The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-21 00:00:00

THE SALARIES OF OPERATIC SINGERS.

The English have been accused before now of not
being a music loving people, but if there is any truth
in the statements about the salaries received by the
two great singers who are now drawing immense
audiences to therival opera houses, the taunt is hardly
consistent. Besides, there is the independent opinion
of the Pall Mall Gazette's own Turk to the contrary.
The gentleman who writes in that journal under
the nom de plume of " Azamat Batuk " has told
us that in no other European country is
there such quickness displayed by the street boys in
picking up tunes and songs. But when it is stated
that Mdlle. Nilsson receives £l5O a night, and
Madame Patti very little less, one feels disposed to
believe that the English not only love music, but pay
very dearly to hear the music sung. It may, or it
may not be true, that the nights on which these
ladies sing bring the greatest profit to the managerial
exchequer; but if they carry off all the money,
some one must be the sufferer at the end of the
season. If the Croesus, at the head of the two
operatic establishments are able to pay such enormous
sums to a few ladies without diminishing the contents
of their pockets one can only desire to be trans-
formed, and that speedily too, into a prima donna
assoluta.

TIU HABITUAL VISITORS! TO THE RHINE.

Now that the season is on the wane in London,
and that the time approaches when the Kickleburys
and a thousand other families must make arrange-
ments for a tour to some place or other where the
picturesque and romantic beauties of nature can
be seen to advantage, and a different air to
what they may have been breathing, may be inhaled,
it is well to bestow a thought on the interruption
which the present war will place upon journeys to
the Rhineland, and to ask what is to be
done in the emergency. That the valley of the
Moselle, and all places of interest in or near the
Rhine will be wholly closed for some months against
travellers other than those connected with the pro-
fession of arms, there is now no doubt whatever, and
English and American voyageurs who have been in
these territories are already flying in large numbers
to Switzerland. It is said in fact somewhat discour-
teously that British people to judge from the
rapidity of their exodus from Germany seems at this
crisis seem more in love with Mont Blanc than ever.
As many at home are heartily tired, however, of
Lugano, Bellinzona, and Lecarno, and the Swiss
Lakes, it may be well for that class of them who
have been disappointed in holiday prospects by
the quarrel between France and Prussia,to remember
that in England, Scotland, and in Ireland there are
lakes and mountains of great beauty still unvisited,
and unexplored. The peaks of Derbyshire, and the
wild, craggy scenery of Penzance have not been so

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, JULY 20.

The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, attended by
the Duchess of Sutherland, and her Majesty went out
walking this morning with Princess Louise, Prince
Arthur, and Princess Beatrice.

FASHIONABLE ARRANGEMENTS TO-DAY.
Concert in aid of the funds of the Middlesex Hospital
(Ancient Concerts), at the Queen's Concert Rooms,
Hanover-square.

Lady Elcho's last afternoon party at Windmill Cottage.
At Lord's Ground (grand cricket match)--M.C.C. and
Ground v. Derbyshire.

MEETING OF GERMAN RESIDENTS IN
LONDON.

Last evening a crowded and enthusiastic meeting of
the German residents in the metropolis was held
in the large hall of the German Gymnasium Society,
King's-cross, for the purpose of raising a fund to
assist the wounded, &c. Mr. Ravenstein occu-
pied the chair. During the course of the pro-
ceedings, which were conducted in the German language,
the Chairman said the object of the meeting was not one
to show to England, hut to the whole of Europe, that the
German people were united and determined to resist to the
utmost the attack upon the Fatherland. Karl Blend
moved : That the German people, from the Alps to
the Belt, and the Vosges mountains to the March, looks
on the war as a national war, and in which all Germans
must be united to meet the enemy of their country. M.
Bergamann (Hanoverian) seconded the resolution, and
it was carried amidst loud cheers, the audience rising and
singing the " Watch by the Rhine." Dr. Hago moved a
resolution establishing a fund for the relief of the wounded
and their families. This resolution was agreed to, and a
committee appointed with Baron Schroder as treasurer,
to collect subscriptions. The well known German air,
" Was ist der Deutschen Vaterland," was then sung, and
the proceedings closed.