The sun. [volume], October 26, 1913, FOURTH SECTION PICTORIAL MAGAZINE, Page 15, Image 45

About The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916

Image provided by: The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundation

                
15
AN ACTOR WHO WOULD RATHER PAINT THAN ACT
How Guy Standing Came
to Paint a Remarkably
i ine Picture of the Vol
turno's Burning
A
and itul
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M
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J.I-
(St!1
il.- u c cryhody, have a
i -i t in uni-crlbcd mental
i . liir tlii'iu the world
. cm- w HIi nil asbestos curtain
with a luck drop. The world,
, .1, ; , individual actor as an axis,
, i ,i "u! tin feet In ccr dlrce
.r ,i plain composed of stage sct
iul ilit litis of genius arc not
it .atod to a call I u in 1 1, uc
U that was so In the "pood old
I ) . tage, the days when an
id f.r hi art alone."
a ,- ' c time of the actor with a
. , f tlii' man of dlei.ltled Inter
ui s'liie one of which he Is almost
i i. . i greatly iiitiicslcd as he
,. ,i mi.' which ghes him Ms
, i .Hid ''litter. Somctlmis the stage
. . u hue. ltut .some oilier times,
.. ! !..is reached the lop of Ills pro
. a - f ,u tint:, It seems almost a
a. l.it he relegates his ".side line"
, j. .1, Inn, If he Is equally good at
.s - "u ea.se of liu Standing, the
. . a t"r now starling with Chrys-
t.i . : r.. in (ieorge Scarborough's new
m, i- ii.. "At Hay."
M' s mdiiu's "side Hue" Is painting
. i, ,t . and landscape water colors.
ir- m.iny artists who deplore
hat hi' has not made this his
"mt the actor, according to his
r mint, takes his stage profes-
.-rluily to allow the pleasure
it of his ".lde line"" to Inter-
Tl :
t!.. '
hU
IHN I,
. n
lie -
fir.
II c.'jy standing escaped being an
ir ii.l stuck to the family tradi
t. : - ( ''ting an actor It- an Interesting
f i
II- : I , t want to he an actor Uc
lad tine thrust on him In his youth.
II- '. r, lleil'i-rt Standing, one of
tl.c !itt known F-ngllsh actors of the
IM.-t li n ration, transmitted to him a
.t f 'l mole things that his regular
ir--: - "ii He gave him a lasting love
f.T ' MM
When he was t", C.uy, then as big
: I. is ii'iw. was made a leading mai.
And In didn't want to act. He didn't
mil a int t i he a leading man. lie
a ti i d to I'c a sailor.
' It used to make tne mad those days,"
t., - Mi Sandim.-, in revealing some
tf what he dubs his lurid past, "when
I ii .- :r.i . tiling through the provinces'
in Inland to see misguided youths
f.i.vk.ng at tne and envying me. They
i.'in'i have to act. I did. They could
f'i. Bra If they wanted to."
- S .Hi' fine day, when his troupe had
t' ! 'li d Newcastle, they woke up to
ft. I tMi'in-elves flat on their well known
t..uk- without a leading man. He had
fv.ij".'i He hail seen a sailing collier
that n-ciled men and had "gone to sea."
"It was deuced hard work too," con
thw l the actor. "Hut I was happy
1 il: hi t h.iv c to act.
'l'-r three days we loaded coal there
i:i X' iviastle. I was well blistered when
-Tied for they didn't load coal In
This drawing by Mr. Guy Standing was made several days before any ship bearing survivors or pictures reached America and is remarkable fur its close resemblance
to actual photographs and descriptions of the tragedy.
r.in.-.
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,.
,'
l. Hi'!
oxen with all the hard wotk theie win
moments of idling. During these I
fitiitiil I i'iiiiIiI ariiu 1 wl.tiliiil iii'iirt1. t
thing marine about me at close range
and I am sure that taught nic more of
accuracy than any other experience I
liaxe ever had. It was with the remem
brance of the sea its It looked during
that nur'westi'r of my llrst sailing ex
perience that 1 sketched the burning of
the. Volturno which Tne Sf.s repro
dtici s.
"At the end of the six mouths I
knew I was an artist. 1 forsook the
sea fur an urt school, where 1 spent
three long months.
"That was my art training. Mine has
not been by instruction; it has been
by absorption, for I have been the
I'll Mest man allc by having had a
different limes as my painting com
panions men who were at the top of
their profession, men who took an In
terest in me and my work, not because
of any pecuniary advantage In sight,
but for love of their very ai t.
"Two of these were Charles Dixon,
one of the most famous of Kngllsh
marine and landscape water color art
ists, and Julian Kix, who stood at
the top of the Americans in the same
line. Poor Julian ' Ho died a few
years ago, much too young: but If any
thing 1 ever do In painting Is worth
while, to him belongs al least half
the c-l edit."
da. with a steam derrick, bul
. 'whip.' That Is a kind of ar
tueiit consisting of pulleys and
w.'h baskets over blocks. The
J. de into five parts, for five men
i l We gave a "heave, hoi" and
.fir those coal baskets hand over
w aging each from a cart on the
i i the hold of the ship. And there
i-ii ,i minute to rest.
"t !i-t when I was beginning nl
n - t.i b e) 1 oiild Just as soon be a
I- . ! n- man. we finished coaling and
c -, : Two days out we ran head on
ii .uc of the worst nor'westers it has
" en my misfortune to see. He
1 1 . could help It the storm carried
t "tir foretopgallant mast, our lly
i ' 'mom and t-prting our how-sprit.
V .,is nothing to do but for all
1 . - '.i fall to and make new masts
' i - . s i iahl In the teeth of that gale,
w -. wi reached London I decided I
i i' n r act again, but one round of
i - - -iioued me the managers were
' i clamoring for my services,
i i the ship went I.
i i hated to leave It anyway,
.i sapper was a line, generous,
mi i.is old person who had taken
' i my to me and continually told
i- too line a lad to be an actor-
mi a half crown when we
i uiUior In the Thames. lie
to give me a cent.
' months I went coasting with
lb taught me navigation and sail
lei made me second mate, ltut
Grafted on a
T
Finger Tip
i
it
r.
II
i'
c: i
i
i
I IH tip of Kied SSommers's linger
is on again, and he hopes It is
there to stay this time. Also
Fred Summer will be mightly
careful In future when operating the
chopping machine.
tsommers Is u (Jerman, H years old,
who comes over from lirooklyn six days
every week und woiks In a liaxter
street mill, He has been doing this for
a long time, steadily and methodically;
and nothing startling ever occurred
to him until September 12, when the
lingers of his right hand were caught In
the chopping machine.
In about one tnlnjne the shop fore
man had a tourniquet around Sum
mers's arm Just below the elbow. In
another minute he had bandages around
his hand- and the next thing Sum
mers knew he was being hustled down
to the Volunteer Hospital In Hold street.
Then he soon found himself on an op
erating table and saw a young man In
white clothing quickly unwrapping the
bandaged hand.
A single glance at the patient's in
jured hum! sufficed the surgeon. The
second, thltd and fourth lingers were
cut and macerated. The tip end of
the index linger had been- completely
severed and was lying In the ban
dage. The sill genu noted that the patient
was a husky, powciful man of phleg
matic temperament, and lie said he
thought he might be able to sew on the
tip of the linger so il would slay,
If Sommeis wanted him to try It.
"Do you mean so It would grow on
again like It was before?" the patient
asked, a Utile doubtfully.
The doctor nodded.
"Yes," he replied. "I cannot promise,
but there Is a fair chance."
Quickly but clearly he explained that
Infection might occur, in w hleh even
the llngertlp would have to be ampu
tated. Then Summers told him to go
ahead.
The surgeon did so. llrst can-fully
cleansing the severed parts In a saline
solution. Then he lilted them together,
took half a dozen stitches in circular
form with catgut, treated Die whole with
the usual surgical methods, and pro
ceeded to dress the other Injured lin
gers. Then Summers went home.
The surgeon was somewh.it averse
to talking about the case for publica
tion, but when urged to describe sim
ply the condition of the severed phalanx
as he found It lying in the bandage,
he said:
"No llfo existed In the phalanx. Tt
was dead and cold, and even then -possibly
ten or fifteen minutes after the
accident to the patient It showed dis
tinct discoloration."
When Rummers left the hospltnl that
day he was Impressed with the absolute
necessity of reporting the following
morning, In view of possible danger
from Infection. He came to the hospi
tal as directed, on September 13, and
the surgeon found to hi! surprise, that
the severed part had already com
menced to get win in. which condition
showed that some reueneratlon of cir
culation was taking place: also the
sewed on fingertip had a different ap
pearance. The dark, greenish discolora
tion of the previous day was commenc
ing to disappear, and a reddish tint
was taking Its plan No trace of In
fection could be found,
The patient reported for examination
dally, with continued Improvement to
the g railed phalanx, and now, the sur
geon hopes it Is restored permanently.
As time went on Standing once more!
.heard the call of the stage, assisted bv '
his father, aiding as megaphone, and 1
began to climb to the top of his profes
sion. Some years later he came to
America, where he had not been known, '
but where he rapidly lK-canu- a favorite,
even If managers did fail to recognize
it to any tremendous extent on pay
days, lly dint of economy he managed
to save $.'.00. "He had one object In
mind to, for once, own his own boat.
f!m U.,n.lt... ft . - I I
k-w...uuih mm oiiiee uwiiL-ii many
boats of many different kinds his
Is a name known well in yachting
circles on two continents. Hut It Is
doubtful if he ever experienced the
Joy. even when his four Firetlys carried
olT a number of American cups a few
.ears ago, that he did when he looked
at that llrst old cutter he bought In
New l.niiiloii for $."na and realized that
it was his all his.
That iHiat was to serve a double
purpose. It was to bring Kick the
joy of being a man of the sea and it
was to give him the chance to do all
the marine painting no wanted to once
again. He had $.'iO on which to live for1
three months.
"Hut it was plenty, plenty." said Mr.
Standing, "as long as there were ttsIi
in the .-ea. I had enough llsh that
summer to last me forever, but when
I think of what that summer brought
me I look back on it us one of the
happiest of my life.
"The trial races to determine whether
the Vigilant should defend the cup were
to be on that summer, so I took my
boat, which 1 was thoroughly convinced
was the greatest alloat, and went
down off Hay Itidge, where the Vigilant
was docked, to make some sketches
of her. It was there I met (iiatles
Dixon. He was making some of
the same son of sketches for some Il
lustrated papers in London lat least
he felt sure they would lie for those
papers when he was llnlshed), but at
the time IH-Ing he didn't have any
more money than I did, A little later
we met Julian Itix, bent on the same
purposo, and with the same aiinniiit
of money None of us had a cent, bill
I had a boat ami fishing tackle,
"That was the beginning of two
friendships, one of which has lasted
to the present time, and one of which
only ended with death. Those two
men taught me what I know,
"There have been u lot of other
at lists who might claim having had
a part In the art training of Standing,
but I can't Just exactly remember who
they are. I have always been much
in the artists' colony in America, be
cause I have always liked the chaps
who had to paint hard for a living.
I renieinlier that It wan one of them
who once scorned a Job with a litho
graphing company who was responsible
for me eating for quite a while I got
the Job. It was making posters for
some steamship lines. My sailing be
fore the mast helped a lot too."
Foresook Stage to Join
Crew of Sailing Ship,
Where Pie Discovered
PlisTalent forSkctehing
When he wants to paint now Mr.
Standing doesn't ship ns n sailor. He
paints oer the top of the steering
wheel of a motor car, For on one of
Ills cars he has placed a sort of easel
attachment which he uses for sketch
ing after Hying about the country at
will In search of good studies. His
only companion on these trips Is n
favorite dog. He has Just iHmiplcteil
a series of sketches he made this sum
mer during such a motor Journey over
Warwickshire, Shakespeare's country.
"And I do hbpe they will prove somo
of my best work," says the actor, with
a twinkle In his eye, "for, you know,
the gentleman Is more or le-n remotely
connected with my profession."
There Is probably no actor of to-day,
no professional man or business man
In fact, who Is such a devoted sports
man in nil lines as (!uy Standing. Dur
ing ten years of yacht racing he has
won 13s cups. He Is a member of the
Itoy.it Motor Yacht Club of Kuglaud
and until In- left America live years ago
was a member of the l.archmont and
Manliasset yacht dubs,
'i Inly I atise I did not expect to
come back to America I icslgned," con
tlnti.-il Mr. Standing, "though I still own.
a boat in this country and have paid
storage on It for live years. Strangely
enough, however, I have never seen that
bmt 'Fact I don't even know the
thing's name. I do know she Is In
Marblehe.id, though, und once was named
the Outlook. 1 believe they have twisted
tlie letters 111 that name some half dozen
times or so and It seems to me she's
named something like Kolllto now. Pos
sibly I'D look her up next summer"
The Flretly, which Mr SI. Hiding
sailed at I'owics this slimmer. Is the
llfth one he has owned, four of which
have been in America. He was on the
committee this year to manage the In
tel national races.
outside of III- .aclltltlg llltererits he is
quite as well known, being a member of
the most exclusive sport clubs in F.ng
land, among lie m the ISrooklatuls Au
tomobile llaciiig flub, the ltoyal Auto
Club and the ltoyal Aero Club. He hud
i n I begun to take up aeiopla nlng in
earnest, though when Mrs. Standing put
a decided step to it. As 111 all things, he
agreed to her wishes
When comment was made on his
being both a painter ami a sportsman
as well as an actor Mr. Standing smiled
most broadly and said; "of course I
love both of them they make me forget
I am an actor now don't go thinking
I am ashamed of my profession, for I
hue It. but "
Christmas Gift for Fifty Cents
and Sunday Sun Coupon!
Every Little Girl Needs a New Doll and Doll House, So the
Sunday Sun Here Offers Them a Beautifully Dressed
Doll, a Doll's House, Surrounded by Grass Plots,
and a Complete Set of Furniture
THF. DOI I. HOUSl- SET UP
T
HELEN KELLER "LISTENS" AND "WATCHES" DAVID WARFIELD
- iiiiual from Fourteenth 1'iipe.
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"wins to cry over the possible fate
r possible granddaughter and
inquires Innocently, "What's the
- 1 ate you sitting on something?"
Keller threw back her ho.ul and
1 i iii" of those diilcloiisl) Infec
luighs that sends a ripple of mer-
i i-r an entire audience.
a ir In the llelasco green loom.
H play, however, that Miss
il -played her greatest virtuosity,
I "Uig wanted to meet her favor
' she said, and when al last he
now lug before her she graspeii
-'letelieil hand and III her clear,
.nice said very distinctly:
' Mi Waiilold, this Is certainly
a-- hands with a ghost. Ah, low
in e you In 'The Iteturn of I'eter
hi I wish that I might fee you
i play once again, You don't
ou cannot know, what relet-
meant to me, who have all my
' en to hear and to be heard out
darkness Just as your '-'ilrlt did
i u came back to eaiih. Ah, I can
von yet crying 'Hear me! Hear
Hear me!' How often I have cried
siine cry, through how many
.M irs, ami tlien Coil did heal
last anil now, as you ice, I can
I i an sp' ik b -fore a gle it audi
ence, and they can hear me speak, Thai
seem to me the most marvellous thing
In the world that I can frame
thought Into words, ullcr these words
and have another human being hear
lliem. You as I'eter (iiiinm broke the
very bonds of death, or thai thing
which mortal man calls death, In or
der thai those you loved might hear
oii, I have broken the bonds of some
thing quite as Inexorable as death In
order that I might speak Jo those l
love. So when I sat watching Hint
great play, watching and praying that
you might at last be heard, It wiw with
a sympathy which I believe I was able
lo give you as no one else could. And
when llnully you did make yourself
heard, ar yon knew It, I more than
any one, else couM feel the happiness
of your triumph. How well I remem
ber the first word I ever was able to
speak,"
"What was that?" Mr. Waiileld In
quired. Hire Miss Keller snelled slowly:
" 'W-a-t-e-r.' That was the llrst word
I ever hounded, but 'D-u-l-1' was the
llrst word I ever became conscious of.
"'Water!' Isn't II a beautiful word'"
she iiske.l w'slfully, us she placed the
tips of her lingers upon the actor's lips
for his answer.
Hut David Waiileld was now Inarticu
late. His eyes were now misty with
tears as he looked al the happy, radiant
face beside him,
And the marvel was that the blind
and deaf girl saw and felt these
tears and quickly changed the subject
by asking another question which sent
Warlleld Into a 111, llrst of consterna
tion, then laughter.
"Oh, Mr. Warlleld. won't you please
say it again, that 'What's the matter
mil you? -Are you sitting on some
thing?' I want to laugh all over again.
11 was so funny." And once more the
llngertlps were lifted to Waiileld's lips.
After a good laugh over this, In which
Warlleld Joined, Miss Keller then de
manded more encores, especially asking
for a repetition of certain of the lines
spoken In the Twenty-third street scene,
"lie.ise say: 'And nothing happened,' "
she pleaded like a child asking for
another story, and when she had "heard"
those three funny words over again
she clapped her hands for sheer Joy and
declared that there was nothing in the
world quite so funny as David War
lleld's use of the Yiddish dialect.
Thus the time went until the little
clock In ilw green room sounded the
half hour after midnight. Mrs. Mnoy's
hand was passed over to Miss Keller's,
now Imprisoned In the actor's own,
"Oh, f am so sorry; It Is terribly late
and you must lie so tired," rising, her
sensitive face full of gentle concern for
Mr. Warlleld. "We must go now," and
In a moment more the parly had passed
through the green room and out Into
the court.
"Oil, Mr. Warlleld, I forgot some
thing," Miss Keller's voice cried out,
as her tall, splendid figure, wrapped In
a ln'iiiillf ill evening cloak of pale blue,
turned and stood In the stage door.
"You will do -The lieturn of I'eter
tiiiinm' again, won't 5011? For my
sake, If nothing else."
WnrfleM's nssurnnee thnt Miss Kel
ler's request was a command was re
ceived with a happy laugh, and once
more the party started on Its way.
"Oh, Miss Keller," cried Warlleld, as
he put his head outside the door, "I
forgot to nsk you something." War
lleld stepped into the court, and Helen
Keller touched IiIh moving Hps.
"Have you a lieau?"
"A beau! A sweetheart!" came the
happy, quick retort. "Why. I have
hundreds of them," The whole empty
court echoed Willi laughter.
"Mark Twain said that girl and Na
poleon were the most interesting char
acters of the nineteenth century," War
Held mused rellectlvely ns he returned
to his empty dressing room, "Humph!
She Is greater lliau Napoleon."
ME gift season will be with
us soon and with it many
anxious thoughts from
mothers as to just what sort of
practical and pleasing gift they
should purchase for their young
daughters. The Sunday Sun here
volunteers to lighten the burden
somewhat by offering a beautiful
doll house and a
complete set of doll
furniture which
make just the
proper gift for any
little girl. Let tie
Lane's Doll House
is not unknown to
the playroom, as
it is on sale in
various stores for
amounts ranging
from seventy-five
cents to a dollar.
But the Sunday Sun having ob
tained a limited number of these
Lettie Lane Doll Houses at a cost
a little less than their retail selling
price will mail one to you, postage
prepaid, for fifty cents and one
Doll House Coupon clipped from
the Pictorial Magazine Section of
the Sunday Sr
l$e Bowl
SUNDAY SUN DOLL HOUS'ii," COUPON
On preHtntatlon nr n ei I pi of thin coupon and fifty ernl thr SiiMny Sun ic ill
yive or send by jxtrci I pot one faille fauu 'n Doll limine
Doll House Department,
The Sunday Sun, 170 Nassau Street,
New York City:
Please forward to below address ONI: l.ettie l.anc
Doll House:
Name . , ,
Address
Note: It Mumps re win pli'iise si-ml :' n-iu inn-.