A BABY FOR “PETE.”

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 848, 4 June 1910, Page 4

A BABY FOR “PETE.”

Baby wanted for New Zealand tour of “ Pete." Mother to take charge. Apply stage door, Criterion Theatre, between 4 and 5 o’clock this afternoon.

Any anxiety as to the decline in the birthrate might have been dispelled by a visit to the Criterion Theatre on Friday, May sth (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph), between the hours of four and five. The result of the advertisement in the Daily Telegraph was a gathering of mothers and infants that speedily converted the theatre offices into something resembling a kindergarten or a repository at which infants are left while the mothers are out working. They thronged the passages, occupied every available inch of room in the offices, and an overflow -meeting was held on the footpath outside, at which the mothers, no doubt, discussed matters of mutual concern, and perhaps agreed to a fixed scale of wages for stage infants. The babies themselves had no voice in the proceedings, though they made themselves heard occasionally. For there is as yet no babies’ union in connection with the theatrical profession. There were thin babies, fat babies, babies that struggled desperately to free themselves from the maternal embrace when they saw the strange environment of the stage, and babies that insisted upon extending a chubby fist of introduction to all and sundry who passed within touch. There was one baby who lifted up his voice in protest, and waged vocal warfare upon the world around him ; and it was not until the mother, after all else had failed, threatened to hand him over to the actors that he subsided into a defiant silence. In all, over forty babies were submitted for inspection.

“ They are a fine lot,” said the stage director, casting a professional eye over the gathering, “but the chief " 't is that they are too large. Pete’s baby has to be carried about a lot. We want him small, and about two months old. Next please.” And so the procession filed past. It is remarkable how (according to doling mothers) iniaut Australians are so admirably suited to a stage career. Said one fond mamma, swaying herself backwards and forward with a “broth of a baby” in her arms that gave every indication of developing into a regular Sandovv, so largely developed was he: “ 1 am sure he will be good in the part. Pie is most intelligent. He knows everything one says to him. Don’t ’oo, little puss?” And the baby responded with a comprehensive “good,” that drew from the enraptured mother the assurance: “There now. Isn’t he beautifully intelligent ?' ’ There was a remarkable infant that ought to grow into a most resourceful actor —for the suburbs. “ He has appeared in many plays already. He has played parts with Bland Holt, and has made quite a hit in .Shakespeare,” said the proud mother. “I can show you his press notices.” One chubby iniaut, with a very red face that a prolonged fit of wailing had imparted, never ceased crying from the time it was carried, struggling desperately, into the august presence of the stage manager. “It ought to make a howling success of a crying part,” was the only managerial comment as the mother was politely communicated with in due course.

The widespread desire to take to the stage and play tiie “juvenile part ” in “ Pete ” was indicated by letters and telegrams horn all parts of the country. One lady wrote from the Newcastle district : “I will bring the baby to see you if you send me a wire and expenses. I will guarantee success. ” Towards eventide a weary stage mauagea cautiously emerged from the Criterion. With a furtive look around, as if dreading another infantry attack, he made off rapidly, and jumped into a tram, just as three ladies stopped outside the theatre, each bearing a baby in her arms.