MISS-LOTTIE SARGENT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 729, 31 January 1910, Page 3

MISS -LOTTIE SARGENT.

:SOME .INTERESTING;'EXPERIENCES.' Hiss. Lottie,,Sargent,.,who, with Mr. Gilbert, so vividly in •.the' Danse. des .Apaches' portrays-, the' -primitive'; love, and .'hatred of the.' Apaches, the scourge of • Paris, is now, paying ■; her, first;, visit to.. New :■ Zealand. /In', many .cases, continuous .traveling -.-for.", a .fortnight,'. with .necessarily .late. hour's every night, ; and' -.rising' the next .•.morning 'at' heart-breakitigly early times' for-another.'/long train journey, is 'rather apt to quench all enthusiasm and interest in any' country, r but- .with Miss Sargent such„ has. evidently not;been tie: case. .'Wherever, she has. been so far,', she' has. made appoint ,of seeing 'everything that is of interest or'in any degree out. of the. way. ".■:•'V". : ' ! ': ■'■•. .. :| Naturally,,. after' the notoriety:,, the Apaches-have.been once more gaining.for themselves .in Paris ..by.: .their crimes '(many of/which- are never found, out or never'meet'with.retribution) it was very interesting to ihear...something: of; the .liisfoi-y" of the'-fampus Danse 'des' Apaches'. The,>dance was.'taken; from 'life, and was ;seen, much.'a's'.'it.'is now represented : oh' .the'stage. \in,;Paris, in ;a ; cafe. which' he, with .a Frenchman, entered.'-.,Th'e,Vcafa .belonged to ter in ; Paris..:whicli/people who had. a regard;for' their' property and lives'-sel-' dqm cared' to ..visit.' Here he saw a man •and a'girl dancing:together, and While' he was .watching, the door opened, and another .man appeared. ..-The ■ newcomer' .watched;,the dancers for a.few:moments, his face a study of jealous:rage.,/Almost before they' knew, it,.' thd. dancers ' were' 'separated, I .:and,, with'-a blow, : tho' girl' -was.•gripped tightly" in his arms, 1 and r away..they. whirled 'madly ....round '.the .room; ferocity .that threatened '•' 'her "life< , and,'.a wild. tenderness alternating/with , que:.another. ;The-rgirl:: every, now and , again'-lookedHup intoVhisiiace with .a' laugh, daring- the ?Apache:'to" kill " her for. dancings with, the other'' man:'' So .struck;.-was 'the Englishman, ..who hap- - ' pened to. be" Mr. Spenser- Barry, stage manager of- the Empire Theatre, with the drama that 1 -had been/ unconsciously' enacted before'him; ithat he resolved to reproduce it in London. > With the assist-,' ahce-of Mr.' P. Parren,'. the -dance' was j finally J arranged;; and' when' brought' beforo the public proved a tremendous sue-' cess. Here, it; was that Miss Sargent saw ■ it, for the .first time,, and.'was fascinated by the-expressiveness of it;, . Miss ,Sargent,, who, by .the way,' is a sister-in-law ,of. Miss 'Evie-. Green, has played in. America, and South' Africa,' and : has many interesting -recollections :• of .both countries. She .went to..New. York' with the,' entire - original. London - cast of "The Duchess of Dantzic,",which' estab-. lished,a-record season, in New.. York, despite : ,the- prevailing;'.depression,; to .say nothing of blizzards, of. which;she has a particularly. ; vivid remembrance. • The sight of the general wealth in America made; Miss. Sargent.,: a. most ,'confirmedj tariff reformer. •_; At,. the (present 'moment it, is . quite a , minor sorrow . that she is away, from England,'.for she is ' keenly interested in politics.:' r South .'Africa ) .interested Miss 1 Sargent immensely; and - as. the company had an. extensive..repertoire and spent: a considerable ; time there,, she had • time •'to add.to".her.knowledge of-the country.-. A fact that/'impressed .her' very much was the.undoubted;"preference for Dutch authority, shown' by the.great',majority of: the,people" to that, of the, British,■ even by those who-had in the past fought for, England. •: They., blame the British 'for absolute mismanagement after the war, and think.now that the Dutch know far more/about tho,needs of the country than',the English ever, will. .While inPretoria .Miss, Sargent visited the Government experiment . farm,: a most -fas-' cinating- place. . Here-for 'years they, have been experimenting and'finding out the" different things, tliat- can best, be grown in .the;, country, and which will prove, of the. greatest. use. 'Now, after years of research,: it has been found that if.,animals ,;are fed. on; the sal'tbush during times of drought none need, be lost as'it sustains life, and'. can itself'live for' two. years, without water. Will the Boers grow it? No! -Withcyes upturned and hands uplifted they say, "The Lord sent the drought for there, is much 'wickedness in the, land, and the Lord will take it away, in His good ..time;" and. they, do nothing i while their ; cattle . and everything, else die, and they. lose, thousands. Miss; Sargent; was ■ lucky . enough. (some people might: not have; looked at it in that light) to "havebeen in Johannesburg when a piague; of locusts flew over the city. -While they were approaching, the 1 appearance of the insects while flying,' with the.sunlight shining on their wings, was like a snowstorm, ; but soon all sunlight was hidden, "and for two hours the place might.have been -wrapped in dense twilight—very dense, 'indeed. Miss Sargent says ;■ it \ vras .; estimated that the swarm' was 'eight miles in- length and four.in breadth, which was fairly ex-, tensive. ■'.'•'• Everything, doors .and .windows, had :to be. shut, and everything, covered if possibl*.■. ,'■'.■.,'