Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 26

THE TIMES-DISPATCH: RICHMOND VA SUNDAY MAY 4 1913 OurrtiH MU Onvuy nl arttataBights yn Map 0 9 9 9 9 9 WHAT ON EARTH WILL DO Here Is Mrs Lean's Own Story Moral: Be Perfect Just Be Human bo wondered st that thasa stand In the way of a for the fourth time enjoyed for nearly a decade having effectually disproved within the theatrical pro How tholr one mistake maintain a more than human graphically with Its narrative THE extraordinary matrimonial altuatlon de-aerlbed on thia page by the wife herself ap-peara to have no parallel and no preoedent In history To be "too perfect for marriage" sounds like a paradox Yet here are a husband and wife whose carefully planned and faithfully executed at last got on each nerves to an extent that each found the otheria pressnoe un- By FLORENCE HOLBROOK (No Longer The Centipede was hsppr quite Until the Frog in fun Eald: "Which leq follows after which T' And so perpelxed the hapless wight He lsy 'a-kicking In the ditch r- A-wonderlna how to run Hiah School Psychology endurable It is not to same habits of divorce now being sougnt Mr and Mrs Loan had the reputation of the theory that marrlago feaslon cannot bo successful wee In'attempttng to standard of perfection la obvious In the comfortably reformed on companion model members of each other! managers forever shamed tssnnder for whole long years succeeded In ghastly weary of each Mr Lean Wearing the Smile That Miss Holbrook Yearned to the "for better or worse" fireside all the husbands and wives companies and autocratic from tearing wedded actors seasons For several more fooling the and then perfections It was all off Why tome experienced relative slap' us wall and remind us that "to err is human?" That marriage Is for human beings that perfection Is necessarily celibate? Why didn't some kind person head us off? Why we arrested? Just read the list of Impossible things we swore do and wouldn't do: 1 It Is or marriage no Interference from relatives blood or 2 We will remain together In our work managers will have to engage both or neither We will permit no professional Jealously to coma between ns if one gets more applause or press notices than the other both shall rejoice equally 4 We shall not be separated in our pastimes there shill be harmony in the choice of recreations which both can enjoy I If either develops annoying habits or mannerisms the other shall be considerate and not notice them Wo agree never to argno with each other each shall respect the opinions Hj OYEY" AND "DO I mein Mr and Mrs I Cecil are floundering in their aeparata domestic ditches with no present prospect of setting ont either as "the most perfect married couple on the or as free and Independent IndiTlduwe Too much the trouble A matn- monial standard pitched In too high a key at the start Too many plana and promises and compacts and agreements to start perfect and nay perfect Too much effort to maintain the standard Ton can't be perfect and human at one and the same especlaUy after marriage We held ourselves In stiff-neck ed'TxmrM of perfection until we endure each other We separated What was the use? The habit of perfection could not be shaken so psrfeoft that we get a divorce Goodness gracious! there been enough iia and printed about it? About and Dovey otherwise Florence Holbrook and Cecil Lean who got married and proceeded to overturn all the traditions of the Impossibility of married stage people living happy Thst wa ten years ago- Nobody can say that wa make a brave struggle For a couple of yean we believed we would have the whole acting profession Neither were there many pitfalls hidden la No 4' smile pursued W-ir Whaf on cfefUi can we ask Miss Holbrook- (Tbit la Charming Miss Holbrook Completely Surrounded by Heq only way to be happy if married is not think about Famous Fashions from NH of the kings of France came to the throne a child of "ten he wore his hair In 1 long ringlets curative power forgot to wash enough care We were both fond of outdoor sports We sailed and motored togther and could play tennis and golf with each other without getting angry and violating No though occasionally by dint of protracted silences between ua I was not addicted to the pink tea habit nor was bs over fond of his club Not much of a strain our perfection thus far But oh those fatal Nos 5 6 7 and 9 "Annoying habits or respect each opinions" personal "Courteous and considerate etc at all tlmea" Imagine that we or did or That is where the whole trouble lay' Even In these last named impossibilities of married life we forced ourselves to be perfect Imagine not arguing with your own lawfully wedded husband Or not reminding him of his annoying habKs Or refraining from criticising his ridiculous mannerisms Or being always courteous and considerate though married! But we did It We were perfect ai we declared we would be And then all of a sudden we realised that we would aimpiy have to be human or quit! It waa the trifles that it wu hardest to be perfect being considerate remaining silent abont little personal characteristics which were a constant source of irritation He bad a habit of always being last If there was five minutes in which to catch a train he would risk missing It In order to do something quite unnecessary I dare say I had little habits which annoyed him quite as much Once there was a wife who left her husband because his glass eye got on her nerves Another loving couple separated because of an argument about which end of the breakfast boiled egg should be broken the large end or the small end I actually believe that a glass eye in the family or a real good human matrimonial argument about a boiled egg would have been our salvation In order to realise our perfection Ideal we kept all our little differences and resentments and perfectly natnral little argumentative and critical inclinations bottled up The accumulation at length made us unbearable to each other We were too perfect to have out and clear the atmosphere For quiet a long while wa kept on working together and Holbrook" sang and danced and made love to each other professionally They continued to be and on the but nowhere else They were on each nerves quite hopelessly Once twine throe times they tried -to become divorced Alas! they were too perfect His Honor the Judge could find no flaw In them! They contemplate another perhaps "on grounds of Incompatibility of perfections" Otherwise the esse seems hopeless think me flippant or careless In these remarks I never was more serious In my life It Is such a serious matter that I feel like warning all young persons contemplating matrimony that that state Is not for the perfect or those wro have a passion for perfection but wbo ers simply human beings and otherwise eligible Florence Holbrook in a Thought ful Attitude There shall be no personal criticism of each other especially in the presence of outsiders 8 If a harsh remark or angry retort leaps to the lips of either ha or she shall silent until the Impulse has subsided Each toward the other shall be courteous and considerate in all circumstances at all times Signed sealed sworn to and and then we Visited the Little Church Around the Corner Better far better if we had been arrested and haled to Police Headquarters and sent to the Psychopathic Ward for observation as to our sanity However as that would have meant a long term in Matteawan at public expense perhaps It was just as well that our punishment was permitted to lit the crime We went to Philadelphia to rejoin the company in which both of us were principals We had not confided In the company for two reasons First we wished to make no parade of our example at the start but to let it sink in subtly and gradually Second Mr Frank Daniels the star was notoriously opposed to having husbands and their own wives acting with him and we naturally desired a breathing spell before testing Clause No 2 Alas! it had been necessary for us to get the sage permission to remain over one train in New York and we found our letter boxes on the stage crammed witr telegrams of congratulation Clause No 2 received its test then and there Mr Daniels glared at us snorted once or twice and sedulously refrained from noticing us except as "Miss and "Mr Lean" As time went on our perfection wss recognized among our professional except by certain managers wg became "Lovey" and I am snre that the rank and file of our profession were sincere in desiring to see us triumph we steadily refused to be separated la -our work Managers got to telling each other: "No use and Yon pry apart" There is no doubt that we sacrificed several opportunities to add to our individual earnings and our Individual professional reputation in order to remain together in our work and live up to Perfection 2 1 cannot remember that his relation of mine ever interfered with which kept No 1 intact As for No 8 the bulk or our press notices being about and "Dovey" and their worthy example to the theatrical profession and our applause pretty fairly shared we bad really no grounds for professional jealousy In the morning she either her face or did not use so the tale goes and appeared before the world with a face spotted Powdered and perfumed she received her callers and they found the accidental black spot charming so much so 1 that before night had come they annotated their faces with the black ointment The pannier of to-day was in great vogue the latter' part of tjie eighteenth century The introduction waa brought about by mere accident A very petite maid of one -of the well-known actresses of that day waa In the habit of pulling her outer skirt up so that when she knelt in arranging habit it soil or wrinkle the skirt The actress noticing the attrae tlve appearance she made with her outer skirt rolled up about her hips adopted the costume The late King when he was the Prince of Wales set and introduced mahyr fads and fancies As a younger man he was somewhat stocklly built and the high pointed linen collars in vogue at that time irritate him' in the extreme One night he purposely grasped the points-bent them over and it take long for the English dressers to find the scheme an excellent and practical One adopt ttand make -way for our present tnrh-dowa eok tars all about his head Immediately the men end women of tbe court did likewise and it' became the nationwide craze This same monarch was bald at thirty and being a lover- of things beautiful and feminine ordered the elaborate wig which was taken up and rer-' elled in during many reigns The feather boa originated less than twenty years ago in conservative Boston In an Idle moment an apprentice In a shop sewed the discarded bits and ends of poor plumes together and strung them about her neck The other girls -laughed at the' trimming the head of the department declared them pretty and the order waa given that no castaways In the form of plumes be thrown in the waste basket All parts of the plumes were kept sewed onto a ribbon and tbe entire thing curled the long ribbon loops put at each and this creation was the means of bringing that woman into prominence and it has gained in success each season since 'The origin of the beauty spot is no less Interesting The Duchess de Montmorril-lon suffering with a boll on her cheek re 1 sorted to putting on' a bit of black mixture which aha had been told held great.