Chapter 12

But the play failed, and all seemed lost except two things: Mr. Belasco's faith in Mrs. Carter and her trust in his judgment of her abilities. Another essay was made the next year--1891--this time in a vehicle of an altogether different description, "Miss Helyett," a musical comedy with the score by Edmond Audran, who wrote "Olivette" and "The Mascot," and in which Mrs. Carter played the part of a Quaker maiden who has droll adventures among the Spanish Pyrenees.

This did better than "The Ugly Duckling," but still the star failed to "arrive," and still she and her manager kept up their belief in each other. Mr. Belasco now decided to try a play of his own making, and with this the victory was won.

No, not quite all. It remained for "Zaza," adapted from the French, and brought out at the Garrick in New York, January 9, 1899, to round out the little story which David Belasco told in his curtain speech on that now historic night. He spoke only two sentences, but they comprised the career of the star who came to be the inspiration of all the theaters that now bear his name.

And this is what he said:

"Nine years ago a poor woman threw herself at my feet and asked me to help her. Now she is the happiest woman in the world, for she can telegraph to her son that you like her in 'Zaza,' and that the boy may be proud of his mother."

The next day's papers told the story of that evening in headlines like these: "Genius the Word for Mrs. Carter," "Mrs. Carter Scores the Greatest Hit of Her Time," "The New Bernhardt."

RICHMAN DESERTED TRADE.

He Was Employed in a Chicago Store and Spent Many of His Evenings in Amateur Dramatics.

Reference to the première of "Mrs. Dane's Defense," in the paragraph on Margaret Anglin, recalls the fact that that occasion marked the first appearance of Charles Richman with the Empire stock company, he having the opposite rôle to Miss Anglin. He had won golden spurs as leading man with Annie Russell in "Miss Hobbs" and "A Royal Family," to which company he had passed from "The Great Ruby" at Daly's, where he had been playing with Ada Rehan at the time of Mr. Daly's death.

Mr. Richman went from trade to the theater by way of the amateur stage. He was employed in a Chicago store, and spent many of his evenings with an amateur dramatic association, of which he was one of the most active members. A benefit performance for some charity on one occasion proved such a success that a friend with money and a desire to sprout the wings of an "angel" proposed to put the troupe on the road for a summer season.

"I was immensely excited and pleased over the notion," Mr. Richman explained in telling me of his start as a professional, "but the rest of the cast were rather dubious about undertaking the experiment, and their friends and relatives were decidedly opposed to it. But I persuaded and my wealthy friend cajoled, and finally we set out.

"Three mothers insisted on going along, so we must have resembled a moving boarding-house. The outcome may be imagined. The man of money parted with this in exchange for experience, but, happily, nobody had to walk the ties home. However, the die was cast so far as I was concerned. I had smelled of the calcium, and there was no more clerking for me. I came to New York, managed to meet the late James A. Herne, who cast me for _Philip Fleming_ to the _Margaret_ of his wife. Under his management I was also _The Stranger_ in that oddly impressive play, 'Hannele.'"

Mr. Richman, who was sadly handicapped by mismanagement in his starring venture of two seasons ago, is now awaiting the completion of a new play to launch forth once more into the active midstream of theatrical endeavor, where his undoubted ability justifies his presence. During his career as leading man at Daly's he demonstrated his right to that high post by the worthy portrayal of characters as wide apart as Shakespeare comedies and Drury Lane melodrama could make them.

FAY TEMPLETON BORN TO IT.

This Popular Actress Has Made Successes in Three Distinct Lines as a Result of Changing Weight.

Fay Templeton has made three separate and distinct starts in her career, and this without counting her baby days one, when, her father being manager of a theater in Saint Joseph, Missouri, she was put in the bill whenever an infant was needed. In due course, however, she was whisked away from the footlights and sent abroad to be educated. On her return, Rice secured for her _Gabriel_ in "Evangeline" and thus launched her--in tights--on the first of her three epochs--that of man's attire.

As _Gabriel_ she became the talk of the town, but when she appeared at the same theater--the Fourteenth Street--some seasons later as _Hendrik Hudson_, in a burletta of that name, her former admirers declared that she was fat, and declined to worship longer at her shrine. Thus it came about that when Edward E. Rice, her old manager in "Evangeline," engaged her to break the title rôle in "Excelsior, Jr.," with which he opened the theater part of his Olympia in 1895, he stipulated that when the time came for rehearsals she must not weigh over one hundred and fifty pounds.

Whether she succeeded in getting herself down to just this figure is not a matter of veracious record, but it is true that she made a hit with her men's clothes and became an authority in the yellow journals on masculine attire. But the banting process was not to her liking, so that Miss Templeton finally decided to seek the sort of parts where her avoirdupois would cut no figure in the artistic results. In this way she came to join Weber & Fields's, entering upon the second phase of her career as a burlesque actress of the first rank.

Her imitations of Irene Vanbrugh in "The Gay Lord Quex," of Ethel Barrymore in "Captain Jinks," of Annie Russell in "The Girl and the Judge," were all of them wonders in their way, and possibly had she been content to remain at the Twenty-Ninth Street music-hall for more than a season after Lillian Russell's advent, the two partners might never have split. But quit she did, and went up to the New York, where her imitation of Fougère in "Broadway to Tokio" was called by one of the critics a classic.

Incapacity of authors to provide the proper sort of vehicle is responsible for Miss Templeton's passage to her third stage of triumph. This has just been reached in "Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway," that classless concoction of George M. Cohan which shows her as a sedate housemaid of somber clothes and repressed demeanor. But so subtle is her art that she fills the huge New Amsterdam Theater as only Mansfield has ever succeeded in filling it before. There is no tinsel, no dancing, not a single imitation, but in an entirely new field Fay Templeton has blazed a path by the sheer finesse of her skill in attaining results by the simplest means.

WHEN WE OLD BOYS WERE YOUNG.

LONG AGO.

I once knew all the birds that came And nestled in our orchard trees; For every flower I had a name-- My friends were woodchucks, toads, and bees; I knew where thrived in yonder glen What plants would soothe a stone-bruised toe-- Oh, I was very learned then-- But that was very long ago.

And, pining for the joys of youth, I tread the old familiar spot, Only to learn the solemn truth-- I have forgotten, am forgot. Yet here's this youngster at my knee Knows all the things I used to know; To think I once was as wise as he-- But that was very long ago.

I know it's folly to complain Of whatsoe'er the Fates decree; Yet, were not wishes all in vain, I tell you what my wish should be; I'd wish to be a boy again, Back with the friends I used to know; For I was, oh! so happy then-- But that was very long ago.

_Eugene Field._

WHEN ADAM WAS A BOY.

Earth wasn't as it is to-day When Adam was a boy; Nobody's hair was streaked with gray When Adam was a boy. Then when the sun would scorch and stew There wasn't anybody who Asked, "Is it hot enough for you?" When Adam was a boy.

There were no front lawns to be mowed When Adam was a boy; No kitchen gardens to be hoed When Adam was a boy. No ice-cream freezers to be turned, No crocks of cream that must be churned, No grammar lessons to be learned, When Adam was a boy.

There was no staying after school, When Adam was a boy, Because somebody broke a rule When Adam was a boy. Nobody had to go to bed Without a sup of broth or bread, Because of something done or said, When Adam was a boy.

Yet life was pretty dull, no doubt, When Adam was a boy; There were no baseball clubs about When Adam was a boy. No street piano stopped each day In front of where he lived to play; No brass band ever marched his way, When Adam was a boy.

There were no fireworks at all When Adam was a boy; No one could pitch a drop curve ball When Adam was a boy. But here is why our times are so Much better than the long ago-- There was no Santa Claus, you know, When Adam was a boy.

_Nixon Waterman, in the Woman's Home Companion._

CASTLE YESTERDAY.

In the Valley of Contentment, just beyond the Hills of Old, Where the streams are always silver and the sunshine always gold, Where the hour is ever morning and the skies are never gray, In the yellow haze of springtime stands the Castle Yesterday.

Oh, the seasons that we spent there when the whole wide world was young; The friends we've had as maid and lad, the songs that we have sung! The echoes of their music cannot quite have died away, But still must thrill the roof-tree of the Castle Yesterday.

And the loving hearts we knew there in the time of trust and truth, Surely still they wait behind us in the Pantheon of Youth! But the angel of the valley at the portal bars our way, And a flaming sword forbids us from the Castle Yesterday.

When the pilgrimage is ended, may we turn then, may we change To the vanished and familiar from the present and the strange? Who so chooses to his heaven--I shall be content to stay Where the ghosts of dead years wander through the halls of Yesterday.

_Saturday Evening Post._

Definitions of "A Friend."

The first person who comes in when the whole world has gone out.

A bank of credit on which we can draw supplies of confidence, counsel, sympathy, help, and love.

One who combines for you alike the pleasures and benefits of society and solitude.

A jewel whose luster the strong acids of poverty and misfortune cannot dim.

One who multiplies joys, divides griefs, and whose honesty is inviolable.

One who loves the truth and you, and will tell the truth in spite of you.

The Triple Alliance of the three great powers, Love, Sympathy, and Help.

A watch which beats true for all time, and never "runs down."

A permanent fortification when one's affairs are in a state of siege.

One who to himself is true, and therefore must be so to you.

A balancing pole to him who walks across the tight-rope of life.

The link in life's long chain that bears the greatest strain.

A harbor of refuge from the stormy waves of adversity.

One who considers my need before my deservings.

The jewel that shines brightest in the darkness.

A stimulant to the nobler side of our nature.

A volume of sympathy bound in cloth.

A diamond in the ring of acquaintance.

A star of hope in the cloud of adversity.

One truer to me than I am to myself.

Friendship, one soul in two bodies.

An insurance against misanthropy.

A link of gold in the chain of life.

One who understands our silence.

The essence of pure devotion.

The sunshine of calamity.

A second right hand.

* * * * *

As a result of offering a prize for the best original definition of "A Friend," several years ago, London _Tit-Bits_ came into possession of thousands from all parts of the world. From these the foregoing were selected as the most striking. The prize was awarded to the first.

Dress For All Occasions.

A Brief Code of Sartorial Etiquette for Men and Women--What to Wear, and When to Wear It.

_Compiled and edited for_ THE SCRAP BOOK.

"What shall I wear?" is often one of the most perplexing questions we can ask ourselves. Nothing gives one sensations much more unpleasant than to find oneself dressed inappropriately for any occasion. Men suffer on this score, even as women, and are frequently as much in need of help.

To be well dressed does not necessarily mean that one must be "got up regardless" in the extreme of fashion and with the utmost limit of expense. Style consists in knowing how to wear your clothes as much as in knowing what to wear. But no matter how stylish in appearance a person may be, if he or she is wearing the wrong things at the wrong time the effect will go for nothing.

The following hints will, therefore, be found of service, for him as well as for her:

MORNING DRESS.

=For Women.=--This should be as simple as possible. Nothing is in worse taste than to appear in the mornings, down-town, shopping, or at business, in over-elaborate costumes. They may be silk-lined through and through, of the finest materials that money can buy, but they must be simple. For business, wear a plain shirt-waist, preferably white, not of too sheer material, so that it may be easily and frequently laundered. A dark skirt, with jacket to match; a simple hat and belt harmonizing with the rest of the costume; a linen stock, or collar and tie, and dark gloves. No jewelry, except perhaps a simple ring or pin.

For wear around the house in the mornings, a little more latitude may be permitted, although the golden rule for morning dressing should be simplicity.

=For Men.=--The same golden rule holds good. A plain, dark business suit, sack coat and vest to match; derby or soft hat, and heavy dark gloves. Never wear a high hat in the morning, unless for some special occasion, nor a frock coat, which properly should be reserved for afternoon wear.

AFTERNOON DRESS.

=For Women.=--This may be simple, or as elaborate as one pleases, the only restriction being that it must be high in the neck, and should also be of heavier material than that which may be put into an evening gown.

For afternoon teas, receptions, etc., the hostess wears a high-necked, long-sleeved gown of any rich cloth, velvet or silk, elaborately trimmed, always long in the skirt, and with jewels. No hat should be worn by the hostess or those who are assisting her. White kid gloves are usually worn, unless the affair is exceedingly small and informal. If the hostess wears gloves, her assistants must do so also.

Guests at a tea never remove their hats, unless they have been asked to receive, or are especially requested to do so by the hostess. Light hats or bonnets may be worn; white or very light gloves, and dress shoes.

A débutante should always wear white, made as becomingly and elaborately as possible. For her assistants, white or very light-colored gowns.

=For Men.=--When calling, at afternoon teas, receptions, etc., during the fall and winter, the correct dress is a double or single breasted frock coat of black or very dark gray, soft cheviot or vicuna, with double or single breasted vest, either to match the coat or of fancy cloth. Trousers of gray; white linen; a broad, folded tie of light-colored silk; top hat, gray gloves, and patent-leather shoes.

EVENING DRESS.

=For Women.=--This should never be worn before six o'clock in the evening. In general, it is the same for balls, dinners, receptions, etc., and for large affairs may be as elaborate and expensive as the purse of the wearer will permit. It should always be low in the neck, cut square, round, or heart-shaped over the chest and shoulders, and with short sleeves. Long gloves, coming at least to the elbow, must be worn. Slippers should either match the gown in color, or be of patent leather.

For small affairs, and those in summer, gowns of simpler material and with fewer jewels are in better taste.

A girl in her first season should wear few jewels, and her gowns should be light in color. A hat should not be worn with evening dress. A lace scarf thrown over the head will give ample protection.

It is not good form for a woman to wear full evening dress for certain occasions--such as the theater, dining in a public place, etc.

=For Men.=--Evening dress may be worn on any occasion after six o'clock. Full dress is obligatory for all large and formal functions. Black claw-hammer coat, with trousers to match; white waistcoat, cut low in front to display a stiffly starched and immaculate shirt-front; white lawn tie, with high white collar; broad cuffs, pearl buttons and studs, and patent-leather shoes. White gloves should also be worn at the opera, a ball, or a formal reception.

There are but two possible variations of this costume: one, the Tuxedo, which may be worn for informal affairs (a black tie goes with this); the other is the short dinner-jacket, always worn with a black tie, which is suitable only when dining at home without guests.

DRESS FOR THEATER AND OPERA.

=For Women.=--High-necked and long-sleeved gown, such as might be worn at an afternoon reception. Gloves, white, or of a very light color. The hair should be carefully and becomingly dressed. For an orchestra chair at the opera, the same costume may be worn, or it may be more elaborate. For a box at a theatrical performance, light gowns, also high in the neck, are suitable, to be worn with white gloves, and dress hats. For a box at the opera, full dress should be worn.

=For Men.=--When with ladies, or in a box at the theater, opera, or concert, full dress should be worn. White gloves are often worn, but are not obligatory. A short dinner-jacket is permissible when the wearer is with a man friend, but never when he is one of a party, or is with a lady not nearly related to him. With the dinner-jacket a black silk or satin bow tie, and a waistcoat matching the coat, are worn. With a long-tailed evening coat, a stiff silk-top hat, or a crush opera-hat, is proper.

DRESS FOR WEDDINGS.

=For Women.=--Elaborate afternoon and reception gowns are worn at church or house weddings held in the morning or afternoon. Hats are to be worn at the following reception or breakfast, and gloves should be laid aside only while one is eating. For the immediate family of the bride or groom, deep mourning should be left off for the wedding-day, and gray and lilac, or black and purple, be worn instead.

At an evening wedding, full dress may be worn, or else very elaborate high-throated, long-sleeved gowns, without hats, and with white gloves.

A maiden bride should dress in white, and should wear a veil, of lace, tulle, or gauze. Whatever the material of the wedding-dress may be, its skirt should be trained, and for a noon or afternoon ceremony the waist should be high-necked and with long sleeves. For an evening wedding, the bodice may be cut out in the throat, and be without sleeves. Few jewels should be worn, and those preferably the gift of the family or the groom. White gloves and shoes should be worn.

For a second marriage, the bride should wear a traveling dress, or, if the wedding is elaborately celebrated in church, a handsome reception gown. In both cases, a hat should be worn. The costume must not be purely white, but should be light and not somber in color.

=For Men.=--Guests at a noon or afternoon wedding should wear the conventional afternoon costume: black frock coat, gray trousers, a four-in-hand or Ascot tie of light color, waistcoat of white piqué or one matching the coat, patent-leather shoes, gray gloves, and a silk hat. At an evening wedding only full dress is permissible. For a morning wedding, the same costume may be worn as in the afternoon, but it is more usual to wear a full suit of silver-gray wool, the coat being what is known as the English walking coat, a rather long cutaway. A black cutaway waistcoat to match and gray trousers are always proper. Gray gloves, patent-leather shoes, white linen and broadly folded silk or satin ties are suitable with these latter costumes.

The groom at a noon or afternoon wedding should wear a black or dark-blue frock coat; high, white, double-breasted piqué waistcoat or one matching the coat; gray trousers; white linen; a full-folded silk or satin tie, of light color, with a pearl pin; gray, suède gloves, patent-leather shoes, and a top hat. For a night wedding, full evening dress is necessary.

The best man dresses as nearly as possible like the groom.

The ushers should dress as nearly alike as possible. For day weddings, black frock coats, gray trousers, white piqué or black waistcoats, full-folded necktie, of dark silk with a lighter pattern, and gray gloves. Hats should not be carried during the service, but left in charge of some one in the vestibule. For evening weddings, full dress must be worn. The boutonnières sent by the bride are always to be worn, as are the groom's gifts, whether sleeve-links or scarf-pins. Gloves should be kept on while serving in the aisles.

FOR LUNCHEONS AND BREAKFASTS.

=For Women.=--Guests as well as hostess should wear at a large luncheon simply the best afternoon gown they possess. The hostess should wear no hat; the guest a dressy one, with white or light gloves. In summer, a thin dress of light silk, or organdie, a flower-trimmed hat, white gloves, thin dress shoes, and a bright parasol are suitable.

=For Men.=--In winter, conventional afternoon costumes should be worn for a luncheon. For a noon breakfast, the same. For an earlier breakfast, a complete morning suit, with sack coat. With this, a colored shirt is permissible; a four-in-hand tie, derby, morning gloves, and black shoes.

For summer luncheons and breakfasts, white duck or very light striped flannel may be worn; tan or white Oxford ties, and a straw hat.

DRESS FOR MUSICALES, PRIVATE THEATRICALS, ETC.

=For Women.=--At an evening performance, full dress, jewels, and white gloves. For an afternoon performance, dress appropriate for luncheons, receptions, etc.

=For Men.=--If the performance is in the evening, full dress must be worn. If in the afternoon, frock coat, gray trousers, and so on, as before described.

MOURNING DRESS.

=For Women.=--A widow wears for her first mourning dress, a black worsted skirt and waist, made as simply as possible, and trimmed with folds of English crêpe; a small bonnet, made entirely of crêpe, with a long crêpe veil falling in the rear to the knees, and for the first month a veil of equal length covering the face. Inside the front of the bonnet is set a white ruche of lisse, the unmistakable insignia of widowhood. If desired, bands of hemstitched organdie may be worn without impropriety at wrists and throat. Black kid gloves, a black-bordered handkerchief, black shoes of soft dull finish complete the costume. After a year and a half or two years, crêpe-de-chine, lusterless silk, etc., may be worn in place of the crêpe-trimmed gowns, with black hats or bonnets, and dull jet ornaments. Six months later, white and lilac may be used sparingly, and after six months again, colors may be resumed if desired.

A married woman in mourning for child, sister, brother, or parent, wears the above costume, with the exception of the white ruche in the bonnet. Mourning should be worn for about the same length of time.

It is optional whether or not mourning be worn for infants. If so, simple black, without crêpe, is sufficient.

For a mother-in-law or father-in-law, black without crêpe for one month should be worn; to be followed by black and white, or gray, with lilac, for another month.