Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-02
Prima Donnas' Jewels.

THEY MUST BE STOLEN IN ORDER TO GIVE THEIR
OWNERS SUCCESS.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.
How does lady singer become world-famed?
asks feuilleton writer in the Frankfurter
Zeit,ing, and goes on to explain that their only
royal road to fortune is to have some Of their
jewelry stolen from them. Bell-like intonation,
harmony, astrong voice, acrobat-like technique,
impressive expression, distinctness of pronun-
citation, lively action, and an attractive appear
ance ought to secure fame to a lady artistic.
But only those will say this who have lived in
hermit-hke retirement, for in order to become
famous a lady singer must at least have been
robbed few times. just now q new candidate
has presented herself as qualified for the
part of the prima donna assoiuta. Miss Sigrid
Arnoldson, the attractive young Swedish girl
who has hitherto been like all other singing
birds Of the opera and the concert hall, has
suddenly risen above them all, and her impress
sario sends out the notice in great deiight-at
last, she, too, has been robbed. The object
was, OF course, a case with bracelets, earrings.
DC, given to her by expresses, queens, and
princes. The impressario was nearly in des-
pair when it appeared as If a row Of pearls had
been overlooked by the thieves; the clouds
only vanished from his face when it was found
that the pearls, too were gone. thief, re-
naming undiscovered, belongs as much to the
outfit Of phenomenalIy famous singer as does
her indispensable rouge pot. She cannot do
lack Of a perfect shape does not signify,
the lack of a thief would be ruin. Adeline
Patti has been robbed by night and by day, in
Europe and America, on shore and at sea, in
hotels and on railway trains. And Carlotta
Patti and Christine Nilsson and-but whysmen-
ton names? An incredible amount OF dia-
monds and jewels have disappeared in this way
without ever turning up again. But the lady
artistes are generous, compassionate forgiving;
they do not prosecute the thieves; they do not
60 to the police; they do not offer rewards.
Perhaps they know that the gold in their throat
can easily be coined, and that the ripping
shakes can soon be changed into rows Of
pearls. They are easy going, and soon forget
their loss. But the wonder is that the august
donors should still continue to present the
singers with diamonds. They might have
learned by experience that every precious
stone they give to them is doomed to be stolen
A royal present TO lady artistic which does not
get stolen has missed its object, and cases have
indeed occurred where presents were stolen
which were never given. The thieves belong
ing to the latter category are most favored by
the impressario According to rough esti-
mate which statistician has made concerning
thefts OF jewels from lady artstes, Jewels Of the
value ELS, 000, 900 have been stolen from sing
ers during the last decade, and however greatly
the abilities of the police of different countries
may differ in other respects, they are alike all
the world over in never troubling the thieves
who victimize prima donnas. But there re-
mains one consolation to the friends of the fair
singers and that is, that however frequently
they are robbed of their jewels they are still
ornamented with the same amount Of jewelry
even directly after the theft has occurred