avelling companies on the road--told the writer that he
had employed a large number of amateur actors, and that some of the
greatest pecuniary successes had been made by actors and actresses
who had come to him from some amateur theatrical company. Of course,
the new-comers were not successful at first. They had to serve an
apprenticeship on the regular stage; but he meant to say that their
previous experience, amateur though it was, had been a benefit to
them, and that they had got along quicker than they would if they had
been without it.

"Utility business" is the kind of work a young woman going upon the
stage must first expect to do; or, to speak more accurately, according
to the technique of the profession, she will first be allowed to make
an "announcement." She will come on the stage and say, "My lady, a
letter," or make some other simple speech to the extent of one or two
lines. If she does this well, she will be given parts where there is
more to say, until, finally, she has reached thirty lines, at which
point she is capable of being entrusted with a "responsible" part. The
salary of this class of actresses ranges from $15 to $30 per week.

If she does not start in this line of business, she may be a "ballet
lady,"--not a dancer, but one of the group of ladies that make up the
ballroom or party scenes. In this case, she will start on a salary of
from $5 to $7 per week. If she is very pretty, she will get $7; if she
is an "ancient,"--that is, rather old and decidedly plain,--she will
get only $5. The ability to sing commands an extra dollar per week.
The manager of the theatre alluded to above said, that in one of their
companies they employed a young lady without previous theatrical
experience. She was, however, very quick to learn, and commencing on a
salary of $20 a week, she quickly made herself valuable. After a while
a part was given her in which she made "a hit," and her salary has
been increased until now it is $70 a week when she is travelling, and
$55 a week when she plays in New York City, the extra $15 given to her
when she is away being for hotel expenses.

There has been so much said and written on the morals of the stage
that it will not be necessary here to warn the young dramatic aspirant
that this is a branch of the subject which she should well consider.
That there are actresses who are good women, fulfilling nobly all
the duties of wives, mothers, and sisters, nobody pretends to deny.
Bu