Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1899-07-07
ODD LITTLE GIRL.
PATTI USED TO THROW PAPER sou-
DUETS AT HERSELF.

PATTI USED TO THROW PAPER eou-
DUETS AT HERSELF.
The Famous Primn Donnn's Own
Story of He First Appearance ON
the Stage When She Was but Seven
Years of Age.
1t was the night of Nov. 16, 1851.
In New York, where my parents then
resided, was a great, wide thoroughfarc
paved with cobblcstones, and on the
EAST side Of this ~thoroughfare was a the
ater known us Niblo's Garden. The piece
was Una Voice." in which my father
and mother were playing. l was then Il
tiny girl OF Z years, with a pale face and
very, very black eyes, and next to sing
Ing my %favorite pastime was running
down Broadway trundling a hoop. One
Of the first memories l have, next to
that connected with my hoop, is my
standing behind the scenes and pccring
through a hole in the curtain while my
father and mother went through their
performance.
Once, not long after my debut, a great
soprano, who had been starring for n
few nights, had just finished a long
Dria, rounding off with a beautiful trill.
She had made her exit as the house rang
with applause when she stopped down
and looked at poor little me.
ooh, DEAR" l said, "how badly you
trilled! 'Twasn't close enough. Just
listen to me. I'll show you the way"
1 had never been taught to Shake" yet
it came to me quite naturally, and a
great many people besides my parents
praised it. l still wonder what the ia
mouc copror, M fhonoht of mo
But before 1 tell you what happened on
that first night I must tell you why l be-
came a prilna donna at such an early age
because l had been a prilna donna Of
the nursery months and months before.
When l had been put to bed on my re-
turn home with my father and mother
from the opera, and l was quite certain
that they and the rest Of the household
had gone to sleep, l used to hop out again
and imagine myself even as great a per-
s1nage us the famous soprano l lave just
mentioned.
Oftentimes now l can see myself in a
room OF that very modest brick tenement,
dancing and singing, and dressed up in
all the odd costumes l could put my
hands on. Death scenes were my weak
ness, and l do not mind admitting that
Norma" was my favorite. When I had
done something which l considered very
fine JUDGED, I cried out, "Brava, Adeli-
na!' md threw magnificent bouquets and
wrcaths down before my own bare little
feet. And then l would grow sleepy,
palled with success, and so creep back to
bed, leaving the bouquets and the wreaths
in the middle of the floor. Shall I tell
you that these magnificent tokens were
made of old newspapers? Yes. I'm sure
I was a very strange little girl.
We were all very oppressed and anx-
ious in those days, and the prospects Of
making money were very bad. I was Z
years old when the opera company Of
which my father n mother were men,
bers began to return so little money
that I could no longer stand my fathers
troubled face. l remember saying:
Don't sell your beautiful turquoise pin,
papa. Let me help you. I can sing well
enough, aud l will be a little prima
DONNA"
And I remember, too, my fathers
eyes filling with tears as he replied: "No,
little one. What you say is impossible"
But l had made up my mind neverthe-
less. My mother had already given me
lessons in music, and I had practiced a
little with her. I gave them all no peace
until one day it was noised abroad that
little Adelina. the daugher OF Signor Pat
ii, was to sing "Una Voce" and ''The
Sonnambula" at Niblo's Garden.
\ prima donna Of seven summers!
said everybody, and l I'm sure they must
have laughed. But it was no laughing
matter to me or to my mother md IA
Their, although l was not a bit nervous
Or frightened, but, on the contrary, full
Of childish confidence. I didn't care for
much to eat that evening, but nobody
paid any attention to my want of appe-
tite. coaxed my mother, and she
braided my hair and powdered my tiny
brown face. We burned candles in
those days, and I can still see myself
looking for many minutes into the mirror
Of my bedroom, with the heavy shadows
behind me, before we set out for the
theater.
From time to time my father brought
reports to us in our dressing room Of the
appearance Of the house. It was not a
large audience. At z o'clock the curtain
went up, and I came on. I think every
body in the house must have applauded,
for, besides having q great many friends
there, it would have been hard Of any
body not to have been interested in so
young a cantatrice. They told me after
ward that from those first notes nobody
had any doubt that I was q success and q
born prima donna. Child as I was, I felt
sure that lie Bon Dieu was at my side.
When the curtain went down on "Una
Voice." I saw a great number Of men and
women clapping and waving their hands
and crying "Brava, brava!" and even the
gods in the gallery tried to whistle as
loud as they could, and you must not for
get that the gods were my personal
friends. There are no street arabs like
those of New York. They had long be-
fore nicknamed me "The Little Chinee
Girl" because of my black eyes and gel
lowish features.
Then 1 remember my father catching
me up in his arms inc kissing me, and
my mother and all the members of the
company petting me as if I had lone
something wonderful indeed, but it was
not more than I expected to do. But
there was "~Sonnambula" to come before
the evening was finished, and they told
me there were more people to hear "Son-
nambula" than "Una Voice." because
many Of the audience had gone out and
brought in chance cnnaintancas