of fact its APP
pearances We're more or less confined
to what are known in the theatrical
profession as tank towns" We play
ed at popular prices, and did moth
ing but one night stands. l found
the life very tlresome. HOJrs Of weary
travel by railroad, then the same old
Journey by bus to an inferior hotel,
the same hurried and poorly cooked
dinner. the same old trip to the thea
tire, which usually was Of the kind
known as the "Opera House After
the show. If we were lucky, we had a
few hours sleep in miserable beds
before going on to the next town. If
unlucky, we left town the same night,
and picked up what slumber we could
on the train.
The nearest I came to encountering
danger in these percgrinations was
when our train ran into another, and
several persons were killed, 50 | de-
| cided after several years of this to
| get into motion pictures, which then
had Just started to boom and Sc
cured an engagement with the Pathe
i company L MS was bNtA AAAANN sN-A =
ago. and / have stuck to the work
| faithfully. not merely because / get
a good salary, but because the life
/ fascinates me.
The first Of the long line Of thrill
ers" I'm which | have appeared was
the "Perils Of Pauline" which Pathe
put out some two and half years
ago. In this production for the first
time I fell in love with my work. The
various stunts" which my director
called upon me to do offered TO me
the most sincere pleasure. 4 brief
recital OF some Of the feats which
| did in Pauline" may be Of interest.
The first was my experience with
the rats. | mention II first, not be
/ cause IL is the first in point Of tim
/ but because most women, however
COURAGEOUS. draw the line when IL
comes 10 close contact with rats OF
mice. The villain. an order to encnm
pass my death. was supposed to have
shut me up in a cellar with the hero
and then turn the water Of cana
! into the cellar. As the house wa
| supposed 10 be full OF rats natural
the rising food would bring t.'a "-