The National tribune., 1908-03-19

home, pass thru the formidable gate
which marks the entrance to the
grounds of the castle. A good many
surprises are tertain to await her as
she is shown thru the plainly and scant-
|ily-furnished rooms.i lighted with kero-
sene lamps and candles, but nothing
will be equal 10 that she will receive
when she is shown sher bathroom: In
this country the, private bath which
every woman 6fiwealth considers an alb
|solute necessity, and which every such
woman has as a matter of course, is tho
very personification of luxury in all its
varied and dainty appointments. Imag-
inc Gladys Vanderbilt being shown u
bare forbidding room fully 80 yards
from her bedroom. containing absolute
ly nothing but an enormous wooden tub,
which can only be reached by a ladder,
the total absence of pipes or faucets
suggesting that the Hungarian idea OF
a bath must be something very strange
and most un-American, to say the least,
When Countess Gladys wishes bath
she will not be able simply to slip on
Ia dainty bathrobe and step into an ad-
joining room, where, in a fine porcelain
lined, silver-decorated tub, delicious
warm, perfumed bath prepared by her
maid awaits her. but she must give her
order for such fully nine hours in ad-
wells for water. which they bring back
in pals on their heads. If the matter
has been properly managed fire has
previously been built in an old stove,
the water is then heated and when hot
carried to the big tub, with sufficient
cold water added to reduce it to the
proper temperature, when our little
Countess is summoned. This is the only
bathroom in the palace. and one can
Il &c
only indulge in the luxury of a bath
once month. The common people OF
Hungary never bathe. Castle Oerme-
zoe is entirely guiltless of sanitary ar
rangements of any kind. There is no
running water anywhere in the ram
bling old building. AS has been re-
marked, the house is lighted by kero-
sene lamps and candles, the only heat
is that furnished by old-fashioned
porcelain stoves, and the big corridors
haven't even that. Could a greater con-
trast between this and Gladys Wander
bilt's magnificent, luxurious Newport
and New York homes be imagined
However, of course, the Vanderbilt mill
lions will soon change all this. 1t Is
said that one end of the castle is to be
put in thorO repair for the occupancy
of the young couple, most of it rebuilt,
and everything made entirely up-to-date
in the way of modern improvements.
The Countess. is also to have a town
house in Budapest, which fact will be
appreciated by her husbands family,
as when they visit the Capital now they
are compelled to put up at hotel. Altho
as a noble family they are entitled to
accommodations in the royal palace at
Budapest, the feeling is so strong be-
tween Hungarian and Hapsburg that
they prefer not to accept such hospi-
tality. The condition of this ancestral
castle of the Szechenyi family opens
our eyes more fully than ever before to
the way most of the nobility of Europe
live. A castle in Hungary The very
idea has been so saturated with ro-
nance that the, Imagination has run
riot with il, and pictured it something
wild and barparic, perhaps, but magni-
ficently gorgeous, splendid and pictur-
esque., To be- told that the ancestral
castle of one of the Oldest and noblest
of Hungary's noble families is a big,
unattractiye, two-storied, ri. poorly-fur-
nished house. without light or heat as
we consider light and heat. and, above
ALL Without q bathroom, considerably
skaters our ideals. 1t makes us feel
sorry for these poQr mobiles and very
well satisfied with our own positions as
plain, democratic Americans. surround
ed as we are BY 1uxuries which we sim
ply regard as necessary comforts, and
by the merable, blessings and ad-
vantages which our free institutions
have brought TO u.s.,
Miss Mary. Garden, one of Hammer
STEMS new stars. an American girl, but
who has spent the greater part of her
artistic life in France, says that the
great difference between an American
audience and a European one is that
the masses in this country know moth
ing about music, but are led by the
critics, who tell them what is good and
what bad. In Europe, she says, it is in
the galleries that the battle is waged
and the fate of an opera decided. The
verdict of the people either makes or
breaks the great works on their first
performance, and 1t is to win their good
opinion that the famous singer, man Or
woman, makes the greatest exertion.
In France, she tells us, perfect voice
is no longer considered the only thing
necessary for a singers success. or even
the principal factor; fine acting is now
even more essential A fine,
large woman with glorious voice may
thrill and astonish an audience for
short time, but her singing alone con-
veys no thought, and unless she can
bring out by her acting the true pur-
pose of the composer she cannot inter-
est French audience. Were it not
for the actors art, Miss Garden thinks,
modern opera coudl not endure.