MISS ADA WARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13891, 30 April 1909, Page 6

MISS ADA WARD.

ACTRESS BECOME EVANGELIST. The Salvation Army of Timaru will mark, yesterday's date with a red letter ill memory of the visit of one of the most famous of their women workers," Miss Ada Ward, formerly a bright par- j ticrilar star of tfie theatrical world, now touring the Dominion as an Army Evangelist. Miss Ward is the guest ol j Mrs Craigie her brief ■ visit, j last evening the -barracks were fairly well but not quite filled with a gathering, many of whose members do not belong to the Army, but were attracted by.the announcement that Miss Ada Ward was to give an address; in which she was to relate the story o£ her life. His Worship the Mayor presided and briefly introduced the visitor, and led the applause which endorsed the hearty welcome lie offered her on behalf of ■Timaru. 'Miss Ward fulfilled the promise of the announcements, and told the story of her life as fully as was possible in an. hour and a quarter or so. She began at the beginning with a somewhat unhappy childhood in an atheistic home,' followed by an educiation in a French convent school, where even among nuns she was taught no religion, as this was not done unless it were : stipulated for. • Returning home she was sent.out to make her own. living,, and becoming a niirsery governess in a wealthy family, she formed ambitions to shine , in. the gay fashionable world. Possessed of a taste for acting, and seeing how gay .was the life of actresses, she sought and obtained an introduc- j tion to tie stage.-Her relation of/the sort of bargain the manager sought to make with her let in a light upon the degraded side of stage life. She however managed to avoid that bargain, and by her success as an actress soon made a name for herself, and was sought after , by the managers. She spoke in general terms of the temptations which beset, young women on the stage.. It was an easy life, and a merry one; the girls had many acquaintances and admirers, but few or no friends, so that really the actress lived a lonely life. Nest she described her courtship and marriage by a supposed-to-be wealthy man, who turned out 'to he an unscrupulous adventurer, who had married her for'her earnings, and she had. even to pay debts he had incurred before marriage. She refused to keep him* after marriage, but he collected her wages. Finding proofs of his bad character she obtained a divorce, and even then she was not 16 years of age. To the wild life of dissipation of the actress she added the infatuation of the gambler, Monte Carlo being one of her haunts. For a change .she made four successful tours of the world, making money fast and spending it faster. She had to go to Kruger personally for passports for a Transvaal 'tour. She described her second marriage, which was a happy one, with phases of humour, and a s sad ending, her husband dying in South Africa just as he should haye followed her to Australia. On this loss she returned to her old life, gambling especially. Then followed the account of the great crisis of her life. . While living quietly near Portsmouth studying a new play, she was invited by her landlady to visit the Salvation Army meetings. At first she scorned the idea, but went, and for the first time in her life, heard women pray and heard hymns sung. This experience haunted her through the night. A night or two later she went again—could not help going—and,then she told the story of her conversion, which would probably seem a tale little convincing in print, but as narrated by the subject of the conversion, was eminently interesting and instructive. The effect of this change of attitude to God and to the world made a great stir, as she, then at the height of her fame as a Shakesperian actress, renounced the stage altogether, cancelled all engagements, distributed among her company all her theatrical outfit, and retired to the country to study the conditions of the new life that had boon opened up to her. Presently she beto speak of it, and became an ardent and successful evangelist, working under different- denominations, but always keeping in touch with the .Salvation Army. She is now, she explained, fulfilling an engagement witli the Army to give addresses throughout Australasia. Miss Ward paid New Zealand the compliment of saying tii.it she found a much more spiritual tone in this country than at Home or in Australia. She spoke quite dolefully in fact of the state of religion in London. It appears that a report had been circulated that she intends to return to the stage, and this had been misinterpreted to mean that she intended to resume her old profession, hut she explained how the report arose, and that she meant to become an Army evangelist to the women and men on the stage, and try to save them li-om the temptations that beset them. In conclusion Miss Ward regretted that she could only spend one night in Timaru, and her parting wish was "God he with you till we meet again." The chairman moved a vote of thanks ■with high eulogy of the absorbing

character of the address, and abundant applause and a verse of the hymn just named by Miss Ward closed the meeting" ■