The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-04-10
EXTRAORDINARY
True Account Of Her Relation to the Duke
Dc Reichstadt.
PARIS ELECTRIFIED.
How She Lives in Her Villa
Near Hamburg.


Gated open carriage just passing. and ssd-Thcre
goes Fannie Essleri" ..And in that carriage coming
up,' remarked, "are Minus and semramis. -
"Ninus and Semramis 2" echoed my friend, with
literaness characteristic OF tho German mind;
THAT is impossible. They have ? been dead
nearly 1900 years" Il am well OF
that" rejoined; but they have not been dead
much longer than Fannie Esslern II required nearly
fifteen minutes for to make my companion under
stand that could not believe the famous dancer
TO DO alive, and that my allusicn TO the King and
Queen Of Assyria intended satire upon his
faith in my crcduty.
Having assured me OF the truth OF his statement,
declared be a centenarian.
Ear from it." replied, "she 10 much less ancient
than you suppose Here sho comes again; take good
look at her."
WOMAN
As she drove by second time several persons on !,
tho fashionable promenade stared at and mentioned
her namo undertone. was OF tho starors,
allow; but staring. you know, Is not counted rude
ness on the Continent; the women here esteem II
indeed as complimentary. because they consider II IN
evidence OF admiration.
Essler might pass for Of middle ago..
thanks, no doubt, to her skill conceang the
| ages Of time Sho had decocd madc-up appear.
ance and would not, am sure bear close inspoc-
ton. Her eyes were bright and not trace
| Of gray visible in her hair This may DO owing
more to art than nature however, though her &C.
quantanccs speak Of her in wonderful state Of
preservation. she would ordinarily be called hand
some and she shows plainly enough that she has no
idea OF being thought old She Is not very old, either
Having regarded her tradition rather than as an
actual person, could hardly be persuaded at first
that she not yet seen her sixty-seventh BIRTH
/ day
remember hearing my grandfather speak OF wit,
| har In and oft ho Fri
umph she achieved within few days have been
talking to some OF the elderly Hamburgcrs Of widc
travel and knowledge. and they have told me all about.
the once divine Fannie. She is SO new, because un-
| known, to the present generation that personal
sketch OF her scarcely fail OF interest will boz
a leaf Of the past vvincd by tho present She Is,
believe, old friend OF the HERALD, to which shoe
owed OF her reputation and all OF her success in
America We live so fast in this tmc that T.begin 10
feel venerable already from the fact Of seeing
woman who had bcwitchcd two hemspneres and ro-
tired from tho stage quarter Of century ago.
HUMBLE BEGINNING.
Esslcr 10 OF the ballet deities who may beGaid to
been born almost in tho coulsses She took her
Arst peep the planet in Vienna, in 1911, and she
must have liked it, II she had any preconception OF
tho welcome 1t was to accord her. Her parents
are reported to have been poor and humble and not
particularly -cstimabe her mother being pretty,
uucSstotosS
her husband inclined to beer than to labor and
not enjoying therefore, monopoly Of his wo's ten
derness This easy natured guzzling fellow IL pre-
sumcd not to have been Fannie's father though to-
| whom that happiness and honor belonged has never
been definitely ascertaned 1t is likely that very little
interest was In the NATTER by those directly
involved for tho Austrian capitandoes not concern it.
self in occurrences that so Common to be in
conspicuous. When tho child was six she was intro
~t..ttot Axh had
months Of training and she manifested then her
latent crural genius Accounted prodigy from tho
start she had the best OF instruction, beginning with
Herschelt and ending with tho celebrated Aumar and
Baron Won Cent? who specially devoted himself TO her
| aesthetic culture with afIluent results.
SEEKING HoNoRs AWAY HoMx.
Knowing thattancers, no more than prophets, gain
honor in their own country, Fannie, always hopeful
and cnterprsing left Austria when shc seventeen
to MI an engagement Naples, taking along her sister
! Theresa two years her senior. to whom she was evil
IDENTIFY attached They had marked succUBs Southern
Italy, aud reputation they acquired went to tho
northern capitals Naples unwilling to lose them
but when the younger twenty she decided TO 60 TO
Berlin where shc had been assured Of a superb appre
ciat,on and where several OF her admirers had been
/ for some time preparing tho public. varnaghen Won
Ense who had apprised OF tho dancers talent by
Cent?, OF these He manipulated the press in
her favor ana, t0Ougn nc mduo ngu PROMISES LOT nor
she moro than redeemed them by her performance
She is said have been very seductive creature
that time and she have been from tho impression
sbo made supcrlatives wrcaked upon her. She
was the most beautiful charming graceful. voluptu-
GUS marvellous beng that had ever whiried gauze
skirts before the flashing iootlighs. All Berlin went
| wild over her. She pronounced photographic
I revelation She elevated into tho seventh heaven
! Of exaitation. She was universally proclaimed
pirouet,ing divinity Az tho French phrase IL, she
made somo
which is capable OF avery broad Significance though
none broad, II would seem, to meet her She
certainly caused infinite number Of emotional pho
norncna such public dancer had before
cited In Berlin or in all Germany. Women wcro raw
ishcd BY her dancing; men o. al ranks fell mady IN
declaring admiration, passion, Inhalation; and she
bore herself ike an EMPRESS dominecring over all
| minds and hearts Tho golden gates OF
broadly opened 10 her. and from that moment they
never closed. The road was smooth and flower
bOrdcrcd from Berlin To every other capital and she
rcvclIcd in the consciousness that she had entered
upon dazzling career.
What pleased her above nught else her conquest
OF Vienna She had lct that her native city had not
appreciated her In her gIrihocd. and her young and
buoyant womanhood rcoiccd that had been obliged
10 admit her terpsichorean excellence She was made
oil tho awakening of the Austrian capital TO her
great talent by the encomiums she the Vienna
newspapers and by the struggle Of the Vienna
gers her. Berlin oath 10 let her but,
knowing with line instinct that has been hers,
exactly when to transfer herself from tho Spree tho
ianubc she kissed her hand To her host OF admirers
aud Journcyed TO tho imperial
sxAT mAPsBuRGs
Vienna received hcr--in some instances literally
with open arms ard seemed resolved compensate
BY cxtrav Of demonstration Tor any codness
neglect the past. Her engagement ut the leading
theatre price that no other artist could have
got would have thought Of asking. Indeed rival
managers, sensible they Of Fannies unboundcd
popularity and power 10 charm, declared the terms
too high TO leave any margin for profit They wcre
mistaken She created not only unprecedented but
wholly unantcipatcd Juror. Vienna, " possible,
exceeded Berlin ia its worship OF legs and rhap-
sodics over their cntcibg owner The house was
packed night alter nignt the rates OF admission wcro
advanced, and Sill the crowd In nowise dinin-
shcd Tho tickets were specialized IN, and often sold
al exorbtant figures In Short tho whole town went
EssIcr mad ADD Esslcf very sancly managed profit
20 tho utmost by It's madness.
She has often been charged with pccuniary passion,
and the charge seems, at least partially. TO have been
deserved Never parsimonIous and frequently prodi-
gal IN the things that gratiued her vanity, sho 80
loved TO get money that she was NOT At all