The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-09
ANTIC CAREER ]: AN ITALIAN NOBLEMAN
na Fled from Home After a Duel Became a Singer of Opera and
 Then a Master.
Then a Master.

A [
 In the undertaking lestablishment = F. J. McMahon. in Dryades Street. Mee the body of an Italian count. who hAe gone by the name of Signor Antonto Farini. and who lately has been givtne singing lessons in this city. trainln9 in the Italian, French and Engfish.
 Little was generally known of him saNes was Ed c. Stoddard, proprietor of the bicycle establishment At St. Charles and Clio Streets. Mr. stoddard placed hin self under instruction by Count T4xiuis and the count became attracted to hims the more 70, when he. with old age coun- ing on, was confined to bed, and 0r- Stoddard looked after hizn and caxe1 fer him as for a child. Lately, when E wua. evident that he was not gstting thol proper attention at his home, which wao being kept by an old cplored woman. 1kr. where he remained until he died. Through an injury to his foot the count was eesl tackled by gangrene. ssnd last night he succumbed to blood poisoning.
 At intervals during his illness Mr. 0tn6- dard gieaned part of his life sto1ys am4 it reveals romani,e. When Colm1 Farini was . young man hs became n~ volved in . controversy at his houno In Italy with another nobieman, and tn h He thought he had Killed his advers&xyS for when he reached homo his He<hne gave him bag of gcnd and bads him nee tho country. At that time his 3axher was the Minister oE the lnteriors ana declared that even his influence would avail nothing The count huriedly pack ed . valise .and. taking his valet with him. lied to Vienna, Austria. Altar several years, his father having dis! owned him. he joined the Italian navys and after time he reached Havanas Cuba. Going ashore there, he met tho great impresario. Max Htrakosch to whom he told his life story. Mir. 6tra~ kosch recognised that he had . maxnts ncent voice .and prevailed upon him to quit the navy and study for the staga
 Even at this time the count thouGht that the nobleman he had fought ae Milan had been Killed Mfr. StrAkoech volunteered to taks him back to his nntiva land and put. him under the tuition q the world-famous Italian master of song. Lamperti. Max Strakosch took him back to Italy. and through the influence of Prince Metternich. placed him in ths hands of Lamperti- It was then that he learned the nobleman he had fought in that memorable duel had survived. whersupon Count Tarint marveled that his father should have kept him an exile | and under the impression that he had killed the man.
 | Under the teaching of Lampertf. Count | Farinl became one of the greatest bary- | tone singers of the day, and won the | glory of standing pre-eminent as the greatest Mephistophele on the stage with xdelina Patti and sang in New or leans.
 When first his father learned that he would adopt the stage, he refused to Ns-I 1x N..xx hat when he became world famous. d recon citation took place. and he remained at peace with his family until they died; As an operatic singer Count Farini Africa, the Sandwich Isles. South Amer lea. and all over the neY and old con tinents.
 When old age came on. Count Farini forsook the stage and gave himself to the teaching of voice culture. He was the teacher of Emma Abbott. She was . poor girl whom he took her in hand. ana could not afford to pay him. But after mark high, she sought him out and com- pensated him for the wonders he had done for her. He also took hold cf Jenn1e Dickerson. and when she was placed In nous impresario. told that Farim had done wonders with her voice. her phras- ing and vocalization being absoluAely
 Achiiie Tomassi, another of the fannous ones, gave his card to Farini and told him to so to Lower California and show them what the true Italian method was.
 Some of the famous singers brought out by Count Farini during his education of them were: Emma Abbott. Minnie Hauck. Berenice Holmes. Jennie Torannd, Ella Bruce Nicholson, Helen Knapp. Signor Brambilla, Montegrifro. Fredori. Cherry
 The bringing out of Fredori is quite . story that the Count told of with much interest. Max Strakosch and himself were passing along in New York enc day. when they heard a butcher ehcpping his sausage meat and singing the while. They listened for while. and then he. said to Mir. Strakosch that that was . butcher. asked for his name. and he said 1t was Philip Freed. a German. They asked if he would like to sing in opera He was tickled with the idea, and then months that man had mastered Italian, English and German. Before Iong he was ready for the stage. when the Count gave him the name, Fredori This Fredo- mess. got wealthy. built . brownstone- front house in Rochester. N. F.. and when he retired was still living there.
 Count Farini came to this city several cultivation. He came South because he could no longer stand the rigorous cli- mate in the North. Lately he had his studio on St. Joseph Street. and often spent his evenings In the oyster saloon of Joseph Catanzaro. at the corner of St. Charles and St. Joseph Streets. He would never permit any one to call him Count.
 Those who continually met him say he was llnguist of extraordinary scope. His Italian was of the choicest, his Eng fish was good. his German was such that he knew of the language what many Ger man residents here knew not of. He spoke Hebrew. Latin, Spanish. Swedish: in. fact they figured up one night that he spoke twelve different languages cor rectly and readily.
 Count Farini has always. since he took to the stage, been big strong robust. man. with curly hair. a mustache and goatee. There will not be single rela- tive or close friend to attend the funeral. save the few he made since he came to this city several months ago.
 Marconi is Half Irish.
 Marconi, it may not be generally known, Is only half an Italian. His mother was an Irish girl Annie Jamlson. the daughter of John Jamison. a liquor manufacturer of Dublin. There is said to have been for fx. Nk..F Fn tnf ft.r.