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HOW FORREST ADAIR MADE A STAR
OF A PLUCKY YOUNG SCHOOLMA’AM
Willa Holt Wakefield, Georgia
Girl. Says New York Likes
Dixie Damsels.
By DUDLEY GLASS.
This was to have been an interview
with Willa Holt Wakefield. The ques
tions were all framed up. and some of
the answers, too, for it's a poor inter
£ viewer who can't make his victims say
the things which best build a story. But
the bell rang just then, and thaf's why
it turned into the story of Forrest Adair,
headliner-maker. For if there hadn’t
been a Forrest Adair there wouldn't be
any Willa Holt Wakefield on the bill
boards. He found her a school teacher
and sent her to the stage.
It was Forrest Adair’s ring at the bell
which broke up the Interview. When
he and his son. Frank, entered Miss
Wakefield’s apartments at the Piedmont
there was a. greeting only to be de
scribed as affectionate. There was a bit
7 of family chat, a talk’over the phone to
the Adair home, and then Miss Wake
- field caught her breath and explained.
Put Her On the Stage.
"These are my really, truly friends,
you know. Frank was one of my boys.
4 Didn't you know I taught school here?
He was a little fellow then. Oh, no, I
won’t say how long ago it was, and
don’t you count backward, either. And
Mr. Adair put me on the stage.
"He came into my school one dfiy and
told me I had no business teaching
when I ought to be on the stage.
‘“How soon can you go to New
York?’ he asked.
“ ‘Tomorrow,’ said I. And I did. I
. went all alone, with just S3OO in my
purse. I wouldn't do it again with a
thousand. But Mr. Adair told me to
keep up my nerve, and I just kept on
trying.”
Ҥhe tried all the managers and the
agents," said Mr.. Adair at this point.
‘‘None of them would give her a chance.
But she stuck to it, kept her independ
ence, and it wasn’t long before they
came so her instead.”
Entertained Society.
It was "society entertaining" which
gave the Southern girl a chance. She
gave her little “pfanologues” at several
fashionable homes, and built, up a repu
tation which spread beyond drawing
rooms to Broadway. Her first real stage
appearance was at the great annua!
performance given by th" Vassar stu
dents for a charity fund, and several of
the New York managers were in the
audience to discover any new talent
which might have come to the surface.
' -They heard Willa Holt Wakefield, and
in a few days she had found her first
professional engagement at a salary
beyond what she had hoped for. It has
been easy going for. her ever since.
"Yes. you might call me an Atlanta
girl,” said Miss Wakefield. "I lived here
several years, and I'm a Georgian. I
taught expression in a college in one of
the suburbs for a season. My father
had the ‘wanderlust,’ you know, and* I
wandered with him. so I can really
* claim a dozen places as ‘horn".'
Dixie Girls' Chances.
“But you were asking me whether a
Southern girl had the same chance to
‘land' on the New York stage as a girl
from the East Certainly she has, if
she has the same ability and the same
courage, and if she doesn't make herself
disagreeably Southern
“New York likes Southerners, I think.
They like the Southern voice and
Southern good breeding and all the
qualities which the better people of th?
The Safe
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fruits get into Sinalco. Nothing could be better for
children than that. They get the tissue-buiiding F*lgg
properties of wholesome fruits without the waste pulp. yrjc
And how the children do like it! Each sip has a new I Jg
Byon more than the rest. yl
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Willa Holt Wakefield, Atlanta girl, now a stage favorite,
who was induced to go into vaudeville by Forpesf Adair.
South pride themselves upon, but they
do not like tn have ‘professional South
erners’ try to make capital of those
qualities, real or imitation. They are
extremely tired of the old, old story of
the chorus girl daughter of a famous
old Southern family who exploits her
alleged ancestry all over the Sunday
supplements. But if a girl really has
the ability it doesn't matter where she
is from. I believe that Southern girls
have been more successful, as a class,
than any others, for they are more at
ease, more capable of expressing the
emotions, more at home in a drawing
room, whether a real one or a stage
scene. And she has more independ
ence. too.”
Mi. Adair smiled.
“Tell him about the Hammerstein
h»nefit and Eva Tanguay,” he said.
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS: FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1912.
"Tell him yourself," retorted Mfts
Wakefield
“It was while she was playing in-one
of Hammerstefn’s houses," said _Mjir
Adair. “Her Southern friends Inlkryv
York wanted-to give her a big jif
appreciation, so they bought np«'t>«“
whole lower floor for one performance
and went to see her.. But they had fjll
sent, flowers, and before the cmjtaln
went up a dozen florists' wagons
crowding the stage entrance
"Eva Tangiiay was heading the'hill,
and when she saw these flowers she
promptly threw a fit which made her ‘I
Don't Care' seem as tame as a minuet.
"‘No other act’s going to get all'that
conservatory on the stage while I head
the bill.' said Eva. She appealed tc.
Hammerstein. He was up against it.
but he let Tangiiay bluff him. And
when Miss Wakefield was told that she
couldn’t receive the flowers before the
curtain .she promptly took off her stage
•costume, tore up her contract and
walked out of Hammerstein’s. And she
walked into a new contract pext week
at exactly double her old salary. That
ehows-how independent a Southern girl
can be.”
■'Well, it pays," laughed the pla'nol
oguist. ‘‘And If a. bluff loses—why, I
can come back home and go to teaching
again. Rut T'm afraid I'd have a dread
fully hard time living on a teacher’s
salary.”
And comparing the size of Miss
Wakefield’s weekly pay envelope with
the monthly wage the average instruc
tor of Georgia youth receives, leaves
no doubt that an ounce of amusement
is worth a ton of instruction —on the
pay roll.
FORTY SIX ARKANSANS
INDICTED FOR TRYING
TO RON OUT NEGROES
JONESBORO, ARK . May 31.--For
tv-six citizens of Craigshead county,
Arkansas, of which Jonesboro is the
county seat, .have been indicted for
nightriding
These men, according to Sheriff Burt,
attempted to run negro farmers from
the county by leaving threatening let
ters and bundles of switches on thel
front doorsteps.
In many instances, mobs have drag
ged .men., women and children from
their beds and whipped them.
SUICIDE PACT SEEN
IN DEATH OF TWO
DIXIE SOCIETY MEN
GARYVILLE. LA., May 31 Morris
Millett and Ozamine Dry, two prbml-
Inent young society men. were found
shot tn death today in Ory’s home.. All
indications pointed to a suleifle pact
and that Gry had done the shooting
An investigation is being made
PRISON TERM FOR SELLER
OF QUEEN'S STOLEN GEMS'
SINGAPORE Mav 31 -Paul I)*Ro
reck. extradited here from London to
day. wa ■■ -ontem ad tn the Strait court
to two years impr S'.'timtnt tjir dispoa
irg of the stolen Jewels * the Queen
t Siam.
H° me of
dg?*; Hart Schaffner & Marx SB ~•■
A Fine Clothes /zK
"A '
iJIJM Ok AZTZ ft I
A/ ® 1 v \l
Copyright Hart Schaffner & Mari
Y OUR summer suit will prove absolutely satisfactory in style, fit and
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madeof pure,unadulterated wool thoroughly shrunk—made especially
for us by the world’s best makers,
HART SCHAFFNER & MARX and ROGERS, PEET & CO.
You'll find a large line to choose from and the values you’ll get will surprise you. See what $lB will
buy, or S2O or $25, and the finest made at S3O to S4O.
Stetson Hats have Comfort, style and fit
been good for more with perfect service in \
than 40 years. You’ll every pair of these Net- J
here the largest tieton and H. &F. a m
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tures, $3.50 to $6. $4, $5, $6 and $7. ~
DANIEL BROTHERS CO.
Davison-Paxon-Stokes Co.
Saturday You May Buy Children’s
Apparel at Extreme Price Reductions
* &oys’ Suits, Girls’ Dresses, Children s Rompers, Etc.
opportunities for Saturday you will not want to miss—if you have summer apparel to buy.
The sturdy Wash Suits, and cool Frocks, of which boys and girls need a number. Note the pricing
for Saturday.
Boys $1.25 Wash Suits Girls' Dainty White
at 89c Dresses at $2.98
Pretty sailor blouse Suits in solid blue or Priced Regularly--$3,50 and $4
white; or blue-and-white checks or stripes: 4 to Shppr, pretty whiiP Drpsses; square neck and three-
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regular price—sl.2o—jet aie to be had in this wHh dainty ]acps A number o f attractive styles to
sale at 89c each. choose, from ; all are regular $3.50 and $4/10 Dresses, for Sat-
urday at $2.98 each.
Boys’ Russian Suits Girls' Stylish Summer Frocks
Values Up to $2.00 at S LO °
1 /)/! Coni, cunning little summer Dresses, made in various
at bI.UV i ■winsome ways of pretty, sh p er muslins and lawns in fashion- >
able color combinations. You would never expect Dresses
There are Suits of many styles and color com- of this value to be priced at only SI.OO.
binations in this assortment —just the kinds boys Sizes 4 to 14 years,
like; the wanted blues and tans; blues and white;
made of good washable materials; priced regu- \T *
larlv as high as s2.oo—special for Saturday at / INeW INemO LsOrSet
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yqS \ June Special 1912
Children's 50c Rompers / Priced at $2 00
at 29c
The demand for Rompers increases each season as women beautiful, DPI* model for mft-
learn more and more their absolute practicability. This oppor- // j\ M dilim and full figures, of light,
tunity for buying them al just about half their regular price // / \XI
will be appreciated by those xvho have yet the summer > sup- L I summer-weight batiste. 'Let OUT
ply to provide. They are made of good chambrays, madras, 4/° ,
ginghams and linenes, in pink-and-white. blue and white, * J COTSefieie fit JOU ill one of theS6.
and red-and-white, stripes and checks. Sizes Ito « years; : SoLIdSeRVICeZL The special June price is $2.00.
29c Saturday instead ol 50c garment. i SPECIAL
GEORGIAN WANT ADS
Read for Profit. Use for Results
7