The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-05
NEW YORK TOPICS
.,,Frs AND UNDERCURRENTs OF
THE METROPOLIS.
A STORY OF MAScAGNI.
LIFE sPURRED HIM To WRITE
"CAVALLERIA."

cnIturc Crazy-Why Columbia Uni
wersity Has n Chair of Chinese
,.pguaxe-The TenderIOin's Old
s+stion House Will BE Missed.
u,,hop POtter's Ham Sandwich
1unch-S5, 900 Refused for a Pho
.oqraphic Negative Lederle's
story AprOpos the Coal Strike-An
orphanage Where Abandoned
pabies Are Solicited Maurice
Grau's View of WOman's Fighting
Abilities.
New York, Oct. (SpeciaD.-Pietro
Mascagni, the composer of two other
.v+raordinary musical creations, is to
- in New York within a day or two.
T. he dressed in America as he is fond
If dressing in Italy and Paris, his
clotbes will make as great sensation
here as Paderwski's hair did. The
writer has seen him in both Paris and
pome. CARRIED so eccentrically that his
onnearance attracted attention even in
those cities of unconventional cos
Tunes His mind especially turns to
tawelry. When 1 saw him his many
rings, charms and earrings were very
large and most gorgeous in coloring.
He did not wear a ring in his nose. 1t
may have been an oversight.
"Cavaleria Rusticana" was written
for the purpose of trying for prize
Of 10000 lire offered by the italian gov
eminent Mascagni had worked hard
IN II for weeks He was very poor,
hut his wife recognized his genius and
urged him to drop everything else and
enter the competition. She had conf
dence in his genius.
Finally, the day before the compo-
sitions were to be submitted to the
Judges. he finished his work and went
TO bed early. AT the time when he
went to bed he felt certain of success.
But not so in the morning. He ate his
breakfast gloomily and said that he
was certain of losing. His wife urged
him to make haste and deliver his
manuscript, but he would not make
haste. He felt sure that it was absurd
for him even to offer his composition.
He had decided not to. She continued
to urge him. He became Infatuated
and seized his roll of manuscript, cast
it into the open fire. His wife was nor
rfed For a moment she stood still,
gazing wide-eyed at the roll of music,
about the ends of which the flames
were already beginning to curl. Then
she rushed to the fire and seized 1t.
She put out the incipient f1ames with
her bare hands and ran from the house
with the still smoking roll under her
arm. For a moment he pursued her.
Then he stopped and modify re-enter-
ed the house. She entered the manu-
script in the competition and it carried
off first prize.
Every prominent body in the me-
tropols is going in hard for physical
culture. That is, everybody except
Uncle" Russell Sage. He still firmly
believes that hard work is the best
form of recreation ever invented.
Members of the smart set have in
dulged, from time to time, in desultory
gymnastics but not until this fall has
the vogue universally and relentlessly
obtained. Physical culture professors"
declare that the rush to gymnasiums
after business hours and the calls on
them for private instruction in the
mansions of the rich are beyond al
precedent.
The powerful financier and his ultra
sons are not alone in swinging clubs
and bending bodies into all sorts of
shapes at the ungrammatical COM
mands of hurly and muscular "profes-
sors Wife and sisters, also are enthu-
siastic "crlturists." Their boudoirs are
as studiously Uttered with athletic par
aphernalia as the dens of the masculine
portion of the house. Tea table talk
runs largely to physical culture these
DAYS; busy men spend valuable Office
n IN Wi
sors," and prominent bulls" and
bears" are seen together earnestly dis
cussing the merits of this or that sys-
TEN between lulls in trading.
How long the craze will obtain. de-
ponent knoweth net. but he does know
that the physical culture professors
are making hay fast while the sun
shines. One man has the nerve" to
charge 800 for twenty-four lessons of
half hour each: and he has a score
of pupils who have engaged him for
periods varying from three to six
months and year. He is the most
expensive professor in town. and has
on his list the names of many men
known the country over in commercial
and financial circles. The average
charges of the professors" of whom
there are about 100 in this city, exclu-
five of the athletic trainers in the
NANDS, vary lT0H1 900 TO 4l0 IOT a course
OF two dozen lessons.
Like the majority of these physical
culture gentlemen the most expensive
one has many pupils whom he teaches
by mail and to whose notice he and
MS muscle building methods have
been brought by means of liberal
quantities of printers ink This par
ticular professors" advertising item
amounts, on an average to So, 900 a
month, or nearly S25,000 a year. But
this expenditure is more than over
topped by the several thousand pu-
pills 1t draws from afar to the tune of
!2O head, with 81 extra for the pro
ressor's" book, which is absolutely
necessary to anyone taking up my
system of physical culture" The pro
lessor" has followers in every state in
the Union, in Canada and in Mexico;
IN England, France, Turkey and Rus
siG; in China. India and the Philip
pines; in New Zealand, Australia, and
Borneo; in the Transvaa1 and in the
heart of Africa, in the Congo Free
State.
In sooth, 1t would seem that not
only the Four Hundred, but the rest
Of the world as well, has gone physi-
cal culture crazy.
Just why there should be established
IN Columbia University a department
entirely devoted to the teaching of the
Chinese language is puzzle to most
people. But such a department has
been organized, and Prof. Hirth, who
VIII take this chair, arrived in New
York from Germany, a few days ago.
The secret of the establishment of the
T. III 81 80 u -