The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-04-10
Academy of usic.

i ne performance IaSG evening was re
markably brilliant and amusing, the new
arrivals creating a favorable impression
and being well received, while the Ole
members Of the troupe were by no mean.
eclipsed, but won rounds of applause al
usual. Tonight most attractive bill is
offered, but the chief feature of the occasion
is to be the trapeze performances of the in
trepid and fearless young gymnast, Miss
LeOna Dare, who takes heg$bepefit this
evenings and there Shouts certainly be
such an attendance as not tx leave a vacant
seat and hardly standing room, for the fair
beneficiary certainly deserves it. A brief
sketch Of her adventurous and romantic
life will doubtless prove interesting, and is
here below given
A native of the Golden State, born in
San Francisco when only five years old she
lost her father, who was killed at the battle
Of Shiloh; her mother then, with strange
and unnatural feeling one day, took the
cars and abandoned LeCna and her two lit
tie brothers OH the platform of the depot
alone and exposed to the fury of a heavy
snow storm, throwing them upon the mercy
of a cold-hearted and selfish world. The
authorities Of the place took charge of
them and separating them, put them ont in
different families. The heavy lot fell to
Leona. The cruel and merciless treatment
to which she was subjected while with
this family, is too painful to narrate, and
the mere reading of it would cause any
thing but pleasure. Finally the mother
returned, readopted her children, only to
again disappear one fine morning, from
which time She has never been seen or heard
of by her children.
Now really began Leona's life Of adven-
tIre almost crazed with despair, but actu-
a cd with the nOblest feeling Of indepen-
dence and with indomtable energy, she
sought work sometimes with success, some
times meeting only with abuse and hard
work. Feeling that she must make her way
in the world, she determined that she would,
and that the day would come when she
would not only provide for herself, but for
her two little brothers, and no longer let
them be submitted to the humiliation of be
ing pensioners upon the public charity.
Never shrinking from the hardest work, but
having iuwardly vowed to make an honest
living, no task ever seemed too irksome to
her. At one time during the war she sewed
sacks for the Government at the rate of fifty
cents thousand, and succeeded in sewing
nine thousand of these. How is that for
energy!
After long series of adventures,in which
she saw the ups and downs of life-for the
most part the downs-she managed to
work, beg and walk her way to St. Louis
where she lived for a while with family
but having gone to the circus and seen the
trapeze performance she made up her mind
hat she could do as much, and would. Her
first experiments were made upon trapez
constructed in most primitive style, con-
listing of IL broom stick and two pieces Of
clothes line, which she put up under a shed
II back yard. The first thing she did was
% come within an ace of breaking her neck
,ut nothing daunted she tried again, and
ucceeding in her efforts finally offered her
ervices at a theatre in st. Louis, and was
accepted. Her debut was made four years
go. Since then she has met with the great
st success everywhere throughout the
ountry, and now stands first and unrivaled
n her line.