The Indianapolis journal., 1897-05-30


tess leased the little Stottenberg cottage
on what is now Mil street 1t was a cross
between rude mountain trail and a coun-
try street in those days. l doubt if / ever
saw more enthusiastic person about hav-
ing a home of her own than the countess
was when she was unpacking her effects
new furniture in the little six-room house.
She had trunks full of bric-a-brac and
rpemeutos of her European days | asked
her II she never pined Tor the palace IN
Munich and the superb balls and banquets
in Paris and Vienna. She answered, with
her sweet French accent:
Never, never. All, you little know,
Nine. Knapp, what sorrow and distress
every one has in such gayety. l am only
sorry that / never before had little home
like this and friends VINO really love me be-
fore l became so notoriouS-for notorious L
have been-,never famous.
''All the little rooms at the cottage were
prettilY furnished for those days in a min
ing town. Gardens were made about the
house, and the countess and her manSerVant
went far and wide in search of all manner
of strange plants and crazy wild shrub
berry from mountainsides and canyons to
plant there. The countess herself donned
old calico gowns and got down on her
hands and knees and planted many shrub.
She was the first person in that region
who ever saw groteSque beauty in the cac-
tus. | believe hers was the first collection
Of growing cacti made for ornamental pur-
poses among the thousands that have been
made in California. After a few months, a
wooden bear pen was established on the
place and two black bears that had been
captured were put there. Nothing in Grass
Valley interested the countess more than
her bears. She never missed a daily visit
to the beasts. and usually she went to feed
them several times day.
THE countess introduced the evening
salon at Grass Valley. She had TO be IN
a whirl of some social excitement all the
time, much as she claimed, and at times
believed, she really loved the peace and
quiet OF a secluded cottage. Every one In
Nevada country knew about the pretty
Frenchwomans fandangos,' as they. were
enviously called by the hundreds of per-
sons who craved invitations to them. only
a year or so ago United States Senator w.
NJ Stewart, of Nevada, chatted with me
about Lola Montezs salon and how he used
to count the days between the receptions,
for he was often asked to join them. They
were merely evening meetings of conVivtal.
genial and bright men at the cottage or
brandy, and wine to drink, and all the new
fancy drinks were tried there as fast as
any one in the company heard of them.
Cake, fruit, and occasionally a pudding or
a Spanish dish comprised the edibles; and
every one smoked. The Hugo nephews
were always there and a son of Preston
B. Brooks, of South Carolina, was usually
in the assembage.
HER RECEPTIONS.
about dozen persons looked forward
every week to the Wednesday evening sa-
Ion at the countesss home, and every new
song that was out, every neat story that
was read or heard, every bit of eloquence
or scrap of humor or pathos that any of
the young men came across, was preserved
until the next salon-'experience meeting
it was called-took place at the countess S.
Sometimes the genial spirits would pro-
tract their stay until daybreak. and the
music of songs, guitars, accordions and
violins was always a feature of these af
fairs The countess was the central hgure
at each meeting, and While the sta1d people
a VIZ q
doings at the house the countess made her
receptions only the more frequent and
noisy. Sometimes she would array herself
in her old stage gowns and prove to her
visitors that she had not forgotten how to
dance, and at the close would pass the hat
for contributions for the refreshments for
the next meeting.
"One day she had q war of words with a
local editor named Shipley about an article
Shipley published an item insinuating that
the meetings at the countess's home were
AS soon as the countess saw
the item she dressed herself in her riding
habit, and with her riding whip in her
hand went straight down to see Shipley.
She found him near where the American
Hotel now stands, and gave him as many
hard cuts across the face as she could until
Shipley, who was a large man and lowered
above her, caught the whip and wrenched
1t from her grasp.
Another time she came home and found
a man playing with her bears. She ordered
him from the premises. He told her to go
coming out with a loaded muSket in her
little hands, chased him down Mill street.
When one of her bears died she was incon-
solable for a few days. Once, when she
heard that Methodist clergyman named
Wilson had spoken of her as a shameless
devil in the guise of beautiful and fas-
cinating dancer, she went home, dressed
in her old-time dancing garb, with very
short, f1eecy skirts, and low-necked and
sleeveless waist, and long silk stockings,
and, putting on pair of heavy shoes,
walked calmly down the street to the pas
tors house, knocked at the front door. and
asked for the Rev. Mr.. Wilson. Mrs. Will
son was paralyzed to have a caller so
dressed at her house and could not speak.
When Mr.. Wilson came in his parlor the
countess told him she had come to show
how really modest the dress of a stage
dancer was, and asked him to tell her
wherein her deviltry was. A short time
afterward she repented her act and sent
a good money donation to the pastors
family as a peace offering
There were some excellent traits in Lola
MonteZ. She was easily moved to help the
poor and suffering, and she had devotion
for a good woman who had a mean huS-
band and an unhappy home. She once told
me that the noblest thing in all the world
was good mother and a true wife. could
relate several instances of how this charm
ing woman of the world used to go and sit
by the bedside of miners in their rude cab
ms when they were very Ill or dying. She
was nothing of nurse, but she did what
she could to cheer the poor fellows lonely
hours by her presence and the singing OF
ballad. The fact that the miners were dy-
ing thousands of miles from their old
homes, and that there were sisters and
mothers back in the Eastern States who
would have given almost anything to be
where she was to help the sick and dying
appealed to her powerfully. She gave gen.
erouSly from her purse whenever the hat
was passed to bury a miner, for good cof-
fins used to cost several timeo as much in
the mining towns in the Seirras as any
where else.
along in 1856 the countesss money was
running low. The nephews of Victor Hugo
went back to France; the many young men
were tired of the salon. All the songs that
the company knew in the four languages
that the countess spoke proficiently had
been sung threadbare, the musical instru-
ments had become well worn, and there
was not a new story to be told, humorous
or pathetic recitation to be made and no
original jokes remained to be cracked. The
countess plainly was restless to return to
her former life of gayety, and the letters
she had always received from admirers in
Paris and London gave her reason to be-
lieve she might be a favorite in Europe
again. A letter from friend urged her to
come to Melbourne, Australia, where the
new gold mines had gathered the liveliest
kind of people. So in the winter of 1856 81
she sold her property in Grass Valley and
sailed from San Francisco for Australia. l
heard from her several times in Australia
and subsequently in Bombay and Cairo"
Corn Flower Party i'm Bohemia.
Detroit Free Press.
The German population in Bohemia now
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