davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Lexington progress. (Lexington, Tenn.) 1884-current, 1921-08-26

Miss Mary Mackbee, Of Bells, is
with the Millinery department of W.
H. Montgomery & Son for the season.
Miss Mackbee comes we'll recommend
ed and seems to be a young lady of
good sense and pleasing personality.
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
Hazards of Accident and Disease for
Those Who Observe the Rules

many lowered island Of Manhattan or even
in Brooklyn.
"Often the stir Of the city keeps men
alive" said he, while at times the lone
someness of the country causes farmers to
go insane or to lose their grasp on life.
IL is true that the great number of per-
sonal contacts which are thrust upon the
city dweers tend to cut down the span of
life. For instance, the average active busi-
ness man may actually see or talk to more
persons face to face in week than his
grandfather ever saw In a year. A man
may come into an Office with a slight cold
and impart that cold to a friend who is sit
ting at desk. In two weeks the friend
may be dead from pneumonia cold because
of some germ impaired to him by the visitor
who may have entirely escaped the infec-
tion himself
Undoubtedly the more hazardous occu-
tations undertaken by city people lead to
q higher death rate and the numerous
street accidents which terminate fatally must
be considered.
There is a large percentage of immi-
grants always to be found in the large city
who are not so long lived as the native
stock OF the country as they are infected
by many diseases before landing on these
shores which are due to lack of personal
care and improper methods of living.
Tuberculosis is also rife to a large extent
in the city. often due to bad housing. On
the other hand. the general sanitation and
the water supply of the urban community
are far better than in the country. This Is
SO much so that the typhoid fever virtually
has been stamped out OF the cities. Those
urban dweers who do get 1t often contract
it from the impure water supply OF the
country where they go on summer vaca-
tons. The pure air and the sunshine Of the
country and various other vtalizing in
fuences tend TO build up the constitution Of
men and prolong life by increasing the re-
sstance TO the germs Of disease"
ITO what, then, do you attribute the long
lives OF these hale men Of New York who
are happy and thriving at ninety years."
was tho question.
There is no absolute way in which such
The New York herald., 1921-04-10

men can be accounted for" was the reply.
They are what in scientific parlance may
be called sports"
When a scientist says sport" in this sense
he means some type of man animal that
is exceptional and not essentially sportive.
Men like DR.. Smith and Chauncey M.
Depew" continued he, ARE exceptional, for
they have strong will power and strong con-
stitutions which may have been inherited
from long line Of country bred ancestors.
More than that, they have an optimism,
youth of spirit which keeps them young.
They have a philosophy of life which enables
them to face perplexities and troubles and
to remain always cheerful and serene. All
of them are in comfortable circumstances
and some are even wealthy. They are, there
fore, able to take excellent care of them
selves and to gain the required rest and the
change of scene necessary to we'll being.
They probably withstand the so-caed strain
Of city life because they like 1t, and 1t keeps
them young and Interested"
DIR. Nascher, author of bulky volume on
geriatrics, which is found in the library Of
most physicians these days, said that there
was no reason why any healthy human
being who took good care of himself should
not live TO be at least ninety years of age.
According to his view, then. men of the type
who have been mentioned represent just
normalcy and nothing more. As the Doctor
spends most Of his time telling old persons
how to take care of themselves, or telling
their sons and daughters how to do It, he
surely ought to know. His own mother. who
is one of his grateful patients, is eighty-six
years old and says that she feels younger
than she did at three score and ten, the
Biblical age limit
Admitting that men like DR.. Smith and
Chauncey NJ. Depew," said he, are rather
exceptional mentally and have a keen in
terest in life which keeps them young, !
think that even then they are hardly TO be
considered as phenomena. Although the
strain of the city is factor, no doubt, In
the lives Of many Of US, il may be counter
acted by taking regular rest. AS we get
older the waste is not so great In our bodies,
The New York herald., 1921-04-10

I'D you ever sec your newsdealer, or
do you throw pennies upon his
- mound OF coins and grab the paper
without 40 much as glance In his direc-
ton? Some day, finding moment TO give
TO him, you may discover that he is blind
There Is surprisingly large number Of
blind newsdealers In Manhattan. Along
quarter Of mile stretch of subway FOR
example, seven out OF total of fifteen
newsdealers are blind At street inteluec-
tion where there are four subway kiosks
the news stands at three of them arr in
charge OF sightless dealeys.
These figures arc complied by tho New
York Association for the Blind and show a
decided increase over the number given last
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
Nanv Blind Newsdealers Score Success

year The association. which has head
quarters at Ill East Fifty-ninth street and
which through public subscriptions is en-
gagged in helping the city's blind to find
gainful employment reports that many Of
the dealers make $40 week. II.
Some have been promoted to better loca
TONS the report Of the association says,
"and their old places filed by beginners.
The older and experienced dealers in many
cases act as big brothers TO those just
starting heartening and training stmulat-
ing and staying them TO the point Of sue
cess"
The association Is working to have mun-
cipal regulations altered that news
stand licenses shall carry with them the
right to place 4 small shelter at the en-
trance to the subway for protection
against weather.
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
Here Is Real Actor Who
Never Learned to KNOCK"

Equally fatherly is his attitude toward his
fellow players He will permit no one to
depreciate actors except himself-and he
doesn't. Only occasionally has he a mild word
of reproof, delivered in general terms for
some Of the foibles Of the Thespians, and this
can be dragged from him only with great
effort The next minute he is off on another
topic 1t would appear that he places more
store by the fact that he stood by the more
obscure class of actors in their strike two
years ago than almost anything else IN
his career. And so inclusive is his benignant
feeling for those engaged in providing
recreation for the public that he even has
good testimony to make Of the movies.
SO perhaps this forms the core for his
disposition to give full credit to the modern
stage. though it must not be forgotten that
his judgment is based on more than fifty
years of active service in the theatre. With
all the burdens that more than half a cen
tury OF arduous performances have entaied
he takes an alert interest in current affairs,
as he showed in some comments on dinner
to Sir Philip Gibbs which he attended, and
he wears that distinction of bearing which
he will probably carry to his grave. More
over he disclosed the interesting news the
other day that he expects to reappear on
the New York stage in a new play next fall.
These views were vouchsafed in talk
which he had in his rooms at uptown
hotel for which he had set aside one OF
his most important duties of the day, that
OF accompanying for an afternoon walk his
young grandson, the child of Mrs. Louise
Drew DevereauX, to whom he is devoted.
1t was in this interview that he revealed
that the drama to-day has no more stanch
defender than the player who has seen most
OF the phases of the theatre here within
the time when IL has seemed worthy of
memory.
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
Tribute to Charles Frohman
From Man He Made Star

"Frohman would undoubtedly have agreed
with me, for he was a fine man. | spent
many happy years with him, and his pass
ing was a great loss to the American the
atre.
"He did all in his power to make acting
agreeable for his players, and, heaven
knows it is hard profession. II means
incessant work. and unless a man has
genuine love for 1t and can stand disap-
pointments he speedily becomes dislusioned
and loses his grip. Many men who are shoe
clerks and have to work from to 5 imagine
when they come to the theatre and see an
actor strolling about for a couple of hours
in the evening that the player has an easy
time of ii. IL the spectator had to be down
in the theatre every morning at or 10
o'clock and then work under all sorts of
distractions till late at night he wouldn't so
often want to go on the stage. And many
4 good shoe clerk has been spoiled for bad
actor.
Travelling statesmen, stenographers. shop
girls. persons from every conceivable walk
of life, seem to be coming on the stage now
adays They may be very estmable persons
but without exceptional talent they out
OF place there. OF course, am a great be-
lever in heredity. The idea Of the stage
family has worked out very well in our case
showing high order OF ability in the third
generation.
But 1t has its exceptions ! recall one
very famous American actor, whose char
acterizations had almost as long runs
Frank Bacon's and who had two sets Of sons
by different marriages. IL would be invid-
ous of me to mention names but II has been
pointed out that not one OF those half dozen
sons amounted to q whoop on the stage
"An actor must feel great emotional re-
sponsiveness in him before he can become
noteworthy in his profession, matter
what line he may adopt. Then he must be
able to go through the same motions every
night with stimulation of spontaneity-I
do not believe in relying principally on in
spiration to carry along a scene. He must
be able to laugh at the 200th repetition OF a
scene az nearly as possible in the manner
of the opening night-as though he truly
enjoyed It, And when he has natural talent,
coupled with experience. he has reached the
stage where he is worthy of the name Of
actor"
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
Famous Actor Finds It's Forte Is Comedy and
Declares Dearth of Tragedans Is Due to
Lack Of Tragic Plays MANY Good and
Earnest Actors in Current Play Bills
By FRANK VREELAND.

TOFIN DREW is not one of those cavillers
like the elderly ducks of Sir James NJ.
~ Barrie's fancy in Kensington Gardens
who were understood to hold that the cake
thrown to them now is not what it in
their young days. 1t is his opinion that the
good as it was in the days when he was one
Of the shining lumnares of the companies
of Lester Wallack and Augustin Daily. And
he even has a good word to say for the
movies
Something of this openmindedness, so un-
usual in men who have passed their first
youth and who imagine that giants existed
only back in their youth, may be traceabe
10 Mr.. Drews love of the stage, its traditions
and all that clusters about it. An arstocrat
of the theatre is John Drew. His pride in
his profession is equalled only by his pride
in his family. Constant words of praise fall
from his lips about the histronic folk, just
as references to his distinguished relatives
beam through his conversation-not the
vainglorious utteranceS of a man seeking to
push his family into position of prominence
before the world, but the affectionate ex-
pressions of one who is justifably proud or
his noted his almost royal line.
So devoted is this eminent figure of the
realm to his kin that, seasoned campaigner
as he is. he has been known to weep like a
child when one of those close to him was
in trouble.
The New York herald., 1921-04-10

mortalized to some extent for posterity by
the films, since motion pictures had even
advanced so much of recent years that they
seemed to be catching up with the stage
and could be termed an art in some cases
without damaging that term.
AT first" he said "came the era of the
crude, mechanical movie, that was usually
nothing more than a chase, confusion OF
waving arms and legs. Nothing like char
;cterization was attempted. That was the
custard pie phase. Then came Mary and
Chaplin and Doug. Now we seem to be en-
;ering on a period when such men as d. W.
Griffith can produce pictures that are really
worth admring. DR.. Jekyll and Mr.. Hyde
was a splendid example of the cinema. And
not to advertise my own family in the
slightest-Lionel Barrymore was very inn
pressive in the film version of The Copper
head / saw him in the stage version, but
when it came to transferring Augustus
Thomas's play to the films | had misgivings
well they did the procession of the G.
A. r. all right which was only natural as
that sort of spectacle lends itself readily to
the screen. But when l saw the later cpl
sodes when the Copperhead is enabled to
break the silence that had been imposed on
him for many years by Lincoln and reveal
himself as true patriot, l was surprised
to see how finely they had caught the spirit
OF the original There were some shadings
of expression on Lionel's face in the last
scenes that were as moving as anything
have ever seen."
Reverting from the drama of the future.
as 1t has been called by some one, to the
drama, of the past, he spoke again of Wal
lack and of Daily, in whose stock companies
he labored so fruitfully.
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
WaIiack and DAILY Possessed
Rare Traits as Managers

Both these managers" he continued,
possessed to an extraordinary degree that
striking faculty that few managers have
to-day. They could single out actors who
had certain traits that were needed for parts
they had in mind and keep working with
them until they managed to bring out those
qualities strongly, no matter how laxent they
may have been in the beginning. In my own
case, after I had played variety of roles.
Wallack seemed to discover that my princi-
pal gift was in light comedy. Henry Miller.
by the way, is another actor of to-day who
seems to have had it brought home to him
that he is most successful in comedy, though
/ always thought very highly Of him as
serious actor.
"Belasco has that knack. and SO had the
late Charles Frohman. John Golden's selec
ton of Frank Bacon is a rather remarkable
instance of it. Here was a player who has
been knocking about sort of handy man
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
Many Living Examples to DispeI
Theory That the City Is Killer

There also certain very much alive
aged men whose bright and clipper daily
life rather banishes the idea that this city
saps and kills There are at least twenty
of them whose names and careers and daily
regimen can be considered later. DR. Stephen
Smith. for instance. is hale and moderately
hearty at ninety eight, and there is John r.
Voorhis, who Is nonagenarian youth of
which any urban community may well be
proud.
AS has been set forth by DR.. Dublin. there
are many factors which cause the city man
to live fewer years on the average than does
the rustic son Of the globe. Likewise, the
country bred woman, in gingham and sun
bonnet, lives longer, on the average, than
does her sister OF the city in silks and sheer
hose, with her high skirts, high heels and
powdered nose
Conclusive as the expectation of life
figures which have been worked out by the
Census Bureau seem to be. they do not by
any means hold up the theory that the city
strain Is really responsible for the shorten
ing of the span of life in the urban com
munites.
The bare statistics show. for instance
that according to the normal conditions the
city man at birth has an expectation Of life
of 47.32 years while the son OF the glebe
living In the supposedly pure air OF the
cpen spaces can reach the age Of 55.06
years. The city woman may expect TO
exist 81 80 years and the country woman
is declared to be good for a peaceful living
for 5735 years. There Is slight discrep-
ancy al one period say from twenty 10
twenty-five years, In the span Of life Of the
country woman, FOR II she is married she
win not be so well taken care Of during
childbirth as she might be in the city where
the hospitals and the various other human
agencies DOggibn
on infant into the world with less risk to
the mother.
The higher death rate OF the city is due
tC many causes, and strangely enough one
who has studied this subject as profoundly
as has DR.. Dublin says that he would not
take into account the strain Of urban life
at all and he even doubts If the years Of
Methuselah would have been shortened BY
the stress and struggle OF dwelling In the
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
BY JOHN WALKER HARRINGTON.

~ Id AGE cannot wither nor custom
stale the city man who takes care
of himself, and hence Pdntaloon
whether lean or slippered. or not may well
snap his fingers at the nerve wracking
strain of New York
II may be good theology for the Rev. DR..
Harry Emerson Fosdick to say, as he did
the other Sunday. that Methuseah would
have given way under the stress OF life in
Manhattan, but it is neither good science nor
good physiology, nor good psychology, nor
any other Of those things.
1t is confuted by such eminent authorities
DR.. Louis L. Dublin, the chief statistician
of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Com
pany and an international expert on such
matters, and also by that eminent adept in
geriatrics, the science of caring for the aged,
DR.. Ignatz |. Nascher. In the writings of
both of these investigators may be found
ample denial of the theory of the reverend
gentleman who has launched this Jeremiad
against the stress and strain of urbanitis.
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
Science Absolves City Stress of Blightng Longevity

but on the other hand 1t takes longer to re-
pair the wear and tear the system.
Therefore when man passes so and enters
upon what should be the third cycle of thirty
years he should rest oftener. nap in the
afternoon works wonders and tends to fon-
:levity.
II am told that DR.. Smith sleeps about
fifteen hours out of the twenty-four, which
for a man of his advanced age l should not
think too much. | believe that in all of
these cases of men of considerable age who
have wthstood the wear and tear OF city
life, so called they are well to do and there
fore have in their later years been able
10 take moderate amount of rest and to
recuperate through prolonged visits to the
country where they had exceptional COM
forts and were free from contagion or in
fection
THE late Levi p, Morton. for instance,
who passed the ninetieth milestone. when
he went to his country estate, Ellerslie on the
Hudson. lived a perfectly natural and I
might say primitive life His high ideals, his
cheerfulness, his sense of service to his fell
low men. all tended to give him length OF
days In the land
The New York herald., 1921-04-10
BETTER TO-DAY THAN EVER, SAYS JOHN DREW

John worthy famous Thespian family who is
of his still prouder of being grand
father his daughters little
The New York herald., 1921-04-10

This anachronism on footing with the
way kean blacked up and wore a British
military officers red coat in playing 'Othello'
because the Moor military man.
And l recall how Wallack actually
wanted 10 change one OF Shakespeare's
characters once. 1t was during preparations
for The Tanning of the Shrew.' which later
made immense hit, and he found he had
no part in it for Mrs. Gilbert, whom he
greatly admired. So he decided to put her
into the minor role of Curtis-,and change it
from a mans to a womans role | said to
him at rehearsal:
Don't you know that every one will
come down on you for that? You'll be Of
Tending douby not only because you've
changed the role but also because female
actresses were never used on the English
stage until the time of Charles IL
Well he decided not to make the change,
but he did 1t grudgingly. He not only didn't
know that boys played girls parts in Shake
speare's day. but he seemed to resent my
knowing it,"
RehearsaIs Strenuous and Long
Sometimes Brought No Performance
But the whole though our equipment
wasn't as extensive it is now, plays in
that period were mounted and produced just
as carefully as they are now. And we used
to work very hard at our roles. Wallack
would have us rehearsing down at the thea
tire at 10 o'clock every morning. On Wednes-
days and Saturdays when we had matinee
he'd let us off from the rehearsal by a gra-
cious dispensation. And every Good Friday,
like true member of the church. held shut
up shop and wouldn't let us play But he'd
take us all to some other theatre to see
actors who were compelled to play on that
day apparently not considering whether 1t
was just as irreigious to see other acting
as it was to act oneself. 1t used to amuse
me, this contradiction in his principles.
"Often we'd rehearse a piece for weeks
that would never be produced. The run OF
our productions varied, of course and while
some would run for only three or four weeks
if big hit like "The Tanning of the Shrew''
came along it would crowd out the lesser
works intended for presentation and hold
the theatre for practically the whole season.
That system used to give us a great va
riety of parts and undoubtedly benefited our
art II used TO be delightful 10 play in an
organization like this. where there were no
stars, where every one fitted in so well and
where the leading players came to know
what to expect from one another You
really needed very few rehearsals with such
principals as Ada Rehan and Mrs Gilbert
for you know after time how they would
play scene with you.