Show I 1 1 I The London Chorus Girls Ii i jL I A Ha Mouth Struggle for Mere Existence London chorus girls dont live they merely exist in many cases Perhaps they get six or eight weeks work dur during durIng during ing the pantomime season and then the It ItIs itis itIs Is one bitter heartbreaking mouth struggle until the following Christmas Sometimes they are lucky enough to secure a shop In a sketch or with wl h a 0 touring comedy or maybe they earn a dollar or two by posing for cine cinematograph cinematograph cinematograph pictures That however only applies to the few and I doubt if the chorus c orus girl earns on an average all the year round as much as the worst paid waitresses Thus says William Forbes father of the chorus girl the man who for over thirty years has been working Amongst them helping them so far as lay In his power In times of stress and difficulty There is not much glitter and tinsel tinsel about their life he continued it Is drab and fearfully colorless I met a chorus churus girl whom I had previously helped coming out of a pawnshop a short tinge time ago I remarked What have you been doing in there Trying to pawn those these she replied tearfully but they will not take them and she held out her eyeglasses An Another Another Another other girl I know sold some of her beau beautiful beautiful beautiful hair to keep her from starvation while it tt is no uncommon thing for them to pawn everything except the clothes they wear In order to pay for food and lodging Is the chorus girls wage less today than formerly Mr Forbes Much so I am sorry to say A few years ago they reckoned on earning 10 a week we k during an engagement but the competition for tor engagements now Is so keen that managers can get all the girls girl s they want at 5 or 6 a week When hen I first began begani to work amongst chorus girls It was generally a month or two after the pantomime seas n for In Instance instance Instance stance before I heard of any of them being in difficulty for they usually managed to save a little out of their pantomime salaries Now however they are back from rom their engagements scarcely a week before I hear from m them Why Mr Forbes do they remain chorus girls when the conditions are so s shard o hard That is a difficult question to an answer answer answer The fascination of o stage life the difficulty of obtaining and settling down into a regular situation after appearing g behind the footlights are perhaps the th e two main reasons why the girl who has once been in the chorus is reluctant to t o try another occupation The idea how however however however ever which exists amongst some peo people people pie that the chorus girl Is a flighty ir irresponsible responsible girl whose morals are of a alow alow low type Is believe me quite erroneous ous and the earnestness with which Mr Forbes emphasized the words left no doubt as to their sincerity and truth The chorus girl Is a straight girl hard working sober and honest who while she may be attracted by the glit glitter glitter ter of the footlights is as anxious to succeed In her work as girls in other stations of life Ufe During the whole of the thirty years I have worked amongst chorus girls I have only known six cases of drunkenness amongst them themI I do not lend them money because to lend money mone is to lose a friend I simply give them what I can to t tide them over their difficulties and occa occasionally occasionally occasionally am able to provide them with witha a little treat in the w way Y of a days out outing outing outing ing ingOn On an average I receive about thirty letters a week from chorus girls ap appealing appealing pealing for help One maybe has the offer of an engagement but wants wanta shoes before she can go to rehearsals Can I send her a pair Another wants two weeks rent for her room otherwise she will wUl be turned out into the street and what is she to do then Another has Joined a sketch company with no fixed salary but with a promise premise of per percentage percentage percentage on the profits There are no profits In fact the sketch comes to an end in a week and she Is left strand d din dIn in the north Of England perhaps or on the continent and cannot get back F Some years ago fifty English chorus girls were engaged for a production in Paris It opened one Sunday and came cameto cameto cameto to an end the following Sunday The result was that some of the girls were reduced to such a plight that they threatened to throw themselves Into the Seine Luckily I managed to get some money together for their food and lodgings lodgIngs lodgings ings and ultimately enabled them to i return to London This is not an Iso Isolated Isolated isolated case by any means and I tell you stories tories of the distressful state to which some chorus girls have been reduced re which would deter any serious minded girl from adopting the stage as asa asa asa a profession It is almost impossible to exaggerate the troubles and trials of a chorus girl girt The bright spots In their lives are few indeed But they sometimes find wealthy husbands Mr Forbes Yes Yea but for tor every chorus girl who makes a brilliant marriage there are hundreds who have no chance of mar marrying marrying tying at all The status of the chorus girl In the minds of many people is such that they would hold up their hands In horror at the thought of their son marrying a girl who song sang for 6 a week behind the footlights And those thoRP sons are in many cases impregnated with the same idea and consequently think that a chorus girl is not entitled to the same respect as tie a s woman clerk for instance Which all serves to show how little people know of the true and genuine character cha of the chorus girl |