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HB " 8atanai." th " Dlavolos." and the
" Crazos." who loop the loop and leap the gap.
have been put to ahame In their daring by a
young Frenchwoman who outdoes them In two
ways first, because of the 8 shaped construc
tion of the courae when ahe strikes the critical
curve the track bends away and adds to the
danger of frightful momentum dashing her to
destruction; and. secondly, because she makes her daring
descent not on a light bicycle but In a heavy auto car.
Mme. Maurtcla de Thiers is the first woman ever known to
attempt to loop the loop In an automobile. Only she does
net call It an automobile. Her machine goes by the more
'striking name of ' autobollde."
Ths act Is the reigning sensation In Paris. The boule
vardler rress Is filled dally with descriptions of an act which
has used up all such adjectives as " thrilling," " hair rais
ing," "blood curdling." and the descriptive writers are
searching the language for more superlatives with which to
embellish their accounts of Mme. de Thiers' Strang flight
through ths air.
Wager on Her Death.
Among sporting circles beta are being made as to the
number of times the during woman will leap Into the air
with her machine before she is killed. All agree that the
first accident will be fatal. If the ponderous autobollde In
which she makes the leap ever misses the guide rails which
are Intended to hold It In Its flight. If she should faltor for the
fraction of an Instant In steering the muchtne along the
black line marking the center of the course from the alight
ing point of her aerial flight, If a wheel slips, a cog or a chain
breaks, or something snaps, the woman is almost certain to be
crushed to death In the wreckage.
Mme. de Thiers appears In the frightfully dangemus act
at the Folies Bergeres every night. The autobollde la simply
a powerfully built automobile with added weight to give. It
llgld stability and extra strength to withstand the Impart
after a forty-four foot leap through space. When securely
sested Mme. de Thiers pulls over the starting lever Just suffi
cient to give the huge machine a slight Impetus. This takes
It to the head of a steep Incline. As the machine plunges
down the steep Incline Mme. de Thiers shuts off the power.
Danger in Turning Forward.
Going swift as a flash of light, the car. with Its daring
passenger, strikes the foot of ths first Incline and turns a
half somersault not backward, as do the cars and bicycles
that loop the loop but forward.
The machine, In Its forward half somersault, strikes a
curve under the toboggan slide around which, at a furious
velocity, it runs bottom side up. Although Mme. de Thiers
in this second stage of her Journey Is riding head downward,
she sits In her seat, with her hand on the controlling lever,
as securely and apparently as serenely as If she were taking
a quiet spin at moderate speed along the Bols de Boulogne.
But In reality the metal apron of the car extends up over her
lap. so that by pressing her knees against the sides she cannot
fall out of the autobollde, neither can the machine Itself leave
Its track once It has struck the guide rails. This part of the
Journey Is the real test of Iron nerve, for In her lightning
dash down the Incline she must steer the machine so Its pro
truding axles catch the guide rails before taking the curve,
knowing death Is the penalty of the slightest miscalculation.
Forty-Four Foot Leap Upside Down.
As the autobollde completes the half somersault part of
Its flight the audience Is thrilled more than ever, for there
is a break In the track and the machine shoots out Into
space, still upside down, and makes a clear leap of forty-four
feet, landing on a reverse curve which gradually restores ths
machine to Its correct upright position and launches It upon
another plane with an upward incline. As the autobollde
IN HER MACHINE
"... t
tv
5
strikes this upward Inclined plane Mme. de Thiers gradually
applies the brakes ami the machine glides with ever decreas
ing velocity Into the wlncn, wture It Is finally stopped.
The audience breathes again, for It Is a noticeable fact
that every one In the theater catches hla breath at the In
stant the daring young woman begins her series of sensational
flights, and not a man or woman In the audience takes anoth
er breath until the huge machine elides out of sight behind
the wings. Then a sound like a mighty sigh comes from the
audience and It Is repeated with evident relief as the band
relieves the awful tension with a burst of music.
And yet. nlthouh It has seemed to the onlooker that the
fearsome Journey from the highest point In the theater to the
wings behind the stage has required minutes, as a matter of
fact it has taken only four seconds.
Adopts Strange Career by Accident.
Mme. de Thiers has never ridden a bicycle and she cannot
drive an automobile on a level stretch of road. She couldn't
obtain a license to guide a machine through the Chicago
parks, and yet she guides the ponderous autobollde over one
of the most sensational tracks ever devised by man.
She Is a handsome young married woman and never ap
peared In public on the stage. Her strange career came to
her by accident. The autobollde and Its dizzy flights of In
clined planes and Inverted curves was devised by a man who
happened to be an acquaintance. She saw the model work
successfully and was so fascinated with It that she volun
teered to take the first flight In the completed machine when
It was Installed in the Folles Bergeres. She did so and has
continued to take the leaps through space every night since.
Next year she Is coming to the United States.
3
; 7
LEAPING
THE SAP.
Uhc Chit
Catb
THOUGHT 1 needed Just 30," said Dora Bonn,
the Christmas card girl, " but when I came to
count It up it came to a great deal more.
" I wanted to give presents to everybody,
and you know how much It costs to do that!
" I had spent my last cunt all girls have
and I wanted to have some money tor Christ
mas all girls do. And I got It all by myself.
" How I earned my Christmas money may be a good lea
son to other girls who want to get rich in a week and who
do not know Just how.
" There are glrla who have friends on the stock exchange,
and by taking tips on the market they are able to realise a
good thing. 1 know girls who have made fortunes over night
lit this way, by buying the right stocks. But I had no friends
on the stock exchange, and those I have aaid: 'Save your
money, little girl. It Is the quickest way to get rich!'
" Saving your money la all right. But If you haven't got
l you can't save it. and I hadn't a cent. What Is worse, I
nias in debt. I had been away visiting, and you know what
.iai IIirailB. J JUOi nw,n unfurl. J v' .... j w
visit And I found myself back In New York broke and
Christmas coming on. What could I doT
Asked to Pose for Christmas Cards.
" You know, they call me the Christmas card girl! It be
gan In this way: A long time ago, when I was quite young
It must have been fully a year ago before I grew old I used
to pae for hats. I was quite a famous hat model. Tou see
I was only 11) then.
" One day an artist walked into the hat shop where I
stood with a Paris creation upon my head, and said: Don't
you want to pose for a Christmas card? Tou have a Christ
mas curd face.'
" Well, of course, I was delighted to pone, and I went to
his studio. Then I posed for other Christmas cards, and be
fore I knew It they were calling me the Christmas card girl.
1 didn't like It at first, but my friends told me it sounded
pretty, and I grew attached to it,
" But we get tired of doing everything after awhile. And
pretty soon I actually wearied of standing while they photo
graphed my face for Christmas cards, and I got tired of pos
ing for calendars. I did not want to pose any more,
"Then, too, my mother, whom I dearly love, was ill'
And. being tired of posing. I decided not to bo a Christmas
card girl, but to go up in the country and rest
J
Gets Riches for tht Holidays.
"And now here eomss the interesting part of my story,
the part which will be readable to girls who want to make
soma money for New Tear's and who do not know how to
do It.
" I oh me back to New York two weeks ago without a
cent, and In a week 1 had earned enough money for Christ
nuts and a great deal more.
" My mother laughed when she said good-by to me. ' Tou
will not be able to do it,' Bhe said, ' and you will be glad to
come hack home. But,' she added, ' you can go to the city
for a little while and see the stores and have a good time.
But you will be glad when It la over.'
" I laughed at her, for I well knew right down In my
heart that a Christmas card girl could always earn money In
the studios, but Just how much I did not know.
" My rates as a Christmas card girl were f5 a day and $3
for half a day, with lunch thrown In. Any artist who detained
me past the luncheon hour was expected to give m half a
dollar extra for lunch.
Finds Her Value Has Doubled.
" When I came buck to town I doubled these rates, and I
was a Christmas card girl with a full market value. I charged
U for a full day and 13 for half a day, with lunch thrown In
besides.
" Then, If the work was for a colored front page or fof
a full half tone puge, I charged extra. I also charged extra
for those art poses that take so long. And I would not pose
In mistletoe for loss than $10 a picture.
" You see. It is hard work. You have to sit so still and
look your best, and you have to smile, whether you feel like
smiling or not. And you have to be Just as pretty as you
possibly can. And It Is wearing son--times on your faoe and
your temper.
" Then you have to make up. And please note this, girls
who want to make money qolekly as Christmas card girls
or as New Year's girls, no matter how pretty you are, you
must learn how to make up. You positively must know how
to paint your lips a little and how to darken around your
eyes, and how to dress your hair. It Isn't exactly making up.
It is Just bringing out the high lights, as they do on the stage.
" But, of course, you mustn't wear your makeup In ths
street. You must take something and wash It all off before
you go out. The Christmas card girl who would wear her
makeup In the street would lose her Job as a sweet, desira
ble, pretty girl. It would not do at all.
J J
Home with a Bank Roll.
" Well, I dashed down upon New York, stuld a week, and
came home with a bank roll. I did it in six days, and they
were short days, for I did not get to town until Monday noon
and I left early Saturday afternoon.
" I swooped down, as I said, and by doing what the con
ductor calls a ' step lively ' I made a lot of money. It seems
to me that it la a little fortune, but by the time Christmas is
over it will bs all gone, I suppose.
What will I do then? Why, I will earn more, for I will
pose as calendar girls, and you know they can always get
good, steady work. I do not worry about ths future. I am
too happy with the present.
" I want to say, before I go any further, that I earned my
biggest money sitting for the mistletoe picture which accom
panies this article. I was invited to go to ths photographer's
trl
studio and to wear my prettiest evening waist. It Is a loft
muslin, draped across the shoulders In old fashioned surplice
style. There Is a plain round skirt.
" I was told to drees my hair naturally and like a mistle
toe girl of the olden days. I dia so.
" Taking a strand of my hair, I coaxed I Into long
curl, which I swung over my left shoulder. Then, oombing
my hair rapidly until It lay In waves all over my head, I tossed
It down upon my neck and gave It a great big loose twist.
Tying it In a knot, where its soft coils would show, I prepared
to be a mistletoe girl.
How She Posed fof Mistletoe Girl.
" 'What pose shall we take?' said the photographer, look
ing at m smilingly.
" ' I don't know,' I said.
" ' What Is your Idea of a mistletoe girl?' he asked.
" 'O, If I were to furnish an Idea, I would say give me all
the mistletoe I can get. I would bury my head In It so the
boys could not find me." I said laughingly.
" ' Well,' said he, ' bury your head In it and let ma see
how you look.'
" I did so, and he was charmed.
" ' In the words of President Roosevelt, I am do-llghted,'
said he.
" And when I saw the picture I, too, was de-llghted.
"If you want to be a mistletoe girl Just try to think of
something that Is new, girls. And If you want to be a Christ
mas card girl. Just try to think of something novel. Don't
be ridiculous. Don't think you are such a raving beauty that
you need not try to be pretty. Just keep on trying and you
will succeed. Don't think that you can be a Christmas card
girl and earn money If you are not willing to try.
Keeps Engagement Book Well Filled.
" Well, I was telling how I made my little fortune. One
of my first acts the day I arrived in New York was to go to
a telephone pay station I never sponge my telephone mes
sagesand there I called up all ths photographers, one after
another. 1 also called up all the art companies, and all the
magazines, and all ths fashion studios, and the picture card
establishments.
" The tonversatlon I had with them was something like
this:
" ' Hello, art company.'
" Hello.'
" ' This la Dora Bonn.'
" 'How do you do, Miss Bonn?
" ' Very well, thank you. Bee here, Mr. Blank, I am in
tewn for a week and I want to earn a lot of money. Can I
pose for you today V
"And ths answer would com baoH: Ysi. Come to the
studio at 11 o'clock.'
"Then the next one would engage me, and so on. I kept
a little book, in which I Jotted down my engagements, and it
U to my credit that I say l never broke an engagementand
fe P toy 4 11
111 fmM
was never lata at one. I kept every engagement on the
minute.
" Th art companies would reply with good pay. But the
fashion papers are the poorest pay of all, for the reason that
It takes so long to ch&nge your gown, and there Is so much
delay waiting for the goods to come, and so much fuss get
ting them on right and making them look as though they
were built for you. That Is why no model likes to be a fash
ion model. It is too slow work. It Is better to poBe for Christ
mas cards, and calendars, and art pictures.
J
Chance for Any Pretty Girl.
"I see no reason why any pretty girl cannot earn Christ
mas money It she knows how to poke. It she doesn't, why,
of course,. she cannot do it, -
"I saw a pretty little mouse of a girl come .creeping into
tin) studio. Her hair was not waved, and she looked scared.
'She will never be a good nnxlel,' I said to myself, 'until she
learns how to comb ber hair prettily and how to show her
teeth In a nice smile. That Is the way to be a model.'
" Well, before the week was out 1 hud earned my I'tO and
a greut deal more. And I went home with a lot of Christmas
presents ami a bank roll that simply paralyzed my mother.
" ' It la clever of you, my daughter,' she said, ' but stay at
home with your mother. Phe needs you, and the world docs
not"
f"And so I am home again. But this little Christmas tallc
Is tv girls who huvo no home, and who want to be Christmas
card girls, and New Year's girls, and an girls, and who du
not know how to go to work at it.
" It is eauy to be a Christmas girl."
I