The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-03-13
Helene Mora and Her Songs.

whenever L tried to sing at school the
teacher made me STOP" said Helene Mora,
who is singing at the Grand. ''She told
me that l had no voice and that L only
spoiled the singing of the rest of the pu-
pills. We had a music teacher named ely
don that used to visit the school once in
about every two weeks. My teacher always
warned me never to sing when the pro-
fessor came around. She thought that /
might make bad showing for her. One
day 1 made up my mind that l was going to
sing anyhow. So L did. After the first
verse of the song the professor came sneak
ing down the aisle. L kept on singing.
When he got TO my desk he said, Il want
to see you after school, | thought % N.Y.
I've got a licking coming to me- So L ran
home after school without waiting to see
him. The next time he came he told me
that he not going to scold me, so L
stayed after school He had me sing some
songs and then told me that | had won
derful voice l nearly dropped dead from
and told my mother. She didn't believe it,
either till Mr.. GlydOn came to the house
sides teaching me he took me to all the
big concerts so that L could hear the IA
nous artists sing.
Miss Mora is an Er glsh girl by birth.
but she makes America her home. She
has been in this country fourteen years
and made her debut in this city ten years
ago.
"A funny thing happened while I was
singing in Kansas City" she said. II no.
ticed a peculiar noise coming from the
orchestra, and i also noticed that there
was no cornet sound | looked down and
the man that was supposed to be playing
the cornet was playing a saxaphone. After
the performance he asked me how / liked it
and said that he was going TO play at an
entertainment and had not played for
sometime and needed practice. L told him
that | didn't really care for II, and told
him TO play the cornet long as / was
there. His estimation of me was not very
high. was it? Think of man practicng
on the 'head-liner-
Il am going to tell you a story Of an
honest music publisher. You want to listen
attentively to this for these stories are
very rare. j had a friend named Harry
Kennedy. who was song writer. and who
died very suddenly and left five children,
a wife and grandfather. who was an in
valid. The family was destitute as he
had spent all the money that his songs had
brought him He had come to me often and
asked me to sing some of his songs but
| didn't like any of them. After he died
the manager of the theater came to me
and asked me why | didn't sing one of
Kennedys songs and make some money
for his family. l told him the reason. Soon
after that / was playing in a continuous
house and heard a man singing a song
that pleased me very much. 1 asked what
il was and told that IL was 'Au Re-
vOir.' and was written by Harry Kennedy.
The man was singing ii very badly and |
thougn. that L could make success out of
it. The song had been published for three
years when | first heard IT,
THE family was nearly starving An old
priest who helping the family was
peddling the manuscript of Kennedys
songs around the music houses and selling
them for a trifiing sum- He offered the
song An RevOir 10 a publisher named
Goetz for twenty-five dollars. The pub
Usher told him TO keep il there a
fortune in IT, and told him TO go TO the the
alter and hear me sing 1t. as | was making
IL a success In just two years had made
fifty thousand dollars for that family. and
by this time I suppose that il has increased
To one hundred. The girls are now young
ladies and are going to boarding school.
They think that there is nothing too good
for me
People have a mistaken idea that a sing
er can make song popular. OF course. one
can TO some extent. but not TO any great
degree I'll tell you of an instance that will
prove my statement. W hen the song After
the Ball came out | sang it in New York
ana the applause was so tremendous that
IL really frightened me. The next night
| went To burlesque house and heard
a woman sing H. She had a broad grin
On her face and the chorus girls were nudg-
ing each other and laughing. She was APP
plauded just as loudy4 as | was
There is a class of people al the con-
tinuous houses that called chasers
They are put on during the supper hours
or whenever manager wants new
diepce. | once knew some people that were
put on nine times in one day The manager
didn't like the house. he put them on
and they chased the people out.
Miss Mora Is singing "Cornfelds, The