The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 15, 1901, Page 18

THE SAN "FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1901. | CONGERT EVENTS | FOR"PRESENT SEASON e - FULL OF PROMISE. &)CNG ARTIST WHO OPENED - THE CONCERT SEASON WITH A PLEASING SONG RECITAL. -+ HE curtain has rung up on the con- cert season of 1901-02, its first event being the very pleasing song recital given on Tuesday evening last by M Grace Carroll at Sherman & Clay Hail. It was Miss Carroll's first appearance here after her two years’ study in Eastern schools, and fully dem- onstrated her possession of one of the best—perhaps the best—contralto voices that is known to fme hereabouts. She | has a good compass; I noted an easy up- per A flat and low G’s without number at came comfortably within her range, a even quality throughout and a rarely. rich imbre that falls most grate- e ear. There is not a thin or in the whole voice, and the | equally unforced low tones and high notes | are characterized by the same eminent | sweetness and gase. | The singer has done good work during | her two years' absence, mostly under the | direction of Franz X. Arens and Bjork- | sten, and will do still better in time to come. Her attack can be improved and she has not always the courage of her dramatic convictions, though I do mot | doubt that the disconcerting small- ness of Tuesday evening’s audience, to- gether with the nervousness incident upon a first appearance of any kind, had some- thing to do with the latter condition There is also wanting some subtler sensi- tiveness and sympathy in the voice, that is, however, bound to make its appear- ance later, as Miss Carroll has all the temperament necessary. Her German is g00d and she seems to favor the Germar® song, but ber French needs polish and her enunciation might be clearer. But, all in all, in Miss Carroll we have a ricaly en- dowed singer, who is going to count im- portantly here, if not in wider fields than these. The evening's programme contained many novelties, one that I unfortunately was compelled to miss being Franz X. Arens’ “At My Grave,” of which I hear great things. Gluck’s “Divinites du Styx,” also rarely heard, was on the pro- gramme. Other songs were: “Der Tod und das Madchen™ (Schubert); “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes” (Dre: ler); “A Narrative” (Albert Mildenberg); “Schwanenlied” (Hartmann); “‘Lovely Spring” (Coenen); *Im Wunderbuch” (Alban Forste: “Rothaarig ist Mein Schatzelein” (Steinbach: “Der Asra” (Rubinstein); 'O Say, Have You Seen Her?” (Caracciolo); “Aubade” (Masse- net). Miss Carroll was assisted by Richard Jose Ferrer, viclinist, who also recently returned from study in the East and who is a member of the famous family of gultarists here. Mr. Ferrer's solos, in which he was capably accompamed by ‘William B. King, were the Moszkowski “Ballade” and & mazourka by Zarzycki. Mr. Ferrer has a miraculous intonation, 2 big tone—rough, however—fire and en- thusiasm, & technique that still leaves much to be desired and is something of a rhythmical anarchist. He is a very in- teresting player, however. Miss Ethel Judson Bates showed nice sympathy and discretion in her accompaniment to Miss Carroll. : L o | Another interesting concert was that given on Thursday evening at Sherman & Clay Hall by Herman Genss, planist, and Harry Samuels, violinist, accompanied by, Miss Teresa Ehrman. A large audience greeted the musicians and enjoyed the following £00d programme: Sonate, op. 47 (Kreutzer) (Beethoven), for plano and violin; concerto, op. 64 (Mendelssohn), for viplin; Don Juan fantasie (Liszt), for plano: Suite, op. 4i (Eduard Schutt), for plano and violin. Y Next month one of the most unique musical novelties now before the public will .be .here. The Pollard Lilliputian Opera Company is now on its way from Australia to Honolulu, where it will give its first American performance. The or- ganization numbers fifty children and has a repertoire of twenty operas, including “The Gaiety Girl,” “Lady Slavey,” “Pina- fore,” *“Mikado,” “Doroth *“Paul Jones,” “Belle of New York,” “The Cir- cus Girl” and “The Geisha.” The ages of these wonderful little people range from 6 to 16, and the company has been in existence since 1879, giving perform- ances in China, Japan, Manila, India, South Africa, New Zealand and there- abouts. The children’s work is said to be a marvelous sort of performance from many standpoints, minjature sopranos, soubrettes, comedlans and so on, who challenge comparison at every turn with their grave and reverend senfors. ¥or the benefit of those who, like myself, have wondered as to the routine education of the children, their chance at the three R's | of having his work produced under un- | ES while engaged in all these fascinating ad- ventures, it is stated that a pedagogue travels With the miniature Melbas and De Reszkes and that when they are not singing love ditties or patter songs they are cheerfully engaged in chanting the | multiplication table with all the health- ful distaste of the average infant. The Ldlliputians will probably be here toward the middle of next month. The Moody-Manners Opera Company of England, the largest company -of the kind that has ever toured Great Britain, and that has succeeded where Mr. Grau has failed in this country in popularizing | opera in English, is to the fore this month | with an offer of two prizes for the genius | with operatic leanings, and opportunity commonly favorable circumstances. The company offers two prizes of £250 (31251) each, for the two best original operas sub- mitted in competition, one foreign, cne English, and in addition 10 per cent of all net profits made by the company through their sale or representation. The reper- toire of the company for the present sea | son includes the following operas: | “Siegfried,” *Tristan and Tsolda,” " “Tannhauser,” * the 3 ““Trovatore,”” y of Killarney, ‘‘Bohemian Girl,”” *‘The Star ot the North,” ““The Jewess,” “‘Satanella,” “‘Mar- tha,” “Puritan’s Daughter,”” ‘*‘Masaniello,”" ete., ete. These are the kind of things the Moody- Manners people are looking for, and the | following gentlemen will be the judges of | its quality: lish opera—Sir Alexander Mac- r Prout, B. A., musical di- rector, professor of music in the University of Dublin; Joseph Bennett. For the forelgn opera | —M. Colonne, director of the Colonne Concerts, Parls; Signor Mancinelli, conductor Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Herr Lohse, conductor | Royal Opera, Covent Garden. | Following are a few rules of the com- | petition, a complete set of which may be obtained from C. Manners, 44 Berwick | street, Oxford street, London, W. C.: Composers to send in their work under a nom de plume and not later than May 1, 1903. The nom de plume of the successtul British competitor will be advertised in the front page of the Daily Telegraph on June 1, 1903, and the nom de plume of the successrul forelgn com- petitor will be advertised in the same paper, but on July 1, 1903. The winners then to com- municate thelr real names and addresses to C. Manners. Competitors gending In work otherwise than under & nom de plume Wil be disqualified. The libretto of the foreign opera can be writ- ten in any language the composer wishes. It will afterward be translated into English for the first representation, which will take place in the autumn of 1903 in England, and the prize will be publicly presented on the first night of the production. The libretto of the opera by the British sub- ject must, of course, be written in English and will be ‘produced about the same time and the prize publicly presented on the first night of the production. 7 The nom de plume (and afterward the real name if desired) of the second and third best competitors of each opera will be published with the winner, but there will be no prize. For the foreign opera both librettist and com- poser must be foreigners. For the British prize both must be British subjects. Each _opera must not be in less than two acts. . The opera must play for an evening's entertainment, viz., three and a half to four hours, this -to inciude intervals between the acts. The selection of the prize work will be wholly and solely. in the hands of the judges before mentioned and their decision will be final, PERSONAL MENTION. J. C. Hall, a merchant of Redlands, is at the Grand. John Foshay, a business man of Albany, Or., is at the Grand. E. S. Churchill. a banker of Napa, is a guest at the Palace. H. E. Piggott, a mining man of Placer- ville, is at the Grand. ‘W. F, Chandler, an oil man of Selma, is registered at the Lick. Dr. H. N. Winton of Haywards is regis- tered at the Occldental. Rev. P. Farrell of Salinas is among the late arrivals at the Lick. F. B. Glenn, the Jacinto rancher and capitalist, is a guest at the Palace. Dr. George Ivancovich.of Petaluma is at the Grand, accompanied by his wife. Hervey Lindley, a politician of Kla- mathon, arrived at the Grand yesterday. John Anderson, a prominent merchant of Stockton, is registered at the Grand. Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Booth, wealthy so- THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager ..SEPTEMBER 15, 1901 Publication ou.ca<® ..... e el Ceeeeieceee.....Market and Third, S. F. ciety people.of Philadelphla, are at the Palace. D. H. Steimetz, a wealthy lumber man of this city, has returned from a trip to Sonora and is at the Palace. James H. Gant, connected with the De- partment of Agriculture, is registered at the Occidental from Washington, D. C. , ‘W. J. Martin, business manager of The Call, has come over from Sausalito and 1:1 'rerlltered at the Occidental with his e. 2 Charles K. McClatchy and Valentine McClatchy, proprietors -of the -Sacra- mento Bee, are in this city arranging plans for the construction of a new home for the Bee in Sacramento on Seventh A TIME OF TESTING. IVIL institutions are not tested by the smooth and easy procession of events. The ship of state is not tried in fair weather, but in foul. 2 The murder of the President by an eflemy of social order and of all government has stirred to its depths the feeling of the people. Naturally this appeal to profound sentiments which are ordinarily in repose will cause strange apprehensions and the proposition of novel remedies. = Our institutions are founded upon the equal right of every citizen to the protection of the law.. In accordance with this idea President and people have always freely met and mingled. The officials placed in power by the people have recognized their subjection to fair criticism for public acts and policies, and when that criticism is an appeal to reason and not to passion it is a means of the political health of the republic. When it transcends that limit it has been left to the punishment of public opinion, which, as a rule, has been discriminatingly administered. The incidents attending and preceding the murder of the President are unusual in their nature and without precedent in our history. A persistent appeal has been made to the passions of a certain order in the community against the President. We are simply discussing the phil- osophy of events when we say that this appeal was either without purpose at all, and an idle in- dulgence oPa vagabond whim, or it had a deep, sinister and intended purpose. The only newspapers that have persisted in it happened to be so located as to infect and poison minds clear across the country. The New York Journal, Chicago American and San Francisco Examiner are located like three camps, in touch clear across the continent. Their cir- culations could easily merge. What could have been the motive of their owner in ceaselessly rep- resenting the President as a contemptible person, finding his highest pleasure in the oppression and death of the common people? What could have been his motive in printing in all of his papers, two months ago, an editorial commending assassination as a means of beneficially chang- ing the world’s history? What could he have wanted by saying in that-editorial, “Read this and think it over”’? Was it the act of an idiot, who sticks his hand in the fire unaware that it.will burn, or fills his mouth with ashes not knowing that it will chcke? Or, was it the act of a decply malignant man, willing’ to have the men in whom his contemptuous characterizations of the President had roused a spirit of revenge, “think it over,” and herve themselves to change the world’s history by assassination? We say that these incidents to the crime are extraordinary. They increase the strain put upon our institutions by the murder of the President. In the presence of the whole wretched event what should be done? The change from the dead President to his constitutional successor should be quietly ac- complished. There should be no extra session of Congress unless demanded by matters not re- lated to this great crime. The world’s eye is upon us. Let us teach the nations that here the law rules, and under its sway our institutions go on in spite of such appalling crimes. Let us show the world the fact that assassination of a President cannot for one moment impede the orderly working of this Government. This we regard as absolutely essential to our future safety and position, and to the permanence of prosperity and order. Not only this, but such orderly and usual action is inherent in our institutions. It is what they are for. Looking to the future, to the different safeguarding propositions that will be made, great care must be taken. We doubt whether anything should go into the law of the land especially relating to the person of the President. It would be ineffective anyway In proof of this we have the example of other governments, where the sternest measures repressive of anarchy have proved as powerless to restrain the assassin as are the equal laws of the United States and France. Let the equal law stand. : It is probable, too, that laws to curb lampoons in the press will only make matters worse. If a rich newspaper owner choose to promote murder, is he not better restrained by a wholesome public opinion which will outlaw him from the presence of decent men, and put his paper under the ban as vulgar and incendiary? When such public opinion holds those who support him as responsible- for the harm he does, his baboon spirit will be harmless. If there is not in this ccun- try a public opinion which discerns between truth and falsehool, and if such opinion cannot be created, then laws are powcrless to supply its place. We believe that such public opinion is in action, that it is vital and will be effective. The safety of the government is in the affections of the people. Appalling disaster has fallen upon us out of a clear sky. The memory of the dead President is best honored by adhering strictly to the spirit of the institutions which inspired him, and for which he met death like a hero. A PANIC CHECKED. NE of the features of the situation following the.assassination of President McKinley that merits more than a passing attention on the part of the public is the success with which the banks of New York stopped a tendency toward a panic in Wall street and thus prevented a disturbance of the business of the country that might have proven very serious. . [ 3 The act of assassination was committed too late in the afternoon for the news to affect Wall street on that day, but next morning the feeling was decidedly panicky. The banks, how- ever, prepared to meet the emergency and to furnish money needed to sustain the market. As soon as the news of the shooting was received the Clearing-House Committee was called together and arrangements made for protecting all the associated banks in whatever should happen next day. The manager of the Clearing-House is reported to have said: “While we deeply grieve over what has befallen President McKinley, our duty is to look ahead, and.if we do not stand together fo preserve the stability of affairs it would only aggravate the calamity.” The decision on the part of the bankers was made known to the public and accordingly the day following the shooting was marked by nothing that showed any lack of confidence in the continued stability of the prosperity of the business world. Last Friday morning, however, when the people awoke to read that the President had a relapse during the night and was surely dying, there was a feverish time in Wall street. The bankers had not expected it and were taken unawares. Many of the leading bank officials were out of town. Within the first hour of the ses- sion of the Stock Exchange nearly 600,000 shares of stock were traded in, and at one time it is said money rose as high as 9 per cent, Then came the announcement that the agreement made on the day following the assassination still held and the banks would stand together, and at once the feeling of confidence wa: restored. The banks had saved Wall street and prevented a panic. In these days, when attacks upon banks and bankers are so frequent, it is just as well for the public to take note of this action and give honor where it is due.” = The hot spell in the East has long been over, but stories concerning its effects are com- ing hotter than ever—the latest is to the effect that the heat killed fish enough in the shailow streams and lakes to*stock all the rivers in the country. Ll P B The reform elements in New York seem to be agreed upon everything except a candidate for Mayor, and that is just where Tammany will beat them, for while Tammany fights on every- thing else it always stands pat on the candidates. ‘ Guam cuts but a small figure in the vast te#ritories of the United States, but it is said to have broken the record in the rapidity with which its office-holders have been changed, so it de- serves more notice than it is getting. Kaiser William has sent the Sultan of Turkey a fine collection of lions and tigers for his zoological.garden, and now if the controversy with France should result in a circus the Sultan would be well fixed as a showman. —_————— A New York Chinaman has added a new and most unusual feature to the residence of his countrymen in the United States. He has turned highwayman and is ready to accept the customary result. The Examiner occupied its editorial and pictorial wit for several weeks, recently, in illus- trating an expedition to find Mr. Roosevelt. It is not out of place to inquire if it has found him. Since the first of this year Roosevelt has received two thousand invitations to deliver public addresses. ‘If he thinks twice before speaking once he must be working overtime on thought. e | beset genius, he must be regarded as of | e WORLD WILL LOSE A MASTER DRAMATIST WHEN IBSEN DIES. \ ] BY GUISARD. | - LEADING LADY OF NEW STOCK COMPANY AT THE GRAND OP- ERA-HOUSE. i UO VADIS” at the Grand Op- era-house this las: week has| broughi to light two useful | players in the new stock com- pany—Miss Laura Nelson Hall | and Herschel Mayall, leading lady and | leading man. Miss Hall has been | playing Lydgia to Mr. Haworth's| Vinicius and has won pleasing ree- | ognition for herself in the role. ‘ine! new leading lady is quite young. even ! better looking than the accompanying | picture, and is simple, graceful, sympa- thetic and sincere in her methods. Her | Lydgia was marked by a refreshing spon- | taneity and refinement, and it is to be | hoped that the illness that has prevented | her from playing the part for the last few days may be of short duration. Miss Florence Stone is kindly taking Miss Hall's place during her illness. The new leading man, Mr. Mayallgis also well equipped physically for his.pbsi- tion, having a voice that thrills and a handsome presence of the classic type. If he would but rid himself of a few Mac- Dowelltries that he has acquired, or was born with—and that are probably cheerful beliars of his real personality—a certain little air of self-satisfaction, for example, one could begin to lobk for the work that counts from Mr. Mayall. Meantime he is a useful and intelligent actor and, with Miss Hall, stands out in high relief from the rest of the company as they have so far dawned upon us. This week we look forward to Mr. Haworth’s “Richelieu,” and pray for further developments in his support. Ibsen is dying! So says Eugene Lime- dorfer in a profoundly interesting little afticle on the Norwegian uramatist that appears in the current number of the Theater. Before the end of the year, for it is a lingering death that fate holds for the great little old man, Ibsen ‘will have gone the way of all things mortal and the stage will have lost its most vital fig- vre of the day. Mr. Limedorfer’s sketch has a valuable personal flavor and he gives many char- acteristic anecdotes of the famous dra- matist, among them the following: “To ‘some it will mean much, to others nothing,” says Mr. Limedorfer; “it all de- pends on the point of view from which | one has regarded him. As the master | dramatist of his time, who has conquered in spite of the usual persecutions that the great ones of the earth a%id is so re- garded by a large following. As a social reformer he has again a large contingent | of admirers, and as a man he has the strong friends that men of reforming gen- fus usually count against their army of orthodox enemies.” “Ibsen is at times gentleness itself. At such times he is meek and seemingly as submissive as Tolstoy would want us all to be. But a strong individuality like his, an assertive nature like the one Ibsen possesses, must needs break out. At heart he is an aristocrat, nay, even a tyrant. He has great contempt for the crowd, and in spite of the fact that he has fought for the rights of the common people he really does not think that they are fit for liberty. Upon his return from his {rip to Russia, where he was entertained and made very much of, Ibsen gave some of his impressions of the Czar’s country. He said: ‘Russia is the greatest country on the earth. The cry of “despotism” is raised only by a herd of stupid, ignorant persons. As a matter of fact, Russian literature is the result of despotism. The great Russian writers owe their inspira- tions to despotism. Why, sussia is the only country where people still prize lib~ erty. Nonme but the Russians are willing to lay down their lives for liverty. And it is despotism which taught them that lesson.” “To say that his listeners were amazed is to put it mildly. After a while one found words to say: ‘Then you believe the Russians ought to be thankful for the despotism they live under. Perhaps so. But it seems to me that one of their institutions is a mighty unpleasant one. You have certainly heard of the knout. ‘Would you like to receive a dose of it?" “ My dear man! answered Ibsen, ‘if I were living in Russia I should | the great dramatist. | more than 2500 years ago, and Rome never receive the knout. I sifould apply it; I should apply it." " Of Ibsen’s little vanities, of his kindly sncouragement to young writers, of his ES ideals and accomplishments, Mr. Lime- dorfer has a timely word to say, and his article will give pleasure to any lover of There are also three good pictures of Ibsen. LR 3 In the recent death of Lorimer Stod- dard, the clever young playwright who dramatized “Tess of the D'Urbervilles,” introduced to us so happily this year by Mrs. Fiske, the stage loses a most promis- ing light. He was not unknown before Mrs. Fiske's visit, his piay, “The Ques- tion,” having been played by the Fraw- leys in San Francisco in the days of Blanche Bates’, Gladys Wallis’ and Frank Worthing’s connection with the company. Mr. Stoddard was a bright and original writer, with a quaint and charaeteristic style, and much was expected of him in the coming years. His untimely death (from consumption) came as a complete surprise and is universally regretted. He made a brave and beautiful end say those who watched with'him in his last {llness, f Ty Miss Virna Woods, the California play- wright, is now in New York directing the rehearsals of her tragedy ‘“Horatius,” that Frederick Warde is to produce this season. Rehearsals are being held dafly in Mr. Warde's studio, and the play will receive its first production early this month. It will be made the feature of Mr. Warde's entire tour. The company is booked for San Francisco the week of January 19. C P58 However doubtful as an artistic expe- dient Mr. Neill's experiment of last week of inviting the audience behind the scenes, so to speak, there can be no doubt at all as to popular interest in the innovation. At the Wednesday and Thursday evening performances of “A Bachelor’s Romance” and “The Jilt” all the stage setting was done in full view of the audience, who applauded the stage hands with might and main as houses rose “wisibly before their werry eyes” and trees grew faster than the Indian juggler’s mango shrub. Seen in this fashion the slowest stage-set- ting is a technical marvel, and the accus- tomed long “waits” were all too short for the interested audience. Every one re- mained seated throughout the entire even- ing and, felt amply repald for his self-de- nial by his sight of the mysterious ma- chinery of the stage. It Is perhaps not & bad thing to see the wheels go round oc- casionally—to see the cogs and pulleys of things as well as the finished product. It makes for charity, for example—mayhap a viclous quality where art is concerned, however—but without doubt every mem- ber of the two audiences at the California Theater that saw the stage-setting of those two plays will bear more patiently any other long wait that happens along in their experience. They will at least have the. inestimable privilege of explaining how it is done to their less patient com- panions on those future occasions, most probably to the accompaniment of an or- chestra deing its loudest to persuade that pulleys and the coming stage paradise have nothing at all in common. - But I fancy that Mr. Neill's experiment, interesting in one sense as it has proved itself to be, will hardly become general. As a destroyer of illusion it has no equal, save 4pd except the ungodly spectacle to which the Central Theater treated us two weeks ago.of John the Baptist, in the person of*Robert Downing, coming before the curtain to advertise the virtues of “A Voice From the Wilderness.” Ar- tistically, it is cn a par with the unappe- tizing performances of those shop-window artists who cook your dinner while you wait, and one wonders just how the play- wrights would regard it as a regular hap- pening. Cholce candies, Townsend's, Palace Hotel® —_— ! Cal. glace fruit 50c per 1b at Townsend's.* —_———— Special information supplied daily to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont~ gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. * —_—— The Prussian city of Cassel will be a thousand years,old in 1913, while the French city of Marseilles was founded is 2654 years old. ————————_ “Go Away Back and Sit Down.” It 1s sald that certain people cannot sing this song, but anybody can go away back East and sit down In the comfortable trains of the Nickel Plate Road. These trains carry Nickel Plate Dining Cars in which are served American CI Meals at from 35c to §1.00 each. Call or write for free book. showing views of Buffalo Pan- Amerfcan Exposition. Jay W. Adams, P. C. P. A., 31 Crocker Bldg., San Francisco Cal.