The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1923-03-30

on one accession that the effect Of
her long white face emerging from
long black sheath was by no
means pleasant. I'm this rig I LOOK
like an ant" she said. 49,.
BerHhardt was the most famous,
for ner death scenes, but it is doubt
full il her breathless, speilbound
perhaps audiences ever knew that
many OF them we're played while
t, the actress was suffering almost un.
bearable agonies from her various
physical ailments. of which she
never was heard to complain.
Patience seemed to have been one
of Bernhardts Unborn characteristics.
She would spend weeks and even
months trying to correct technical
faults in some member Of her com
pany, and then, IL the subject failed
TO improve, she would explode and
and have nothing more to do with
him either on or off the stage not
even speaking to him under any
circumstances.
Mas Poor Loser
She always displayed O. keen in
terest in the heart affairs of her
troupe, and delighted in holding q
'cupid's court" in her private car,
81 which she would require aggriev-
ed SWANS and the objects of their
affections to submit their differences
-Bernhardt to be the final arbiter,
Another of her pastimes was
loser. She remained jovial and
vivacious as long as the game was
running in her favor, but the mo-
ment her luck changed she became
sullen and sarcastic. Her opponents.
once they had lost to her, knew that
1t was gone for good, for she would
throw down her cards and leave the
game at the first sign of reverses.
A love for strange pets was an
other of Bernhardts peculiarities.
When she was little girl she saved
her money and bought a goat. She
learned to love the animal so much
that she wanted to become a goat
herder, and cried when her mother
ridiculed the idea. During the
Franco Prussian war she raised
geese for the soldiers, but grew TO
care so much for them that she re-
fused to have them killed. Once in
London she bought lion cub, =
tiger and two chameleons at an
auction sale. Another time she
bought a baby elephant. but it grew
itself out Of home. She tried for
years to find a dwarf elephant, but
never succeeded.
The conviviality of the dinner
table was another of Bernhardt's
delights. She particularly enjoyed
a feast at midnight, after a perfor-
nance, when the members Of her
company were present. She drank
IN moderation. and seldom touched
anything but champagne. She never
was known to smoke.
Treasures In Paris Aop,e
Two OF the treasures in her Paris
home invariably excited the interest
OF visitors. One was the skull given
her by Victor Hugo on which he had
written autograph verse to the ac
ttress. and the other was the coffin
IN which she occasionally slept. This
strange bed, she explained, was
padded with memories of her dead
IRE faded rose leaves and letters
yellow with age.
She once expressed a wish. that
this coffin be her final resting pjace
and in 1922 the idea was elaborated
upon when she bought for 800 from
the French government a little
granite island in the Bay of Biscay.
not far from her summer home al
Belle lie. where she planned to build
a magnificent tomb crowned with q
marble statue Of herself. the arms
ouCStrSlCned as III beckOninS to har-
rassed fishermen imperilled by the
storms 4. s - g
Death had weird fascination for
Bernhardt, and for years She con
templated it with what appeared to
be an uncanry humor. The wish
she most often expressed was that
she might die in the midst of her
trriumphs. Il shall play until death"
she said, "and the death I hope for
IS the death Sir Henry Irving died, "
Her English contemporary died ON
tour. being stricken with apoplexy
after a performance in 1905.
Toward the end of 1922, IL was
thought this desire might shorten
her life considerably, for while she
was dangerously i'll in her Paris
home. she pitted her iron will
against the physicians and prepared
TO resume her part in new. play nv
Sacba Guitry that she was playins
In when stricken. She felt the end
was near. her sick room attendents
said: and wanted to be acting
leading role when death rang down
the curtain. -