Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-24
CHANGED HER VIEWS

Mrs Knockem was entertaining her
chummy woman visitor In her fiat the
other afternoon, when there came tho sound
Of few soft piano chords from the Nat
across the hall, followed by German folk
ballad sung in a decidedly sweet feminine
voice. with pianissino accompaniment.
Now we're geing to have itt' broke cut
Mrs. Knockem petulantly. II wish that
hall was about mile and half wide
deed I do: It's that Misunderstanding
trump in the fiat on the other SIDE of the
passage who thinks she's studying for the
concert stage. She begins her yowling
about this time every day. and keeps II up
for hours. 1t wouldn't be so bad if she'd
sing something American, but that silly
Dutch stun! She's always talking about
Schumann, and she says that shes going to
make her appearance'-her appearance, in
deedl-in a suite of Dutch songs she learn
ed while studying at Munich. or Dresden or
some such place-oh. believe II was Leip-
zig-but honestly believe the woman's Just
taking for the sake of making folks believe
she's lingufst, deed I dol III tell you
why The other morning when. she was
howltlg those silly things my bakers boy
came with the bread. He's q nephew of
the baker. and straight from Germany and
he hasn't been in this country more than
two or three months. Well. l tod that
bakers boy to stand in the hall outSfte or
that woman's door. and listen to her yell
ing, and then to tell me the words Of the
song. Would you believe It, that 10y
couldn't understand word she sang. He
just shook his head when / asked him
what she was singing, and muttered some
thing in German No, Of course, he can't
speak English but he can speak German
can't he, and he'd have been able to tell
me what she was singing, or anyway II
she was singing in German.~sif she hadn't,
been taking, wouldn't he2 OF course he
wouid've.
"Of all the ridiculous beings in the world,
that fadey, scrimpy. half-fed looking
woman who thinks she's going on the con-
cert stage and set the world crazy Is the
worst! She had the nerve to tell me the
other day. when she was in here la -la-ing
around for the purpose of making n hit
with my husband-it was one Of those
stormy days when he didn't go down town
till late-that she had studied singing for
seven years in Europe, and that she had
sung for some grand duke or 9th ar and a
whole lot of rubbish of that kind No she
didn't mention the grand duke until I'd
asked her. just to draw her out and let
her look as foolish as she could look If
she'd ever sung before any noted ueople
In fact, she adopted the pose Of not want
Ing to say anything about her career I'm
Europe. and pretended that she got 1t all
out OF her system only in answer to my
questions; but of course she was lust burst
ing with bragginess all the time and could
mt l see the affected thing shooting what
she thought were coy glances out OF
the tail of her eye at my husband while
she was telling about the things sha had
seen and heard In Europe in answer TO the
questions that she purposely all bur put in
my mouth?
She's got little list of Italian songs,
too. or songs that she says are Italian but
I'd be willing to bet that the Italian fruit
man down on the corner could listen to
those alleged italian ditties of hers all day
long and not understand more than a word
here and there She fits the fake words
that she makes up-Pm perfectly sure I
heard her sing the word spaghetti the
other morning. and how could spaghetti
ever get into song?-she fits these fake
words to italian airs from the operas that
we all know, and then expects us all to be-
lieve that she's really singing the italian
words belonging to those airs. Did you
worst OF 1t Is, she succeeds in fooling some
people that way. My husband, for example,
positively scowls at me when I tell him
that the underhand thing Is just cheating.
and then he breaks out with a lot of stun
about folks that belong to the Show Me AS
ISOLATION and takes that top-lofty tone of
his about the meanness Of unworthy sus-
pic!on. and all that sort of humbug. till he
makes me positively angry. He's the cas-
lest man to be deceived In folks l ever
saw In all my born days. The way he be-
lieves In the pretensions of folks almost
sets me crazy sometimes. He's always get
ting off that inbecile remark of his that
he believes everybody he meets Is all right
till he finds out to the contrary, and when
mind of a child he swells UP and says that
he's glad of it-as If having the mind or
a child was anything to. be proud OF, the
poor, foolish creature.
ITO show you how idiotically credulous he
Is. when we were in that yowling woman
fat the other evening and she showed US
lot of pictures of herself In grand opera
costumes do you know that he actually be-
iieved that the woman had really sung IN
grand opera in Europe, when any simple
ton could see at once that she had only
a IND I,ar ~ nSyra n he
taken In them, to fool folks that she met
I'D with when she got back to this side or
the ocean? Why, of course thats wnat
she didi The fun of II fs. she Is just CRAFTY
enough not to claim that she sang the main
parts in the grand operas. The parts she
claims to have sung are all secondary
parts and the photographs of her are IN
the costumes called for by those secondary
that she'd never be able to convince any
sensible person on this side or the water
that she'd sung the big main parts, and so,
on the principle that half loaf Is better
than no bread, she claims only secondary
parts, and had the pictures made that way
In the costumes that she hired for the oc-
casion. oh. but she's the foxy one! call
that downright deep in her.
"And she is always pretending that she
has tickets for all the operas and concerts
and things. and She
Just at this point the Knocken fiat bell
tInkled, and the maid let In a tall, neatly
dressed. rather pale woman. with high
bred face and an abundance OF glossy,
natural blonde hair. The visitor was plain
ly of a somewhat diff1dent and retiring
nature and blushed slightly and was for
withdrawing when she observed that Mrs.
Knockem had a visitor already But Mrs.
Knockem quickly took her in her arms,
embraced her enthusiastically and made
her at home
81 have two tickets for the concert of the
Kneisel Quartet this evening" said the
rnodest-appearing and gracious looking
young woman from across the hall. and
/ should dearly love to have you go with
me, Mrs. Knockem."
''Oh, you perfect cutey, youi' raptur-
ously exclaimed Mrs. Knockem, depositing
d warm kiss on the singing young woman s
cheek. "Of course. I'm perfectly wild to
go, We We're just praising your singing of
that lovely little German piece--sonething
of Schumann's. wasn't it? Ny, what
darling thing 1t must be to have such per-
fecty glorious voice as you have, my dearF
Intangible Taxes" in Texas.
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