The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-10-21
NELSON'S OLD HONE.
The Prime Donna Revisits the PIac.
Of Her Birth i'm Sweden.

VI 11SE OAEIH n SWG0eus
Christine Nilsson has recently sold prop
erty in Boston valued at nearly $200,OOD.
If reports from Europe are to be believed.
her native land. Although she has lived
since her retirement from the stage and
her marriage to Slnniard almost con-
tlnuously in Paris, it has been observed
that she has frequently shown desire 10
return to her native land permanently.
One OF her appearances before an audience
OF any size took place not long ago OH
was serenaded by large number of stu
dents from one of the universities. When
they had finished she sang to them several
Swedish folksongs from her balcony.
Recently the Countess de Casa Miranda
as she is known in private life, returned
to Sweden to visit the village of Snugge.
In which she was born nearly sixty years
ago. She had not been there for forty
years, but the detail with which she re-
membered the place astonished every mem
Der OF the party which accompanied her.
Some of the original furniture is said still
to stand in the little house which was
Christine's first home, and her first re-
mark on entering one Of the rooms was:
| All, there is the little trundle bed on
which passed SO many nights!''
Later, when she was walking along the
| road that leads to yislanda, the countess
said: z.s=5sss.
There by the big stone is a fresh
spring, from which all the little girls III
the neighborhood used to have to fetch
water for the coffee. can remember it
all as clearly as if I had done it only yes
terday.: s.s.-.s
She passed the night in an inn near the
place of her birth, and the next morning
went to nearby village in which some
of her youth had been. passed. On the
way the carriage turned from the high
road through private way. As the bar
rler was removed for the vehicle to pass
the prima donna said:
How often have ridden through this
gate! can recognize the old stone pill
lars on each side of the gate
The old house was, of course, very
| much changed, but there were still points
about it which the woman who had
played and sang there as child still re-
called. The old threshing floor was still
| intact, and the same in nearly every de-
| tail that it was formerly. -. .=~S
| Here there used to BE- dancing SO Of
! ten in the old days." she said with a
smile, and | could never recall how
many times l have had TO play my old
fiddle for the dancing" -
After she sought out six old friends in
the vicinity and spent some time with
them, Nine. la Countess de Casa Miranda.
returned to Stockholm, but not before she
| had left with them substantial souvenirs
of her visit.
Christine Nilsson is said to be one of
| the richest of the retired singers, SO she
can easily afford to lie generous to her
| childhood friends. especially if they be-
| long to the same humble walks of life
| from which she came. That the large for
tunes earned by popular singers in this
country today are nothing new can be
understood from the fact that On one os
| her visits here Christine Nilsson earned
| $150.OOO. Jean de Reszke's $4,000 and
| Calves $780, seem small enough COM
| pared to that amount. Her profits on 9th
er tours here were almost as great. and
her European successes he.ped to swell the
| fortune she possesses today. Fortunate
investment was also an important ele
ment in her weaIth.-New York Sun.