New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-08-04
ADANCER's MISFORTUNE.
FROM WEALTH AND FAME TO POVERTY.

,,, ~ moi. NOW A STARVING PARALYTIc.
pv passing through narrow dirty passage az
No 81 Greene-st. one comes upon row VI so aU
49, Cont houses some four in number, occupieu ~
;railv nv miserable French and ltallan ,aniiics'
The houses are squald beyond measure ana t 30 ars
the unfortunate people VINO ihf son tIn tent
a. Nth the occupants of the rear rooms IN Tue
Greene-st houses. Not the slightest toucn Oh nsa
mony can he found In those interesting cnnrral
lions. which are carried on in bad English no1 ns
Wrench and vile Italian, with the barking OF uos1i,
and the screaming of halt starved chureh 10 am
the chorus Frequent assaults nave V anarno1 tba
the Foundation of the staircases for brew9ou' 'do
front doors having long since disappsaTui - ~opan
the kittle in tn mornin.' as al oiu LID"
The melancholy of these surroundings is accen' oe
sted by the fact that the ground foor oi Tno u
the dwellings, once famous DANCER Wanta,p whose
and starving She Is Ermna ventero na. " fIIed
nerformances less than q dozen years ago 1 n;ou
Xsw.York plsygoers with delight. At ting unlon
Square Theatre the E0me' 70 reseive nightly the
enthmsastic applause OF thousands. Cos.y
sonyenirs were showered upon her rom eay a." "a
mirers who Wed Win each o'ho' al 'n0
In all the great cities OF the Union h9r SUCCESS S
was no less marked, and more than once aurlng nc,
fonrs did she refuse offers OF marriage lron n'Su
svbo ware known TO be rich. Her success IN tho
Californian Theatreiat SanFrancsco was SO f
that the manager advanced her pay 10 60 IN iV
each nights performance At performance IN
ph;Iadelnhia theatre she was suddenly strlkenwith
naralysis while on the 1T 'ee. Since that time hcI
sfory has been as melancholy 40 any
the 1aoes of fiction. In her present hlthy aoone
there lives also an old mother who was the iai'hlu
cnmnanion OF her daughter during the days OF her
trumnh as she now is when all that ia worth ilVinS
for il gone-heath, beauty, and means. Inc olu
lady has two grandchildren in the mouse e, tne
ornbans of her son. One of them. boy OF hiteen
WIN works i'm a grocery store has been SICK Ior
weeks the other a young girl, was engaged when
Tp,nITNE reporter called yesterday IN scrapine tne
bones of some stae meat and peeing some , sman
raw potatoes with her finger nails she Is a hahn
some child With dark eyes, an intelligent race ouV
quite starved looking. ,, ,oo,,;ro
The dancer herself sat in a broken chair looking
into vacancy. Her mouth and arms ara para'yZed
and thouch mistress of half dozen languages she
ismnahle now to utter word her utterance IS
only a confused babbe. In the DAYS OF her prime,
she was handsome. with flowing raven locks deep
and lustrous black ewes and that classic face whch
grows TO perfection only beneath Italian skies she
+ only thirty four years old yet all her upper teen
are gone through the effects of medicine. IN inc
height of her success she was regarded as nail'i
some sand was popularity known as "The Back
RookD She was born IN Bologna and educated IN
paris. There as in the other principal cities OF
Europe her successes were as marked rs IN tnis
comntry. The old mother said IN broken
French al get bits of bread and stale fish IRON
friends but can't beg for the police would arrest
me" Here the old lady. who is seventy years ora,
began to cry and Ernina seeing her. also burst IN 20
a flood of tears