The record-union., 1897-12-20

ably represented a turning point IN
/ life ard a decisive touch to years or am
bilious work and. therefore, hard study
with plenty of drudgery. But there tbs
analogy ends.
At the Academy of Music is playing
at present the white Heather. II
the cast and having a very minor role
is a young woman who few years age
moved in the best society OF a certain
New England town. Her father sud
denly died and then came change
the supposed wealth melted away anc
penury stared the family in the face
The girl in question realized that upon
her unframed shoulders rested the bur
den OF keeping from the almShouSe hel
mother and younger sister, and look
ing about for a means she chose the
stage. The salary at first was pitiful
but then it was something. and, being
ambitious. she looked ahead and toiled
and struggled increasingly in the hops
of ascending a step on the ladder, and
of some day securing speaking
| part" Hope refreshed and strength
ened her when she was made under
study to the leading lady in the White
Heather" company, and when she sent
/
home, whose very existence depended
upon her struggles and self sacrifices
the letter spoke exultingly of the pros
pect.
Wednesday evening the leading lady
of the white Heather company was
! taken i'll, and the hour for the heroic
understudy had arrived. Probably not
one among the large audience which
! filled the academy noticed any indica-
tion of the high nervous pressure or the
natural trepidation which the young
woman must have felt as she realized
all that depended upon her then. She
did remarkably well and the applause
which followed her efforts was Loud and
! generous. The last act over and the
curtain down, the understudy walked
unsteadily to the wings and while the
audience was laundering an encore the
object OF it all was sinking unconscious
| to the floor.
Before the ambulance came she was
raving in delirium. Nature had assert
ed Its Elf as it always will. 20, mother!
[ have to work so hard. 1t seems as
| though / am to have no good fortune,
! she constantly complains in her mad
ness.
| The hospital staff, however, have
hopes of her recovery, and to-day she
is known, where yesterday she was not.
The other case referred to has for its
subject a young woman who also be-
| longed to a wealthy family but who
instead of being thrown upon her own
resources, received all the advantages
of q musical education which money
could give. Her voice was the envy
and charm of all her friends, and being
ambitious likewise, the young woman
went abroad to have it cultivated. Her
| first appearance in public was at the
! Metropolitan Opera-hOuse at one of its
series of Sunday concerts. She was to
| appear in company with such famous
artists as Sedl, YSaye and Plancon, and
! before q select and critical audience
! for the Metropolitan never has any
/ other kind
Well, to make a long story short, her
rendition was failure, her voice seem
ed to lack both range and control, and
the amazed audience laughed at first.
then it hissed. The consequence was
! that with the death blow to her ambi-
tlons she was made delirious and taken
away temporarily insane. She raves
/ over the scene which proved so fatal
/ to her, and at times sings snatches of
! the scng that signaled the death blow
/ to her ambitions. The papers on Mon
| day had it that an unforeseen accident
occurred at the wrong moment and
caused the singer to lose her self pos
session. People who We're there say
| otherwise, and that the newspaper
story was, while commendingly deli
! cot oh 1a h.
The great six-day bicycle race was
the chief excitement of the week, and
now that it is over public sentiment in
! its 5ooerness realizes that brutality and
not the glory of sport was its predom-
( mating element. AS usual in such cases
the dark horse won; Hale, who was the
general favorite at the beginning, fin
ishing in fourth place Miller main
tanned an average of fourteen miles and
a half for every hour during the six
| days, and the terrible strain on his
I physical and mental structure may be
! imagined Only seventeen out of the
/ thirty-six that started held out to the
end and of this seventeen the tall
ender made but little over half the dis
| tance covered by the victor.
1t was indeed one of the most Won
derful exhibitions of human endurance
/ that was ever known, but intelligent
! New Ycrkers do not care to see it re-
peated The contestants would never
! have attempted it for the mere glory
attainable; 1T was the money in the
/ case, and when it is considered that
/ 81 300 is the prize one realizes that
money was rarely ever more desper-
/ ately earned OF course the partici-
pants receive sums of 800 or $500
! each from the manufacturers of BIZ
| cycles. handle bars and saddles, for US
! ing their product in the contest, but
/ this probably in no case is more than
| enough to pay for medical attendance
and trainers services necesstated by
| the race The keynote to the situation
was expressed admirably by cartoon
! in Saturdays Herald" This illustra-
tion shows a bicyclist, wild-eyed and
haggard, being pushed towards an open
grave by death who in the other hand
| holds in front of the despairing riders
eyes bag marked 81 800 In the back
/ ground is seen two stout individuals
with high silk tiles bearing away box
/ between them which is marked $40 =
/ 600. These represent the managers,
and the $4,000 their share of the pro-
ceeds PRESTON JONES.