The Washington herald., 1916-12-21
Thursday. December q

Thursday, December q.
The other morning I remarked about
Alice Brady's effervescent good humor
DO you ever get temperamentalT" /
asked her.
''onIy lazy people can afford to be
temperamental," she replied. "I never
have time for It When we work every
day from until 9, we cannot lose any
Of the golden hours by allowing our
selves to sulk or become moody"
Talking about temperament reminded
me of a whimsical actress who played
in Mr.. Belasco's company, THE Good
Little Devil" who confessed that from
the time she was a little girl, she had
been petted and spoiled by her parents.
Martha is a very unusual child" her
mother had always apologized to her
friends. you see, she inherites the
artistic temperament from her father. i"
When Martha was upset. she would
fly into the widest and most uncon-
trollable tantrums.
IT am 50 temperamental." she learned
to say as she grew a little bit older,
and her mother always echoed her ex-
cuses When Martha was old enough to
go to school. her doting. foolish parents
cautioned the teachers to be kind to
her Again the fatal word of tempera-
menL was given neT dS u 10
on. Consequently. when the unhappy
censuring her and making her under
stand that poise is the greatest asset
to happiness, sympathized with Martha
and scolded the other children who
dared to antagonize her.
At eighteen she was a girl who had
scattered all her forces and although
she was endowed by Nature with beauty
and brains, her disposition marred her
personality.
At nineteen she went on the STAGE
and would have been very successful
had 1t not been for her ugly outbursts
of temper, which managers at first for
gave because of her youth and then
later would not tolerate because no man
agement can afford a disorganizer in
the company.
At twenty she married a nice. clean
cut, happy-go-lucky business man. And
what life she led him! For two years
she retired from the stage. Her violent
fits of temper at first amused him and
he apologized to his friends, explaining
that she was super-sensitive and 50 very
high-strung.
She is artistic to her finger tips" he
explained prOtectingly. II am the one to
be blamed. not my wife,
But the months dulled the romance
and soon the time came when the man
could stand it no longer. He deserted
her and after a year she secured a dl-
vorce from him. But her beauty and
transient sweetness attracted others, and
the second time she married, it was to
an artist.
Are you temperamental?" she had ask
ed laughingly one day during their court
ship.
Il have a temper" he replied simply,
but have learned to control it"
A few weeks after their honeymoon
she had looked forward to a trip to
Japan. The money which her husband
expected from a small estate did not
arrive in time, so the trip was called of.
Instead of accepting her fate, she wept
herself into the most violent hysteria,
while all the time her distressed hus-
band looked down upon her with eyes Of
glowering Goals.
The storm passed over-a week went by
then she began to notice traits in her
husband she had never dreamed of. At
every provocation he lost his temper! In
the studio one morning, when she came
in. he discovered that his tube of cobalt
blue had disappeared. Instead Of a sane
and careful search for it, he burst into
a madman's fury, throwing the palette
NO"h NpOh IlC AlOOA' hiShlhS AlO CdHNdS
across the room. sweeping everything
of the table and hurting some Of the
paint brushes out of the window.
She was Mortified.
Get out OF here" he ordered, turn
ing upon her. when 1 have these tenn
peramental fits, wish to be left alone"'
Her eyes wide with terror. she stole
toward the door. For ten minutes she
could hear him in the studio. kicking.
swearing, raging, smashing Then there
followed a long. terrifying silence
That evening at dinner he was in q
sullen mood and spoke to her only once
and that was to complain about the
dinner, bringing his fists down upon the
table SO that the dishes ratified noisily.
Not only days but weeks she lived In
fear and anxiety. The words of her
first husband came back to her-"Some
day you will be made to suffer just what
you have made me undergo during the
hours of your unhappy tempers."
She confided her unhappiness with her
artist husband to her friends, and they