The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-02-21

i"i0' Wy Inc
Gertrude Kingston. the accom- plished at
itress and proprietor az tho TittIe Theatey
! in London. was In New YORK last winte
enjoying the hospitality of her friends an
being enioyed NV them FOR ber converse
tion is quite as brilliant as her acting
and this is saying a good deal; but thel
she is both wise and witty And there
mo one on the English stage with NOR,
delicious voice. enunciation and pronun
citation. Her words are SO neatly clippe
that no matter how large the theater o.
how low her voice every syllable is heard
The critics in New York, when she playet
captain Brassbound's Conversion" CAV,
her high praise for this valuable qualit,
In her acting. as well as for her intelli
lgence and sense of humor. Bernard Shaw
delights in her. and knows his pointed wi
in her hands will be more pointed still.
II in England or America We had what
1--we should haye-what thew have mad,
such a success q, in F,rance-tha Tbaats,
Francois. where French Is snokan tk,
music and the RECOMMENDATION Is accentef
as a final uItirnatup, Miss Kipgs,on ,youlf
be one of the au,boritias on corrsc
speech. England media such a tbeate,
badly. for there Is no recognized standa NJ
here in language. oxford men have 9
pronunciation of their own, the Cam
bridge accent Is less pronounced but botf
are more exaggerated than that of the
stage. and there are dozens of differen,
dialects in England. All of them are
pleasant and homely-the soft. rich Eng.
lish voice makes them that-but, OF
course, they are incorrect.
The cockney accent always seems t.
me particularly Objectionable form o.
speech. a. is obliterated in many word.
and Addad nfharS NIL soho m
Is pronounced 'shipe," and Cow,
caow," and yet I have heard a sugges
ton OF II in Shakespeare. Not in any
OF Sir Henry lrving's productions. He hat
his own peculiarities Of speech, but hi
was judge of pure English, and insisted
upon its use in his companies. Laurence
irving, his lamented younger son, spoke
beautiful English. Sometimes It wa.
rather pedantic. In the days Of his ex.
treme youth, he used to like to hear me
read aloud, and, loving Uncle Remus.
thought to cultivate a taste in him for
Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. After the
Tar Baby story, he said: Thank you;
that Is enough. 1 do not care for negroid
humor." The contrast between his care
fully-chosen words and the beIoved di.Iec,
of my native land made me smile
In Americs With o,,r .,.
cent-twistsd about Nv sUns,, s.,a ae
In the world and absorbed from one child
by another associating together in pub.
lie schools-there Is positively a erwin
need for a national theater, endowed nv
the state, where correct and accepted
English could be heard. 1t il needed
much more than in England.
As to Sbakesnaars n,o,oa L.
T am convinced tha. III ierioa'
want NJ suoaass IT.. = ~ Vi inc
which the Itnss S auaiho way IN
should Mas $780, CONGRESS
horn vest ~ ~ u,s.,at-i any man
inc sbaLesnaora Ths ,,1 iioiii pay
in Americs .n.st az S many people
bined with the high .S-,ii n,. .. CON-
n.sai go sri' metainc'
r. "a s VI so' MAKES my ears acne.
and ma rscteS go 90 az ai, LOT waru
tha e.. =. a. 80 y. ene, Soi' pu.' JUST
No, nacassar Il uons s.o. Aha Is
n 70 10 ,o,,,ia oenese
uouse 10 eaten the
it,. - Va enen own pc
ynsa $50. pu' WOODROW
$50" a,Ii piesoent OF the oniteo
-. - ~ ioieisn poicy'
oSo .y ms manner Oh speech. ana
&c =, az, lne man 70 ineerest MN
So ~ anu 70 prouiuigate tho scheme OIL
1ne nauohs, ,hea're IN america which
"oU'u es'aosh s'dhoaro IN Ehshsn'
And as we are so fond of standardizing
everything, why not make American
English as good as American plumbingY
Gertrude Kingston says she remembers
the little white tiled bathrooms In New
York and the porcelain tubs as so many
pearls This winter she Is giving her
whole time to the soldiers. I went one
night to Liyerpool Street station to hell,
her. and found the work very fati-uing.
She manages a buffet for soldiers depart
ing for the front, which is opened early
In the morning and closed at eleven
O'Clock at night. OF course relays or
ladies' help her, but she superintends
everything A large sign is outside
Free Buffet for Soldiers and Sailors.
The number of sailors is small. but the
soldiers come and go continuously.
There are ood-sized round tables
furnished with the periodicals for them
to look over while waiting for a lady
to hand to them a steaming cup of hot
coffee, tea or cocoa, with slices of
bread and butter and plain cake. Aft
erward they can have by asking a pen
ell, a sheet of paper and a stamp or a
post card. 1 noticed the young, good
looking ones, particularly those with
crops of curly hair, always asked for
paper and an envelope. A sweetheart
at the other end OF course. Poor.
anxious mother only gets a post card,
but she will be grateful for that. l
worked from six until eleven. never