Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-01-30


| Ahy Adapted - shs Csnpasy-
| siGnoaits Mleheiena has this 10 eay
in regard 10 the late EnmA Abbott;
| al don't know what 70 cay. ! can
not speak TOO highly Of Miss Ahbctt.
II seems nov ss il never could join
another company. l have been With
her continually ever Enoe ! went On
the stage, and never had thought of
singing with anyone else. know thai
every member Of the company mourns
her loss deeply. No one could have
been more kind TO them. She wa
loved by every one Of them. On
CHRISTMAS eve she gave the members Of
the company little spread on the
stage. after the performance. Before
leaving for her hotel she came In and
drank our health, and then calling an
the mothers ASIDE she gave them pres
ents. Ii was her custom 20 do this
every year. Whenever q member Of
the company married. he or she Was
presented with . diamond pin; and
| when baby Was born IN the company,
Miss Abbott started It's hank account
with SO. She MAS always making little
presents TO the babes. know she has
given my little girl over 500 worth of
presents.
81 shall never forget her last appear
ancc on the stage. ! suppose you know
that she was carried on and supported
all through her parts BY members Of
the company. And after il was over,
and Manager Pratt handed her into the
carriage. he said: Now YOU know,
Emma, you are booked for Denver and
you must get well in time 70 sing
there She replied: Charlie, am
booked for Paradise, and l have sung
my last song on earth
"The handsome monument ordered
made for her husbands grave is not
yet completed. During her few days
of illness she said that abe little thought
that she would be ready for il before il
was ready for her. The monument is
made to cover her husband grave, and
receptacle is chiseled in it for her
ashes. Her father, mother. sister and
two brothers, who attended the funeral
services in Chicago, have gone on to
New York. As soon as her body il cre-
mated the ashes will be taken TO Giou-
cester, Mass, where her husband rs
baried."
Mrs. Michelena said that the new
opera which was TO have been put on
next season and taken abroad, and
sung for an extended period in each Of
the large cities Of the old world, was
being composed especially TO suit the
voices of the members of the company.
Miss Abbott herself informed the COM
poser as to the quality Of their different
voices. Signor Michelena was to have
had grand tenor part, and Pruette,
the baritone, also q magnificent role.
Mrs. Michelena thought too little had
been said in praise of the noble part
played by Alice Ellington in the last
sad scene of the death room. She had
been with Miss Abbott on and Oft dur.
ing her entire career on the stage. They
were like sisters, and on the boat re-
returning from Paris Miss Abbott ex-
pressed il as her wish that If she should
die, Alice would close her eyes in the
long sleep and dress her for the grave.
She did not wish TO have an under
taker. Miss Ellington remained At the
bedside of Miss Abbott to the end, and,
when death finally came, she performed
the duty assigned her with only the as.
sistance of the dead singers maid
Rosa. The embalming alone was done
by the undertaken.
Mrs. Micheiena related Q coincidence
that has never before been told. Miss
AbbOtts husband believed the number
thirteen to be un.ucky, while Miss Alb
bolt considered 1t the greatest omen OF
good fortune. 1t was about two years
ago when Mr.. Witherell left Los An.
geles to 60 to Denver 10 settle up busl.
ness matter. Miss Abbott never saw
him alive again. On the way to the
train he met Signor Michelena. He
said he believed that bad luck of some
kind was in store for him. He had
taken $l3 of the salary of each OF the
company TO pay for sleepers, had been
gwen berth No. Is on the sleeper for
Denver and the amount of money he
was to receive in Denver amounted TO
just $4,000. He was taken with pneu-
monia on the train, and when the COM
pany arrived IN Denver they met the
box containing his dead body. Mrs.
Michelena believed Miss Abbott never
recovered from the shock. But here IL
the coincidence: One day last spring
on her train. where Miss Abbott often
sat with her company around her for a
| pleasant chat, she announced TO them
that she had signed her contract for
the next season that day. She said that
she was sure that the season would
| prove the most successful of any che
had yet experienced, because 1t was the
thirteenth day of the month. and Fri
day, and the contract was for the tair-
teenth year of her career in opera. And
it was phenomenally successful ees-
son up to the time of her death.
81 have often heard people say thai
Miss Abbott was not liberal" said Mrs
Michelena, "but I am sure that she
was. She gave quietly 10 benevolent
institutions. Certainly if che gave
money TO every poor mother who
wished to give her daughter . muslcal
education, she would have bad bel
hand IN her pocket eli the time. Alice
Ellington used TO write the checks, and
ehe said 10 me that I ourh. to see ths
number which Mise Abbott sent away
Miss Abbott said on her death-bed
that she Was ready TO die. hut prayed
to God for another year IN which II
build her mother . home and coYnplet>
her husbands monument She cared
for her mother splendldly. She would
never live at first-class hotel, beceuse
abe said she would have 90 keep dressed
m And abe did not wish r.. -