The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-31
In Which the Story of Grace
Van Studdiford and the
VicissitudesI She Passed
Through Are Related
Her First appearance and
How the News Went Home.

PoH5 over at the old Schlller-n0W the
Dearporn-a young girl came UP to
the city from a hamlet on the banks of
the Wabash in Indiana. Her father
was church deacon in the Indiana
village, and his daughter came up to
Cncago TO study music. She brought
with her, as chief assets, lot of am
p1tlon and an extremely promising
voice, writes H M. H. in yesterdays
Chlcago tribune, concerning the prima
donna whose voice has made such an
impression on St Paul people who
nave heard the Bostonians during the
present enga cement.
This was some time before the In
diana artistic and literary movement
set IN, and the Hoosier with soulful
Iong1ngs was Naturally looked upon
with some degree Of suspicious. But
when Manager Prior heard the girl
sing-her real name was Oracle Quivey
ne engaged her to sing in the chorus
or The Black Hussar" So she wrote
nome that she was getting along fine
~; that she would pay her expenses
while she was studying music-though,
10 De sure, she did not go into details
as to just what her position was
1t may be that Papa Quivey took 1t
for granted that his daughter was
singing in a city church choir, though
certainly his Httle girl never willfulIy
deceived him in that regard. When
Gracle went on the stage she followed
tradition and made a slight change in
her ancestral Scotch name. She left off
the terminal " and, became for artis-
tic purposes. Miss Gracia Quive, which
certainly sounds comic opery
inside OF two weeks she had adj
Vanced in her profession to the front
row. Then two important things hap
pened. The first In point Of time was
a visit paid to the Schiller theater by a
N.9C NAL rfe,A
nome town in. Indiana. AS is GUS
tomary with visitors from the rural
districts, he sal. as far down in front
as was humanity possible. When the
Jaunty chorus came swinging out on
to the stage the gentleman from In
diana gave one look at the front row
and almost had a fit There in ex-
Oracle Quivey whom he had often
taken to sleighing parties and barn
dances in the old home town.
Right after the first act the Hoosier
made his escape and caught a train
for home. He had a piece of news that
was altogether too good to keep. He
knew something that would set the vii
lage gosstps- af1re. Before breakfast
next morning he went over to tell his
next door neighbor, and his wife start
ed out, without stopping to wash the
breakfast Dishes to- spread the glad
tid1ngs.
ST was pp@there to Chicago and
went to one of them opry shows and
seen Deacon Qa1yey,s Grace standing
right out onto the stage with pink
tights on
Pa Quivey Hears of 1t.
Before noon PA" Quivey himself had
heard of it, and horrifieClsand scandal
lied at the thought, he hurried to, Chi
cago on the first train.
Then fate stepped in again. The day
that Pa Quiyey arrived in town the
prlnla donna of the opera company
suddenly made up her imperious mind
that she was going back to New York,
and, without stopping to do more than
draw weeks salary in advance she
jumped on board a train
Manager Prior heard of his stars de-
sertion along in the middle of the aft
ernoon. He was in despair. He called
the company together and canvassed
its members for a possible substitute,
| there being no regular understudy for
the prina DONNA
1t developed that Gracia Ouiye was
the only woman in the cast who was at
all familiar with. the songs and music
of the leading role. &, But she did not
know the words of the spoken dialogue.
Prior was desperate, for he had a good
| advance salet3 feh
''WelI,'' he said, you'll have to go on,
Miss Quive, and do the best you can
with the part I'll put man with a
prompt book on each side Of the stage
/ and you'll have to wing the part so far
! as the words go'1
AS aforesaid, Miss Quive was even
| then an extremely ambitious young
person, and she determined to do her
| best to make a hit in the star role or
! at least to play it, SO we'll that she
| would be kept in the part. She sat
/ down in the stage at once and studied
! straight ahead until time for the even
ing performance, without even stopping
to eat dinner. An hour before the cur
! tain rose her old father found his way
/ back to the stage door and finally got
/ in to see his daughter. He was furious
/ at the humiliation he considered his
daughter has cast upon him and alb
| solutely refused to allow her to go on
| the stage again.
Prior Persuades Him.
But Manager Prior finally succeeded
i in persuading him to let her go on for
i that night only. AS might have been
expected, Miss Quive was badly ratified
when she made bhF appearance. She
/ knew nothing of the lines, in the first
| place; she was jumping straight from
/ the chorus to a star part, and, last of
all, her angry old father, of whom she
was dreadfully afraid, was waiting to
/
Will Davis happened to occupy a
j stage box that night He saw plainly
4 that the new star was having a hard
/ time of it. He heard the prompters
bawling at her from both sides of the
i stage. But he was at the same time
struck with the quality of her voice,
4 and he made a note of her name for fu-
4 ture reference
Next morning early her father took
i her back home to Indiana, and Miss
i Gracia Quive's retirement from the
i stage appeared to be complete.
Six months later a we'll known vocal
4 teacher called on Mr.. Davis to inter
est him in the education and future of
a young woman singer Cracia Quiyey
with the black again in its place
4 was her name. Mr.. Davis remember
ed, and presently he was able to get
| her place TO sing in q church choir
| out at Oak Park. There she sang en-
Sundays all the time she was having
her voice trained during the week
| Perhaps a. year later the Bostonians
! were going to try voices in New York.
4 voices Of promise in their chorus. Miss
/ Quive went down with note of intro
i duction from Mr.. Davis.
i Her Voice Passed.
Out of forty voices heard on one oe-
casion hers was the only one that pass
ed the critical examination, and little
later Miss Quive joined the Bostonians
She made rapid progress in the COM
pany and seemed we'll on the way tc
the top when something else happened
DIR. Van Studdiford, OF ST. Louis, q
young man Of wealth and social posi-
tion, fell in love with the singer and
persuaded her to leave the stage and
become his wife. Then followed a few
years of retirement from professional