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Who Will Play the Groom to
Olga Petrovas Bride in a Brief
Marriage for Convenience?
CONCERNING actresses, hero's a brand "now one.
Not a now actress, but a new angle on the
whole actress proposition Olga Petrova needs
a hUBband.
Usually actresses don't need husbands or, It they
do, they're careful not to mention It. Managers have
a prejudice against their lftdy stars getting married,
seem to think husbands an unfortunate background
Against whlth to display charmB which really belong
to tho public. But
Olga Petrova neods a husband for only six months.
After that ho may havo a mother to guide him, If he
wants to, but no wlfo. Ho must bo a six-months hus
band, no moro, no less.
At this writing there aro exactly 487 male porsona
pursuing Mllo. Petrova In ardent determination to be
come her husband. But alasl ttiey all want the Job
to be permanent Seventeen of them aro crazy about
her beauty, and tho other 470 havo heard that her
vaudevlllo salary Is $750 per week.
"But, no no, no, non, neln, not, novalr!" she de
clares In several European languages. "I will Jiavo no
permanent husband; six months Is tho limit and he
shall bo husband in namo only. I do not ilko men.
Tho only heart 1 havo I carry on my face It Is a very
little one of black court plaster. And my husband
for six months ho shall havo not so much as that
llttlo black heart on my face!"
"Well, what do you know about that?"
Somothlng has to be done about It. A docile
slx-monthB husband must step forward or here's
tho rub Olga Petrova will havo $50,000 less In
her vaudovllle war chest than now looms allur
ingly on her horizon. In order to make euro of
thoso extra 60,000 flno, round American dollars
she neods a husband for six months only. Be
sure and note tho statuto of limitations.
Not to tantallzo you further, tho way of It is this:
Whon the Polish beauty with her enormous mass
of rod hair on her head and her hoart on her face
camo to this country a year ago, she hnd in her pocket
a London musto hall contract binding her for thTee
years, In Europo at a salary of $250 per week. She
was hero on leave of absence with permission to ap
pear in vaudovllle In the Unltod States. ,
After coming a croppor onco or twice, she "made
good." Sho doos not deny It. On tho contrary, she
confesses that American vaudevlllo managers want her
for tho next threo years at tho comfortable stipend of
$750 por week. Figure that out at tho rate of some
thirty-odd wefoks por year for throe years, and if tho
difference between this American offer and the Euro
pean contract doesn't total up something like $50,000,
then tho writer of theso lines will havo to go back
to grammar school.
"But what can I do, w'at B'all I say? The. Euro
pean contract 11 est fait accompli I am, w'at yo'ti call,
stuck. Whore is zo holo In zo European contract where
I crawl out of cot?"
"Allcz vous on, va t'en," said hor maid a wIbo one
from Paris. "Hun along, hurry, to a lawyer, an' see
w'at zo lawyer say."
Done. Tho lawyer reads that European contract
and puts his flngor on that astuto antl-marringo clause.
If Olga Petrova marries it's all off no $250 per week
In English pounds or French francs.
"(Jot married," says tho lawyer. "That's all you
havo to do. Why worry?"
"Got married?" says Petrova in consternation. "Mol,
Jo mo, I, who havo no heart, except tho llttlo black
ono on my face? I who do not llko zo men? W'at
would I do wlz ugh wlz a husband?"
"Uouldn't you stands him, for a few minutes?'' asks
tho lawyor. "Couldn't you got married In, er, a Pick
wickian sanso, Just Incidentally, for an hour or two
or six months for
good measure to
cinch that extra
$50,000?"
Just imagine the
situation. Mile,
Petrova, an Euro
pean woman, from
a country where
husbands aro lords
and masters, hav
ing almost lltorally
tho power of Ufo
or death ovor their
spouses and Pe
trova having no
heart except the
little black ono on hor facet But
those 50,000 fine, round American
dollars! So sho listens to the
lawyer, and, by-and-by Is convinc
ed that, maybe, a husband can bo
found who will sit on her doorstep
for six months and then efface
himself forever. It seems almost
too good to be true, but she takes
a chanco, and tho word goes forth
that tho resplendent Petrova, with
the mountain of red hair on her
head and tho little black heart on
her face, needs a husband. Blngl
487 candidates, all in a bunch!
And every ono of them demand
ing the husband Job for life!
One wroto:
"I havo been bedridden for
twenty years; but I am quiet and
docllo. I will make very little
trouble. I will not Insist on your
leaving the stage although my
religious convictions are opposed
to tho theatro. The fact is, a
steady salary, such as yours, will
come in very handy, and probably
will enable me to survive for
years."
Another writes:
"It is true that I am quite deaf;, but, in time, dear
ono, I will learn to read your eloquent Hps.- Think of
tho charming hours wo will have together especially
on Sunday, whon you have brought home your salary."
About this, time Potrova's milk of human kindness
turned sour not to say curdled; and she began to say
cynical things to Interviewers. For example;
"I hate men, therefore they lovo me. ! was In love
onco; that was enough. Bah! never again."
"Loyo! What havo I to do with love? It Is excess
baggage. Besides, women havo It but men, never!"
"Thero is no such thing as constancy on either side
tho exceptions prove tho rule."
Now comes a confession which the faithful 487 will
read with dismay. It' Is printed hero in the fond hope
that It will bring forth through sheer hopelessness of
any moro Interesting matrimonial arrangement tho
modest, needed husband who will bo content to sit on
Petrova'B doorstop for six months and then hlo him to
a tropical region to got the chill out of his blood. She
confesses:
"I am not beautiful. I have a flno skin. That Is
Blmply because I sleep In icy cold water. Do your
American women do that? It would keep them thin
and strong, and keep their skin fine. The greatest
beauty specialist is tho bathtub. Tako plenty of baths
Could a
Mile. Olga Petrova,. Who Wants a Husband for Six Months,
Only.
and BleepIncold water that's all."
Olga' Petrova sleeps in Icy cold water. That ought
. to;settle it with tho undijly faithful 487. What husband
would not prefer the doorstep for six months?
Now, here areithe conditions get In line, and don't
crowd l fcrtho words of Petrova, hoTself: -
"Ho' must bo a gentleman, and tall. Even for .busi
ness purposes I could never marry a short, dumpy man.
After tho ceremony ho needn't bother to make lovo to
me, for I shouldn't listen to him; and I agree not to
bother'hlm ,wlth any wifely attentions. He must agree
to go to Reno on August 1, 1813, and secure
a divorce'.
"Of course, It's possible I might fall In love with
him in tho meantime, and If I do, I shall absolutely
forbid. him to go to Reno. But should I decldo that it's
the divorce colony for him, I will pay him well for
actingas my husband, temporarily, in the eyes of the
law.-
"Of courso, his first duty will bo to Inform those
European managers that he forbids me to further en
gage In theatrical work and I shall obey him, for I'm
In need of a six month's rest,' anyway."
So get in litre, don't orowd and remember, abovo
all t things,' that Potrova sleeps in Icy cold water, and
wears1 her heart on her face.
Replanting the Flowers and Trees
St. Paul Saw 1000 Years Ago
ANCIENT Rome Is to bo restored
florally. Although many of
, the trees and plants which
flourished when Rome itsolt flour
ished are still in existence thoy
yliavo been shamefully neglected In
Jnoderu times, and tho wonder Is
that they have survived at all.
Now, however, orders havo been
gives by the Italian Government to
use every effort to restore tho an
cient plants, and expert horticul
turists have been engaged to under
take tho work. '
Porh-ps the most interesting of
tho trees which will thus como In
for attentlun at tho hands of thi
gardeners Is tho ancient fig tree of
Romulus, the traditional founder of
Roma This hardy tree, said to be
no less than twenty-six centuries
od, was still bearing fruit up to a
few years .ago, when, for somo un
accountable reason, It failed. In
ancient times such an occurrence
would havo boon regarded as an
omen of nrtlonal calamity, and even
jlo-day there are those who attribute
the war In which Italy has been en
gaged with Turkey to the fact that
Romulus's fls tree Is no longer giv
ing fruit
Needless to say, however, It Is not
tor any such superstitious reason
that the Government officials will
transplant the flg tree in an effort
to revivify It
Tkfl white rose bushes planted by
the vestal virgins in the early days
of Rome, asd wt'.ch In those days
were tended almost as carefully as
the sacred Are which It was the vir
gins' principal function to maintain,
are also still la existence, but badly
need attention, as also the rose
buthes to be found adjoining the
statu to Praetextatus, the prefect
who fought against the advance of
CartoUaatty.
But porlfaps tho moat interesting
thing about those early Roman plants
Is tho fact that they furnish tho ,
connecting link between tho Rome
of to-day and tho Rome la which
8t Paul spent sevoral years of his
life. There is no doubt that St. Paul
enjoyed the fragrance of many of
them.
It was in tho reign of Nero that
St Paul Yisltod Romo and suffered
ground was such as to give a strik
ing appearance to tho city vlowed
from without "Ancient Romo had
neither cupola nor campanile," and
the hills, rfevor lofty or imposing,
would present, when covered with
the buildings and streets of a hugo
city, a contused appearance llko
tho hills of modorn London, for In
stance St. Paul's visit to Romo llos be-
1
tween two famous epochs In the
history of tho city: its restoration
by Augustus' and Its restoration by
No-o.
Some partB of the city at tb's
time, especially tho Forum and the
Campus Martlus, must have pre
sented a magnificent appoaranco
although many of, tho principal
buildings which attract the atten
tion of the tourist to-dAy had not
then been erected. Tho big public
places were embellished with plant?
and trees of many lnds, and many
of them, no doubt, must have per
ished In tv co r atlon of the city.
Nevertheless, their roots survived,
and in 1902 and 1903 M. Bonl suo
c( ded In restoring them.
The connection of the Gardens of
This Figtree Is Supposed to Have
bis martyrdom there. At that time
the city was a large and Irregular
mass of buildings unprotected by an
quter wall. It had long outgrown
tho Servian wall, but the limits ol
the suburbs cannot be exactly de
fined, j
Neither tho nature of the build
tops nor tho configuration of tho
Been Planted by
Romulus,
the Founder
of Rome,
and Is to Be
Replanted
by the
Government
to
Preserve It.
. ;
The White-Rose Bushes of the Vestal Virgjns in Rome. They Are as Old as
Christianity and Have Just Been Replanted.
Another
Ancient
Roman
Rosebush,
tyear the
Praetexatus
Statue,
Which
Is to Be
Replanted.
Nero in the Vatican with the name
if St. Paul rests nly, on. traditions
of more or less probability, but
there are many other localities with
which the name of the apostle is
linked and upon which there exists
to-day plants and. trees which, it Is
said, may havo flourished nineteen
hundred years ago.
Among others which the .Govern
ment's experts will seek to restore
are tho laurels of -the Regia, the
official residence of taa Supreme
Prrtlffi on the walls of whtcl were
engraved the .ames of all the con
suls. '
The flowers In tho -vicinity of, the
bouse of tho veBtal vlrgtnB, as al
ready restored by M. Bonl, show
what may bo dope along these lines
and lend encouragement to the more
extended work now proposed
The red roses or the baths adjoin
ing the house of the vestal virgins
rill flower; or they too are to bo
replanted to give them new llfe.v
Ihe ave-!ip ourist fifing ,ie
flowers growr.g upon and In tho vi
cinity of the ancient ruins, pays
little attention to them, regarding
tl'em as morn growtn. Indeed,
their hlstorj Is little known, and
many of them have been destroyed
by sight-Beers who would have been
greatly shocked to have learned that
in picking the uncared-for flowers
they ad committed vandalism.
When the restoration of these
plants 1b completed, however, they
will be properly enclosed to protect
them from similar Injury In the
future.