Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-06

water get rid of the foam. There were
numbers of old chateaux along the banks,
but unfortunately we did not have time
TO see the castle of Chillon. l always
liked Byron's poetry and was sorry not
to see the old castle that he lived in and
wrote about. A great many famous peo-
pie were born in Geneva, Calvin, Rous-
sean and Madame De Stael among the
number Byron and Voltaire bod bones
there. Thursday we came to little place,
half way between Geneva and Paris,
Dijou is the name. It's the Oldest town |
ever saw. 1t is situated on the banks of
the Rhone, and has wash houses all along
the bank The women beat the clothes
against the rocks with paddles. We spent
the first night at the st. Petersburg We
are quite close to the Grand opera house,
the Louvre and the Garden of the Tuil-
leries. We found that Faust" was to be
played last night for the last time, and
were so anxious to go; with difficulty we
secured seats. The opera house is the
largest in the world, and by far the hand
soonest, everywhere are beautiful paint
ings and marble statues. The grand stair
case Is the most exquisite | ever saw, it
Is very wide and of marble. Faust" was
grand the acting as well as the music
the actors We're all so good looking and
had such excellent voices. 1t was not so
good as "Tanhauser," however for you
know GERMANY is the place for good
music, and we heard the opera unusually
Today we went to the Louvre. and al
though we spent three hours there we
saw only part of it. 1t requires two
hours to walk through it without stop
ping al rapid pace. 1t has some very
excellent works from each of the great
artists. with the exception of Micheal
Angelo. One must go to southern Italy
to see his works. The gem of the Louvre
is Venus de Milo. a statue carved from
one great block of exquisite marble; the
statue of course Is very much mutilated
both arms being gone, the head is almost
perfect and very beautiful although not
quite up to my expectations. One thing
] saw which think would interest you
was sword of Napoleon I. The hilt is
one magnificent blaze of diamonds 1t
cost 100000 francs $4,000. I saw quite a
number of portraits of Napoleon and
Josephine that 7 have seen in the Cen
fury series One that struck me most
was the one representing Napoleon
browning himself. with Josephine kneel-
fng in front Of him and Pope Plus VII
back. The robes are of velvet and ermine
and could not be more natural looking.
The face of Josephine was especially
beautiful. We have seen the statue in the
Place de. Vendome. made of the cannon
captured by Napoleon from the Aus
TRANS. It is of bronze and his figure sur
mounts it. We have not been close to
the Arch of Triumph yet. Right in
front of the gardens is the Place de la
Concorde, in which the old gullotine used
to stand; an Egyptian obelisk marks the
place now. Here Marie Antoinette was
heheaded. On top of the great gate lead
ing to the Louvre are bronze horses,
which Napoleon brought from st. Marks,
in Venice and later had to restore. Paris
is a clean. beautiful city. It's streets are
so wide and well shaded with pretty
trees. Today we took a long ride along
the Seine. and saw great deal of the
city. l am seeing intelligently now, for
have guide book. ] see so much I can
not tell you all.
Mr.. d. M. Drennen has returned from a
visit of several months to relatives at
Athens. Ala. Mrs. Drennen was accom-
panied home by her mother Mrs. George
s. Houston. and her sister. Miss Ella
Houston. of Athens. both of whom will
spend some time in Birmingham with
Mrs. Drennen.
Miss Susie Howe is visiting her friend.
Miss Brown, in south Alabama.
/, young Mrs. Winthrop, which was
such a success. socially. artistically and
financially. last Thursday evening at
O'Briens opera house, will be repeated
Tuesday afternoon at matinee.
The invitations sent out by Prof and
Mrs. ]. M. Boyce to their friends and pa
irons crowded the rooms of the College
of Music on Thursday evening with ca
ger, enthusiastic lovers of music. The
exceptionally fine programme was fault
lessly rendered by different members of
the faculty. The vocal and Instrumental
numbers were of musical excellence as
the following programme attests:
Grand duo. two pianofortes Ora nd
March''-Miss Hanna Bodell. Professor
Boyce.
Violin solo, "Fantasie" III Trovatore)-
Professor Boyce.
Vocal solo lin English), open Thy
Eyes'-Miss Won Navarro.
Piano solo, Moment Musicale" Drey-
shock); "MaZourka de Concert" (Rocc-
keD--Professor Boyce.
) Duet, two pianos, Orchestral Ode
(Satter)-Miss Bodell. Professor Boyce.
Vocal solo, Aria, Sampson and Deli
lah'' Saint Saens); ballad, Loves Sor-
row. (Shelly)-Miss Navarro.
Piano solo, Grand Gallop'' Iii CalsD-
Grand duo. two pianos-P Professor
Boyce, Miss Bodell.
The recitals given by the College of
Music and the Conservatory of Music
during the past week gave much pleas
ure to many unsteady inclined people
and contributed largely towards increas-
ing the interest in music among our cit
liens. The first pupils recital of the
Conservatory of Music yesterday after
number of friends and patrons. From
the splendid programme appended it will
be observed that several of Birming-
hams most brilliant amateurs are pupils
of the conservatory. The different S.
lections were exquisitely rendered Miss
Fell was very superior and so was Miss
Mary Rucker, who appeared with great
eclat for the first time before a Birmng-
ham audience. Miss Openshaw and Miss
Marie Wilson are constantly pressing
forward. and are brilliant performers
upon violin and piano respectively. Mrs.