The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 18, 1902, Page 22

22 THE SAN FRANOCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 18, 1902. > UCCESS OF MAURER | IS SHOWN IN HIS WORK AS AN ACCOMPANIST BY BLANCHE PARTING TON. week, at the musicians’ recep- o Mr. Casals of Thursday, he Fisk recitals of & month or so ago and at many other sical affairs of the season & conspicu- amme has been accompanying Fred Maurer, a town. T the Blanchard recitals of this | g young musician of the‘v By the very nature of the art, that | of forming an efficient background for | the soloist's effort, the follower of the honors of the performance come to be igned. Parado: the better he the accompanist bors. *Given a soloist pulling one way and his_accompanist every other, the person at the piano will never have reason to audienve. should, when the accompaniment nd ebbs and flows with every pulse e singer. that the ingrate listener ‘forgets to remember’—as the Japanese say—that his enjoyment is largely owing to the unobtrusive artist at the piano end f things. ompanists, like poets, are born, not it is a peculiar gift that in its ab- - can never be quite successfully erfeited. It is a sort of prophetic , that telegraphs unerringly to its ser the intent and musical desire of the on whom he is supporting. 1t is only when matters go pe plain of indifference on the part -of | 1 is very frequently forgotten when | cally, it is often true | r the attention directed to his la- | By no | capacity of calculation can this be real- | ized to the marvelous extent to which the | accompanist’s simple instinct serves him, wherewith every shade of color, every lift and fall of the tempo, is feit with almost mathematical nicety. Mr. Maurer has this faculty to an unusual degree, and only those who have foliowed the city’s con- cert history for the last two years know what good work bas been done in this di- rection by the young artist. Mr. Maurer's effort is distinguished by the keenest sym- thy, a delicate discretion and robust udgment that mark it as of the best of its lass. y Technically, it is still a little wanting. but that will come. Meantime Mr. Maurer | remains among the most valuable mem- bers of the local musical fraternity, He is very sensibly cultivating the rare art of accompaniment to its Jlast possibilities, and seems to have no desire beyond it, though, so far as the Hyperion locks are concerned, he is admirably equipped for a solo career! But many singers will, per- haps selfishly, rejoice at his abstention, and listeners not a few. I can answer for one. LSS Certainly one has deserved something st the hands of the gods who was privi- leged to hear the Casals programme of Thursday afternoon last at the Musicians’ reception. I do not hope for such another pure revel of good music as there fell to my share for many long days to come, The only pity of it was that the affair whs pot public, that every one could not have the chance of hearing one of the noblest _artists that has ever been heard here. Senor Casals, bered, came here with Mme. Nevada, making a profound impression at the two concerts ven by the llnfer. detained here through a slight accident to his hand, and the musicians of the city, determined to hear again one so emi- nently gifted, gave him a reception and musicale Jast Thursday. A programme of particular appeal to the musician was chosen, in which were included sonatas by Beethoven, Bach and Locatelli, with some jewels of the modern French school by Saint-Saens, Jean Hure and Gabriel Faure. Mr. Bendix and Mr. Maurer were summoned to the piano and the musicians bidden to the feast. It is difficuit to write in terms of mcd- eration of BSenor Casals' genius, for it has no quality of moderation about it. He seems to be incarnate music, without e ————— For half a centary Creme de Lis has created perfeet com- plexions. It removes tam, pimples, bipich=s, sun- exuda- burn and all olly tions, leaving the skin soft and velvety. 3 It stimulates and feeds the skin, thus imparting the health- ful glow of earlier years. Indorsed by dermatologists, physicians and dAruggists wherever it is known. All Druggists, 50c. Or direct of us, prepaid, for S0c. Trial size, postpald, for 10c. E. B. Harrington & Co. Loz Augeies, Cal. it will be remem- | He was | RISING YOUNG MUSICIAN OF THIS CITY. PHOTOGRAPH BY | | MAURER. ! kS + any limitation of vision ‘or reach. Tem- perament, intellect and mechanical facil- ity seem all to be equally present in their highest power, and in their combination give @ musician whose like some of us shall not look upon again. He has a ravishing tone, in its golden deeps like an organ and again delicate as Ysaye's violin. He phrases and reads Beethoven as Bernhardt reads Racine; interprets Bach with the same illumined clarity, and is equally at home with the slighter beauties of Saint-Saens. It was an exquisite programme and I doubt that any will forget it who were | privileged to hear. It will not surprise those who did to learn that Senor Pablo Casals is a composer of some attainment; that he has already done much conducte ing; that he plays the oboe, trombone, piano and something else besides—I for- | get what; and regards it .as one of his favorite amusements to play the whole | of “Tristan and Isolde” in an evening, | singing meantime all the solos and every- thing else in the gamut of one voice all by | heart. Also that he numbers yet only %5 ears, and that he leaves here next week. hey all do. .. 9. The recitals of Mrs. M. E. Blanchard o!! Tuesday and Saturday last, under the auspices of the Channing Auxillary, were very enjoyable. The charming contralto was heard in two choice programmes that included a highly varied and comprehen- sive collection of songs. s e e The fourth free organ recital at Trinity Church on Thursday evening next by Louis H. Eaton, Wanm of the church, will include the Widor fifth symphony, the Thiele concert-satz in C nfnor an some lesser numbers. J. F. Veaco will be the vocalist and. Hother Wismer’'s violin will add much to the interest of the fine programme. The attendance at these re- citals is steadily increasing. DR On Friday evening the second cencert of the Philharmonic Soclety will take Ellce at Metropolitan Temple. Mrs. M. . Blanchard will sing and Mr. Minetti has planned an interesting orchestral pro- gramme. | . At the Loring Club concert of Tuesday evening next, that completes the twenty- fifth season of the club, will be.given a new composition by Arthur Foote, writ- ten especlally for the occasion. The club during its quarter cenmtury of existence | has devoted much attention to the chorus work of Mr. Foote, who thus gracefully takes the opportunity of acknowledging a return interest in their efforts. Tho composition in question is a setting of Tennyson’s “The Miller's Daughter,”” that certainly affords the composer a chance for picturesque treatment. The chorus will give its most careful attention to the interpretation of Mr. Foote's friendly tributes, and offers a goodly programme besides. The soloists will be Dr. 8. Schalk- hammer and W, E. Dyer, and there Is to be an orchestra in addition to the usual plano and organ accompaniment for the auspicious occasion. e Cal. glace fruit 50c per 1b at Townsend's.* —_———— Prunes stiffed with apricots, Townsend's.® —_——— Bpecial Ihformation suppled daily to business houses and public men by the Fress Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 230 Gali. fornia street. Telephone Main 1042, ¢ ————— Townsend's California glace fruit, 50¢ a pound, in fire-etched Loxes or Jap. bask- ets. A nice present for rn_ friends, 6% Maorket st., Palace Hotel bullding. ¢ ————— Few houses in Caracas, Venezuela, are [y more than one story high, because danger from earthquakes. M —_————— P? Going to Thunder Mountain PP The Northern Pacific Rallway s the best, cheapest and quickest route. From Lewiston and Stites, 1daho, there are good wagon roads 1o either Warrens or Dixle, from which points the trails into this district are most accessible, For rates. eic., address T. K. STATELER G. A., 647 Market st., 8. ¥, "THE SAN F JOHN D, SPRECKELS, Proprietor. RANCISCO CALL. Address Communications to W, S. LEAKE, Manager tion Office. .. .. ... IS IT PROVIDENTIAL®? F old such events as the overwhelming of thousands in Martinique and St. Vincent were traced to direct, intelligent and intended action of Providence. They were attributed to a spirit of admonition for the warning of the wicked and a purpose to destroy for hardness of heart. When Korah and his company were destroyed it is written that Moses.said: “If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not gent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth opencth her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain to them, and they go down quick into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses. They and all that appertained unto them went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from amongst the congregation, and there came out a fire fromthe Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.” / Byt this was punishment of Korah and his company for complaining that Moses took too much to himself and set himself above the congregation. Earlier than this destruction of Korah, Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed by fire. After the faithful Lot had been warned to flee, the account of the catastrophe given in Genesis might, with but little paraphrase, be read as the awful story of St. Pierre: ‘And the sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground: And Abraham gat up in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord, and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and 13! the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” But this was also in punishment for wickedness that only fire could purge and cleanse. There is no known evidence that the cities of the islands were wicked. The rain of fire and brim- stone fell upon St. Pierre in the early morning of a solemn Christian festival. It was Ascension day, hallowed by all believers of every creed. The great cathedral was crowded by devout wor- shipers. At every altar and shrine in the doomed city and in every home, the thoughts of the people were upon that scene, when “He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them and car- ried up into heaven.” Just as thousands of inen and women and innocent children felt the impress of that blessing, fire and brimstone, smothering hot ashes and deadly fumes fell upon them from the heavens and they perished awfully. The temples blazed in the consuming heat, and the smoke of the country went up as the smoke from a furnace. ; 5 Of all the thousands living but a moment béfore, in that fajthful city, only one fived after the tempest of flame had passed. When scarchers went into the midst of that appalling scene of death and desolation they found in a stone cell of the jail, alive and unhurt, a negro murderer, chained to the wall where he awaited the execution of the death sentence” of the law. When re- leased he rose and fled. Lot, the righteous man, was saved out of Sodom. - A murderer was saved out of St. Pierre. ' It is the devout belief of the world that a kind and watchful Providence presides over what we call the manifestations of nature. Men implore that power to send the early and the latter rain. Men are called to righteousness by the promise of reward and they are driven from wick- edness by the fear of punishment. It is a great mystery. Why did the righteous perish by tens of thousands, and one wicked, a murderer, pass through that furnace alive and untouched by fire? When human reason is applied to the appalling riddle may it not differentiate the physical from the metaphysical, the material from the spiritual? Napoleon did that, - He accounted for his profound decline by saying that he founded a material empire, for which no man offered himself in sacrifice after the structure crumbled and its creator was a prisoner. But that the spiritual em- pire, whose founder perished miserably upon Calvary, had been defended by the blood of martyrs and the consecration of saints in all ages, after human power had jeered at and crucified its head. The conqueror of kingdoms affirmed this as evidence of the presence of ‘spiritual power that ruled an ineffable empire with no relation to material things. May it not be concluded, then, that the Providence which rules that empire employs no physical force in its system of rewards and punishments? May men remain devout, be Christian, keep the commandments, live by the golden rule, and still be left to their own foresight and re- sources for protection against wind and weather, tide and tempest, earthquake and volcano? Teleology seeks for a first cause. May not that cause have been the architect of the physical universe, the source of its unchangeable la\ys, the planter of the germ of life which has flowered in man, and then have left all things material to act and react upon eacH other? John Wesley in his sermon on the cause and cure of earthquakes said they were caused by the wickedness of man, and their cure was universal righteousnesl. But if only universal right- eousness will prevent them, and Providence be omnipotent, why let the many righteous, the vast majority of the sinless, go on perishing with the few wicked, while waiting for righteous unan- imity? It is not in the understood order of Providence that the innocent shall suffer for the guilty. . In one view of this fear-inspiring calamity good comes out of its awful suffering. All over the world pity’s sweet fountain is made affluent and the first and highest of the Christian virtues is quickened, and the spirit of helpfulness and charity is abroad, and food and medicine, clothing and comfort, freight the swift ships that go to the rescue of the stricken. But again, why need innocent childhood perish in the fire and piety die upon bended knee, in order that the millions far away may be touched to tenderness toward those that suffer? At the end, as in the beginning, it is a mystery—a part. of that riddle held closer than the secret of the Sphinx, which no finite eye may read and no man’s hand untangle. A QUESTION OF MEDIOORITY. RESIDENT PATTON of Princeton has stirred up something like a hornet’s nest of critics by asserting that the twentieth century has dawned upon a mediocre race. THe critics assert that the nineteenth century closed with a blaze of brilliant achievements in the domain of science, industry and politics, and that the new century finds humanity more potent, elevated and enterprising than ever before at any period of its career. The assertions of the critics are indisputably true, but they do not constitute a valid criti- cism upon President Patton’s statement. Mediocrity does not imply anything derogatory to the race. It means only that there is no marked superiority of one individual above another. The big man of a village may be a medijacrity in a city and yet be a better man than he was in the village. The men of our time may be mediocre and still accomplish much more than was possible by the foremost men of a century ago, President Patton’s words meant no more than the assertion that in our time the affairs of the world are managed by men who are not much superior to their fellow-men, and that statement cannot be refuted by citations of what has been achieved over and beyond the achievements of the past. f The eighteenth century closed and the nineteenth began at a time when Europe and America were dominated by men of such marked superiority over their fellows that their memo- ries live to this day as distinct personalities separate from the crowd of lesser men around them. During the closing years of the one century and the beginning of the other we had in this country Washington, Jefferson and Franklin; Germany possessed Frederick the Great, Goethe and Schiller; France was blazinglin the light of the extraordinary genius of Napoleon, while Great Britain, in addition to Wellington and Nelson, had a veritable constellation of talents in her parliament and in the domain of letters. . i We are a better people than our ancestors, but we have no such array of brilliant and com- manding men as lived a century ago. President Patton is right. It is an age of mediocrity, but he should have added it is 2 mediocrity of unrivaled power, wealth and accomplishment. It is a pity the question of accepting the terms of peace proposed by the Boers could not be submitted to the rank and file of the British army in Soutly Africa instead of to the Ministers in London. ‘It is very easy for Salisbury to insist upon fighting to a finish, but the boys in the field would like to finish-now and go home carrying\ peace with honor. After the fevolutionary ruction which resulted in the overthraw of the Govemm’ent the Dorpinican republic is said to be “completely calm,” and the administration of the new President begins as peacefully as the slumber of a fellow in a hammock who is liable (o fall out at any'time, HERE. are people who are more interesting from the things they do not do than from the things that have included themselves in their repertoire as proper done. Off 'the stage John Drew is of the elect of these, with a capacity for not 'doing the expected thi that is nothing short of the enomenal. I find few people unwilling to discuss their art, still fewer the fas- cinating subject of themselves, and Mr. | Drew is one of the few. The interview seems to suggest itself to the famous player as one of the inevitable nuisances | of civilization, to be classed with the dent- ist and the sewage system, something to | thank God for with a very mitigated gratitude. Perfectly courteous, he sub- mits to the necessity, but with much the | air of one having his breast to the enemy— an enemy armed with a pea-shooter, until | one is almost as absurdly sorry for him as one is for oneself, There is a deal of Major “Kit” Bing- | ham, by the way, about Mr. Drew behind the scenes, unless—base suspicion!—the actor was imposing upon my vernal inno- cence the other day by jestingly continu- | ing the performance. He has the same al- | most diffidence of manner, the same gift | of silence, the same military precision of | saying what he does say and the same im- maculate perfection of get-up. Not a hair was out of place on the sleek Drew head. The tle, trews, shoes and the rest were the perfection of elegant unobstru- siveness. So, too, with the Drew manner, which least of all the professions sug- | gests the actor. The only thing that does obtrude itself in fact is the glittering lack | of all obtrusiveness. Even the dressing- room, where last week Maxine Ellidtt's frills and laces reigned supreme, bere the unmistakable stamp of its owner's oceu- pancy. It was like a barrack room for neatness, the Drew orderly putting the | last things to rights with miraculous dis- patch as I went in. e N With quite the “Binks” manner Mr. Drew °greeted me, courteoys, soldlerly, taciturn. 2 “'Frald I am a very uncommunicative chap,” he sald. ‘‘Don’t like much to talk about myself. Fellows that talk much about themselves can't be very enjoyabie —eh? Take a seat.” “Thanks., That depends low * 1 said, instinctiv Binks manner. “Does it?"’ he asked. I should doubtless have said here, “You bet your Mfe it does,” if dim visions of a suardhouse had not obtruded ‘themselves. Nothing dampened, however, I said, “Yes, it does depend. Mr. Drew on him- self and his work would be interesting to anybody."” AR Silence. More_silence. Mr. Drew waited comfortably for me to say something else. “Er—have you a favorite part?” I stammered, getting slightly nervous. ‘“Petruchio,” the actor sald, with a suspicion of enthusiasm. “Ah, yes! I saw that. Years ago. With Ada Rehan. ‘Wwas immense,” I ex- claimed, with the glad feeling of at last having found my feet. “Why don’t you give us something of that kind now?" ‘‘Where is the Katherine?' Mr. Drew inquired, and volunteered further, “Shakespeare has no vogue now.’ “I understand that Henrletta Crosman has lately made a hit as Rosalind,” I sug- gested, Mr, Drew considered for a moment, then sald: “Yes. Miss Crosman also made a favorable impression as Nell Gwynne. She was the Cella in the Daly production of ‘As You Like It.'" “But she is not in the syndicate?" “No." “Trouble?”" “Ot that I have nothing to say,” Mr. Drew sald, and smiled slightly—a very pleasant smile. “But is there no one besides Miss Cros- man?" I queried. “Well, you cannot expect &n actress lo step at once from the colloquial into the Shakespearean drama,” was the answer. “There 18 now almost no oppertunity for that kind of educatlon.” ‘‘What comes next to Petruchlo In your favor?” “Is there any next?" asked Mr. Drew. The Drew brevity is not an art merely, it is a gospel. ' “But—you @id other Shakesperean *n who the fel- ely copying the — to be | JOHN DREW HAS A RARE CAPACITY FOR NOT DOING THE THING THATISEXP BY GUISARD. ECTED -l | BEFORE LARGE AND FASHION- | FAMOUS ACTOR WHO IS PLAYING ' ABLE AUDIENCES. | | with Daly?” I flung Into another sprout Ing silence. “Mr. Daly started us with ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor, and of course thers was the ‘As You Like It’” the actor laconically repifed. 1 told him here, to some apparent inter- est, of our successful Shakespearean pre- | sentations of last season, afterward ask- ing: “What of your modern plays? You like best “The Bauble Shop'?” “No. Possibly ‘Rosemary,” ! the player | replied, then went on, “You have seen me |in ‘Rosema % “Indeed, yes. “A beautiful play, a beautiful play!” “How about lbsen?” “Unpleasant, isn't he?” ““We had Blanche Bates im *Hedda Gab- ler” last year and enjoyed it.” “How. did she do?” Mr. Drew inquired. 1 told him, and then asked if it were not rather surprising to find such interest as was taken in the play so far away from the “centers of etc.” “Oh! San Francisco has always count- ed for more than she should,” said the player, unexpectedly voluble. “You have orly 300,000 people—are there?—and yet you hear and see almost everything. Why should you not know things?"” “Dces New York think we do? Aren't we classed as very ‘woolly’ down East?” “Not at all,” Mr. Drew declared. “And 1 iike San Franeisco. It is like coming home to come here. I know so many pev- ple. Did you see the house on Monday | night? Quite touched me. I have been down at Burlingame (he did not Anglicise the word) all day. Very pleasant.” Then Mr. Drew looked at me in the “make-up” mirror as if slightly aston- ished ‘that he had sald so much. Silence again threatened, but I was to the fors in_time to save the minute. “Some of us feel, Mr. Drew—tho | ‘The Second in Command’ is a good pla; {that John Drew should be doing larger things.” “Where am I to get them?’ he asked. 'Who's writing ‘'em? Jones’ and Pinero's last plays have disappointed. Ibsen can- not be popularized.” “What of Shaw " ““The Devil's Disciple'—have you seen it?—is a splendid play,” and a flash of enthusiasm lighted up the heavy-lidded eyes for a moment. “Why not Shaw, then?" ““Mansfleld has ‘The Devil's Disciple,” ™ replied the actor. ‘““Then there is ‘Cap~ tain Brassbound's Conversion'—an excei- lent play. But all of Bernard Shaw's comeaies require a leading man or woman for every part. Difficuit to get.” “‘Yes, in these days of stars,” I sald. *“In Daly's time—" Silence the fifth. “I like ‘The Second in Command,’ ever,” yolunteered Mr. Drew. “You make it."” My company- +“Is ever so well suited to the play and very adequate,” I granted. “You have a new leading lady néxt season, I hear?” *Yes; argaret Dale." “A it favorite with us,” I said, and Mr. Drew here certainly looked pleased. Then to my questioning he spoke of his daughter, Miss Louise, now acting with the company, and showing more than a little promise in her work. He acknowl- ed also to being a “loyal Philadel- " " and _fellow-townsman of D: ham, and to a predilection for horse- hu:; fldn‘. 'm on my taking leave, Mr. Drew, still in the * was enough to ex that he did not inte: how- inks” staccato, a half-regret y. But 1 am not by any mean: rsuaded that 1 have interviewed John Drew. Binks I8 the person and the joke is on me. :.:-:'\'l’ of l0c & ':3 & very smal in a life in- come ot payment will result it $100.00 per Dollars « 00 to $400.! mon! absolutely tected against loss. “Wt ‘:o"oe a oo"oaon- tive plan for growing rud rubber Test booklet. taml abo at wocess of P al in be