Daily Republican., 1885-01-17
OF THE BALLET,
THE STORY OF BELLA. THE
AssOLUTA or THE ZANITA
COMPANY

On Thursday evening, while adm iring
eyes followed the graceful movements
Of Signoritta Antoinetta Bella, the As
soluta of the Zanita Company, now
performing at the Opera House, . re-
porter was busy learning her romantic
history from o tall, middle aged, Ital.
ian, who at first was taken fer her father.
he said that twenty four years ago
ne, with three others, WAS fishing in the
bay near Naples, and, after night OF
III luck, were about to turn the prows
| OF their boats toward the shore, when
they saw drifting toward them . piece
OF wreck, mast with rigging attached,
and they steered their boat 70 intorcept
1t.
As they neared the floating object,
one Of the number saw that there was
child upon 1t, and they redoublsd
their efforts to put their boat alon gside
the wreck, when sure enough, high and
dry above the water, lashed to the rig.
ginR, and wrapped in n piece Of sail
was n baby sound asleep. IL was
quickly released, and lifted into the
boat and found to be a beautiful girl
about ten or twelve months old. which
soon won its way TO the hearts of these
rugged fishermen. They made 1t bed
with their coats, and after 1t had laugh
cd and cOoed until 1t was tired, 1t fell
asleep. The men again threw their
nets. and 1t seemed m though the little
fondling had brought good fortune, for
In less than two hours they had all the
nsh their boat could carry, and they
started for the shore.
When they landed, the foundling
rescued from the ragin. sea WAS an OBJ
Ject OF adm iration 10 all, and each one
OF the rescuers wanted her. 1t was
final ly agreed To settle the matter by
drawing lots, and she was won by one
or the number named Luigi Bacco,
who called her Bella, the beautiful.
She WAS taken by his wife, who had no
children Of her own, aud carefully
cared for. When the babe was found,
nhe was dressed In tne clothes. but
there were no marks upon them by
which her identity could be esta ablished; !;
IL was, however, generally believed
that she was the daughter of some
wealthy merchant, or nobleman, who
hal taken passage on ship that had
bes n wrecked, and all on board fallen
victims 20 the waves. except the babe.
Luigi Bacco and Tessa, his wife,
with the superstition common TO many
In their walk OF tife, thought that
Bella WAS Mascot, and in fact there
seemed good ground for their belief, As
from the day she came TO live in their
humble cottage fortune seemed TO smile
! upon them, and within two years after
the child was found, Luigi was the
proprietor Of the largest fish stand In
the market of Naples At five years
OF age she WAS little fairy, and her
presence seemed like bright ray OF
Sunshine. The neighbors, TO whom the
story OF her being found was well
known, almost adored her, and IL would
nave been sorry experiment for any
one 10 have harmed her. At this time
her favorite resort wss along the shores
OF the bay, where she could listen to
the wild refrain of the biliows and
watch their undnlatinR waves as they
broke upon the sands.
| Here she would spend hours, her
graceful body swaying and keeping
Time to the waves but u change came,
and for the first time in her young life
he liza realized great sorrow. 1t hap
peued ON cold stormy night, when the
fishermen had made their boats doubly
last, that they were aroused from their
beds by the cry Of fire, and found
Lnigi'n house IN flames. At the second
story window Luigi stood with Bella
ia his arms. while aloI gside was Tessa,
his wife, cliDgiDR TO him. AS soon as
possible ladder was procured, and
romaso Rossi fairly bounded up to the
window, through the tongues Of flames
that seemed To envelope him. He
managed TO clasp Bella in his arms,
and assist Tessa 10 the ladder, az the
floor inside gave away, and Luigi was
| buried in the burning mass. Tessa
was badly burned and died In few
days, but singular as II may seem, Bella
ESCAPED uhiDjured.
AS Tomaso had saved Bella's life, he
by common consent became her
| second foster father, and as he was
bachelor he took her with him
when he entered the Italian army in
1866. Her bright, winsome ways soon
made her the pet of the regiment, and
on the long marhces, sne was always
provided with u com Portable place In
one Of the wagons In the evenings,
whenthe soldiers would gather around
the camp fire. Bella, with flag around
her waist for u scarf, would execute
dances such as these men had never be-
lore seen. In fact 1t seemed natural for
her to dace, and now that she had scar
cely any other amusement she spent
hours In executing new steps. One day
Tomaso was killed, and his comrades
cared for Bella until the troops return
cd TO Rome in 1870, when she entered
the city, fast asleep on gun carriage,
wrapped in the overcoat Of q cuirass-
Ter.
Bella's name and fame soon spread,
and she was known as veritable
Daughter Of the Regiment. She was
then taken by Alessano Angelo, the
man who is now with her, and sent to
school and also TO q dancing academy,
but at the latter place the teacher de-
clared that he could teach her nothing.
At last, yielding to the solicitations of
the manager, Bella was permitted to
make her first appearance in public at
the Theatre del Re. Since then her
life has been spent on the stage, and
size has been received with the plaudits
of admirinR thousands, at the principal
theatres Of Europe. Wherever she has
appeared In this country she has achiev-
ed q success, and her life is a series
OF incidents that are strange and won-
derful, and AZ the audience break out
in applause, smiles wreath her face,
and her large black eyes seem changed
to suns.
Dr. SHINING white PulmOnlc