The Greeley tribune., 1908-09-09
DESCENDENT OF THE GREAT
COMPOSER HERE
A STORY OF MISFORTUNE
Husband of Woman With Illustriou>
Ancestry In County Jail to be
Tried on Charge Of In
sanity.-Mrs. John
Riardian

Their father is in prison waiting
to be tried on charge of insanity
their mother has lost her grip on life
and sits dazed and miserable in the
awful poverty Of the unpainted un-
plastered shack in the fields beyond
Fifth street, but little Mary and
Babe Riardian, lineal descendants OF
Johann Sebastian Bach. hold the
earnest of future good fortune, liter
ally. in their hands.
They are chubby German babies,
fat legged, fat armed. moon faced,
but their lips are tluted and their
eyes are violet and they have quite
tie most wonderful little hands that
babies ever possessed. The fingers
are fully twice as long a. the back
OF the hand and are as tapering as
pencil points. They have voices
already. cool, clear voices. well say,
just fancy sitting in the shade cast
by torn bedding airing on line and
hearing the miserere chanted in heart
rending initiative accents by fat
baby playing with her own toes.
And German songs. too, all about
Himmel and the angels for
the most part (the Bachesque
blood,) and funny little French
songs, for they liked to sing for the
lady, and by and by the poor mother,
scared and broken by almost every
i'll that flesh is heir to, lifted the
fattest and dearest one into her lap
and resting her poor head on the
childs tousled white one sang too
The old river bottoms in their SEN
suous profusion of greenery don't
hear things like that every day Not
by long shot, they don't.
Johann Sebastian Bach. George
Bach. Johann Bach. Bertha Bach
Riardian-that is the pedigree claim
ed by this sandy haired woman OF
the river bottoms, the woman of the
great misfortunes. Her home town,
according to her story was Elber-
feldt. Germany, and her father was
a music teacher. She sang al child,
she sang as a woman, once she re-
ceived 100 marks, she said. for a
single performance and Mberfeldt
was a great town for singing tests. ;
In this country she would h4te made
good, probably. but there competi-
tion is too keen and she secured a
governess' position with wealthy
family, and had charge of two little
girls. With this family she travel
ed all over the continent. in England
and even to the orient visiting
Palestine. At intervals she sang in
public. once. she claims, before
Queen Victoria, Telling her story,
some of the terrors of her present
situation left her, and she became
almost lady as she recalled the
memories of the past.
She was married about ten years
ago in Fremont, Nebraska, to James
Riardian, a man of Irish descent. 1t
was then that her troubles began. and
yet, "he was always good to me" she
said. "He was so kind to me and to
the children; he was never cross; and
now they won't let me see him.
Yes, am daughter of Johann Bach
and to come to this" She then
began talking about her other
troubles. 81 lost my boy year ago.
my little boy she rose from the old
chair and began walking back and
forth, 20 he was shoenste Kind.
She became incoherent and could or
would tell nothing more about her
self but fell to mourning for her
little boy.
The family is in circumstances OF
utter destitution and is being cared
for by Father Tisdel. The fathers
trial takes place the last of this week
or the first of next.