The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-23
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

A flower, perfume. picture, a face. any one of them can set in motion pleas ant memories.
 Back in the old Parisian days there was just coming into fame as beautiful, piquant, and seductive actress, a young girl in her teens with the stage name of Anna Held.
 Years passed and when I went to New York as a lawyer she made her appear ance as a French star of the first mag nitude in one of the upper Broadway playhouses. Her beauty and diablerie was the talk of the town. Her pictures out at you from the windows, and greeted you in the department stores.
 She had a press agent that was some press agent. Her complexion was the despair of the women. just as her eyes were the undoing of the men. Article after article appeared in the papers about her complexion. Different beauty experts gave their opinion. The press agent worked along that line until the papers refused to fall for any more complexion copy. But did he give up? Not he. He was not that kind of 8 press agent. It was up to him to keep his star twinkling in the theatricaf Armament. He came out saying they were all wrong. She owed her pink-liks color to the fact that she took milk baths every morning.
 
 This became at once news. All the pa- pers fell for 1t, and milk baths were the talk of the town, and society women got the habit Time came when the papers refused to print anything more even about Miss Held's milk baths. Did the press agent resign his jobY Not at all, t gave him his chance to show to the erofession that he was born to put one over the metropolitan journals. He put on his thinking cap. It was press agent wit li.ted against the brains of manag- ing editors I am sorry to say that MT. Press Agent won. I'll wager you can't | guess how he once more broke into print.
 
 l I picked up the papers one morning, and all of them were carrying stories about a dairyman, whose name I have ! forgotten, having brought suit against | Anna Held, the French actress for thou 1 sands of gallons of milk furnished for her ! morning baths. I would have been fooled l by it but for Col. E. T. Taiaferro, who for l years lived here in Birmingham and made national reputation as criminal 1 lawyer in the famous Hawes case, and l who was then living in New York. I was associated with him here in the Hawes case, but we were not partners in New | York. but nearly every day we saw one another at lunch time.
 1 One day he said: Frank, I have had many queer propositions brought to me since I have been practicing law, but the l funniest thing ever brought to me came l this morning from a man representing Anna Held. It's a frame-up case of a | dairy1nan who is suing her for big milk 1 bil He is willing to pay big fee and costs if necessary. His sole idea is to go ] to trial and for me to prolong it as 1 long as possible and make a speech so i that the papers will feature the case, | was afraid the truth might crop out in l the trial and hurt his standing at the l bar, and so he refused to be retained. It shows what a press agent can and will do
 l I went to sec Anna Held, as did all New York, and she was really raving beauty of the ravishing French type. She was what the French call chic. She was the vogue. I haven't seen her for a quarter of a centuy, but recently while 1 in Anniston went to the Rotarian lunch. which was held in the parlor of the Alabama hotel. On the outside, In the lounge, sat pretty and well dressed l young woman. I gave her a glance and 1 passed into where the Rotarians were assembled. After the lunch was over we all went out into the lobby, and friend called me and said: '1 want to present I you to Miss Carrarie, and I bowed an acknowledgement of the introduction and walked on down in the lobby.
 f When we gathered in front of the hotel to line up for the liberty loan parade, I ] saw the young woman whom had just met upstairs. I still had not placed her, but in the light there was something in her face that was familiar. It haunted 1 me, for could not place 1t, and then I asked her if she had any French blood in her veins. Drawing herself up proud ly she replied, q am all French I had heard that Anna Held had a daughter who was in vaudeville, and I got my 1 bearing. It made me feel old to stand in the presence of the charming young
 woman who is following in the footsteps
 of her famous mother and winning stage laurels for herself.
 I The line formed and out into the street she stepped. for she had expressed a desire to have part in the liberty loan parade of the Rotarians, and Colonel Nc Elroy, ever chivalrous, asked to have the pleasure of marching by her side,
 and together they strode down Noble I street. There wasn't a bit of theatrica N display about her She was gowned mod estly, but handsomely, and seemed to bt
 marching as tribute to the American
 soldier boys who were getting ready te l go over and fight for La Belle France ! Press agent stuff, you say and smile II We'll I am sorry for you. She quit the q line, bowed gracefully and waived al
 adieu and went to do her bit at thu
 theatre.
 I saw Sarah Bernhardt when she was l here. and to my dying day I will nevel
 forget the play and her acting in whicf