Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-06
SOME GOSSIP.
KATE HEATH TALKS ABOUT GOING Tc
HEAVEN, SINGING AND EASTER.
The Story of Skipped Husband-A No
torious Woman, and Twenty
Children.
SAN FRANc1sco. March 81. 1850

!
The glories of Easter still overwhelm
me. l yet seem Frustrated before the
crosses and the crowns of flowers and the
singing l heard seems yet ringing in my
ears. Never saw / such wealth of the
pure in decoration as at Grace Cathedral I:
lilies and ferns wound up the pillars,
arches bent over the aisles, and the altar
lay among blossoms and vines. The sweet
est of voices stole out somewhere from
among it all, and into my heart crept the
calm of the church. And then | went
away down to Trinity, and there again
was Easter, and the voice singing just like
the one / shall have in the great heaven to
sing my happiness in. That is sweet
thought of heaven To be able to sing all
Joy and all love like bird. Just now,
once and again, the thought is all right,
and the great longing to sing is there, and
the song wells up to the lips, but ah God
keeps the voice for heaven But it is
pleasant to think some time l shall find
that voice, and with it | shall make the
melodies of my soul sweeter than the
sounds of harps together. | knew an old
woman once who could not sing note,
she could not even murmur lullaby over
her children, and it was the cross she had
to carry in this world. When she was at
home they were large family of girls,
and
ALL MUSICAL
Except herself. When they were alone,
sometimes in the middle of the chorus
there stole in harsh undertone, and they
knew it was Jane trying to sing. In her
desperation she learned the words of every
hymn, and there she would stand saying
them over with her lips, and once in the
while startling the air with that harsh,
grating attempt at the tune. And yet
that woman III her soul has the sweetest
song that woman ever sung. 1t was
Mrs. Tippett singing at Trinity, the bell
in her tone, as usual, clear and firm, ring
ing and swinging like the echoes of
chime. One of our high priced dentists
has lately brought suit against Mrs. Tip
petit, and it transpires that he presented to
her bill of nearly 81, 900 for dentistry.
1t seems enormous, and at that rate one
could better afford false teeth and done
with it. Down at Calvary there was
little decoration and it seemed like
home singing when the congregation
joined heartily into Pleyals hymn.
A couple of little girls just behind me
piped in shrilly, and an old womans
quaver came from somewhere. The con-
gregation swept along like wave after
the choir, half a beat behind time,
and yet, with all the voices that never were
strung to tune with each other, it seemed,
somehow, like the right sort of singing.
The soprano was thin, spirituelle woman,
and loved to watch her face as she sang,
which l could easily do, as the choir at
Calvary stand in full view. She is Mrs.
Cowan, or, as she is better known to all
Mills Seminary girls, Safa Tate. There
are two other girls of the same seminary
whose voices | remember-that of Miss
Ella, daughter of DR.. Glenn, and a tall,
darked, auburn haired young lady from
San Jose, whose name escapes me just
now, but whose singing was sonagnifcent
that it rolls through my memory yet. 1t
is worth while to hear the singing of
CHORUS
OF boys at st. Adams, their young voices
seem so worshipful and fresh, and they have
| pIdlHtIEe uOte DIS Wei. 1HeiS Is d w elSu
congregation here which one who loves to
wander about might delight to visit. a
strange air seems to float about when that
odd, unknown language begins, and one
! looks at this face and that to see if any
one really understands these words so dis
tant from our everyday conversation. 1t
is like CLEAN from foreign Wales to sit
there and listen. At the First Congrega-
tional Church in the evening there was
the usual Easter praise service. 1t is
very large and handsome church, with
spreading gallery, and an arched and
frescoed roof that opens away to lofty
hight. There was vast congregation in
attendance people kept coming and COM
ing, and finally every seat was full, even
way back into the farthest niche of the
| gallery. Then what a sight it was to
glance along the tossing sea of heads, to
hear the whispers that ran like a sigh
through the pews, and finally to listen tothe
first drone of the organ. like the roll and
tattoo of drum confined, ere it burst into
its full tide of sound. Around the Bible
desk was a row of the heavily fragrant
China lilies, and above it lay thick clusters
of the pink, feathery blossoms of the wild
|
what looked like three large flowers proved
to be made of long, tongue shaped red
leaves laid together lily form and sent in
by Mrs. Stone. The flowers at this church
are always arranged by Mrs. Marble, who
is a sister to Mrs. Blaine, the candidate
for lady of the White House, and cousin
to the stormy Gail. Mrs. Stetson, the
modest contralto of the choir, sang the Of
fertory, accompanied by the French horn,
and she always looks so good, so whole
souled, such mother woman. The great
attraction of the evening, however, was
THE SOLO
By Miss Annis Montague, whom you have
lately heard in Sacramento, and through
that great church her voice swelled so rich
that it seemed as if it rose upon the ear
Miss Montague is an encouragement to am
bilious girls. l have letter written me
long ago by schoolmate who desired to
make something of herself in singing. One
passage of the letter reads: oh Kate,
if | could only do something, make some
thing of myself | feel every day how |
waste my time, and / hate myself because
do no compel opportunity. See my
friend Mary Cook She is in Europe, hav-
ing finished her musical course, has had
trial, been pronounced a success, and will
now commence the career she has earned"
The longing in this passage may perhaps
find an echo where my letter reaches.
Miss Mary Cook came from the Sandwich
Islands, of good, staunch, missionary
stock, who looked upon the stage with
horror. Reaching San Francisco, she was
received by church people, visiting at
the house of Deacon Benchley on
California street, and pleasing all who
heard her singing 1t is there | next hear
of her singing duets with another friend.
Her aspirations, in spite of her family, were
already turned toward a professional ca
reer and her decision was finally made, in
the face of strenuous opposition, to go to
Europe and study music. And yet where
was the money to come from? Assuming
the name of Annis Montague, two family
names, she borrowed means from an uncle,
whom she found willing, went to Europe,
studied hard, made debut, succeeded,
and now returns to America, ready to work
harder than ever. Her family have been