The National tribune., 1909-02-04

father, who was great smoker, and
made up his mind he would let it alone,
and this resolve he has strictly kept.
The King has no particular grace OF
manner, in fact he is rather abrupt,
and, strangely enough, he does not seem
to possess the artistic quality which is
supposed to be so pronounced in all
Italians. But then, the Marquise de
Fontenoy tells us, hardly any member
of the House of Savoy has had 1t. The
King does not care for music, poetry or
art, tho his Queen plays exceptionally
well on the violin. She is, indeed, one
of the best amateur violinists in Eu-
rope, has written and published some
exquisite poems. and paints exceedingly
| well. But in spite CT this the royal pair
have many tastes In common, one of
which is q fondness for all sorts of out
of-doors sports. They enjoy nothing
more than walk in the woods, where,
with the quick eye of the true nature
lover they are constantly discovering
some new wild-fiower, fern, or other
beauty hidden from the careless, unap-
preciative eye. Both are passionately
fond of flowers and little children.
No one person can certainly envy I'M
presrio Hammerstein, manager Of the
City, his job. To say that he has his
hands full with his men and women
STARS" is to express 1t indeed mildly.
Oscar has a perfect circus every day
and all the time This one makes q
terrible row if the part she considers
particularly hers is given another sing
er, and that one refuses to sing one
which she thinks too Insignificant for
a prima donna of her reputation. tho
she may be paid just the same as for q
leading role On recent occasion,
when Mr.. Hammerstein found that the
part which he had assigned to we'll
known Italian singer was too heavy for
his voice, he put another man In his
place, thereupon the superseded and
wounded one stood in the wings Of the
stage blubbering and moaning that his
reputation was ruined. He Gained him
self sufficiently to draw his salary the
following day, however. Oscar says bad
as the women stars are the men are
worse, or frequently sc. Both sexes are
chock full of idiotic superstitions. Te-
trazzini, for instance, will hot go on the
stage for q performance until she has
dropped dagger into the floor three
times. II it sticks each time, we'll and
good; she feels sure then she will have
big success. but IL 1t doesn't. Oscar
is given a bad half hour indeed. Mile.
Trentini, we are told. will not go on un-
til she Is given quarter, which may be
u genuine superstition on Her part, OF
may be simply a shrewd business move
for quarters count up and soon become
dollars. AS a superstition pure and
simple. the quarter idea should be
placed at the head of the list. OF
course our friend Trentini gets her
quarter as Oscar could not afford to run
the risk of her singing badly. Another
singer. this time man, always carries
q rabbits foot when he sings, and nearly
niaNaG II
before an opera can begin Oscar has to
go around among his stars and see that
this cna has his rabbits foot, that one
her qnsrter, etc. He says he could
never stand 1t a day if he did not have
the artistic temperament himself, which
gives him more patience with his peo-
pie. and the faculty Of handling them