The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-08
STORIES THEY TELL OF CARUSO
uNORA CENTRE or UASHINGTON
LIFE FOR 4 WEEK.
case Col. Ollie james a Little Free Concert
a Demonstration In Favor OF Cigar
orcs-Nhy He Doesn't Care TO PatrOn-
tie Cure for Obeslty-PhOnOEraphed.

WASHINGTON, April 7-Col. Ollie James,
me gigantic Representative from Kentucky,
told one on himself in the House cloak room
the otter afternoon.
Last Sunday night, about 8 o'clock, I
was buried in one of those deep leather
otairs in the lobby of the Hotel Willard,
tTiddiing my thumbs and making myself
Aalisve that / was thinking about things"
,ald Col. James, when a man who was
sitting with his back to me in another
leather chair began to annoy me. He
started TO hum. That is to cay, he'd break
into a little low Groom every once in a while.
He'd Groom about three bars of some kind
Of a tune or other-nothing that sounded
familiar to me-and then he'd break of.
He didn't hum or Groom or whatever you'd
call il in any loud or boisterous way, but
lust in his throat, and l was the only man
IL the lobby who heard it, because, as /
say. ! was sitting with the back Of my chair
bang up to the back Of his chair.
Now, ! despise these hummers and
crooners and whistlers in public places.
| ike music-plumb crazy over it-but !
can't abide these murderers of music who
delight to make other folks uncomfortable,
90 that every time this chap with his back
TO me broke into his queer Groom Id tlnd
myself getting nervous.
- wish that co nfounded jaybird d
dry up his head l grow led under my
breath, or something Of similar import
every time the fellow broke into his Groom
ing, ard ! didn't care whether he heard
me growing TO myself or not-fat is, l
hoped he would hear me and shut up.
He didn't hear me-, and so, every Two.
or three minutes, he'd go of into n OF
those snatches Of crooned song.
Finally l made up my mind that I
10 turn around and ask the fellow if he
couldn't go down into the cellar or up on
the roof, or go hire a hall somewhere, with
his blamed personally conducted music,
i twisted around in my leather chair
with The hot little speech I'd prepared on
clapped an eye upon the man with the black
hair, the black upturned mustaohe. the
frock coat with the fared skirts and the
foreignish looking silk hat, 1t was all of.
l cult, funked, crawfished. Was never so
thoroughly routed in my life, and hope IN
never feel go foolish a again.
The man was Caruso, top notoher OF
all the worlds tenors. I'd busted a new
pair of gloves and sprained my. voice, only
the night before, applauding his perform
ance in '~Pagliaoci.'. And here he'd been
giving me a little private concert In a hotel
JDODNt dlIh 1 u BOb H. CSLA I'll "CthSo NP
into a foam over 1t because I'd imagined
him to be just a common or garden variety
Of crooner.
I'm glad ] didn't start to make that
little speech Of remonstance before twisting
around in my chair to take a look at the
man. I'd have felt cheap for the balance
Of my life if I'd called Caruso down for
singing 10 himself-l sure ~ould've
Washington Frustrated itself in idolatry
before the great Italian tenor during the
recent visitation Of the grand opera COM
pany, and the increasingly chubby Caruso
Of the golden voice had a lot of fun during
his stay here.
He was dined one night at one of the
European embassies. When the coffee
appeared Caruso produced a long, slender
amber cigarette holder, fitted a five inch
Turkish cigarette into it, and began to
pmoke with keen enjoyment, inhaling every
Whit With obvious pleasure. All hands,
including some of the ladies, took cigarettes,
except one Of the attaches. This attache
Knocked off cigarettes on New Years Day,
in conformity with a promise he had made
10 himself. Since that date, and up to the
night of the dinner to Caruso. he had been
perfectly and hopelessly miserable; but he
mad STUCK IL OUT DtCd Use VI lie HuuNtllH
formed idea that cigarettes were harmful
to the human system.
When. however, at the dinner he OBJ
served the thrush throdted tenor begin to
null the smoke from one of the longest kind
Of cigarettes manufactured into his dla"
Shragm the attaChe ga2ed at the singer
With a light Of wistful hope in his eyes.
~Signor," he finally aid to Caruso in his
own language, SIS that a real cigarette you
are smoking, or ONE kind Of a harmless
imitation-a cubeb, say-that you smoke
for the benefit of your v%oice?""
For reply CaruSo Smlllngly passed the
long cigarette before the attaches face.
The smoke hat trickled into the longing
attaches nostrlls was Enthusiastically heavy
Turkish.
And how many of them do you smoke a
day." inquired the self denying attaoh6,
oh fifteen, twenty, sometimes thirty a
day replied Caruso. .
And you inhale all the smoke1'
Caruso drew into his lungs and then ex-
hailed a tremendous cloud OF smoke, and
nodded smilingly.
Well, that lets me out, " promptly said
the attach4 in Italian, grabbing the cigar
cite case of his neighbor at the table. If
Caruso can smoke cigarettes, perhaps
I'm not going to- and he made'a record of
fourteen cigarettes, one lit from the end OF
the other.
Which invites the comment that Caruso
IL really a standing sorrow and stumbling
block to the anti-cigarette folks. He was
rarely seen here, on the street or lounging
about his hotel, without his long amber
cigarette holder and the equally long cigar
cite in it alight, and he pulled the smoke
into the mechanism of his priceless voice
with a wanton disregard of the theories
(. the ag'in-cigarett people that caused
them TO sigh deeply.
4 fussy middle aged woman who main
tains here an establishment for the reduction
OF the obesity of fashionable persons naively
called upon Caruso one afternoon with
the view to getting his name down on he
list by giving him absent treatment, oil
soma such thing, while he continued his
tour. Now, New York doesn't have tc
be told that Caruso isn't fat. He's JUS
a bit chubby, and as yet his tendency
10 take on flesh isn't bothering him a little
bit. He isn't even sensitive over the fact
that hO is developing something %perilously
like a double chin, Caruso isn't sensitive
over anything. for the matter OF that, a,
he clearly shows when he draws the ridicul
Gus C~aricatures of himself, some of which
became the treasures of Il limited humble
q. sketch books here.
.C6rlso received the woman who cures
the iat-Getting habit, and she stated he
uGFrns e. Es., nftar N Iona fnRAn-n-l