davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

All talent. timid or otherwise, knock
ing at the doors Of the Court opera
school in Coburg, will be graciously ac-
corded hearing and an opportunity to
sing before the royalty of Europe.
Singing masters. acknowledged to be
the best the world affords, will pass
Judgment upon the different voices,
and If an applicant shows rare ability
and talent she may become a pupil at
the school Men as well as women
may study at the Court opera school.
but unmistakable talent is an absolute
requirement for admittance.
AS soon as pupil is perfected In the
arious opera roles he Or she may sing
j the duke of Coburg's opera house.
The royal house OF Coburg Is related
70 every crowned head in Europe, and
as Coburg is often called "the play
ground OF kings and queens" pupils
singing at the dukes theater Will have
many opportunities OF being heard and
appreciated by royalty.
The grand duke OF Sake weimar.
who is a devoted patron Of art. has
expressed his willingness to engage the
talent for his court opera from the
school in Coburg. Princess Beatrice,
who is one OF the patronesses. will on
her marriage TO tho infanta Alfonso Of
the house of Bourbon become the sec
ond lady in Spain. The princess is the
close friend and chum of the queen OF
Spain, and owing to these facts the
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

Wounded and insulted. the sensitive
woman fled to her mean lodgings, VOW
ing never to sing another note while
sne lived.
This story shocked the kind hearted
duchess and she readily agreed when
the Baroness Won Horst suggested that
a school for opera be established In
Coburg, Germany. under the patronage
of royalty, where talented girls and
women could be assured OF an inn
partial hearing without any unpleasant
attending circumstances.
Liszt made Saxe-W Weimar, the neigh
boring duchy of Coburg. famous. and
the Dowager Grand Duchess Marie ex-
poets to make the beautiful little town
of Coburg famous as the place which
will attract the musical talent OF the
world.
Many Americans have applied for ad-
mission to the court opera school and
several have been admitted. It Is re-
garded as compliment to the United
States that the premiere master of the
school will be an American, who has
given up his studio in New York city
in order to prepare for his new position
in Germany.
noted impresario in London ex-
pressed himself as follows on the
question of the difficulties of singer
and actresses to obtain recognition
without suffering humiiiating expert
scnces with managers:
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

Nonsense. all nonsense" he said.
do you notice that the same women
who were stars 20 years ago and longer
are still at the top? Why? Because
talent is so rare that when we find it
we must hold on to Ii.
DO you suppose that any mana ger
is so dead to his own interests that he
is going to jeopardize losing some
woman with marvellous voice for the
sake of making insulting proposals to
her? NONSENSE" Another impresario
regards the question in this light:
Expect certain things OF the woman
who aspire to grand opera? Heavens!
No. they are too uglyr'
At last we seem to be getting nearer
the point at issue. Too uglyl And
that means what7 Is this why 1t is so
rarely we find a beautiful woman
among the grand opera singers OF the
world? We must all admit that they
are the exception. With but few In
stances to the contrary, most OF the
women who have attained the pinnacle
of fame on the opera stage may be
long on voice. but they are assuredIy
short on beauty. Take. for instance.
the 10 most celebrated operatfc stars
OF the decade. How many may we call
beautiful? One? Well. possibly two.
The others? Fat, most OF them are:
seldom graceful, and as to beauty of
feature, they are generally totally
lacking. VOLTA. AS ugly as . grand
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30
Szs*<< x oos1s ~ -Rov4z 015e1 Hooyx

rchool will be regarded favorably at
the Castilian court. The incident
which opened the eyes of the Dowager
Grand Duchess Marie and aroused her
indignation is as follows:
An American girl who married an
Englishman while visiting In Coburg
sang before the dowager grand
duchess at one of the court garden
parties. The singer possessed a voice
of wonderful sweetness and range and
the duchess remarked that one gifted
with such q voice should aspire TO
grand opera. !
The husband of the woman with the
wonderful voice fell sick and died. Tho
lingering illness had depleted their
funds and the young widow In seek
ing for means to support herself re-
membered the words OF the duchess and
called on a prominent impresario In
Paris. Friends were with her when
she sang before this critic and he was
both courteous and enthusiastic. When
her circumstances were explained to
him he said: How long can you get
along with wnat you have. allowing
for lessons from so and sof'
Perhaps a year-with economy"
she replied.
Very good. Come to me in a year
with the varied repertoire which you
will have then acquired and I will
make a prima donna of you"
Encouraged and happy. the woman
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

began her studies under the master
recommended by the impresaric. She
practically hid from her friends for a
year, being too sensitive and proud to
let them learn OF the many little
economies she was obliged to practice
in order to complete her studies. Con-
fdent and triumphant, she called on
the manager at the end of the year.
When she sang the mana ger rubbed
his hands in surprise and enthusiasm
You are wonderful. Superb
Inc great strain of a years pinch
ing TO make ends meet was over and
tears of relief and thankfulness came
TO the woman's eyes.
Would he please give hs an en-
gagement immediately?
Certainment! But would she honor
him with her presence at little din
ner that evening? There would be
more time to talk then--he was really
very busy Just now.
At the dinner he expressed his will
inEness to engage her immediately.
but OF course she understood how
many women were really running after
him for just such an engagement
talent was very plentiful indeed. Of
course he would prefer her, and there
with he gently named the terms upon
which he was willing to sign with her
for five years and to take upon hin-
self all the risk OF her falling to please
capricious public.
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

tire-whole families and distracted
parts of families. All of them had the
same idea-to get away from the burn
ing city Then there came that great
exodus by San Bruno road and other
arteries leading southwark. They went
out toward the hills. 1t was as If the
hills were calling TO them in their
time of need; the hills waiting there
with their arms folded on their barren,
brown breasts.
During those first days many of the
people went as far as the hills. Many
others stopped by the way given shell
ter by friends or streugers. And many
others focked back toward the un-
burned parts OF the city.
The great fire certainly made mighty
changes in the lives of these people.
Not only did it DESTROY their homes
but it burned the works and threw
the men for the time out Of employ
ment. And it made all the air hot and
sitting where these things had been.
Any wGy yon turned during those
coming weeks, cruel little cinders
jumped into your eyes. And il made
one ache all over TO see the puzzled
bewilderment that it brought into the
faces of the very young and the very
old. But every bit OF good and
strength that was in us came to the
how much there was, especially among
the women.
Weeks and months of this: days of
whole families living in one room with
no thought of the quality of the food
and not too much of the quantity; !;
days when the mother washed daily
with only few inches OF water in the
bottom of an old barrel. washed for
3 months old baby and half dozen
other little ones-and kept them clean,
too; when she cooked under difficulties
and tried her worried best to keep
Jamie and Willie and Nellie from be-
coming absolutely wild through always
being on the street. oh, those were
active days for the mothers.
Then came days more hopeful; when
the father came home with glad news
of work in the cleaning up of the de-
bris; when he brought hope that the
works would open, next week, maybe.
And then the old Job eamei back with
the comfortable little envelope each
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

much as $4,000 And from tiny, blue
cottages to substantially made six room
houses, every one of them speaks the
word home-not rooms-but home
s Plenty OF fresh air and plenty Of
room in which to grow-an this the
hills gave to the people. The lonely
brown hills had unfolded their arms
and their waiting was over. The great
fire helped to solve a great problem
All of them seem to be glad that
they came. A man or two. perhaps.
who still cherished distaste for the
longer car ride and can't see any com-
pensating advantages in fresh air and
a place of his own, may be found
But only one such tale came to light
My husband gets cross sometimes
at the long ride" said little woman
whose children were playing In the
sand. He is tired. of course. when he
finishes work, and il is hard for him.
But I like IL best. For the children
/ like it. There are no cars here to
bother them. I didn't use to let them
out of my sight for a minute in the
day. always worrying because OF the
cars and teams. That was down on
Filbert street After the fire they
raised the rent everywhere and that
drove us out We've paid for the
place now; and we never owned our
home before"
The children came from the sand pile
and posed behind the century plant.
They were dirty but il was a dirt
that was not on Filbert street and
there was tan on their faces.
Down by the corner a woman was
spading garden All the yard about
her cottage-composed of two refugee
shacks shingled over-was In vege-
tables
'aThe summer after the fire I came
out and bought this lot for $780,"
said she. "A week later they offered
me 800 for my bargain. But I didn't
take it, raised three sacks OF pota-
toes the first year. Why, the rent
downtown would have ruined us. And
look at the view we get. These hills.
they are always different. Look at
them now Flowers coming out all
over. You couldn't hire me to go
back. My husband is always pottering
round with me when he gets his day
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30
As 721E lz7zzcs zaoaEo sEToeas Z1E 7Eo1zE cAN1zo

willing to work Scattered all over the
hills, these homes are spreading out
every way on these hills. which, be-
fore the. fire, were absolutely bare.
You will see great changes on
them; new streets, creeping up and
along their sides, and along them
homes in infinite variety.
Here is tiny structure, modest
among its neighbors, part of 1t made
from wood got from goods boxes.
part from carefully Strengthened out
oil tins.
Next door to this, neat little ref
ugee cottage, repainted glorious blue,
with a neat little yard-in the yard
various neat little children.
Across the street the cottage OF an
expressman. lie has a stable for his
one horse; the place is alive with
chickens. geese. a COW and a brood
Of youngsters, not so neat as some of
the others-but very much alive
\ little woman with smooth, silvery
hair lives in a tiny house with her big
butcher son. The house is so tiny
and the butcher son is so big that
yoit wonder how they fit each other
And round the house she has a gar
den, a garden that makes up for the
diminutive size of the house it in
closes. 1t has a rock fence, with heaps
OF rocks here and there. and among
them little winding paths Just wide
enough for one. There are mignonette
and pansies and bright red geraniums,
stately, swaying hollyhoeks and low.
sprawling green creepers; and none OF
them are tied up and made to behave.
1t is a wonderful garden. and the little
old lady who made it lived before the
fire on Natoma street in a couple of
back rooms with no garden but two
shallow wooden boxes on rear porch.
Here one man has taken three ref
dgee cottages, combining them in
what. when he finishes his external
adornment can claim the right to be
called a bungalow.
Most of these places have been built
by their owners And not all the
owners are full fiedged carpenters SO.
some of the attempts at fancy archi-
lecture are fearful and wonderful to
behold. Here and there among them
are solidly built houses costing as
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

Saturday night. It had beer good to
endure the hardship to find out what
people and these things were worth.
And, now that the regular income
had started again, the problem became
TO make new home. Where the old
one had been was not good to look at
brick and dust and tortured iron
not homelike now, certainly. And the
conditions had changed. The family
didn't want home now where rent
would go up by leaps and bounds.
until the worried father and mother
began to think that while the rent
ing was going on, the eating and
drinking and wearing clothes would
have to stop. Nor did they want a
little refugee cottage on some one
eises land. What they did want was
something permanent; perhaps a little
place they could buy with the money
left over each Saturday night after
the living had been paid for and the
necessary clothes bought-a little
place where they could have a garden
and hammock swinging on the porch
IAN ideal place for father to smoke
his pipe after supper: where the chill,
dren could get plenty of fresh air and
mother could keep some chickens: not
too far from the works-that could
notA be; and 1t must be near the car
line.
And again these people turned their
eyes TO the south, TO the waiting hips.
Some of them had stayed there since
they first left the burning city; othtrs
remembered the open lands; and still
others, forced to hunt homes. sought
these open lands.
And now. should you take any ore
of the ear lines to the SOUTH and ride
about half an hour. you may see hum
dreds OF these new homes. the homes
of the eity's small wage earners the
people who lived In crowded tene-
ments before the great fire did what
a thousand sociological reformers
could not have done. Each of these
little homes has its yard to itself
Some have vegetable gardens, some
flower gardens; some, no gardens at
all. But each has ground of its own,
which belongs, or will belong, to the
family. That sort OF thing-to own
20 foot lot-makes a man proud and
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

seemed TO look scornfully on their
barren neighbors. asking. "Of what use
are your
And it did seem as though there was
no use for them. Long stretches of
sameness with only enough growth to
bring the color changes from the damp,
bright green of spring to the golden
browns of autumn. they,were peculiarly
fit for the sun to cast capricious, ca
ressing shadows upon them. But only
the sun seemed to notice them.
1t was as if they were lying with
folded arms waiting for something to
come TO them.
And while they waited the poor. the
small wage earners, lived among condi-
tions, ever growing worse. in the sti-
fling heart of the city 10 the north.
These people most of them getting
laborers' wages. had small chance for
homes worthy of the nsmc. To them
the residence district south of Market
and a part of the Mission belonged
AS a rule they rented small apartments,
set SO close together IN narrow side
streets that in places the tenements
seemed like hives. Occasionally one,
more canny than the neighbors, rented
an entire house, subIetting most of the
rooms, thereby reducing the rent and
at the same time gaining the prestige
In the neighborhood that living in a
big house always gives.
They had practically no yards, so
the children played In the streets. And
even on the streets there did not seem
to be room enough for all of them.
Certainly there was not protection
enough. not enough to suit the careful
mothers at least. Many a south Of
Market mother in those days, given one
wish, would have said: "A nice yard.
where the children can play. with room
enough for a little garden besides"
And so they lived in the crowded.
stone paved streets. They were not un-
happy, nor were they disconnected. It
was their district, and these were their
homes. And so, when the fire came
along and took their all-even from
some the proverbial only dress to my
name"-the loss was just as great to
each Of these as though they had had
much all their lives. They fed from
the flames. some OF them in scant at
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30
By Lillian May Troy

"a OTWITHSTANDING the constant
M denials OF managers and i'm
presarios. the stepping stone to
fame OF a talented singer or
actress is often the loss of her self
respect and very often her honor.
ls IS seldom that an opera singer or
an actress who has reached the heights
of fame through her talent and the
interested friendship OF some manager
viii admit the latter, but occasionally
there is an exception
The trials Of struggling womon
fists were brought TO the attention
the Dowager Grand Duchess Marie
Coburg, Germany. This good woman
Immediately consented TO do all in her
power TO further q project by which
obscure talent might be brought for
ward without any OF the humiliating
experiences struggling talent is often
subjected to when endeavoring to con-
ciliate coarse managers and innpresa-
rios. Plans for the Court opera school
at CobrrE, Germany, are now in the
course of completion and the sole man
agemcnt viii be in the hands Of the
royal patronesses. the Dowager Grand
Duchess Marie, the Crown Princess
Marie OF Roumania. Grand Duchess
Cyril OF Russia and Princess Beatrice
OF SAKE -Coburg -Gotha-
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

or and we enjoy fixing up the place.
Two blocks farther on at the end
of the row Of cottages a slender little
woman In black gathered her flock to-
gether TO -have their pictures took"
"Only three here" she said The
other two are IN school. II I'd stayed In
town, you see I'd have had TO put them
in a home. For have to work days
1 help take care of the cathedral. My
husband died a short time ago. He
didn't want 10 come out We'd been
planning to buy. you see, for years.
Always rent. rent, rent We were pay
ing out $50 a month, and had been for
eight years. And then the nre came
and took everything we had We
stayed with friends who weren't
burned out. and was crazy TO get out
OF the town with the dust and the
cinders. But he didn't want 20 risk ft.
Well, we got q fat one day-over on
Oak street, and when ] went 70 move
out-he was at work that day-tney
saw the children and raised the rent
to $40. That made me mad and Just
took the bull by the horns You may
call il off, 1 told them. and came out
here. You see. I had been here the
second day OF the fire and had seen the
country and liked II. So I came out
here and i took this lot Signed up
for 1t myself and paid down what we
were 10 pay Tor the nrSr month EonL
My husband liked IL then. We've paid
ten dollars a month ever since and
have the place all but paid for. Well,
little while ago my husband died
Where would have been then with the
children and the high rent? I had to go
TO work. In the city / couldn't have
left them at home. Here It IS all right
And 1 have this home
You aren't from the board OF health,
are your" The years Of tenement life
had left their scar with the old lady
who asked the question Lord knows,
she said, they bothered me enough
when we lived on Tenth street And
1 was beginning to be afraid they'd
come out here and be making US 90
something. When 1 saw that camera
I thought you might be from the board
of health taking pictures Of the shacks.
and that the next thing I knew I'd
have to tear this down Indeed. I'm
glad I'm away from them and their
sewers and tearing down. And out
here it's clean and sweet Look at the
garden I've got. The first 1 ever had
in my life,s
1t wasn't much OF a garden A few
flowers and some sprouting vegetables.
But 1t was green and the leaves
glistened in the sunshine And the
breeze that blew over it was indeed
"clean and sweet
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30
By Adele F. Bechdolt

- HE big fire did a wonderful thing
for San Francisco's poor. AS a
tenement reformer it performed
a tremendous work, a work
which no number OF kind hearted,
thinking men and women with any
amount of money could have accom-
plished in years OF time. In one brief
districts south OF Market street a
mighty change, a transformation which
VIII have enduring effect upon the
city's sociological conditions. That day
81 drove q great number OF the city's
small wage earners who had lived
without the necessary amount Of space
and fresh air which go TO make men
big OF mind and body out TO the hills
which fringe the southern county line,
and now hundreds OF them have settled
there. buying their land for small
amounts and building their homes, Gil
manner OF houses. some OF them real
creations. others cottages severely
plain, but homes all Of them. where
there is plenty OF sun and plenty Of
fresh air for every one.
Mature had not been kind 70 these
hills lying south OF the city. Rather
st seemed as though she had planned
here q cruel experiment.
TIL not give you any trees TO care
for" she had said to them. nor even
any brush. You shall lie here scant
colored. unlovely; then well wait and
zee what viii become OF you"
And so for years they lay there,
naked and lonely. Across the low VAL
ley 10 the north, where Italian vege-
table gardeners keep busy giving life
20 thousands OF green plants, were
other hills, some OF them with many
trees, others with houses. They
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

opera singer" has become an axiom.
Is 1t possible that the plain woman
with voice has better chance for
advancement than the pretty one? viii
a manager judge cOldly and soundIy OF
her possibilities as a success because
she presents no physical attraction to
HIM, whereas a beautiful and attract
i've woman with an equally splendid
voice is turned away discoura ged be-
cause sac fails to pay the price tie
manager exacts from her. because her
face and figure attract MS desire for
conquest? In seeking for experiences
OF girls and women with impresarios
and managers one seldom hears or
very homely women having had any
unpleasant trials; but talk with the
beautiful women--if they will talk
which Is the exception-and maybe
they will whisper things 10 YOU which
will make you glad that the dear old
duchess and the lovely princesses have
made 1t possible for talent with beauty
as well as talent sans beauty. TO be
heard by the worlds masters without
fearing unpleasant rebuffs and degrad-
ing experiences
An fmpresarfO from an eastern city
when asked II the pretty women werSh
more likely to receive unwelcome at y
tentions than the plain ones answered
coarsely, Well. YOU certainly don't ex-
pect fellow to turn down a sparkling
vintage for cold potato. 90 your
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

There appeared in The Sunday Cali
recently an article describing the man
ner in which the Associated Charities
had helped hundreds of refugee fam
lilies to leave the public parks for
houses of their own on the hillsides
in the southern part of the city. The
present article concerns the hundreds
of other families, mainly of working
men, who, scorning assistance from
anybody have nobly won homes for
themselves on these same once barren
hills.
The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30

. HE big fire did wonderful thing
for San Francisco's poor. AS a
tenement reformer It performed