The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 5, 1902, Page 11

THE SUNDAY CALL. 11 living-r reach. Out they the sm ride their e ' i the Orpheam a when they There they find zibum al- le. They t00. They like They man_politics. four young ually are. They ¥ In their Berlin elves within newspapers. paths of thelr garden little bicycles and take EOUR LILLIBUTIANS - ) AOW THEY LIVE. Rbslut b Treatrigal bwcad. athletic and they reise. They don't want here, for Rit- too much attention to take them ott except in a carrlage. ter says it In front of their Berlin hume lies a minfacturs rden plat, where they work, weeding and p! The roses grow little just for them. and the big pansies turn into johnn ups. They enjoy their traveling except for the fa that this world wasn't built to fit them. Its furnishings are too large. This makes them uncomfortable. Down in their clean whitewashed: dressing- room they were taking turns stauding on a chair to look into the glass while Frau Ritter helped them. S8he travels along with her husband to look after their wants. There are a great many incon- veniences about being a midset—you have to have somebody to hand things to you and to turn on lights. Dressing is a laborious process, for the fputians are lightning change artists, there ark various costumes to be stowed away under the one that appears There must be the purple wrestling and then the acrobatic tinsel, and Ivation Army garb goes over all. Otto, the comedian, stroiled out into the hall clad in his curly wig and bonnet. He shook his tambourine in his manager’s face and dodged like a cat when the Herr made for him. first. 1t took two Interpreters to ask him If he liked to play the role feminine. “Nein!"” he responded, with a tremend- ous shake. But he didn't iook a3 if he meant it. The Herr lifted the hem of h's gown to sce if he had on the right and Otto made a tremendovs moack flut- tering and pulling down of t k. He is the jolly one of the trcupe. He has an uncanny face, wiih b merry black eyes. He is the only one that has an unpleasantly large head, but le has brains enough in it to-make up for the lack of beauty. These midgets aie none of them children In inteilect. Adolf is the olcest. He is the fat one, as his manager calls him; but he is not too fat to be the strong man of the lot. . &1l us face; the b dr p bike thove of the moon's s press.on, and his fore- head is wrinkled from s'de to s de. The other Otto, the mite of them, the 19- old one who thrashes the big drum in the Salvation Army ‘performance, is Adolf’s brother. Their father, Herr Schemmel, was a huge man and his wife was a full-sized woman. They are both dead now and Adolf and Otto look upon their profession as their only tie in life, and they are as ambitious dbout it as any other performers. They don't intehd that thelr singing and lifting ,and = wrestling shall be wonderful for midgets, but won- derful any way. A woman of ordinary strength cannot lift. one the weights vea! which Adolf handles. It is a lonely sort of life that these lit- tle pecple lead, mostly apart from other men. They seek each other’s company in preference to that of big people.. And yet they are never churlish when approached. They are happy and healthy,. though without the bon vivant tendencies which carried: off the famous gourmet and high liver, Major Mite. His miniature jags were the death of him. These little Ger- mans are sober, steady workers, with a keen eve out to'the main chance. It is now forty vears since Modjeska made her debut in Poland. Blanche Walsh has declded to try an- other. hew play. “The Hunt for Happi- néss” fs the name of it. It is a problem play with a blistering heroine. The first three acts take place in America, the last at Monte Carlo. Hall Caine is dramatizing his own novel, “The Eternal City:” It will be put on by Liebler with the kind of big scenery that they make a specialty of. The - Cohans, who are known here as vaudeville skitters, have branched out and are heading a company in a musical farce. All of the musical numbers are by George Cohan, who used to write the fam- ily skits. “Madame Butterfly’” is revived in the East, with. Pilar Morin in the title role. She once before took a Japanese part in a' pantomime by Vance Thompson. HEN an old-timer in the local muslcal world sits down to tell you about San Francisco’s sym- phonic history, he will take you half way back to the days of gold. A quarter of a century ago or there- | @bouts, this was supposed to be a rather | raw city; and yet symphony concerts ex- isted and were patronized. We needn’t | feel ourselves so tremendously up-to-date | at this beginning of the century, just be- | cause we are being entranced by a stage full of orchestral harmony; our parents ienjo,\'ed something very much like it ! Herrold was the early day leader. Some- | thing like a quarter of a century ago, when San Francisco was considered the parvenu of cities, old Herrold, father of the present Herrold, led his celll and his violins and all the rest of them along the drudging road that winds toward artistic HISTORY OF TH o Liamst success. He was a good leader, the okl- timers say, and he didn’t put up with any nonsense. Right there comes in that wonderful difierence between leaders. In (he daily work of rehearsal the personality of the man counts. His musical ability is far from being all—there are those who will tell ycu that it is the least part. He neqys all'the qualities that an army's general needs and a few more thrown in. Herrold got a great deal out of his mu- siclans, and so did Rosewald, who fol- lowed him. Rosewald was a violinist himself, and he was enthusiastic. He held kis concerts in Irving Hall, which old residents will remember, on Post street. It does not exist now, and the hard work that he dedicated to his art is largely forgotten. Yet Rosewald did accomplish much, for he started a great deal of In- terest which Js rolling along like a grow- ing snow ball, Bauer, twice leader at the Tivoli, gave his concerts at that house. He had a good d of zest in his discipline, but it wasn't a patch on that of the famous Fritz Schee! who came to the Midwinter Fair and stayed to lead a symphony or- chestra. His concerts were the most sen- sationa! that ever took place ‘here, and everybcdy who knew San Francisco in the year of our Lord onc-thousand-eight- kundred-and-ninety-four remembers them ' as a big part of its history. Fritz, so those who played under him sald, had the dickens of a temper. cussed like a major. There has never been a leader who lea men by the meta. phorical hair of their heads as Fritz Scheel did. It now and then came very near being a rough-and-tumble fight. But he kiew music and he Knew men. He might have bettered the method but he could never have bettered the resuits. He had held the position of concert melster He* SYMPHONY IN SAN FRANCISCO. for something: like. twenty years under Hans. von Bulow and Wagner was his gospel to him. he made them play -well, and his methods of discipline were so strenuous that every man who ever played under him . remembers them ‘with the. feeling of a mental bruise. Hinrichs came next, about four years ago; then there was one concert which Hirschfeld zave on his own hogk. 'The others had been - subscribed to, but Hirechfeld was independent ‘and tried his own wings. They did not fly far. » Then came Holmes. Where Scheel had ruled by blankety-blanketing, Holmes at- tempted to do the same by “If you please.” Tt did not work. Mausicians are children. They grew lax In response to his methods. No man ever had a heart fuller of music than the old Englishman, but his method was too geatle. It lacked He made men play and ‘rustimg on the Instant that he appears the military sharpness which is needed. This brings us down to Steindorff. One of his musicians says: ‘“‘Steindorff commands respect without losing his tem- per.” ‘Watch the big .lionlike man at his re- hearsal and you will know what this means.. He comes in with his head up, his’ chin in the air. He doesn't stop to talk. He goes straight about business. Everybody else does likewise. The mu- siclaal) do not wait to be told that it is time 3o begin. They start hustling and and they keep it up. His baton swings cut sharply. His commands accompany in. quick, ringing tones. There Is an at- mosphere of alertness, of interest, of busi- ness pervading the rehearsal. #That is why he ought to succeed.” the musiclans say. “He makes us stand| around, but he doegn't ralse a rough house in doing 1t.” Word comes trom Honolulu about the James Neill Company. A native feast called a luau was given after the first night’s performance in honor of a niece of Edythe Chapman. No plates, knives or forks were allowed ferns were used . It is 1 an that Mr. Neill using any fork are g0 bewitc threatened to forbid but her fingers in the Grace Van Studdiford, who came to us last season as a vaudevillian, is singing Maid Marian with the Bostonians. ns has been to see Mary F. New England home. He expects to play in the dramatization of her story, “Jerome, Poor Man,” and r are confabing. has produced her new “The. Girl and the * Her role is sald to be charming- Iy suited to her, althoagh the play has no foglc. Mrs. Gilbert, who has been very 111, recovered sufficiently to play and ceived so enthu lcally the first ght that she forgot her lines from sheer excitement. Mrs. Humphry Ward's novel, “Elea- nor,” will probably be produced with Mrs. Patrick Campbell in the title role. Another play by the author of “Zaza™ is to be produced under Frohman's direc- tion. It is the author and the st Annie Russell e Fitch. has lately been given its first New Yorlj production, hav- ing been tried on the dog otherwhere. The play is different from the novel in fits ending—Beaucaire is made to remain with Mary and win her instead of turning her down at the itical moment, Thus the most artistic point in the book is lost and the p! becomes stereotyped and much like all the pepular historical novel plays. It Is doing w nancially. Lorena Atwced has been engaged as leading woman by Howard Hall, who is Keeping up his caged lion specialty in “The Man Who Dared.” Anna Held has broken the Casino’s ree- ord for receipts, having played to $2303 on an ordinary Saturday night. 1t seems that Maurice Thompion and Virginia Harned were great friends and it was the author’s wish that the star should take the part of “Alice of Old Vin- cennes.” He made the request before he died. Frank James, the once dreaded outlaw and now a demure citizen of St. Louls, is to zo on the stage. He has been lving a quiet life for the past nineteen years since 1 s zcquittal. For some time past he has veen doorkeeper in a St. Louls theater and he has had plenty of chances to be- come part of the show. He has turned dGown many offers, but there is money enough in the latest one to induce him to accept. “Across the Desert” is the name of the melcdrama in which he will make his debut. He lays much stress on the fact that it will not encowige lawbreak- ing. in geography tells us, is the Cerosola Cas- cade, in the Alps, having a fall of 2400 The highest waterfall the world, feet; that of Arvey, in Savoy, is 1100 feet, and the falls of Yosemite Valley range from 700 to 1000 feet. But higher yet is the waterfall in the San Cuayatan Can~ yon, in the State of Durange, Mexico. It was discovered by some prospectors tem years ago in the great barranca distriet, which is called the Tierras Desconocidas, ‘While searching fon the famous lost mine, Naranjal, a great roar of water was heard. With great difficuity the party pushed on and up and down the mighty chasm until thev Leheld the superb fall, which is at least 3000 feet high.—-Land of Sunshine.