The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-05
.yIANY INVENTIONS"
A Few Corrected Statements in Re-
gard to Famous Prima Donna.


Jeanette L. Glider, in the Critic.
A friend in Washington sent me a few
days ago a clipping from the Star of that
adsipha 9 Tines The headine over rn the
tract read: Wealth and Poverty. A Once
Gifted Songstress with Barely Enough to
paragraph:
I'm that stony region given over to board
ing houses near Fifteenth street and Third
avenue, in the city of New York, there
lives in a small hall room gray, withered
woman whose gifts once made her, famous:
Her face is pallid and drawn, and around
her sunken, black eyes are dark circles.
She speaks to no 9 ne, and only goes out in
the evening to get meal at some cheap
restaurant on the East Side. And this
woman is Mrs. Strakosch. nee Clara Louise
Philadelphia who will fail to recall her"
Now this was startling news to me- Mrs.
Strakosch and I have been intimate friends
agine that such a statement as this gave
me something of a shock as well a
on Sunday last 1 had lunehed with her at
her apartment in the. Westmoreland, at
Seventeenth street and Union square,
very good luncheon, too, for her cook is, an
admirable one and l had not suspected the
approaching change in her condition. 1t
must have been a terribly sudden change
indeed, for while her dark brown hair was
not unmixed with gray, there were signs
of whitening. about her; In fact, should
may have been '.pallid." for she never at
any time had much color, but her eyes were
not -'SUDkGn, I6IlHGT were IHSTe dark cir
cIes under them She speaks to no one"
says this paragraph which is not very fiat
tering to my vanity, for she talked a good
country house earlier than usual this
spring. and promised me long drives behind
her team of bays If l would pay her a
longer visit than 1 usually do. after the
laurels had begun to blossom. I remember
now that she did say something about going
out at night: she had bought seats to see
Rejane (at $3.50 EACH. and it was for an
evening performance, not a matinee.
/ went at once to the WestmoreIand to see
what had caused SO sudden change, not
ance but in her financial condition as well,
and to offer what small assistance might
just the same. There were the Turkish
rugs on the floors, the costly paintings
on the walls, the cabinets filed with silver
tan glass. the fine old Notwithstanding
had happened to them. at least. The prima
donna's voice called me into the library
where, spread on lounge and chairs. were
a lot of newly imported gowns she had
just bought and wished me to admire She
had not withered a bit-I never saw her
looking better looked at her bright eyes,
but could see no dark circles she was in
with her purchases could not under
stand It There We're no signs of poverty
explicit and newspapers are so careful
to be correst when making statements
about people. ] made some excuse to get
into the music room, ana there. undetected
/ drew the newspaper clipping from my
pocket and read the closing paragraph.
sShe now had an estate amounting to half
a million and took care of it until 1881.
when she met an Englishman named Dur.
Fee a plausible fellow, who wanted to es-
tablish n England a big publishing house
the same class OF literature. and Mrs. Stra-
lxosch put I'm S10c.toe. Her returns were 50
per cent, paid out of her money, as IL
was afterwards discovered. About $4o0.0oo
was obtained from her and then the smash
petency left huf this went into bucket
shops and mining shares, and with this
came the end 81
last. This statement had some foundation