East Oregonian : E.O

SARA BERNHARDT'S YOUTH PRESERVER

HER LATEST EFFORT IS A "HEEL OF YOUTH"

In Her Fight Against the March of Years She Invents Boot to Give Buoyancy to Step-Other Devices She Uses to Conceal the Ravages of Time.

Paris.-Sarah Bernhardt-the Divine Sarah-is said to be responsible for the introduction into this city of the new "Heel of Youth," which has had a remarkable effect upon the gait of almost every old habitue of the Grand Boulevard. Indeed, the new invention has had much the same effect claimed for the far-famed, but elusive "Fountain of Eternal Youth," and the fortunate wearers, despite their advanced years, appear in all the vigor, apparently, of youth

Sarah Bernhardt by her art has conquered nearly all the defects that mortal flesh is heir to. As everyone knows, Bernhardt, the marvel of the stage, is well in years. Flesh has accumulated to a dangerous point for boyish impersonation, but by an intelligent makeup, and by the cunning skill of the costumer, the public is deceived. The heavy lines of fat are concealed, but the sluggishness of step the halting gait of age-ah, there was the rub The resourceful Sarah, with the aid of her boot-maker, by their united thought and effort, produced this heel of youth for the sluggishness of step. As the halting actress brought into existence the long, loose mosquetaire glove to conceal the thinness of her arm in the days when her form was decidedly attenuated, so has she in her old age again come to the rescue to cover up the annoying traces that years have brought into her walk.

The boot or shoe when on the foot shows no evidence of an interior mechanism, so closely have all signs of a tampered heel been hidden. A hollow is first cut in the center of the heel and a tiny, spiral wire spring is inserted. A movable bottom layer is capped over it, and so light is the movement that it is almost imperceptible to the eye, yet the mere quiver of the elastic force is enough to produce the youthful step. Bernhardt's revival in this city this winter of "L'Aiglon," in which she has again aroused the enthusiasm of nightly crowded houses by her masterful impersonation of the boy prince, has created more than the usual talk about her vivid portrayal of the character and the wonderful illusion of youth that is conveyed. The voice, at times, becomes slightly harsh, and now and again a thin, tiny quality creeps in, displacing those famed "notes of gold," the unavoidable indication of the march of years, a defect she cannot conquer, but her walk!-skill and ingenuity have come to her assistance.