The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-01-01

Harriet martineau Statue at the old
south Meeting House-Mrs. Livermore,
William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell
Phillips Speak.
Boston, Dec. q, 1883.
With Christmas well over the community
returns again to its routine of ordinary daily
lie, for certainly the Christmas Days, though
coming upon as yearly make the extraordinary
interruption in the ordinary routine. There is
never any explanation for lean or fat Christ
mas. This has been anything but successful
year In business. Everybody has complained
OF dull times, yet the shopkeepers of Boston
declare that the Christmas giving has been in
excess OF mang a better time finaneia;ly.-
Books have been in great denaend from the
little Kate Greenaway almanac to the beauti-
full illustrated Tennyson, and the choice Eng
lish editions de luxe of the old authors. The
crowd OF cards has been something wonderful.
The hand-painted ones have been furnished in
such quantities that the price has been cor
siderably lessened. 1t is a nrs.ty industry for
any woman to take up in the privacy of her
o~n home; but in this, as in every other in
dustry, the worker needs not only mechanical
skill to make her wares acceptable, but origi-
nality in pattern and design, and as originality
is genius, there is not much likelihood that the
quality will equal the quantity
One of the finest of the Christmas industries.
if may so call it, is the charming brass work
that has been SO fashionable this year. was
talking with a lady whose son, temporarily out
OF business, had made great success in this
work, and she gave me something of a sketch
OF its introduction into Boston and it's present
popularity. She tells me that it is only a year
ago that her attention was called to this re-
pousse brass by an article In the Century by
Charles G. Leland upon the work in It's mani
fold details. Upon inquiry, she found that
there was young man in Boston who had
been taking lessons Of Mr.. Leland, and who
would also give lessons himself at five dollars
an hour, or lesson. This price shows the
quality of the industry, and really represents
its rarity and value. The son of the lady of
whom speak, after several lessons, began to
handle the metal with such skill that from the
usual form of PLAQUES and salvers he COM
menced to design candlesticks, frames, and
lastly screens and tables. The tools that are
used are very simple-three only being neces-
sary to produce the most exquisite embossed
work, hammer that jewellers employ, trac-
or, and small chisel-like instrument with
rounded points at the end. With these the
beautiful heads that the advertisements of art
matters have called 'The Man in the Moon"
have been produced. Framed in plush, there
has been nothing in artistic work that has
been SO effective fer long time AS an in
dustry, too, it leads to real work, is in fact real
work itself, which trains the eye and the hand.
The young man who became so successful a
worker in private way. so to speak-for his
work, though put on sale and constantly called
for, was done in the interval of business. a,
home-has developed such skill and taste as to
lead him to one of the largest manufactures
for metal working in the country, with the
plan OF making himself master of the business,
1t is only another of the instances of the large
result from small beginnings, another exempli-
fication of the old proverb, "Great oaks from
little acorns grow"
Getting back into the social tide again after
the domestic jubilations of Christmas, one be-
gins to hear dinner, reception and opera talk
There are always those to whom Christine
NILSSON VIII be Jne ono bright ,partieU1er star
before all others in the world of song and dra.
ma. These remember the great singer when
she was here dozen years ago, a girl in the
first flush of her power. Tall and girlish in
her figure, with that something wild and fresh
which her youth and inexperience gave, she
made deep and lasting impression upon
those who cav and heard her Her Marsher-
ita was then her most famous role. People
went away from the Faust nights here and
raved about her. There had never been such
a Margherita, never-there never would be
such another. She was perfect representa-
ton of Goethes heroine in appearance and
her voice was a marvel This was the tone of
the talk of her admirers, nay, her adorers,
the Grand Italian Opera season here to-mor-
row night with her old famous role of Marg-
herita She has grown matronly, even stout,
since she sang in opera to us decade ago.
When she came to us in concert solo singing
Or duet year ago this maturity did not mat
ter. She stood there strong, handsome, re-
gal-looking woman, and lifted up her great
voice as easily as a bird trolls out his song.
Everything was fitting and in harmony. She
now puts on the robes of the inexperienced
girl-the robes of the Margherita who beguiled
us with her light motions, her swift, impss-
stoned acting, as much as her youthful voice
in that first season; and in these robes she will
recall all that time when we went
out of oIsr heads about her, and had her name
on our lips morning, noon and night. Will
she, can she, make another Margherita for us
that will take the place of that white-visioned,
golden-haired creature? For she can never re-
produce the same Margherita that we saw
then. She can never bring back that light,
youth-winged creature. These are the ques-
tions that agitats us now as we wait for the
curtain to rise upon tomorrow nights per-
Torrance.
The prices this year for opera seats are enor-
nous. 81 for the best and better seats, and
general admission only $500. Bat IL is better
to pay this for single performance and eeono-
mizs or the thousand and one inferior enter
tainments that are constantly coming and 60
ing.