The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 11, 1902, Page 24

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 11, 1902. "THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL. - Address Communications to W. 5. LEAKE, Manager ...... ...MAY 11, 1902 Publication Office.. ... ... ........... S N @ Market and Third S. F. NATURES DREAD POWER. Y the appalling calamity which has befallen Martinique public attention is startled once more into a recognition of the dread powers which are in operation within the earth, and which as yet are but dimly understood even by the most enlightened science. The forces that play or rage upon the surface of the globe are mighty, but they are as nothing to Cyclones and floods, tempests and tidal waves, are but slight things in comparison with the forces generated by the interior heat that at tinies shatters the surface with earthquakes or bursts forth in volcanic eruptionis that not only overwhelm cities and widespread” distric‘s, but wreck whole islands, disrupt their mountain peaks and sink them into the sea. Science is as yet uncertain as to the vrigin or the nature of these vast seismic disturb- There are as many theories about them as there are scientists. As yet the whole subject is but @ matter of speculation more or less insecurely founded. There are reasons for believing that the globe of the earth is solid to its core. There are equally good reasons for believing that within the interior tliere is a .mass of fiery liquid. . Learned authorities can be cited to sustain either of those views, but no man has yet been sufficiently learned to prove his theory with the exactness of an indisputable demonstration. Among the most interesting’ speculations and studies upon the subject are those which seek to trace a connection between the miiglity disturbances that occur in the giant globe of the sun and the earthquakes of our globe.. Careful observations extending over long period of time have shown that there is at least a coincidence between astronomical and geological cataclysms. It has been noted that when a magnétic storm is in progress it often happens that there is a volcanic eruption. that subterranean noises are heard and that the ground trembles violently over a wide tract of country. It is not, however, the whirlwinds and eruptions of the sun only that coincide with earthquakes and voleanoes, for recent researches show that at certain epochs the moon, the planets and even comets seem to stimulate the activity of the subterranean forces. These coincidences have led many eminent men to hold that there is a sea of fire within the interior of the earth having a tide whose ebb and flow are subject to the same sidereal influences as the tides of the ocean; and when the influence of sun, moon and &ars is greatest, the subterra- nean tide rages in vast storms that shake the earth or break forth into volcanic eruptions and vent Arnold Boscowitz of Paris, after an elaborate review of all the known facts and all the learned theories-upon the subject, says irr his work on earthquakes and- volcanoes: “Universal and all penetrating, dreadful and beneficent cause of life and death, heat is perhaps the most active of .all the essential principles of nature. This powerful agent has‘its home in the interior of the earth, as we can test for ourselves by descending into a mine or looking down a volcano. I do not refer t5 a central fire, for I do not know whether such fire exists, or whether heat is greater at the center of the globe than in other parts, but what we can assert is that the effluvia of heat do circulate in the interior of the planet.. * * * We see torrents and flames of boiling lava 24 + > 3 | A OSCAR WEIL’ MAN OF MUS]C’ {JOHN D, SPRECKELS, Proprietor. MODESTLY TALKS OF St g | HIS ART. j BY BLANCHE PARTINGTON. - 2 2 — - -+ ! those within. ances. | | | | their strength upon the air. | | :‘ NYTHING but myself.”” This TT’ § characteris- encouraging was the highly but hardly of Mr. Oscar Weil, to request that he should for me for these columns, and readers’ edificatio » my purpose to try to nown a few home people oth now g them, and as the Zeislers for a brief space, 1 judged my opportunity. Naturally, as at once the best and least n of music in town, suggested s the most fitting subject for a sketch. But Mr. Well thought ot as 1 knew he would—and when 1 if he would say something for the ed, with the delightful cor- who will give you every- g you want: I—of anything but my- be ing to luck, 1 suggested the pres- ing of the divine art in Califo as subject, and the following day Well's house for a time. This pleas- £ afternoon found me workroom, with its ter of half-finished scores, and music-laden piano, not tic cigarette, 1 the orderly disorder that is r of housemaids and the de- f genius. Everything proper to the short, was there—but Mr. for a brief second I feared the jer—for to his other accom- Major Wefl adds the art of run away from the inter- so, however. A little weary teaching, he soon made pearance znd diplomatically propos- a pipe of peace was out of the to make a pacific cup of tea tea turned out to be as clever as things Mr. Weil does, and The most of with a Charles Lamb-like dissertation on the virtues of the sacred leaf, a little ex- curgion into the art of Corot—suggested by immer of a Corot landscape—and th etching of the future Weil orches- tra, that is to centain among other riches sixteen tympani, the teacups were emp- tied, refilled, and filled again. And the tea had its usual expansive way. In a little while, under its genial infiuence, Mr. Weil had departed slightly from his customary masterly reserve ebcut his work and the things that are his, and had confessed to several beset- ting distinctions. There are four operas to begin with, threes that have attained celebrity, one, “Pyramus,” an early and experimental work and a comparative faflure. “Pyg- malion,” & dramatic work and a respect- ful perversion of Gilbert’s play,” as its author phrases it, was a great success. The comic opera, “Suzette,” three weeks to supply a promised tenth opera to the list of the Bostonians on one of their visits here, is one of the pret- tiest light operas on the stage—not ac- cording to the composer, needless to say. “A War-Time Wedding,” an operatic melodrama, was also much of & success during the palmy days of the Bostonlans. The opera was withdrawn with the secession of Jessie Bartlett Da- vis from the company, but will be revived again next season, - with contralto in her original role. g = S - S ] who ::xnly the ber, share in the for- tunes that w“bdnl made? acre 2 p One of $200 to W00 3 by our plan of investment will cost only a trifiing sum. We have red the most exhaustive accurate de- scription and report on this rinted in her few who would be the better | have taken off their illus- | photographed wonder of the light | written in | the famous RN I IS5 SAN FRANCISCO MUSICIAN WHO HAS PUBLISHED SOME NEW SONGS. & oo | “I have more unprinted than printed | steff,” Mr. Well began after owning up to the operas. “The larger things are, firstly, not so much desired (from so un- important a person as I am), and, sec- ondly, one is not anxious to let them 3o until one is convinced that they are at least as all right as one can make them. And I am never too satisfied with my stuff. There is a symphonic overture— given several times at the Crystal Palace in London, by the way, an oratorio, “The Passiol several things for chorus and orches: a violin sonata and much else among the great unprinted, and there probably they will stay. “A man who does much teaching finds it very hard to get the repose for com- position, and 1 am content to do smailer | things when in the mood. Once in a while I fish out a little bunch and print. Then I may go on for several years and— except to do work for study—quite . for- get that 1 ever had the ambition to be a composer. Truth to tell, I am more in- terested in the work of my pupils than in my own attempts. What 1 have left of gmbition is for them.” “What of your own things do you pre- fer, Mr. Weil?” I asked. “Oh, don’t know. There are some things for women’s voices, one in canon form, that I should have thought rather good if some other fellow had done them,” he replied. (These, by the way, are among the most delightful examples | of concerted work for female voices.) “‘Possibly my most important work is that for the use of children,” he went on, “ the ‘Six Sonatinas’ I perhaps think best of. 1 did three operettas for chil- dren with H. C. Bunner that were great fun to do.” (I filled in later this list of children’s literature that includes eleven ianoforte pieces, op. 6 (Breitkopf and artel); six vignettes (Ditson); twenty- four minjatures (Cranz, Hamburg); sev- eral sets of etudes and many songs. The | other piano work includes -perhaps fifty pieces, the more important being - the | lovely “Ballade” in G minor, and the so- nata in F. The list counts also some charming numbers among the ‘“Valses,” " “Feuillettes,” etc. ., we know you best here by your songs,” 1 suggested. “And, tell me, don’t you sometimes write your own verse?"” Mr, Weil smiled and admitted that he | did, occasionally. “I usually sign them ‘from the Norwegian,’ ‘from the Basque,' ‘from the Portuguese,’ don't you know?’ Whereby it will be seen that it is not always the country’s fault if prophets go unhonored at home. The Well songs are many and beautiful. One of the most popular Nordica sang here a short while ago. Possibly those written to the Goethe texts known. many. are best They have a large vogue in Ger- Then there are the well-known | songs with violin obligato (op. 10), fve | German songs, another violin series, later |and finer, and yet another set (op. 28). The latest, just in print (op 31, 32), com- prise three Shakespearean songs, very chdracteristic, full and quaintly flavored, and three dainty modern songs. There are to come also three trios for women's voices and planoforte (0. 39, three Eng- lish songs (op. 34) and six songs in canon for women'’s voices (op. 35). esides these things Mr. Well found time, as hl hl:ve learned from other sources, when he was a very young man to study violin with David ang" L‘alo in Paris: to study the piano with Moscheles | and Plaidy; to kneel on a mat at Leipsic | with other fanatics to hear ‘‘Lohengrin,” | first chapter of the gospel of Wagner; to 0 to war with the New York Regiment n the w‘i sixties, and after a year spent in the Libby Prison to get himself made [ major. also spent some years with “The Ideals,” whence descerided ‘‘The Bostonians,” with whom he also served as director. While he was with ‘“The Ideals” the young impertinent was doing such things as interpolating acts in “La Fille du ment” and taking like liber- ties with other less sacred creations. Then came art criticism for many years on The Critic of New York, ‘and there are few musiclans here who forget the deft and playfully ironic pen that dealt with mat- ters musical on the Argonaut not very lcng ago. As a critic, to a comprehensive edge he adds acute judgment, an almost feminine trick of intuition and an adroit, epigrammatic fashion of expres- sion. Then he was r?o—eoud\u:wr with Theodore Thomas in New York for some time, and only the good Lord knows what you see, there's not Shere's not much to talkc | { | pouring forth from these depths, within which the rain and water which filter through the crevices of the earth are instantaneously converted into vapor. * * * But I aiso believe the celestial bodies stimulate the subterranean forces, and that the sidereal influences which descend from heaven to earth penetrate into its depths. It would seem as if the moon especially must produce in the fiery matter of the abyss an agitation similar to that to which she gives birth on the ocean.” However ignorant man may be of the causes of volcanoes and of earthquakes he is not ignorant of their awful powers and- terrible effects. History abounds with instance after instance of appalling calamities- caused by them. Since the day of the destruction of Pompeii down to this latest cataclysm there have been a multitude of their fearful outbursts. That at Lisbon, which de- stroyed upward of 60,000 lives and wrecked oné of the most solidly built capitals in Europe, was the most destructive of property of which we have any clear record. It did not, however, display the most trémendous force. Among others that exceeded it was the eruption in the Straits of Sunda, in 1883, which broke out first from the volcano of Krakatoa, continued until no less than forty-five craters in Java were in full blast, and literally shattered and sunk mountains and islands. The suddenness of the destruction constituted in some instances one of the most dread features of the catastrophe. Within one minute the city of Mendoza, in the Argentine Republic, was reduced to ruins and 16,000 people crushed to death. ' In twenty seconds nearly 17,000 per- ished at Caracas. The earthquake at Riobamba in 1797 is estimated to have killed 120,000 in a%ew minutes. The shock that destroyed Lisbon lasted only five seconds, and the final catastrophe that overwhelmed St. Pierre was not above three minutes in duration. Amid these shocks of earthquake and volcanic fires man has played his part with a virtue superior to the calamity that befell him. We are told thatat St. Pierre, while the fiery rain was descending and death impended over land and sea, the captain of the French cruiser Suchet held to his post in the port, lowered his boats, sent them through showers of boiling mud and redhot sand to rescue the crews of wrecked ships and succeeded in saving many. Similar deeds of heroism have occurred at every cataclysm of the kind, and the Roman sentinel who upon the excavation of Pompeii was found standing dead at his post is but one of many heroes who have met the dread disaster with an unflinching firmness. Thus the outbursts of even these dread powers of nature serve but to show that the human soul flourishes immortal—“unhurt amidst the war of elements, the wreck of matter and the crasih of worlds.” ONE WOMAN'S WAY. INCE Princess Catherine Radziwill has been convicted in South Africa of forgery and sen- tenced to two years' imprisorfnent, European correspondents have been busy furnishing the American people with accounts of her carcer and explanations of her crime. Of all these accounts that of De Blowitz, the famous correspondent of the London Times, is at once the most authoritative and the most interesting. According to De Blowitz the Princess went to her doom not, because she was infatuated with Rhodes, whose name she forged, but because she believed him to be infatuated with her and she wished to save him and to help him. The Princess, who is a Pole by birth, has had a career that is a melodrama. In addition to her high birth she has been honored as the possessor of the grand cross of the Bavarian order of St. Therese. Her husband seems to be a worthless sort of man, for it is said he has not only dropped out of his wife’s life, but out of social recognition as well. One of his brothers, how- ‘ever, is an aide de camp of the Kaiser and a knight of the Black Eagle. Thus both by birth and by marriage the Princess has a hold upon tl:ie magnates of the world and might have been ex- pected to get through it without going to prison. Unfortunately she was dowered with the fatal gifts of beauty and of fascination, and her life has been tragic. Early in her career that brilliant Russian general and diplomat, Count Skobeleff, fell in love with her and when she. rejected his advances he killed himself by poison in the midst of an orgy he had arranged for that very purpose. The fate of Skobeleff deeply impressed the Princess, and when in after years Cecil Rhodes fell under her spell she feared he would become desperate like Skobeleff and commit some mad act that would increase her remorse. She hastened to South Africa to save him from that fate, but Rhodes had shaken off his infatuation and when she ar- rived she found herself abandoned. Then she plunged into all sorts of enterprises and soon be- came involved in debt. At first Rhodes heiped her, but when she became more seriously entan- gled he refused to see her. Then came the forged notes and the ruin. It is a chapter of history that beats romance, and there may be other chapters to come. The Princess is not dead yet, and two years in prison will not lessen her fascination, nor her desire to tell her side of the story and get some strong man to champion it. A Boston investigator has discovered that a good many office girls in that city make their luncheon on cakes, puddings and whipped cream .concoctions, accompanied by strong coffee; and he has advised them to eat spinach and dandelions for a change. The absence of any refer- ence to beans may be due to the fact that the dish is not deemed appropriate for lunch in that part of the country, but we'do not know why the girls were not advised to lunch on California prunes, which are much better than New England spinach in taste, substance, delicacy and reputation. % i It is about time now for citizens to begin thinking of their political duties and to remem- ber that every one must register. The matter will do to meditate upon for a little while, but action should not be postponed ‘too long. The Martinique disaster will doubtless incline the Danes to hurry up the sale of their islands in the West Indies. Island property in that part of the world is decidedly shaky. —_— Ex " BEAUTY IS NICE TO HAVE WHEN ONE’S POSITION IS ASSURED. BY GUISARD. s i ¢ ROM the hither side of the foot- lights I have for two weeks been | religiously admiring the fine art of Nat Goodwin and the beauty and | art of Maxine Elliott, his wife. | Much beyond her former accompiishment has the charming actress achfeved and is yet far from the end of her capacities. I went to see her the other day at the Actors’ Home benefit, with the steadfast | intention of avolding the stereotyped com- | pliments to her beauty with which every | person that comes within range deluges | {her, but I had reckoned without my | hostess. Beautiful before the footlights, | she is dazzling behind, and before I knew | what I was saying Miss Elliott had smilingly exclaimed: “Don’t be asinine Then she began to tell me the troubles | of the heautiful woman. | “Beauty is a very nice thing to have | when your position is assured,” she sald, | | quite frankly, ‘“before, it is slmply a nuisance and a handicap on the stage. 1t will gain you a hearing, true, and you can always have a position as a clothes- horse, but outside of that, no! | “My first part consisted of just six lines, and because I was — remarkable, the | audience thought that I should have made much more of my opportunity. But it was not in the play! The audience will permit bad work, indifferent work, from the insignificant-looking actress, but let 2 woman be—remarkable, and they im- | mediately pounce upon her weaker efforts as worthy of a particular and special reprobation. Think if it is not so.” “But there is this kind of thing,” and | I pointed to the exquisite bouquet of | roses that Miss Elliott was caressing, the | offering of a stage hand to the beautiful woman- who spoke so disdainfully of her | gift of loveliness. “True,” she smiled. “But who is it who comes to the top from the rank and file? Not the beauty, not the woman who has only her face to commend her. It Is the Duses, the Fiskes, the first case a woman entirely independent of physical charms. The only thing that beauty does, 80 far as I see, is to thrust one into a premature prominence, as I was thrust; to make people expect of you more than they have the right to expect; or, what is worse, to expect nothing at all from you. “Then, when one makes = little pro- gress, as one must, or retrograde, people have a charming way of expressing sur- prise, as if one were not governed by the same laws that govern other students. Hath not a beauty hands, eyes?— “Yes, yes,” I muttered; “eyes, indeed!" and the Elliott eyes, large, liquid, and probably gray, flashed amused annoy- ance at the interruption. “This is your last season with ‘“When We Were Twenty-One,’ is it not?” I asked. “Yes,” said Miss Elliott. “Next sea- son—Mr. Goodwin and I will .play to- gether for another year, you know—we shall have either another Eemond play, or one by Haddon Chambers, or Miss Ryley.” “‘Have you decided yet in what to make your debut as a separate star?’ “Not yet. However, I may say that Mr. Fitch is writing a play for me.” ‘‘Have you no Shakespearean or Ibsen aspirations?” I -asked. “No,” confessed ,Miss Elliott. “I like to play in soclety comedy, or anything else that people like me in.” “Is ft really true that Mr. Goodwin never suggests anything in the way of ‘business’ to you in any of your perform- ances?” “‘Quite true,” the lady said. ‘“He does nothing in any of our scenes—I wish he ‘would!” it YouNGEsT LEADING WoMAN oN. | 4 THE STAGE, WHO WILL APPEAR AT THE GRAND OPERA-HOUSE. — one in London. They liked ‘“When We Were Twenty-One’ quite well there. And ‘Sherlock Holmes’ has been one of the largest successes of late years.” “You know, Oakland has a fashion of claiming you, Miss Ellott,” I said. “For no other reason—I have been there only to pass through—than that my ‘fa- ther married a second time and went there to live,” Mrs. Goodwin smiled. Then, jumping up, she said: “But Cali- fornia is all right. I love the place, the flowers and the sunshine, and it was just a mistake my not being born here.” Ko 2 An engafement of notable interest in dramatic circles will be that of Miss Maude Fealy, who comes shortly to the Grand Opera-house. Miss Fealy is known as one of the youngest leading ladies on the stage. She is now only 19, and counts Iready two. seasons with Willlam Gil- lette in “Sherlock Holmes.” She first came into prominence in the original pro- duction of that much produced piay “Quo Vadis” as Eunice, when only 16, and since then has rapidly come forward. The Grand Opera-house has secured Miss Fealy for seven weeks, the latter four of which will also see Edward Morgan at the same place, the season promising much of interest. “The Little Minister” will be the first production of the Fealy season, to be followed by “The Adven- tures of Lady Ursula” and “Lady Dainty.” With Mr. Morgan Miss Fealy ‘will appear in “Romeo and Jullet,” among other events of note. The Frawley Company follows with a repertoire of new plays, and then will come an excellent attraction in the shape of brave Denis O’'Sullivan, who will make his first appearance on the dramatic stage in a Boucicault programme, to inciuds “Shaughraun,” “Arrah Na Pogue” and “The Colleen Bawn.” ®« '8 e Ir the repertoire of plays that will be offered by Frederick Warde this summer at the California Theater, the Otis Skin- ner edition of “Francesca da Rinaini” is noted. Good for Mr. Warde. —_— Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib at Townsend’s® A } Prunes stuffed with apricots. Townsends® Townsend's California glace fruit, e pound, in fire-etched boxes or Jap. mf ets. A nice present for Eastern friends ket st., Palace Hotel building, * f } Specfal information supplied daily to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 230 Call- fornia strest. Telephone Main 1042. * On the strength of a small appr 2~ tion by the St. Louls Board of Edm;mu. 0 shade trees will be planted on the city school grounds this spring. —_— f? Going to Thunder Mountain ?? The Northern Pacific Rallway is the best, cheapest and quickest routs. Frow Lewiston and Stites, Idaho, thers are good wagon roads to either Warrens or Dixle, from which potmts the tralls into this district are most accessible. For rates, otc., address T. K. STATELER, G. A, 647 Market st 8. ¥. Africa promises to rival South :ggo the West Indies as a producer of a. ¥ creates perfect complexions 1ad prompts the skia to per- form its highest functions; it ;lroylr:: :Int &u&. healthful w that so dis: with youth; runo"vu P TAN. SUNBURN, PIMPLES, BLOTCHES, MUDDINESS, MOTH AND LIVER PATCHES Sold by druggists and dealers at lfi‘ns tle, or direct from us, for 50c.