The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

2 THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW May 9, 1914 Circus Animals Earn Big Pay The automobile may have ousted tlic horse from the majority of the positions he at one time held, but he is supreme in one profession at least. According to John Patterson, super- intendent of the Barnum & Bailey circus menagerie, the horse is the king of all cirais animal u»age earners. "The horse," said Air. Patterson, run- ning his hand along a glossy draft animal's arched neck, "is versatile; he will perform in a ring or on the stage, and after leaving the lime- light he will at a pinch turn around and help move the paraphernalia of the show. If a circus breaks down on the road the horse is there to help out. The elephant will do the same thing, but these two are the onl> salary-earning animals that can turn their talents to genuine usefulness while they are acting. One of the elephants now with the Barnum & Bailey circus has a trunk that is partly paralyzed from constant push- ing against cages and wagons that he helps to move. M.\NY FOUR-FOOTED .\CT0RS "The number and variety of four- footed creatures in the circus and earning big salaries for their trainers would astonish the layman. Lions, tigers, clei)hants, bears, horses, clown nudes, Shetland ponies who dance the lancers in sets, acrobatic dogs, horses that do fractions, and monkeys tliat accomplish some feats that require al- most luunan intelligence and ability are legion. Good animal actors are always in demand, and the salaries they command are i)owerful incen- tives for trainers to rack their brains to hit upon some new and amusing act. It is not the cleverest act that wins approval so nuich as the most original and amusing. With patience and understantling a horse, an ele- phant or a dog can be taught to do anything that it is physically able to do. A horse is nervous and sensi- tive and requires different treatment from other animals, but when ap- proached in the right way he will re- spond with astonishing intelligence. There are two universal rules among animal trainers. The first it to be come familiar with the animal and to know his temperament and to make friends with him. The next thing is to make the animal understand thor- oughly what it is that you want him to do and make him do it. The ani- mal must be made to feel that the man is his superior, then unremitting la- bor and infinite patience are required if a successful result is to be obtained. A judicious system of rewards and punishments is adopted by the major- ity of trainers, much as a .school teach- er punishes and rewards her charges. Choosing the right animal for the cir- cus is one of the important features, for only twenty-five per cent of ani- mals can be successfully taught to act. Many persons are under the impres- sion that horses are even more do- cile and manageable than the meekest of hen-pecked husbands, but some of them can give points in stubbornness and obstinacy to the worst-tempered donkey that ever brayed defiance. But, generally speaking, a good bred horse is very obedient, quickly under- standing and gcting to like his work. And if it does not, you ask? Well, we leave him severely alone for a time. It is no use trying to force an animal to dance or jump in a ring if he objects. After two or three months, however, he may forget his objections and prove a good perfor- mer. The period of training usually extends to twelve months, commenc- ing a few months after birth. Even after the twelve months are up, how- ever, and the animal is good enough to perform in public, practice must take place every da}'. MONKEYS E.\SIEST TO TF..\cn v., "The monkey is naturally the easi- est to teach of all animal actors, and the cat is the most difficult. Bears are comparatively easy to train, but they are ugly tempered, and when working with other animals are li- able to snap at them. Dogs and monkeys are the most satisfactory, and more of these animals than of any other species are now amusing audiences as actors. When the pub- lished work of Darwin and Wallace, nearly half a century ago, first gave to the lower animals their real place in the economy of nature, there arose a loud cry of incredulity, as though the pride of genus homo had been injured. That era of scei)tisni was soon succeeded by a still longer peri- od of scoffing, and it in turn gave wav to an attitude of outward in- difference. But at last the apparent unconcern has disappeared, and within the last five vears there has developed an astonishing public de- mand for accurate knowledge re- garding the lower forms of animal life. Civilized mankind has finally realized the unity of nature and ap- preciates the worth and meaning of those lessons that can best be learned by a study right in our men- arrerie of the beasts, birds and rep- tiles of the earth. I believe modern interest in natural history has reached a development never before equalled, which is perhaps destined to increase until the brain of man has .solved those stunendous riddles bv which he is still surrounded." Superintendent Patterson knows as much animal lore as Teddy Roose- velt himself, and he is often asked what it is like in the menagerie dormitorv at nieht and how the dif- ferent animals sleep. "The lion." he savs. "when the excitement of the dav is over, stretches itself out on its side with its naws turned in and twitches and throbs like a big dog. Monkeys sleep with their hands over their heads. Bears, which have no fear, sleep in anv position. The .same is true of wolves. Animals of a cunning or cowardly nature, how- ever, are always on the alert even when asleep. A. seal sleeps like a human being. It stretches out at full length and enters dreamland on its back, stomach or side. Once in a while a seal will sit up with its head bent down on its chest, fast asleep, in the water, with its ears under, as is his custom in his native state, that he may hear the anproach of an enemy, sound traveling with great distinctness under water. Elephants sleep unright, like a horse, and fit- fullv. Thev are keenlv alert to the slightest noi'ic and quick to sense things. If thev can see the obiect thev do not 'rattle' easilv. but if it is something weird in .sound and out of sight thev need the reassuring voice of their keener. With the ele- nhants the voice is evervthinsr. They have the same feeling for a friendlv, sincere voice that a natural musician has for the sound of a musical voice." Miss Bates Tells How to Beat Movies Show your voice is vorlh $2.00 more, she advises dramatic arts };radiiatcs. — Cyril Maude surprises — His ad- vice to yomif^ actors is to marry out of their profession, as interests may clash. Twenty-six students of the Ameri- can .\cademy of Dramatic Arts were graduated from that institution and received their diplomas at the Em- pire Theatre, New York, recently. The graduating class listened to ad- dresses by Blanche Bates and Cyril Maude. Miss Bates gave the gradu- ates a little advice about how to gel along on the stage. "First and fore- most," said she, "make your voice clear and distinct; stand only for the most correct enunciation. It is the only thing that differentiates between us and moving pictures actors. If we do not give the difference of that two dollars' worth in our voices, what is to become of us? We owe the thea- tre .something, and that is to carry on the ideals of the theatre, to make it decent, better, finer, bigger, and we can all do it; it is in us to do it. Man- agers have to have their bread, and, unfortunately, they are opening their theatres for social srires—and we don't want them. .Stand for decency, truth, fineness and beauty. That is what we stand for. I say the actor's art is the highest art, and if we have that im- bedded in our hearts it is going to take place. Speaking to a very iironi- inent manager the other day I asked why it was that there were so few American boys on the stage—why so many importations? He did not say are putting on the type of play that ref|uires such an actor,' but the fact of the matter seemed to be that the Englishman always wears his dinner clothes well. All you have to do is to get your dinner clothes and put them on morning, noon and night, go into the office of the managers, show them you are wearing your dinner coat, and get a job. We wom- en start in with something more. A\'e are more flexible; we are more easily handled; we act from the time our short clothes are put on us, and you know it, every one of you." Mr. Maude in his talk surprised his hear- ers by advising the young actors to "marry out of the profession" if they must marry at all. "As time goes on," said Mr. Maude, "you may think of marriage, and if you neglect in choosing to follow Punch's advice to those about to marry, which was, if you remember, 'Don't'—well, at any rate, don't marry in your own pro- fession, but marry someone who will sympathize with you in your pro- fession. I say don't marry in your own profession because in your life on the stage you are bound, and more so in this country than in my own, I understand, to be separated for great, long times, and then, again, your interests, being in the same pro- fession, may cla.sh, and although I know there are many happy mar- riages on the stage, I feel bound to say marry out of your profession. Try and mix with every possible kind and class of people. Don't only keep among your own professional friends. If you succeed, you will find every kind of society open to you, and you will have the honor of meeting all kinds of wonderfully interesting and famous people, great authors, paint- ers, poets, soldiers, sailors, princes of commerce, physicians, clergy, law- yers, singers, Kings and Queens, Presidents, watch them all, and their characteristics. A\'hen later on you come as actors or actresses to travel in foreign lands, you will be in a won- derfully true sense ambassadors for your country, representing a part of the culture of .\merica, showing all the world the true charm of the American lady and gentleman. Ed- win Booth was indeed a good am- bassador for America when he played in London with Irving, and so was Jefferson, and so were many others, such as Mary Anderson. And then remember, young ladies and gentle- men, you are today entering a great brotherhood of kind, warm-hearted, tender, gentle-natured folk, when you enter our beloved profession. As, was the Jewish race, so was ours maligned and persecuted in past times, treated as rogues and vagabonds un- fit to bury in sacred ground, but all the more have we been bound to- gether by ties of affection. All over the world actors and actresses are known for their kindness of heart and for their tender sympathy for one another in distress, and in entering our profession you receive as great a privilege of kind-hearted comrade- ship." "New Sphere for Women Lures Me" NEW YORK, April 20.—Blanche Bates, who in private life is Mrs. George Creel, speaking at the twen- tieth annual luncheon of the League for Political Education in the Hotel Astor, recently declared, amid ap- plause, that the public has itself to blame for the so-called sex play and similar dramatic productions of the present day. "I must express my ut- most disdain for the play of today," said Mrs. Creel. "The lecture room, and not the theatre, is the place for the topics they discuss. You may ask why managers produce such plays. The answer is that as long as the public seeks them they will be produced. I am beginning to realize what women mean in the world—that they have a duty, not only to themselves and their individual families, but to the world. A new sphere has been opened up to me. I j)rided myself on being the old- fashioned woman. I jdanned to be an old-fashioned wife. But I know exactly now what is leading the wdS men to feel that desire for work thw has interested them in the sociologic* questions of the day, and I realize what is in the power of woman's hand to do." Kahn Would Preserve Works of Shakespeare WASHINGTON, April 29. "Shakespeare will have disappear from the stage in 20 j^ears and w be studied only in the home, unl a determined effort is made to vive his plays." This was the dec! ation of Representative Kahn, ho guest of the Washington Reade Clul), at the birthday celebration the famous bard here tonight.