Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-11-10
a WRESTLING WOMAN.
j TALK WITH MRS. ALICE SHAW,
THE MUSICAL SENSATION.
Gifts and Turned Them
to Advantage.

,hatted in the intervals of her concert the |
)ther afternoon "When other children
lummed or sang l whistled softly or
oudly as my feelings prompted me-" she
continued, "and while this habit of mine
was not regarded with unmixed joy by my
parents and elders, still my proficiency in
producing shrill sounds with my lips caused
40 little astonishment Still there were
no ideas of regarding my gift, my peculi-
arity, if you like. as a profitable or even
desirable accomplishment. Indeed, shortly
after my marriage 1 remember an aunt
Of mine saying to me that she hoped had
never let my husband discover my 'odious
habit
"Now, of course you want me to tell
you how it all came about. Well, to begin
with, l am the mother of five children,
and as | have only been a professional
whistler for two years, you see l was lit
lie late myself in discovering that l could
WOO fortune with pouting lips. used to
whistle to my babies, and they liked it so
at first became proficient in all the
Mother Goose melodies, and then |
found myself trilling all sorts of variations
as | whistled to the little ones. Then my
friends began to notice, and when | had
company somebody would say: Now, do
whistle us something Finally, about two
years ago | went to a regular teacher of
singing in New York. He listened to my
words with amusement and to my whistling
with astonishment, and at once advised me
to take lessons, which [ did, and in due
time | made my debut at concert in New
York.
" Well, can whistle some fifty or sixty
airs ballads, operatic selections, valses and
so FORTH l have learned them Just as
singer learns her songs, by constant prac-
tice at the piano. am not convinced yet,
however, whether my whistling or the
curiosity to see me whistle attracts the at
tention ! am receiving. Candidly, | do
not think / shall have many successful
imitators. Directly lot of women learn
to whistle, the commercial value of the
art will sink to insignifcance, besides
well-how shall l express it, there are
ways of presenting ones whistle to the
public
WHEN SHE wHIsTLED TO WALES.
"My London experience has simply
been delightful. Hardly bali or recep-
tion of the season was considered COM
plete without me, and, in addition to the
handsome check which was never lacking,
| was treated with the most friendly cordi-
ality by the highest personages. l was
present professionally at one of the great
houses where the Prince of Wales was
guest, and | really shared with his royal
highness the popularity of the moment.
In other words, the Prince had his atten-
tion drawn to me, and so | at once was
the cynosure of all eyes. l did not sit
by the side of the Prince at dinner, nor
did he ask me to whistle between the
courses, as some foolish paragraph relates
Anybody who knows anything about Eng
lish society would know that such thing
could not happen. The Prince requested
that | should be presented to him, and ac-
cordingly the lady of the house took me
up to him. The Prince paid me some
charming compliments and then Sc
lected one or two airs from my roper
toire, which | whistled, ard that is all
there is in the story. | subsequently was
present at other houses where the Prince
and Princess were present, and both their
royal highnesses always made point to
speak to me. And here | may add that
nothing can approach the kind thoughtful
ness and charming breeding OF the English
aristocracy. Probably the fact of my be-
ing an American had a good deal to do
with it-a fact which made my manner
toward them free from servile Difference
which is so marked in the behavior of a
middle-class English person to anybody he
or she considers is of superior rank.
THE FACING OF AN AUDIENCE.
"Did you not feel very conscious at
first when you faced an audience? ?" asked
the reporter.
"Why, yes; but [ got over it. It was
rather trying, especially in London
drawing-room, to stand facing crowd of
cold-looking people all staring at you from
head to foot, and many of them armed
with those quizzing double glasses called
lorgnettes. Then whenever l begin to
pucker my mouth for my notes, everybody
smiles and some laugh outright Now,
the natural thing to do when other people
laugh is to laugh yourself-or else cry
but how would | preserve the pucker of
my lips if | INDUCED in either of these
ASSLSCS IldfG
myself when whistling to send my thoughts
far away, to become oblivious to my sur
roundings. and so the self-consciousness has
left me.
Hard work? Oh, not more so than
singing. l have developed my lungs and
chest, and so | have plenty of wind. 1t
has made the muscles of my mouth a lit
tie hard, and at times / suffer from little
throat troubles like any prima donna.
Otherwise | believe whistling to be most
healthful occupation. 1t certainly is good
thing for dyspepsia. | used to suffer very
much from indigestion before | took to
whistling regularly now | seem 10 becom-
pletely cured"
"Did you hear of any imitators in Lon
DOM"
"Yes; here and there, but they were
generally amateurs. One or two profess
ional whistling women are among the at
fractions of the music halls, but | think
they will succumb to the tedious work of
practicing unless they have natural tai
ent, and, as l said before, think l was
born with whistle like a locomotive
Now and again l was told by some fond
mamma that her Mary or Florence could
whistle quite as well, which leads me to
believe that whistling girls will not be re-
garded with such sinister forebodings in
future, and you know the couplet;
A whistling girl and a Growing hen
Is an equal reproach to birds aud men.
"And now don't think | can tell you
anything else, except that l am very
much pleased with my reception in Phil
adelphia, and-but there is my call, au
revoir."
SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
In conversation with a friend of Mrs.
Shaw the reporter learned that an obser-
vation of the lady's palate discloses long,
narrow tube-like vault, popularity of all
prominent vocalists Her naturally long
slender waist developing into bust, chest
and shoulders of charming symmetry
affords exceptional capacity for sustained
and easy breathing. She has quick ear
Cor the intricacies of sound and reads
readily at sight and finds that what is once
learned she never forgets. She experienced
at FIRST that difficulty so troublesome to the
PLACER upon brsss instruments-the fabby
Her chest froa bust to threat and
shoulder to shoulder has become wonder
fully developed, AID is unusually firm
10 the touch. She cannot whistle on
IN empty stomach nor bear the least con-
trictiou about the waist, yet without a
Il. III L