Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, March 07, 1915, EDITORIAL SOCIETY, Image 20

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    The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
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Miss "Longfellow"
Displaying, When a
Photographer's
Model, a New
Kind of Coiffure.
. . 2
i ,v - 'lJ
How a Beautiful New York
Artists9 Model Has Won Nervous
London9 s Approval By Recog- .
nizing That While It May Be a
Long, Long Way
to Tipperary, It
Is Not Very
Far From
German Longf elder to
American
Longfellow
Hyde Joke
!U a I o II 11
mm
-.r
M
1 Y worti!" said Malvlna.
It wasn't. She had picked It
up in .London. She had been
sedulously cultivating it, along with other
British idioms a ad idiosyncrasies, ever
since Fern Rogers (whose apology to the
EngUeb was printed In this newspaper a
few weeks ago) was banished from 'the
British stage and driven home to America
for saying nice things about the Germans.
But unto Malvlna, struck with sudden In
spiration in the Poets' Corner of West
minster Abbey, standing there before the
bast ot Longfellow, her exquisitely ac
coutred loveliness in classic keeping with
the place, though in awful contrast to ber
dishevelment ot mind unto Malvlna, dluy
.with salvation as a street convert, even a
German expletive would not have sufficed.
"My word," murmured Mahrina, "It may
be a lone, long way to Tipperary but it's
a short, short way from Longf elder to
Longfellow.' Just like that she thought
itquick as lightning. For. It you
were In the fix thst (Mdlvlna had been
in ever since she arrived in London;
if you had spent six weeks under the
seeming suspicion of the whole British
Empire; if you bsd wakened thankful o'
mornings thst you bad not been arrested
as a spy during the night, and then it you
bad fled for solace and sanctuary to the
Abbey and come face to faoe with Inspira
tion and a bust of Henry Wadsworth Long
fallow, you would appreciate Malv-taa'a
past woes and her present grim determi
nations, t
Because Malvlna Is Malvlna Longtelder,
the very famous and beautiful New Yorlc
model. There is only, one ot tier, and half
of her Is Qcrman.
To keep even that many alive and out
of peril had seemed to her a problem until
to-day.
She wno had been declared by famous
artists the embodiment of all perfections;
she who had charmed half America toe
fore the cordial footlights of home; she
who had grown tired of being acclaimed
"the most beautiful woman in America";
she. the original and only Malvlna. found
herself being UHreated for the first time
in her life.
She had noticed it first going over on the
English boat. Even the camaraderie of
the sea was under war-strain. The Eng
lish people on board were already In
process of solidification into the bomb
proof shelter knows as the "British Pub
lic." It would be necesssry to snub a lot
ot their dearest friends, and tbey might as
well begin practicing on strangers. W hen
they heard the lest two syllables of Mai-
vlna Longtelder's German-American last
name, tbey were not only bomb-proof;
they were the Rock of Gibraltar.
Under any other circumstances Malvlna
would have sung paeans end danced Jigs
ot rejoicing (In the discreet retirement of
her stateroom) for sheer relief from
homage. But to have one's personality
obliterated by a syllable was rather a bore.
Malvlna very naturally did the worst
thing possible. She refused all attentions,
went Into a retirement that would have
dona credit to Albion Itself and wasted ber
fragrance on the desert air.
When Malvlna arrived In London she
was used to it. The patriotic scrutiny of
the hotel clerk in ber own pet little hotel
In Kensington ss he noted the burden
some pstronym did not even make her
wince. It was not until she met English
friends amoag strangers, noted the tinge
of embarrassment when ber name was
mentioned In Introduction, and saw "God
Have the King" written on every coun
tenance, that she realised how mentally
embattled London village was and bow
tight a "tight little isle" could be.
After that anything was possible. Mai-
vlna's fructlle imagination (peopled the
streets with pursuing government agents
and filled the fog with phantasms of doom.
8h was in this state ot mind when the
kindly company at the Drury Lane Theatre
heard poor little Fern Rogers say that she
liked Germans, signed a round robin and
made Arthur Collins dismiss her for the
protection of the Houses of Parliament.
It was this news, which she read In the
papers, coupled with the Incidents of a
particularly embarrassing week that nad
driven Malvlna to talk to the benevolent
bust of Longfellow In the Abbey.
But Malvlna was no swaying Fern to be
blown into exile end even Into apologies
by the winds ot hostility. Malvlna had
come to the fame-hallowed spot to plan a
campaign, and when she said "My word!"
she had already half her forces In the
field. She had, as has been said, suddenly
realized that it was not a long, long way
from Longfelder to Longfellow.
"Ah I beg your pardon but I sea that
you are an admirer ot our greatest bard
iperhaps yourself an American" said a
softly cadenced voice behind ber.
Malvlna turned the Doric pillar of her
throat to let her celebrated eyes fall upon
a neat little gray woman who was be
stowing upon her the first smile she had
met in I.cntlo".
"Yes," said Malvlna.
"Oh, isn't that nice? We are from Bos
ton. My son" she Indlca.nd a youngster
in coruscating clothvs who bad lingered
dejectedly behind hei "is studying for
the mlnu-try. I bring him here to Instil
Into his mind a reverence for the twn Im
mortalities fame and the soul. Whlttier,
came here; I want you to look with pa
triotic pride upon the feattires of a native
bard the only American poet ever hon
ored at this shrine Henry , Wadsworth
Longfellow."
"Longfellow your grandfather," ejaculated
the youth. "Know all about him; hated
his face ever since I owned a third reader.
Household poet New England group,
visited upon helpless American school
children in plaoe of real literature. Never
had an idea except that U'a good to be
good and it's bad to be bad. Longfellow
your grandfather!"
Malvlna gased npon the young to an with
mingled apprehension and gratitude. His
words had crystallised her thoughts. Bhe
had crossed the Valley ot Decision.
"No, he was my granduncle," she
breathed reverently.
"Oh. my chUd! Whlttier. what have
you doner"
"Apologies." said Whlttier. "Abject
apologies. Meant every word ot it, but
take it all back like a gentleman. Come
along, mother."
Gayly from the consoling clutches of the
little grsy woman escaped Malvlna
Longfellow. The die was cast, the gaunt
let thrown. Now to take the aggressive
against her enemies! Now for action I
Strategy wile No. 1 Move to another
hotel.
No. 2 Buy a copy ot Longfellow's
poems.
No. 3 Summon the trusted American
friends and whisper for the first time in
eons to ears that could be tickled by a
joke.
Dismissing her secret agents, Malvlna
sat down to read the pagea of her new
relative. She would need several sweet
little things to quote, or perhaps even to
recite, bhe examined the Index. Here
was a harmless one intltled "Flowers."
Malvlna whisked over the pages:
"Spake full well in language
quaint and olden.
One who dwelleth toy the
castled Rhine!"
"Whew!" gasped Malvlna, and turned to
"The Wreck ot the Hesperus."
There appeared In the Bond street
"Magic Numbers" That Tell the Truth
Br Prof. Sothnos Letillier.
Tbe WeUIUowB Pruii AMrolugrr.
MANY times ws : are uncertain
whether or not a certain person
has told us the truth; and we
have no assured means ot finding out.
One method Is to employ tbe snclent
science of nembers. which, though not
Infallible, will often prove of striking value
A I C D E F I O I H
JO 2 tO .4 It 6 16 7
20 U t 12 4 14 6 36
iC s T u(v) w x"fzT
18 18 10 2 2 4 14 J3
P W1. L mm K J lii I
and correctness. In order to work out
this method draw up the following table
on a piece of paper, copying the various
letters and figures correctly:
Now write the name ot the person
suspected ot telling you a questionable
truth and treat the name, In the light of
this table of figures, as follows: Take tbe
letters (and figures belonging to them)
which compose his name, and also the
name of the day of the week on which
the charm is tried. Add 18 to this result,
obtained by adding together tbe numbers
corresponding to the letters composing the
name, plus the number of the day of the
week (counting Sunday 1, Monday 2. and
bo on). Now divide this total by 2. If the
result be uneven, you may feel reasonably
pure that an untruth has been told you;
if, on the contrary, the result is even, you
have probably listened to the truth.
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S 1 mwmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!3to'vtf'imt tpw.w:y.,,:rv'-i.'r
- UCi. " t . 3 ' :. !
MiS ilvina . ' r-j L 4 ' ' " 5
Longfeiw : - C'v '! f ' v1 . j
showing off ';,- -
Bathing Suit il lU - ' '
BeforoSho' -tvft-T ' ' '-,'" A' 1
Became a J. f ' 'i
Footlight -wT i ' . . :
Star in " ' fl
London . 1 ' " . , .
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I
it'
Ml .
V
An Art Photograph of Miss Longfelder "Longf ellow" Who
Has Played Such a Joke on England.
J
While at the
Right Is
the Same
Charming
Lady Displaying
Lingerie for
a Fashion
Photograph
Copyright, 1915. by the Sl; fompany.
Great Brkaia Rights RsservcA
shops, In the theatres and In the smart
gatherings wnere society and the arts
blend as they do bo becomingly in Lon
don, a superb brunette, whose entrance
upon any scene caused the question:
"Who is she?" and the answer: "A grand
niece ot Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I
believe."
Nothing could have ensconced her more
securely in the approval ot London society.
Longfellow has always been the most
honored American poet in England prob
ably because he is so respectable. Mal
vlna, who for long had borne a name that
locked' tbe doors where she expected wel
come, now found herself bearing one which
was an "open sesame" to the treasures of
social triumph.
And maybe Malvlna didn't make the
most of It!
Of course, everyone was seeing how
much she looked like Uncle lieury and
wizened young society blades were sure
she had poetry in her soul. The citadels
fell so easily before her arms that Malvlna
became bold. Even her most daring fellow-conspirators
sat in agony that after
noon when she recited:
"Tell me not in mournful numbers:
'Life is but an empty dream;'
For tbe soul is dead that slumbers.
And things are not what they seem."
But nothing happened except tea. Mal
vlna passed on to new and greater con
quests, and, like Evangeline, "when she
had passed it eeemed like the ceasing of
exquisite music."
She erected her triumphal arch over the
scene of the subjugation ot Lady Tevy.
Everyone was talking about Malvlna by
now. You can't let a girl with looks and
talents and rhythmic ancestry such as hers
go unnoticed for more than the fifth part
of a moment. Even in London they
couldn't So when it came about that
Lady Tevy was planning a brilliant bene
fit for the British soldiers a dramatic en
tertainment to which the Duchesses and
dignitaries ot the realm were Invited, and
when some one whispered to Lady Tevj
that Malvlna had sometimes been per
suaded to appear in amateur performances
In New York, the stately gentlewoman
first nibbled and then bit.
Malvlna "finally consented." She wag
distracting, dazzling, radiant in her tri
umph. The benefit was an Immense suc
cess and made a lot ot money for tbe
soldiers. Pictures ot Malvlna, who had
the leading (and misleading) role, ap
peared in all the 'prints; her "property"
family tree was verbally "shlnnled.up" b7,
Important critics.
"The grandniece of the great American
poet, Longfellow," said the London Illus
trated weeklies, printing copiously full
page photographs of the former Miss Long
felder. "Pro-Belgian, not Pro-German," ran a
full-page headline in the ultra-patrlotlo
London Sketch. Underneath the charming
photograph of Malvlna the Sketch solemn
ly congratulated the English public on at
last getting an American actress of un
impeachable American family who had no
German sympathies or conventions what
ever!
Malvlna had arrived! Fern Rogers was
avenged!
Malvlna Longfelder, conqueror of
Britain, is the daughter of a New York
mechanic of German birth who never for
got his old home on the Rhine! So ar
resting is her beauty that Charles Dana
Gibson, passing her upon the Avenue,
stopped, begged pardon, introduced him
self In crisp fashion and asked her to pose
for him. Malvina did also afterwards for
Fisher. Christy, Phillips and Hutt. She Is
the only woman who ever posed for a head
of the Saviour a remarkable conception
in one ot the New York studios. She has
appeared in this countrv in "The Rose of
the Rancho," "The Great John Canton,"
"The Watcher" and "The Whirlwind."
If the Britons wake up and can't see
that the Joke Is on them, Malvlna will
probably, goon appear Ja (his country
again.