Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-05-08

A friend of mine who spent some time
| in Berlin ten years osszAgo told me
to-day OF an ine;dan& TIT occurred in
ilwhieh he and M&drna played cen
Isp Sious. part. - iTWo ~ three ON,
Ii yodnc fellows.s 'he said, were il Be11in
I When agnerSway AZ workson His
| .Valkyrie.' The Emperor expressed a
desire to bear some selections from the
| work, and this was a big advertisement
for. Wagner, who ansensedto hsyesome
4 portions sung by Mater1p and NiHmAnn.
| fhe court retained agoM portion d4the
tickets to the hall II whish the affair
was to take place, and the rest we're
sent to the varions foreign legations in
Berlin, and could beo btaned by foreign-
I ers from their respective Ministers on
the payment of a good round sum,
which 1 suppose went into Wagnsr's
|, ps ::We I'll, We went j tie american Id
I CATION and secured three tickets. On
the day of the concert we went on san
excursion into tie country, and missed
the train that we ought to have taken to
reach the city in time to dress. The
next train took us to Berlin, and there
we were confronted by unpleasant al
ternatiyes. We were hear the
hall. and the concert would begin inf a
few minutes, but we were not dressed for
an ENTERTAINMENT of this sort . Ny COM
panions wore dark clothes, but had
on a suit of light tweed, which, being
bob tailed into the bargain, | knew
would be too conspicuous altogether fer
"a swell concert id which the Eanperor
and the Court and REPRESENTATIVE of
foreign Governments would make up
the greater part of the audience. On
the other hand, we could not 60 to our
rooms at the other side of the city, dress
and return inside of an hour and half.
So we decided to gosto the concert Is
we we're and take ourschanees of being
refused admittance. We went all right,
however, and were shown to our sestts
which were up front but just around
the corner of the stage so that we
couldnt sec Wagner, and the signers.
Thetspace in 'front.' Of the. stage was
open SO as not to 1obstrt1ct the view of
the Emperor and the Court. The audi
ence was of course, as brilliant a gath
ering as could be got together in any
city in the world. We three fellows
We're sitting in chairs, and L proposed
that Weasslide .ouEzehair ssaroundex the
corner andsin font 81 tie stage, 50 than
we could see The sin GEES edid this|
and Isank as far as Ecodd out Of sight
every moment Stobe thrown
out of the hall.
well, we heard the 'VaKyrie' music
and the excitement was great Within
four or five feet Of where ISwss sitting
were a few rather rickety steps, lead
ing up to he stage. Down these
. came the singers after the concert
WAS over. TIE audience had been
wrought to HIGH pitch of excitement
by the wonderful music and the impas-
stoned singing of Materna aBd Nfemann.
Shouts ofsapplause rang through the
hall, loads of flowers thrown on the
stage, and Wagner was being crowned
with laurel wreath. When Maternai
was half way down the steps-you'
know what a big woman she is-she
made gesture as if! She were d raid OF
falling. or as if the steps were in danger
of breaking, sInstinctivelys stepped,
forward to laid her, and, taking her.
hand. helped her safely down. d mag
inc my sensations when Ashe took my
arm, and we walked across the hail in
front of the stage, and before the.
eyes of the court; Materna stopping
every step or two to bow in response to
the cheers. and cursing my beb-tailed
coat under my breath. and wondering
whether she took me for liveried
lackey. 1t was a great experience
for me. but Materna was so excited
that she didn't know what-she was do
."-BostO7s Transcript.