The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 22, 1901, Page 18

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, 18 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1901 — ' = - I THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL it ‘ COLLAMARINI LACKS JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager PREJUD]CE AGAIN REAL ARTISTRY SUNDAY . aiieatia R R SR L e e T S0k (SEPTEMBER 22, dg0t AMERICANIZING IN HER EXECUTION. Publication OMIce. ... ... veeseensseenseenseennsn s SECEE +o....Market and Third, S. F. BRITISH THEATER By Blanche Partington. : THE KINSHIP OF LAW. . By Guisard. + —s HE need of law for human government has existed since the organization of society. T e T S < -3 The law as it is found everywhere is the latest and best expression of the people who live e ] under it. If it be defective, say in Russia, it is the best growth of the genius of that nation from Rurik to Nicholas. If it broaden and is better in the parliamentary nations OR the last two weeks we have 1 had the Collamarini “Carmen” at the Tivoli, alternating with a “r * that has perhaps been the best thing all round that the | o the bill. It is perhaps say things about Col- , but one feels more he is heard that here | is one of the loveliest voices, the richest temperaments going to a comparative | waste in her present work. Contrary to what seems to be a general impression, Collamarini is really a quite modest sort of person. She by no means assumes ' as the genius rignt here that lies. If she could but once be persuaded that she has within her material for a success a thou- more worthy, more enduring hat she now enjoys, that by hard ble effort it might be hers in This week will seei | but a few ye that she can now so well | spare—for numbers only 24 years—I think Collamarina has the grit and hu- mility to face the situation. { and emotionai in- tuitic strong personal magnetism, not seldom compels belief in her as an artist. But she is without real without subt v, without finish in her work. -She lays on the reds and yellows of gesture and expres- sion with heavy b and with only | the crudest attempts t blending cne | artistry, or finen into the other. Carmen, perhaps her most characteristic performance, ex- hibits her in all her glory and| imperfections. Sometimes, vocally and nistrion both, for her altogeth- er delectable volce answers to her | every mood, there is a bit of pure pei fection that simply dazzles one into com- s leav- tear one’s hair at (hei plete submissicn for the moment, ing one later to rough work that follows. It is only rare- I¥ that her instinct is at fault in the emo- tional coloring of the role—the part is, of | course, one of the least complex in the | operatic repertoire—but it is as destitute of shading as the conventional poster. One moment she is theyangry Carm the next Carmen fascinating, and she both with all her body and soul for the But there is no transition period, | ha . untempered, disjointed. | Then, too, there are amazing gaps in the | conceptic n she simply stops acting altogethe er the dance when she sits and mops her brow in the most ar less manner imaginable and is frankly | Collamarini, not at all displeased with what she has done and wholly willing to | let Don Jose have his whack at the work | while she cools off a bit. She is a very good illustration of the | principle that there is no standing still | in the art werld. It is either retrogade or | advance, and Collamarini is not advanc- ing. Her Carmen of last year was better than this from every standpoint. She has | Jost in looks from putting on flesh, that further gives an appearance of coarse- ness to the role—in itself a frankly fieshly conception—that it did not have last year, and her breath control from the same reason is by no means so good. Her sins in the use of her voice are more marked, and altogether this richly gifted young woman is not taking the place that is hers by right of natural endowment. She has apparently every qualification for an opera singer of all but the first rank, an adorable voice, temperament, beauty, personality and rare capacity for hard{ work and physical strength, all only need- ing training and direction under the stern hand of a master. Whether or not there is the intellectual equipment necessary for the recognition of the fact, Collamarini’s !uxug(vl career will show, and that right | speedily. . e e “Carmen” goes again this week at the Tivoli, and “Nabucco,” one of the earliest Verdi operas, in which Salassa will be ex- cellently placed in the name role. The overture should by no means be missed. Jean Gerardy, now on his way from Honolulu to San Francisco, will be the first of the great artists to be heard here during the present season. It will be the ‘cellist’s first appearance in San Fran- cisco, and the first appearance also of a | very lovely Stardivarius 'cello that has an | unusually romantic history, even for the muchly storfed instruments of the old Cremonese. 1 have never heard Gerardy, but he is said to know how to handle the ‘cello better than most, and he certainly looks that way. We have not had any of the great cellists here for some time now, and to hear again the round and golden tone of this most glorious instrument will indeed fill a long felt want. Joset Hofmann is another musical per- ce of the gods with | | sonage on the season’s programme, his date not yet announced. It will be a par- fo—— NOTED ARTIST WHO HANDLES | THE CELLO BOW IN A MAS- | | TERLY WAY, i | ticular pleasure to me to hear him, as he ! was the first wonder-child jof my experi- ! ence, and I have not heard/ him since. He was just 10 years old when I heard him in recital in Manchester—November 11, } 1887, to be exact—a slim little fellow ina | sailor suit, rather large-eyved and white- faced, but with a wonderful technique | even then. I well remember his funny little trot across the platform to the piano and his unconventional delight in a huge box of candy that some wise admirer sent up after one of his numbers; also the frown of his black-browed papa as Mas- ter Josef r ived it! His father taught him then, 1 believe, and used to accom- | pany him in arrangements for two pianos. le Hofmann's programme was a big affair for a small boy. He played the Beethoven “Moonlight.Sonata,” a Chopin noctugne, mazurka and valse; the Weber- Liszt 'Polacca,” Chopin-Liszt “Chant Polonai Mozart sonata for two . and the usual He o improvised on a theme given by the audience—it was ‘“Auld Lang Syne” by all that's pathetic—and it all seemed to me then a very wonderful sort of per- formance. M must have been, too, for the small genius was aetcorded a splendid reception by the great audience, 2500 peo- ple at the least, gathered to hear that| tiny, talented mite thundering away on the big grand piano. But he is one of the few wonder children that have amply ful- filled their early promise, ranking nowi with the foremost pianists of the day, and it is good to know that he is on our musical menu for the season. Grand opera comes nearer, and the list of names for the season grows longer and richer every day. It includes now Calve, Emma Eames, Gadski, Sembrich, Sybil Sanderson, Fritzi-Scheff, Schuman- Heink, Suzanne Adams, Louise Homer and Carrie Bridewell. The list of men is yet incomplete, but counts so far Marchi, the new Italian tenor, about whom all Europe is talking and whom Mr. Grau picked up at the fag end of the Covent Garden season, where he had electrified an audience bored to death by a long string of more or less tiresome tenors; the favorite Van Dyck, Edouard de Reszke, Dippel, Scotti, Campanari, Jour- net and Biass. The Royal Italian Band is one of the nearest musical attractions. It ‘will be heard at the Alhambra next month. It is now under the musical direction of Signor Creatore, whose trombone playing won him here last year the title of *‘Angel Gabriel,” and who has since found much fame in the East as a conductor of the band. . Two recitals of exceptional interest will be given this week at Sherman & Clay Hall, the first a joint piano and song re- cital by Miss Annette Hullah and Harry H. Barnhart to be given on Thursday evening. Miss Hullah is lately from Lon- don and is a member of the distinguished musical family of the name. She is a pupil of Leschetizky. Mr. Barnhart, who takes charge of the vocal end of the re- cital, is a_pupil of the famous Florentine teacher, Corteszi, and of Randegger of London. Their unusual programme rung as follows: Varations in G.... “Lieder Ohne Worte". “Gigue” Maometto secondo. “Philemon et Baucl: nata, B minor.. , Ruddier Than the Cherry" Voice by the Cedar Tree" Bort. “A Garden Serenade' et Song of the Waves Arthur Henton Humoreske Leschetizky Rondo, Op. 16. “Torreador” o of Southern Europe, it is because the people have chosen to have it so. If in Great Britain it is administered by a committee of Parliament, called the Ministry, but really chosen by the people, it is because there Saxon institutions have reached a higher development and the people have more power. Whether in the United States or abroad, law, for the government of men and nations, is the expression of popular genius, and between all law there is a kinship. This sense of kin has been shown by the world’s community of lamentation over the assas- sination of the President of the United States. The venerable Emperor of Austria added his presence to the funeral formalities of the American colony and legation in his capital. Royal and republican administrators of government vied with each other in lamenting the slaughter of the President as a blow at the common kinship of law. The American people have received their third lesson in the vanity of that boast we have felt and used to make, that our institutions wére proof against such a murder. When Orsini started the long list of tragedies that blacken history, by throwing bombs at the French Emperor, we raised our voices in republican pride, declaring immunity from such attempts in this country. But this is all over now. The Czar that freed the serfs and the President that freed the slaves, both fell under the hand of the assassin. The Prime Minister who destroyed slavery in the Span- ish dominions shared their fate. In each case a benefactor of mankind fell. But there is no dis- crimination. Wherever there is law, its chief administrator is marked for murder. The murder of a King is as much a blow at Lberty as that of a republican President, for it is law at which the assassin aims, and law cannot be so light and so liberal as to avoid his destructive rage. Americans can well make common cause with the people and the governments of all nations in isolating this pest of anarchy. With 2000 anarchists in Chicago, several hundred in San Francisco and numbers of them in every city, it is time to be alert-and banish this pest from our soil. Nor is it useful to spare those who cail themselves philosophical anarchists. Let them go into isolation along with the “Propaganda of tie Deed’—the murderers who turn the philosophy of the school into pistol and poniard. They don't believe in government. Let them be isolated where there is none. THE COST OF STRIKES:; ARROLL D. WRIGHT, United States Commissioner of Labor, has on exhibition in the department of labor at the Buffalo Exposition a record of strikes in this country dur- ing the twenty years ending December 31, 1go0. The Commissioner is reported to have stated in a recent comment on the display: “During the period named there were 22,793 strikes, with a wage loss of $257,863,478, a loss through assistance rendered by labor organizations of $16,174,793 and a loss to employers of $122,731,121. The lockouts during the same period numbered 1003, with a wage loss to employes of $48,819,745, a loss through assistance rendered by labor organizations of $3,451,461, and a loss to employers of $19,927,983. The total losses by strikes and lockouts reached the vast sum of $468,968,581.” A great part of that loss was an absolute loss not only to the employers and employes in- volved in the strikes, but to the community as a whole. The days that were wasted in idleness can never be regained, nor can we in any way win back the profits of what industry might have produced had they been days of work. The cost of strikes to the community has therefore been enormous, and the damage is irrecoverable. Out of the direct losses there flow indirect losses to an amount which cannot be accu- rately computed, but must be very large. Had the sum of $468,000,000 lost by the strikes during the twenty years been earned, it would of course have been a stimulus to further ehterprises and in- creased industry. Such portion of it as was saved would have added to the amount of capital available for the payment of wages and the improvement of the community. Thus the effects of the strikes have been about as costly as would have been a great war, or the consequences en- tailed by a widespread famine. ’ The statistics relate only to the pecuniary damage done by strikes. It would not be pos- sible to sum up in figures the wrongs done in other ways by the lawless and brutal elements of a community who take advantage of strikes to assault peacealle workingmen, and even at times to commit murder. Nor do they show the extent to which cowardly officials of cities, and fre- quently State officials as wel', degrade the authority of their offices for the purpose of getting votes among the lawless. The moral loss/in that way is as serious as the money loss, and there is no telling how much American communities have lost in their business and their industries through the cowardice of officers intrusted with the duty of enforcing the laws and protecting citizens. San Francisco is at present undergoing such a loss day after day. It is a loss inflicted upon her not by genuine workingmen who are seeking to better their condition, but by gangs of ru- fians who will neither work themselves nor permit others to work; and who in their efforts to in- timidate others have committed outrage after outrage; some of their assaults leading -even to the death of their victims. There is ample evidence that many of the strikers would gladly return to work if they were assured of protection. That assurance is denied by the Mayor. So the whole community suffers while a cowardly official does politics. GERMANY AND RUSSIA. HILE the relations between the Governments of Germany and Russia are apparently the most cordial and pleasant, those between the people of the two countries are by no means so happy. The Kaiser and the Czar have none but affectionate and admir- ing words for one another, but the press of Germany, reflecting doubtless the sen- timents of the industrial and commercial classes, has for Russia no words much more pleasant than a mild warning that Germany will not tolerate too much, and the Russian press retaliates in kind. The contrast between the tone of‘the governments and the tone of the press is sometimes amusing. The Kaiser recently issued an official manifesto concerning the Czar's visit, in the course of which he said: “We welcome the Czar warmly. We owe it to the mighty ruler who, while directing the destinies of many nations, endeavors to be the prince of peace and the pro- tector of humanity. Europe owes to him largely the shaping of the present conditions of the world’s affairs, which permits us to accompany his further trip with the sincerest wishes.” About the time the manifesto was issued and a welcome was being arranged for the “prince of peace and the protector of humanity” the Germar papers were discussing Russian tar- iffs, and the Deutsche Tageszeitung-said: “The Russians must learn that German friendship is as valuable to Russia as is Russian friendship to Germany. Bismarck’s declaration ‘we run after no- body’ was intended for Russia also.” The Russians on their part are angry because of the proposed construction of a German railway from the Bosphorus to the Gulf of Persia. Referring to the road the Novoye Vremya says: “There will then be a new base of operations against Russian troops in Central Asia, be- sides the capture of markets in which the Russians will no longer be able to hold their own.” Tt will be seen the war lords are much more friendly in the two countries than the captains of in- dustry. Perhaps after all the Kaiser and the Czar really maintain their big armies solely to keep the peace. It is worth noting that notwithstanding the gopularity of ,President Roosevelt and the familiarity of the people with his nickname, not a single paper of importance since his accession to the Presidency has referred to him as “Teddy.” If it be true that Admiral Ramsay never at any time expressed an opinion on the Samp- son-Schley controversy, he must have been very indifferent to the news of the day or else had feel- ings that were too deep for utterance. No other cause of the fires that destroyed upward of $161,000,000 worth of property in this country last year was so frequent as defective flues, and people who are thinking of building houses had better make a note of it. —— With an expert musician to lead the way in the campaign for the mayoralty the Labor ' Union party will doubtless be able to toot its horn with vigor from now to election day. C o HE Eastern press is at present busily engaged in cordlally con- demning the insulting reception ac- corded to William Gillette in his recent production of “Sherlock Holmes” in the English capital. With the co-operation of the author, Dr. A. Conan Doyle, Mr. Gillette undertook the production in London of the play written about his melodramatic and world-famous hero, Sherlock Holmes, and those who remember his work in “Se- cret Service” will not doubt that as the cool, keen detective Gillette could not avold success. The play, as a play, seems to have failed, but Gillette, according to impartial critics, has done his part as he . might have been expected to do it. Not- withstanding this, he was ‘“booed” re- peatedly, and at the curtain call after the last act could not make himself heard for fully ten minutes under the storm of ad- verse demonstration that in London takes the form of “booing.” He won out, though; waited until his courage under trying circumstances compelled a hearing, and then told the people a few things about the whole duty of audiences. It is largely alleged by the press that the demonstration is the direct result of in- sular prejudice against the Americanizing of the British theater, and was indeed an organized effort. Some of the best Eng- lish papers express sincere regret for the occurrence, saying that it is a matter of almost national moment. Others, again, are inclined to the belief that the demon- stration was a rough but justifiable ex- pression of feeling against this American invasion. Lyman B. Glover, commenting upon _this in the Chicago Record-Herald, says: It has been pointed out in these columns many times that there was no inter.tion on the part of England to permit a fair reciprocity in theatrical matters with this country. Forrest, Booth, Mansfleld, Jefferson and ofher of our important actors have been made 1o feel that they were not wanted in London, and such unimportant exceptions as Goodwin, who Is only tolerated because hB wife is a beauty, or of “The Belle of New York.” who had legs to exhibit, do not alter the fac Mr. Irving, Mr. Willard, Mr. Hare and other English actors of breadth, who are always welcome over here, have sincerely attempted to break down this bigoted unfrierdiiness to Amercian plays and rlayers, but they have not succeeded. Nor will any one succeed dur- ing the present generation or until some politi- cal convulsion brings about the education and enlightenment of the English common people. It is the public schools that have given breadth of sentiment to the masses in the United States, and perhaps it is the compprative lack of them that has made the English lower \| classes so narrow and 11 .bred. L The popular “Florodora,” damned by most of the critics and adored by the crowd, will follow the funny current flas- co at the Columbia miscalled “A Mod- ern Crusoe.” It is a durious result of the existing haphazard policy of some thea- ters that their patrons may one week happen on a plece of deliciousness like “A Royal Family” and the next wander innocently into the hopeless mazes of “A Modern Crusoe” at the same theater. And there is seemingly no defense. One may no more sample the play than one may try on a toothbrush. You pay your money and the play is yours for better or worse— usually worse. The theater of the tour- ing company is a dramatic grab-bag, with more blanks than prizes, and no means of knowing beforehand whether the goods are fast color and a yard wide other than the interested reports of the passionate press agent. This doubtless makes for a particular delight when such gems as “Mrs. Dane’s Defence” and “A Royal Family” dawn upon one’s astonished gaze, but it takes all of these to mtake up for such awful blanks as “A Modern Cru- fancmay ooy ONE OF THE CHARMING MEM- BERS OF THE COMPANY THAT WILL PRESENT “FLORODORA.” - thos"—a ‘“‘queer mix-up of socialism, sen- timentalism and bathos,” I had it; but t god who guards our etymology spelled better than he knew—the performance was pathetic, truly pathetic. A band of players none too clever trying to make bricks without straw, to get a laugh out of the addled nonsense of this alleged comedy, to lift the dead weight of a sal dullness into some semblance of joy, to the chilly silence of a vanishing audi- ence. There is, just the same, a good might- have-been in the play. The plot is inher- ently humorous, but it is worked out in most extravagantly wrong-headed fast fon. A millionaire, accustomed to touch- ing the button for everything on the pr gramme, is cast with a singular menag- erie of friends upon a desert island. He has before spur-r-rned with scorn the ad- dresses of the usual poor but honest young man in love with his niece, for whom the millionaire intends to buy a prince. But on the desert island the poor young man gets in his aeadly work. No one knows how to do anything with his hands but himself, and science (a professor), wealth (the millionaire), rana (the prince), litera- ture (a journalist!) have all to acknowl- edge their comparative uselessness in tue desert environment with the common sense equipment of the son of toil. Not a bad plot, but the treatment—well, like her who Is never mentioned, it is best left 4 unsald. I don’t know what kind of a “Floro- dora” we are to be favored with, only a few of the original company—among them the pretty Miss Dudley of the picture above—coming here, but I do know the operetta is very good to whistle, and that it has vastly pleased the people on the other side. « o+ Here iIs the latest about that indefatiga- ble little Californian, Alice Nielsen, culled from the Dramatic Mirror of Septem- ber 14: Alice Nielsen is mow at Scorra, Italy, pur- suing her studles for the grand opera stage uhder the tutelage of Lawrence Russell. In a letter to a friend of Miss Nielsen's in this country Mr. Russell states that he considers Miss Nlelsen one of the best pupils he has had and destined to win much success in grand opera. Miss Nielsen recently sang before Sig- nor Mancinelli, director of the Maurice Grau opera productioms. He expressed himself as delighted with her voice and desires that she take the prima donna role in an opera that he is now completing. Miss Nielseh is also to study under Tostl. In recent cabled reports it was_erroneously stated that she was to appear in grand opera under Mr. Russell's manage- ment, whereas she is to receive vocal instruc- tion from him. It is certainly difficult to picture the chic and vivacious little comic opera star ascending into the solemnities of the grand opera firmament, but one never knows. Alice has done most of the things she set out to do, and Mancinelll is credited with knowing most things worth while about grand opera. So here's to, you, Alice of California, and may you twinkle with the best of them! Could Promise That.— renelope,” said her mother, “I noticed you allowed young Hankinson to walk home with you from church last Sunday morning. Don't let it happen again.” “] won’t, mamma,” dutifully responded Penelope. Then, sotto voce. “T'll do it on purpose next time!"—Chicago Tribune. e Choice candies, Townsend's, Palace Hotel* —————em Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib at Townsend's.* - Special information supplied dally to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. * —_—— M. Waldeck-Rousseau is an expert and enthusiastic fisherman. His Sunday ex- cursions up the Seine are fraught with disaster to the important finny denizens of that river. —_——————— “Go Away Back and Sit Down.” It 1s said that certain people cannot sing this song, but anybody can g0 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 Club soe.” The prophetic proofreader who read my criticism on “Crusce,” by the ‘way, was inspired to substitute ‘“pathos” for “ba- Meals at from 3c to $1.00 each. Cali or write for free book showing views of Buffalo American Exposition. Jay W. Adams, P. C. P. A., 87 Crocker Bldg., San Francisco Cal.