The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-01-25
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

I am embarrassed because I want to try to write story about lady's lack of a leg, and don't know how to go about it. Some oneehas wittily said lady has limb but woman has a leg.
 
 Some of the word sharks point out tho fact that limb means leg no more than 1t means arm, when applied. to members of the body. Limber in old English meant joined. Thus comes the idea that a limb, properly, is anything which is scp- arated from another thing, and yet" so says Bell, limb for leg is nonsensical
 But we say artificial limbs. A good many have been kind enough to comment on my story of Sarah Bernhardt's pluck and courage in not letting the loss of a les cause her to quit the stage.
 The heroic spirit ofs the great French actress which makes of even the loss of leg a stepping stone to higher things reminded me of story written by Dave Grace, Birmingham's premier bach elor, in local newspaper a score or more of years ago.
 It was the story of a young woman en1- balmed by Hood in his famous poem of Miss Willimensegg and Her Golden Leg" Breaking her left lower leg, it was cut off just above her knee. Did she give up her belieship and take to her bed, as her rivals hoped she would?
 
 Not at all. Being rich, she called in & jeweler and had him make her an ar tifcial limb of gold, gartered with cir- cle of diamonds, 8 combination liable to make any young man fall at her feet.
 Note her next move; it's & sermon In the text, sTt pays to advertise" She issued invitations to Grecian party and robed herself in the beautiful classic sarb Of ancient Greece. Moving easily across the polished ballroom floor, with feminine cunning, she managed to let her flowing gown part SO that the young galiants might glimpse glint of gold and gilt ter of diamonds.
 It was case of young fellows lowing down to worship the golden calf, and so the story told by Hood will be read as long as men admire the indomitable spirit which knows no defeat
 All this but to lead up to the fact that Tuesday there came into our midst a woman with golden leg, so far as box office receipts were concerned, and all Birmingham went to the Jefferson to see the Divine Sarah, not merely to applaud her wonderful acting, but to cheer the kind of courage which is renaking France.
 Madame Bernhardts triumph over the loss of leg ought to shame every able bodied man who sets on the streets of Birmingham begging from passersby on the strength of the loss of a limb.
 The American spirit of making sport or fun cannot be quenched even though at times it is a bit unfeeling While Bernhardt was acting Tuesday night, and particularly was it true in that realistic war scene in the wood, when playing a mans part, as she sat wounded beneath tree with both legs in plain view, some sporting blades were making bets as to which was the artificial limb. I don't think they meant to be unkind and yet it seemed, to say the least, in bad taste.
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 There was more excuse for the 10- year-old boy, who when asked by his mother if he wanted to go and sec Sarah Bernhardt, said: "No, what do care about seeing one-legged Frenchwoman hop about tho stage? Take me to see Mutt and Jeff"
 
 remember that a few years back a young Yale student came south to teach in one of our colleges for girls He had rather a stiff way of walking, and the young ladies got it into their heads that he had wooden leg--of course they couldn't ask him about it. He was not merely a professor, but d beau, and so two sof the more daring agreed among themselves that they would test it out. The next time he came to see them they were to use pins-one chose the right, the other the left leg. Imagine his surprise and their confusion when both legs proved