The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-06-07
THE STRUGGLES OF A PRIMA
DONNA.
A True Story of the Life, Adven-
lures and Triumphs of
Emma Abbott.

In 1904 poor uuslC soaCn0h WIN 0eN
face sat in the Peoria, Qll., depot consoling
a sick wife and group of restless children,
The father, hoping to better his condition.
had left the busy city of Chicago and
brought his little flock of helpless children
with him. Among the children was
little. bright four yesr-old girl. They
called her Emma. The little thing, sur
rounded by poverty, sang and hummed
and prattled, for like her father, she was
full of music. The poor music teacher
moved into a little wooden house on the
hill, and, after a while, Providence put
enough pupils in his way to keep poverty
from his door. At night Mr.. Abbott came
home tired and d scouraged, but the wsro-
lings and happy chatter OF lit
tie Emma cheered him up. From
her earliest infancy the little child
A song or an organ in the street wouid
draw the little thing hungry from the ts ole.
A touch on guitar would set her IN &C.
stasy. At the sge OF six little Emma lad
dreams of singing in public. At seve she
was constantly singing about the mousse,
catching every tune she heard her father
play, and at nine, to the surprise of every
body, she began to play the guitar herself.
She became so proficient with the guitar,
and created so much salk among the neigh
bors. that her fR.her thought he would
better his circums.an by bringing her
out with her little brother George in a
concert in Peoria. The night came. The
little thing, rot much taller than her
guitar. ams z I'D aud delighted the audience.
Her debut was so successful that her iatber
resolved to take her on concert tour.
This he did, aud the child singer sppearej
hundreds OF times bsfore delighted country
audiences before she was thirteen years
old. At the age of thirteen little Emma
was invited 10 visit some school friends at
Mount Pulaski, not great way from
Peoria. While there, knowing the poverty
OF her father, and wishing to surprise him
with money earned entirelyiby herself, she
resolved to get up conc rt ION her own
hook" She went to the Pulsski printing
office in short dresses, got trusted for her
own handbills and then went and posted
them around town herself. On one ofthese
handbills now before me is printed:
Miss Abbott will sing" ."The Merry Swiss
Girl" a chorus!
The little girl didn't know what a chorus
meant, but IL looked nice, and so she had it
put on the bill. She drew quite a house;
took in $40, and took 81 home TO her
mother. Her father now becoming sick
and discouraged, little Emma went down
to Lincoln, sang in schoolhouse, and
then came home TO give guitar lessons a.
twenty cents per lesson TO pay her tuition
in a select school. At fifteen title Emma
secured class OF twenty poor children,
who came TO recite at her mothers house.
On Sundays she sang in the Hebrew Syn
agogue-s kind old rabbi, Marx Moses
teaching her to pronounce1n Hebrew and
German.
The spring of her ff esnth birthday
found Emma's father poorer than ever
before, and the little woman, to help her
mother, tried to secure a clerkship In a
store, but failed. She saw her father sick
and discouraged, her mother sick, and
brothers and sisters hungry. In the midst
OF her great distress she heard of a school
nine miles from Peoria which needed
teacher. Thither she went on foot through
the mud and slush. She found the prin-
cipal trustee, q kind old man, at his
dinner.
What do you want, my little woman ?''
asked the ola farmer, As be laid down his
kDiie and fork to survey our little heroine.
81 live in Peoria, sir, and I've'walked-"
f"Whstl walked, child? walked % inter-
rupted the old man in establishment.
Yes sir; and 1 want to teach your
school," -
.sWell, 1 declared But, my child, there
are fifteen applications in ahead of yours" I"
But don't think any OF them need 1t
as bad as do" said Emms.
"No, and you are the snartest looking
one In the whole lot, and as plucky as
Julius Caesar. Have you got your certifi-
cater" sff
= "No, sir" faItered Emma. - 1fah
'Well, my girl, If you've walked nine
miles through this mud and slush you'll
do to teach school for me. Sit up and
have some dinnerin irh
Emma began the school the next week,
won the respect ofthe parents and the love
of the children, and In tour months took
$40 back to her mother In Peoria.
After school closed, Emma, assist ed by
her father, gave her drst large concert in
Peoria. Quite number OF amatsurs as
sisted her. Rouse Hall was filed, the
people cheered, and her poor fether and
mother recelved 500. This was all used
by her father and her mother, except 50.
With this amount In her hand she lett her
father sick at home and started Tor Rock
Island to visit young lady friend who
thought she could get up a concert In
Rock Island. She found her youDg lady
friend absent and her money dwindled
down to twenty cents.
"What snail dor" she ssid to herself,