Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 November 1890 — THEY ROARED WITH LAUGHTER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THEY ROARED WITH LAUGHTER

Mr*. Frank Losllo’s First Appearance Before a Public Audience. Mrs. Frank Leslie recently gave to a Chicago Post reporter the story ol her first appearance before a public audience. “It was a charity affair. 1 was asked to do something—anything. I inquired whether it was a pas de seul, or a ballad, or what, that I was expected to perform. ‘No, we are really in earnest,’ said the lady who had extended the invitation; ‘we want you to give us a recitation or something, for we must have youi name on the card.’ “Well, I went away and forgot all about it until the week of the affair, when I had all that I could do to find a suitable piece and learn the lines. The entertainment began. It was at Steinway Hall, New York, and I was put away down at the end of the programme. As the other performers rendered their selections one by one I felt my courage leak out bit by bit through my shoe t. “Then my turn came. I was led on the platform. For a moment I felt all right; then all of a sudden I felt my knees giving way. I can’t explain how it happened, but they just felt like melting. L crawled over to the piano and leaned against it. The audience thought I was striking a pose and applauded enthusiastically. As I supported myself there I felt my breath coming back to me, but what with all the faces and the applause and everything I had forgotten all about my poem. Even its title I could not recall. My mind was an absolute blank on the subject. I wanted to run away, but my knees were too weak to support me standing, much less to admit of making good my escape. J could not desert the piano. Eventually as my voice returned to me I de-

cided to confide the story of my troubles to the audience. They thought it was a pure joke and applauded my little fable with the most inspiring applause. I told them I could not let go the piano, and they simply roared with laughter at my ready wit. They simply would not believe me. Their merriment eventually established a sympathy between me and them. My lost memory Anally came back, my knees braced up, I delivered my piece without a break, and from that day to this my most intimate friends refuse to credit me when I tell the story of my stage fright.”

MRS. ERANK IEILIE.