Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1883-02-14
Prima Donna and tnsir Clothes


Emma Abbott. according to The 50.
Louis Glob- Democrat, is always ready
for IN interview A reporter met her
behind the scenes at the op rra-house the
other night, US happy as lark. and
when questioned by the newspaper man
about the cause Of hcr happy frame Of
mind answered that she had won dis-
mond ring from her husband on Cleve-F
lands majority. She wagered that tho
democratic candidate for governor Of
New York would get over $4,000 ma
jority; he got over 100000. and she got
the ring, Gve-karat solitaire, which
sparkled upon one of her fingers.
'.If had lost" said Miss Abbott, II
would now feel very much rs Nine
Gcrster used to feel just about this time
when she sang Amina. How is that?
Well, she gotvery mad, The costnmer
who made dresses for her when she wns
with Strakosch-Nina Cerol--toid me
that Nine. Gerster always tore the
bridal wells she wore il, Somnambuia' to
pieces. So, too, when she sang Lucia,
She kept picking at the waist of her
peasant dress until it was in ribbons,
and when she came off the stage took q
scissors and cut the front She wouldn't
Wear the same dress twice. Strakosch
paid for her wardrobe. so that it did not
cost her anything to indulge her passion
to destroy the garments. Cerbi said
Gerster was very sweet off tire star.,
but always got mad rs hornet when
she appeared in opera; she couldn't
SIM without first getting mad. As Ccrbi
said, "rhe more she get mad, the more
good she sing
.Mme. Cerbi. l suppose, knew all
the prima dounasY' the Reporter sug-
gested .-~
''Oh, yes, and told many stories about
them. Nilsson, she said. was greatly
feared by the costumers, because she
was SO extremely hard to please. Patti
was just the contrary-very easy to suit:
she took everything just as it came.
Minnie Hauk was particular oulv about
her boots: she liked pretty boots, and
was fond OF showing her niceiy-shaped
feet"
IL am glad to see," said the prima,
"that Salrini has met with such nice
reception in New York. IIeis an old
and dear friend of mine. l met him in
Florence when was studying in 1870,
and he took me to his home on the
ArDo where | saw his sweet little Eng
lish wife. with her blue eyes and fair
hair. worshipiug her husband AS if he
were god. Why. one day he fixed up
very ordinary pedestal in one of the
rooms and corered it with Green baize
and had brass tacks sticking oHt at
every point. A cheap carpenter could
have fixed it up ten times more artisti-
cally, yet the trugedian's wife. went in.
to ecataccs over il, and thought and
said there was nothing like it. A very
simple thing butt shows how much she
thought of him and of what he did. But
ought not to talk Of Salvini in this
way. He was very good to me and
gave me letters that proved OF great
service He also encouraged me to work
hard saving that all his own success had
come only from the hardest kind of la
bor. lie told me he had studied Othellu
four years before attempting to piaySi II
on the stage and see by the papers
that he gave his King Lear the same
lengthy study and attention."
Miss Abbott wanted to say something
about her own success the present sea.
son, and excellence OF her company,
but the reporter cut her short. and was
moving away when the prima called
out:
"Be kind enough to say that Denver
baby does not eAist. Ii is II iirst-class
myth. We have nothing of the infant
caliber in our company, although Gus
Hall and John Gilbert, whom we call
Jumbo and Bolivar, have asked TO be
cast for the babies in Norma which
we are soon to produce"