Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-10-31
PATTI IN WALES.
Life of the Brilliant Singer at
Craig-ar-Nos-Her POpu-
fhriiy.
London World.

were on the American prairies; but,
instead of q wild and t~reeless waste,
nature has reveled when man was not,
in throwing up a weird and gigantic
chain of mountains, under the shadow
of which nestles Craig. ar. Nos. Craig.
ar Nos means the Rock Of the Night;
and we'll does the huge mountain de.
serve the name when the sun has sunk
behind it and the gloom of evening
settled heavily down. From the
broken and precipitous nights you
can see far as the horizon line, wild
tracts on each hand, with few of the
old whitewashed farms; and the sense
of isolation becomes extreme when
you are told that you are more than
200 miles away from the scene Of Nine.
PATHS triumphs, and a weary days
travel from any of the busy communi-
ties of Wales. Every step and you
wander more and more to what dreari.
ness and utter seclusion you are wend-
ing, for
THE GREAT MOUNTAIN IN FRONT
seems to span the vale, and you only
know there is an opening blythe varied
haze Of the pine woods from the sun
shine resting thereon through the
assure. This at length you reach, and
onoe around the turn in the hill an
array Of slate covered and %conical roofs
come 10 sight, you have reached the
Welsh castle, from which the tricolor
is waving, and, on the site Of an old
delta, formed by the subsistence OF an
ancient current, discern a picture that
greets the eye even as a green oasis in
a sandy waste. Madame Patti is at
homel 10 the midst of all this sterility
and this solitude the queen of song has
made a beautiful retreat. 1t must have
been an attractive place before her
residence, as outrageous old trees and
deep woods are to be found there. But
one part is modern; the trees are fresh
from the nursery, the shrubs still bear
TIE latinized nomenclature which
nu'serymen delight 10 send forth on
bi,s of parchmentto Iheworld Looked
at from the modern side, the Welsh
cssle is strongly reminiscent of the
reirements'' where traders bic away
when the sugar cask aud the yard
stick are resigned, aud the stored
plums of successful business are to be
eaten. There is a newness about it;
Sufficient time has not elapsed for the
trees to recover from transplanting,
ard for the slim lilacs aud laburnums
to bloom.
The immature Growth at first sug-
gests that, within a corresponding
freshness will be seen-new paint and
wall papers, French polish, veneer
and bric-a-brac from Wardour street.
But the other side, redeems it. A Wis
ion of terraced lands after the old
EIizabethan and Queen Aune's man
ner a1d time meets the eye; lofty trees
rear their heads; wineries and cOuser-
vatories abound. Within the spacious
grounds an ornamental sheet Of water
appears 10 be in process of fashiouiDg
so a stranger would think. Gossips,
who know better, say that this is one
of the little lady's troubles. The
Welsh streams, like the Welsh people,
aIe impulsive. rise on occasions from
quiet meanderings to cratic demon
s-ration, and a good round sun has
been expended in keeping this partit-
ular river within its bounds. The
city artist and the upholsterer have
been taxed to adorn
TIE CASTLE IN WALES.
The one railway which glistens alar
off on the mountain top has had its
prospectus improved by the multitude
Of boxes aud parcels consigned, and all
that refined and artistic taste could
suggest and money accomplish has
been done to make the mountain castle
in its rugged solitude a bijou. 1t is a
cssket, velvet padded for its gem.
You must enter one ofthe lone Welsh
farms to see the contrast; and there
note elegance and the "~wicberie" or
music and song exchanged for print.
tive simplicity; bans and sides of
bacon for pictorial decoration,
and the lime brush the
only reminder Of the painters art.
But wonderful is the power of emula
lion. In the nearest farm house to the
castle Isome attempt at adornment is
shown, and a conservatory has actually
made its appeai ance on the sunniest
side. Ii. looks strangely out of place,
and as remarkable as meeting with an
exotic on the same bank as the wild
thyme.
MINNIE. Patti is to be met within
the pleasant lanes every day when rat
home" Little children flush with
pleasure when they speak Of her. She
is their friend, and fondles the red
tinted cheeks, and gives them sOuven-
lrs. Old women, too, who haunt the
hillside, like the dwarfed and con.
tOrted thorn bushes, alter their shrill
tones, and their voices become modu
lated by affection when they mention
her name. She has wound herself
around the hearts Of young aud old.
and, but for the accident Of coming in
contact with a few exorbitant and lit
igious spirits, would only have been
known as The Lady Bountiiul of the
Welsh Mountains. In the great col
liery district, ten miles away, people
Of song are numerous, and the choirs
formed at the chapels are highly pro
icient. One such choir, composed of
collier youths and men and girls from
GOLFERS home, made a pilgrimage to
Craig-ar-N Nos not long ago, aud de-
lighted her with their rendering of
one Of Handel's masterpieces.
Aud in response, after making them
happy with creature comforts, she
trilled forth Hone, Sweet Home"
TIE COLLIER PILGRIMS
went away with tears in their eyes and
a huskiness in their thrOats-every
youth in love with her. She has quite
a Hffla ra.snua &c eorvou4o .,a.dn -