Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-08

| get pack after Whlle, though, IN spite ol
boxes full Of the Chicago girl in her glory.
By the way, this same Chicago girl is a
| marvel The better you know her the more
| you wonder at her. and the more you won
| der at her the better you like her. To be
sure, In the mass. she does wear too many
| colors In one costume, but then she is a
| creature more Of heart than of art, and If
| she has any affectation, it is that she affects
| not having amy affectation. Then, too, she
| has beauty SO commonly that you cease to
| notice 1t. Perhaps "her manners have not
| that repose that marks the cast OF we're de
vere." but they have the vivacity which
marks superabundant good health, intense in
| terest In everything and everybody, and a
knowledge of the world that is simply ap-
palling. She is an excellent chaperone for
her mother. She always knows Just what
to do In any emergency, and says what she
thinks in half dozen different languages
with too much frankness, perhaps, but with
wonderful fuency and correctness, IL not
irreproachable accent. She has been every
where, heard all the best music seen all the
best pictures, read all the best books and
can still get no end Of fun out of singing
Clemantine or some other college doggerel,
and enjoys looking into a State street show
window as thoroughly as IL she had never
been In Paris. She stands up in q street car
as unconcernedly as she rides in her carriage,
and If she ever thinks that some man ought
to get up and give her a seat, she certainly
never looks it. You simply cannot study her
thoroughly, for before you are half through
with your investigations you will be so fond
of her that her faults seem virtues and what
struck you at first as being peculiar will
grow to be simply piquant.
To the Chicago girl in the mass / owe II
that for two successive nights / gave to
Wagner one-half my attention and none Of
my heart, but to the Chicago girl in the in
dividual | owe 1t that swept on by sea of
sound / reached the hall OF minstrels at the
Wartburg and heard contending for the prize
in song not Berthold Mertens, but Walter
Won der Vogelweid and Wolfrau Won Eschen-
bach
THE OPERA FROM A DIZZY HEIGHT.
"You see 1t is this way" she explained
"down here 1t is all fuss and feathers and see
and be seen, but If You really want to hear
and see the opera. only come with me on
Saturday"
On Saturday I came, not In full dress and
carriage, but In waterproof coat and
street car. The Auditorium Is fourteen
stories high. Courage said the Chicago
girl. as we climbed, "heaven is not reached
at single bound" About the time we had
reached the thirteenth story felt keen ap-
probation Of the anecdote told Of a man who
painting and bewildered asked Of the usher
who still waved him upward, "Is God in"
We reached the family circle at last, how
ever. 1t ought to be called the swallows
nest, for 1t literally hangs from the cornice
of the dome. You have perfect view Of the
stage and only the stage. No boxes full of
rainbow-hued costumes to distract you and
the babble of the world Is far beneath. The
music comes there though. and almost any
one will admit that distance lends enchant
ment" to Wagner. The faintest softest note
comes upward like sigh and the "chorus OF
drums is not injured by remoeness No
lbrettos or fine clothes up here. but water |
proofs and intelligence. To be brief. every
body looked like somebody and acted |
like nobody. There was not whisper
while the music lasted. but between |
acts you could get an immense amount of |
information on matters musical You learn |
that this has been cut shamefuly from peo- |
pie who seemed well enough posted to miss |
single bar of the music. You learn Just how |
Frau Materna differs from Frau Klafsky In |
the rendition of single phrase, and learn |
that there is a great deal that you have TO |
learn about winds" and Strings" and |
"brasses." Then the music begins again. |
earth fades, the occupants OF the family cir
Gle are "on the hills like gods together |
careless Of mankind" and the something |
that guides you, leads you, draws you into |
the dim land Of the Gods and Heroes. the
something to which all eyes turn Willingly |
or unwlttlngly. 1t not the wonders evoked
by the scene shifters not the golden voice OF
Klafsky or the picturesque costumes and |
posings Of Alvary, but the intense earnest
ness and vivid personality Of Walter DAM
rosch.
However. when you sit down below among
ordinary people. and are capable Of being
frivolous and noting your impressions, II
strikes you that the recltatlYes are too
character decaims the others are rather hard
pushed for something to do As a conse-
quence. they sQuirIn and gestlculats a la
Delsarte, In accordance with the nature OF |
the recital. In your unregenerate condition
this sometimes seems extremely funny. Then.