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THE
FUTURE
STARS
THIS season marks the genesis or
the chorus girl.
She who will in the fall burst
forth in all her glory as the but
terfly of Broadway Is now in the ugly
tadpole, the chrysalis stage.
In midsummer, while the stars of
the profession are enjoying the de
lights of the watering places, of Eu
rope and of their country homes, the
poor chorus girl, fired with stories of
the wealth and fame that have come to
girls who started theatrical careers In
this humblest of stage stations, makes
her way to New York, and puts in her
application with every manager of
every show that by any chance will
need a long line of girls to look pret
ty, sing badly and dance worse.
It is not the present that attracts
these girls, and makes them so tamelj
stand all the hardships that beset the.
life. The pay Is poor, the work is
hard and engagements are 'uncertain.
It is the alluring chance of prizes to
be won, prizes rare and difficult of
achievement, but far beyond the \u25a0 hopes
of a girl in any other walk In life, that
acts as the spur.
If a typical chorus girl were put the
question: "Why have you become a chor
us girl?" it would be found that the
stage struck maiden far outnumbers
all the rest. The lure of the footlights
will ever be irresistible to many a girl
who has a good appearance and fair
voice, or thinks she has.
The chorus girl that now descends
on New York in an avalanche comes
from all over the country. The big
cities send out a huge quota, but an
equally large number coraei from the
smaller towns and hamlets.
The chorus aspirant from the coun
try usually has a harder time to catch
on than her rival from the city. For
one thing she Is lacking in style. The
girl from the city may have lived In
the midst of humble surroundings her
self, but she has seen 'good dress, and
THE NEWEST IDEA TEACHING LITTLE GIRLS THAT SCIENTIFIC HOUSEKEEPING IS A PLEASURE
THE complaining housewife, sneer
of the humorists and bane of
many a married man's life, will
be, fewer In the next^ generation
if the plans of tho Presbyterian settle
ment house in Philadelphia are put into
practice throughout the rest of the
country, as they promise speedily to bo.
It Is the purpose of this excellent
organization to take the future mothers
while they are still In their tender
years, and teach them that bouse keep?
Ing, far from being the drudgery it is
represented to be. can really be con
verted Into a pleasure by a cheerful
mind.
The sj'stem is a sort of playing make
believe "house keeping," that game
which has ever been popular with little
girls, the only difference being that.in
stead of following their own whims
the youngsters are taught how to do
things properly.
Thus" while getting Just as much
pleasure out of tho diversion they are
Imbibing valuable Information as to
the way the cares of the household
should b<» discharged.
Sliss Leila Eitstman is the teacher of
this novel class. The condition* to join
are by no means onerous. There Js no
preparatory course or examination. All
that the candidates must do Is present
themselves with nicely combed hair
and washed hands and faces.
After that the little mothers are put
through a class In house keeping, but
with a, system so well devised that the
newcomer would .hardly isuspect that it
was a lesson at all. It all seema like
play, purely and tlmply, when the llt
tle or.ts aje going through their paces.
Tills lesson, in putting poetry lnto x
the work that falls to the lot of every
woman. \u25a0 rleh. or. poor,-" In some degree
end for some part of her life begins
with the start of the day.
Figuratively each of the little ones
has just arisen and faces a day's round
of housework.'
Tlie first .thing to do Is naturally Ho
build a flr«?. tluit feature of domestic
economy upon which depends the morn
ing meal of the: master of the house
as well as a warm place In which he
can dress and have his morning grouch
soothed.
Every woman knows: the vital Im
portance of this Incident, and the whole
process of starting a blaze by bunching
up a newspaper, laying the .'sticks of
wood across it. putting on a little small
coaX and then when the blaze has
caught working up. to the big coal that
insures heat and permanency for the
fire, has been carefully explained to' the
little ones, with a final and most serious
Injunction:
"Never, either now or in the future,
coax along a slow fire with the addition
of coal oil."
During the making of the fire. the lit
tle ones sing a song whose cheery meas- ."
ures are calculated to make the- most
when' her- chance comes to woar it snt;
often - shows an astonishing instinc
tive knowledge of the. way to carry It
to- best advantage.
Though the country girl be equally
pretty, of ten her good figure and high
complexion make her more so, she has
frequently an awkwardness that is fa
tal.
Some of the young chorus girls now
breaking into the game are married,
many of them having actually cajoled
their husbands into giving them money
to support them* in tne earlier stages
of their dramatic careers, with tho
promise that when success comes the
profits will be shared;
Fragile is the prospect of a husband
who Invests his cash in this. way. Big
profits are only a hazy dream of the
perverse kindling catch, and. when the
blaze has finally assumed proportions
that insure enough" heat for cooking; a
modest littje breakfast of -eggs and
bacon is prepared, the- same song ac
companying the progress^ of every step. -
The list of breakfast menus has not
been confined to one. The little- mothers'
have been taught the Importance of the
first meal of the day. one that in Amer
ican domestic economy' is not always
given its Importance as the meal on
which a man must do the greater part
of his day's work, since tne pernicious
custom of grabbing only, a. quick lunch;
in the middle of the day has .now been
followed so steadily that it has "become
an institution. - BEfiSlmttMwHP
"While breakfast Is appetlzlngly cook
ing the table i.<? 'prepared. This is a. very"
exact art. Every, item: of table use has
a place In the plans of Miss" Eastman, a
fixed place. Knives,: forks, -spoons, .etc.,
have a. certain-., relation '-to:' each;. other'
and should be . placed with : regard > to
convenience and comfort in*- eating.' Tho
knife must be on the right, ithe fork- on
the left, the butter dish .at , the .* tip ;of
the fork, the salt cellar; at the tip of
the knife. Nothing is left; to chance.
This Is an exact science. ' •
For breakfast all the dishes from
which the feast will;be.scrved are or
dered to be -placed, in front of mother,
for in this meal there is no carving to ,
be done. Moreover, it Is a fact : that i in' - ? '
the hurry of tho- morning, meal, father:
is apt to haw : little time -for ; his own
meal, and' virtually none' to give tolth«
help of the ether members of the fain- 4
"y. \u25a0 ; - . : \u25a0-".-\u25a0 : : \u25a0••• • \u25a0
This school of iomeetic science ' 1« s
meant, above ail thing*,. tobepracttoal.
Miss Eastman \u25a0 might ea.y that father
has no business " '.o bo engT-'Ossod in his
own atlairs in tho morniag,, that.lt Is
a crime for hlmVto senn his paper to
•see what '• the ; market „ did -or; how ibusli.;
ness in, but the toacher does '\u25a0\u25a0 not at
tempt the-" gigantic." task of "trying to
alter the habits of that great! bear, the
man in the house."
Perhaps she knows the futility? of
such an effort. Instead she;, assumes
that the great father, brother -or; hiisi
band bear is likely to' remain -pretty*
much the same through succeeding. gen*,'
erations, and directs; her,.- attention| to '
training his women? folks -to. Introduce
into the home \u25a0 its 'affection,: Its'cheer
fulness and deference 'to - tho polite
usages. , ; -. '_.•[. -."
Breakfast over, the children : assail '
the task of washing- and "drying 'the
dishes. This, the: least liked phase of -
all household work in ;the "minds of
many .women, seems ' no hardship in the .
merry way the class does It, with: sons;- ]
as an accompaniment V. .-:"•;', PSf^gli
, When the \ last^dish has . been ; put -' In \u25a0 1
the closet ; the class i turns its attention <
to tidying the ! house... j
.To the bedroom' they troop. The coy- (
ers are! hung; from; the^I windows to air^ 1
the ; room Is ; thrown open ; ; on''- all : sides • 1
so as to ; assure all = possible .ventilation, f <
Making : the t bed Is 'an ~- advanced Vper- "1
formance.. The clothes i'mustlcome' in a
certain order, with counterpane and- pil- - t
low shams last. •. \u25a0 v . j
future, and when they flo come, it Is
by no means assured that the. chorus
girl will most of .all prefer to share
them with ',, the helpmeet of humbler
days. \u25a0 . \ J '[
Some of the girls get financial assist
ance from folks at home, but most of
those who are now besieging the the
atrical managers are entirely depend
ent for their livelihood on what they
can make out of the stage.
' Then come arßcrubblngrandsweeping.^a r ßcrubblngrand sweeping.^
Not iat spot jof • dust? Is t allowed ' to sur- ,
viva U this \u25a0>' onslaught of • the ;•: cleaning
brigade.*. , Knowing .? that 'the * keen V eyes
sf < the £ teacher iwillj peer ': Into * the • oor-'
tiers tto ;l discover £ possible > survival 'V of
lust,": ori mayhap « some : | soap \u25a0> suds f that '
have |not ;been t properlyj rinsed louti* the"
ittle ones make; the most- determined
2ff orts :. to i assure 8 absolute f cleanliness, ,
md; meantime: goesjon'thelrjllttlelsorig^
< This ; is r 1 one * lesson. ?|- Another J has 5. to ;
lo ;\u25a0 with* the • preparation f of I dinner/iThel
length of 1 time %it r takes i various i meats \u25a0
When a girl er«*s' the dramatic- l<«;«
buzzing in her bonnet, she usually goes
either to the office of the big theatrical
manager or to the agent, who for a
commission \ makes , It- his business, to
get engagements ';-t or. the. dsplring. ? "
: Contrary, to ,theJidea| that imany. per
sons have, it is mot- hard > for; a young
and pretty girlftq-gei, a ..hearing, par
ticularly if she.his thei proper amount
of shapeliness.;? { :^ : * : . *
This latter isf essential, for the suc
cess: of the modern musical show :Is
built largely on -the \well; modeled iun-
and;. vegetables to'cook Is.setdown oh;
printed icards,»andithe ?f utur«J mothers
are i required *to ]> learn this y. schedule
:thoroughly:^j; : -.:;vv-7J^ v;- : -?:> 'v ; "..'• . : v:-
X^Then 3 ls 5 explained i to > them .the ,: su- .
P««ori.wlsddm /of Hooking \u25a0 ahead, t- They
are % told ; that f some \ things ; that '\u25a0 cook ;
slowly,-; as i, f or | instance > a boiled | ham !
, or; a -,; pudding, or an y thing ithataccord
jlng|toithe:: cookibook;:oughtit6^be":'al
lowed'toj slmmef.'i can.be cooking vwhile;
,the- other,' work'lofitherday.i, the -house-1
cleaning) and * marketing,^ lor \ instance;
w v-belng; performed/^ All '= that" is*re
Serpinning of the ladles who cavort tn
the front and other rows. ,_
. . When the ; first call is sounded the
future star must report In a large,
bare rehearsal hall, where the musical
director and manager, are wait
ing to try .the"*voices of the candidates,
of. whom there ' are any whero from 80
tr > 200. WBSBsSMB&£g&is£!&BBm
The young lady is called to the piano
and told to sing a scale. Usually she
is: nervous, but no attention Is \u25a0 paid to
this, and she must either pull together
and do her work: quickly and well,. or
else give place to, some other girl who
.has herself under -better control. •
\u25a0 , ; The that used to thrill Podunk
Corners, and lead to prophecies that its
owner] had { a* great future on: the grand
opera stage, often sounds : pitifully thin
and shak> when introduced in this big
hall, before the critical musical direc
tor and stage manager and a hundred
or j more rivals ~~. who /are , aspirants . for
the same chance. :;
But the girl gets a fair show. There
are not enough: good chorus girls to go
around, for the i vogue of the musical
burlesque has '\u25a0 Increased ' the demand
enormously,' and , the musical director
tries ito avoid Hhe mistake .of passing
over • a ;- future' "'\u25a0'\u25a0 star," -whom nervous
ness prevents r from .showing;' her best.
quired :Is a , little planning • and ; fore
raiKht./,.'\u25a0• \u25a0\u25a0.:;.' r \u25a0•:"'• -'''\u25a0"'\u25a0',-'", \u25a0\u25a0':.-.: .' \u25a0/-; \u25a0'..'
"iThere ; is no attempt made to turn the
youngsters': into 'accomplished cooks; 1
\u25a0 their; years are still* too tender, for that
What i little 1 thl hgs ; they, prepare are ; the ',
\u25a0simplest |ofiyiands. : QThe 'desire 1 is • less
to } teach s them \ the! preparation \u25a0; of ' food
jthan l the): science v.ot | running^ a V home •
jcheerf ully.- ;?Any|grownup ' mothers will '
I say^thatithey/developed J thelri hatred: of
houselkeepingibyithelenforced'helplngi
;,theyihad|to]do>sllittlerglrlß, i,whensthe:i ,whensthe:
- time ?. they J gave was I taken . from their
The San Francisco • Sunday _Cali
Usually about twice . as many girl»
are selected on the first day- aa can be
used In the chorua, for it la estimated
that a fair percentage : will- not : report,
stage fright or - other causes : keeping
them away.
With his trial chorun on hand the
musical director \u25a0 gives - them the - words
and music of the songs they will . sing.
They are allowed to ; take them * home
and memorize the words.
Then the musicaKdirec tor goes back
to his ' task, and trains them*, tn - the
music to make sure that the singing
and expression ; are ; correct.
: Then the ; stage manager gets them
back again. He must show them all
the business of the part, \u25a0 and, ' assisted
by the master of the dancing, teach
them all the steps they : are to execute
in the performance. ; This Is perhaps
the most heartbreaking of \u25a0\u25a0 all features
of the training-. The whole chorus can
only proceed as fast as the most stupid
girl of them* all .can learn, and how
stupid some chorus girls can be Is tes
tified by men like-E. E. Bice, George
Cohan, George Lederer, "Kiralfy and
others who have spent their lives In
this kind of work.
Many a girl .who has gone through
all the rest, who has had the . heart
burnings of being a candidate, who has
pleasures.
-:'. Miss i Eastman '.wants to "a make - the
children feel that house keeping Is real
ly) a part of their fun,", and -by starting
early, to instill this idea to keep them
from ever getting a dislike for it.
. Moreover,^ it is a lesson ; in ; good man
ners.:,i In the: serving. of a^dlnner/ vari
ous roles are assigned. - One of the girls
impersonates father, another Is mother
a'.thlrd f .is.thevwaltress.Vand : the. others
assume the roles of brothers, sisters
etc * : 33p9BPWHHP^ \u25a0 ; '\u25a0'• \u25a0 '
Now the • platter/contalnlnff tho roast
survived th« test of voice, "who has
mastered ."all -the words of her pt»rt,
falls down .when It cotjm to the ardu
ous routine imposed by mastering the
vitally Important. feature- of tho
dancing. Many a clever performer ha*
'been kept off the stago either by ina
bility to dance well, by physical wearl
. nets engendered by the many hours
spent in doing, tho steps, or by the
harshness of the" stage manager, who,
driven . frantic by the stupidity of bit
chorus, has ' ' sometimes ' neglected to
temper his : remarks with the kindaec*
'that a sensitive woman looks for. aven
- on* (he stage.
It usuAlly takes from six weeks t0...
two months to properly develop a cho
rus, though, of course, under pressure It
has been accomplished In lesa time.
The list of chorus girl* woo have sur
vived the early stages and have achieved
f jw-o*, riches and titled husbands is a
,y£rd lone.
J&axie Oeorre. once an American girl,
JjS^-bday a London favorite, commanding
an Eiffel tower salary. Every member
of the - sure enough famous original
Florodora sextet — Susie Drake. Minnie
Edwards, Edna Ooodrich, Kathexin*
Bear*. Daisy Ore«n and Frances Bel •
mont— made astonlshinjr advances from
a~ lowly, position to the summit of the
atrical fame. •
Eda May made her debut In ths cho
rus and «he Is now the wife of the
wealthy Oscar Lewisohn; Paula Cnase
has advanced from her ranking as the
pajama girl to become one of the reign-
Ing favorites of London theaterdom;
Camllle Clifford, whose delightful im
pndenoe and piquancy helped to the
fame of the familiar stage stride now
known as the "Gibson walk," married
Into the nobility of England, and is in
direct line to be Lady Aberdare; Alice a
Nellsen was only a chorus girl, bat sha
had a good voice, and was willing
,to study, so that after advancing to
place of honor as one of the prima
donnas of the Bostonlans, In the hey
day :of that famous organisation, she
was able to go abroad and get accept
ance In foremost opera houses of the
•continent; Hattle Williams went from
the j chorus to the place of a musical
\u25a0tar, and Lady Ashburton attained that
place via a Harlem flat and the Floro
dora sextet.
'Many a future" queen of grand or
comic opera, many a titled lady, may
be In embryo among this year's crop of
chorus girls i now sweltering through
rehearsals In Broadway.
beer or. the turkey, or the chicken, goes
In front of father, for his is the task of
cutting it. v How to hold th* knife and
fork, the , obligation , of passing plates
and aiding the others to get their.quo
ta/ the crime of making an unnecessary
noised especially: in: 1 the transferring of
soup ; into the digestive mechanism, are
all points that are driven home by the
teacher. ' . ,
r-Some mere men in a decade or so
will 7. profit by 1 the excellent work of
common sense and affection now being
performed in this little settlement. \u25a0
