The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 20, 1900, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CALL. : 5 many 4 :S y?;. to s \ cousins in Germany and I saw them all. Switzerland best. Sometimes we shut our o Bnast Saa Karla and I had such good times with eyes t 4 pretend we're thers. I'm . SotTted 35 15 b our little German cousins, only so many emember that scenery s L of them are named Gretchen we'd get we met Sleg ere Wrote: for ! them mixed up. sald he ad hoped that I row up to be of the greatest 1 could not play for him, for we In Leipzig I played for about fifty A ican girls who are thers studying The only other people wers the musical critics. It was just delightful to play for had no piano, and besides we were all Duke of Hesse, who notes worse ’ 3 n..'r: \.,;u.dm,;\l::;,.a..n? all those musical Americans and critics. there to rest. We used to take long wa'ks ere sh « shed. *Fis: grandpiother -Quben Vitto T mustn’t forget to tell you that I met together and he would tell me of his Joachim and how good he wes to me, and fath said very kind things. While we were In Switzerland papa re- Of all the slaces I have been I love ceived a copy of a San Francisco news- was in Bcotland and he = she came back he as soon ke me to e w s paper with a story about my being & e big ernacle, w mental wreck. I had just come back i from a long climb and they called me the “Wunder Kind'" bec stood it so well. Everybody laughed people saying I was sick. I had gained fourteenpounds and was 50 rosy. Papa and mamma were very annoyed because other papers in America copied it, and people thought I was sick when I was really so well and bappy. On the steamer coming home thers was a concert given for the benefit of the hos- pital ship Maine. Both the Lehmanns and several other artists wers on board and they each gave a number. I played twice. We made lots of money, and be- sides on one of the programmes we each wrote our own name Andrew Carne- gle bought it for fifty dollars. We were so happy to get back to our dear adobe home in Los Angeles. I'm sure my rabbits and pets were just as glad to see Karla and me as e were to be back with the darlings. We've had such fun the last three months that we spent home. I had to practice every day and study my lessons and give sister Karla her musia lessons, but besides we found time to play in the garden just like we used to before we went away. The flowers all grew much better after we were home—I think they knew we wers waiting for them to poke their pretty heads through the ground Now we have started on another jour- sweet ear-laps 5 Shastes. Ob here the people love classical and call you sweet e heard that if halr e took at Vera Cruz ana \ ney. ‘The great European critics say it it - Py will not hurt me to give concerts for an- salled ¢ other year, for my hand is still too small #o happy ship, and we were fine nd I have to make up a technique own row because I can't stretch an lore, too never were seasick once. hey tell you such nice fish octave. I think I've told you most all about my wander year. Just put down how much I e San Francisco and then I'll sign my 'va’t (jc»(v\qrm_, na when we came to it was dreadfully hot there New York I gave a concert and then we satled for London. What do you th was the first thing I did when I reache Lonfon? I made them take Karla and me to see ne. Melba. Yoy know, I played for her when she was here, and she made me promise to visit her. Mme Melba was staying at the Hotel Cecll, and the opened her door and ran out into the ball to meet us and kissed and hugged us. play for her. I had to leave London be fore that and I was so sorry. In London I saw many great musicians and lords and ladles, but I liked the mu- sicians best. We visited with the Her- schels and had lovely times with them and their friends. I didn’t give any publio concerts, but played at the houses-of the great ladles. 4 baroness wrote to me and asked me to play at a benefit for vaga- bond cats, but papa wouldn't let mge. Oh, T want to tell you about the opera Karla and I gave. We had thirty-two dolls. when we came to London, and we took the ones Madame Melba gave us and made them the prima donnas. I called mine Melba and Karla named hers Nord!- ca. Our dolls are used to pretending that they belong to an opera company, .and they play their roles fine, but no wonder, because we have such great artists—Jean de Reszke and his brother and Blspham and Lili Lehmann and many others. All we needed were Melba and Nordlca. Karla and I worked daysand days peint- Ing miniature scenes for “Lohengrin.” We bought a swan and had everything just like the real opera. Madame Melba came with some of her friends. They were all / dressea in beautiful shiny satin dresses and dlamonds because they were golng to a ball later. But they enjoyed the dolls’ opera so much they forgot about the ball und stayed two hours with us. Karla moved the dolls around while I impro- vised on the piano, and Melba said she’ had never enjoyed “Lohengrin” so much. After the dolls’ opera Madame Melba played a valse and the gentlemen danced with Karla and me. ‘We never travel without our doll opera company and it's lots of fun pretending they will get sore throats if they're fn a draught. We treat them just as if they’re real artists, only we won't let them be jealous of each other, because I don't think that's nice. o il P - From England we went to Germany. . 2 . Just think, I have thirty-elght littla 3 . 1 “r