The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-10-09
CdruSO'S Childhood

mat the childhood Of opera singer
IS as full Of escapades and FRANKS a
That of ordinary mortals appears in tn,
story OF the early youth of Enric,
tarnso In an interview quoted in tht
New York Evening Sun from the At
ianta journal the famous tenor relate.
The troubles into which his voice drew
nm as youngster on the streets Of
Naples. Says he:
! My voice has made me famous in
| these latter days. but it got me into
serapes and difficulties enough when /
was ten year-old ragazzo at Naples
All Neapolitans are musical. Every.
3, BODY sings from morning to night. Con
sequentIy my parents paid little attcn-
. ton to my childish outbursts, except
occasionally, when the treble became
too high and piercing, papa would sud,
denly jump from his chair and beseech
me IN the name of st. January and the
biest Madonna to cease and give him
moment of tranquil silence
But about this same time my teachers
at the little parish school around the
corner began to realize that my voice
was not Ike that of the other children.
Childish and innocent as I was, they
immediately began to exploit and make
capital of me unknown to nv parents.
fat old priest whose avaricious
physi0gnomy shall never forget used
to take me away from my lessons and
trot me around to one after another of
the 800 odd churches in Naples, where
L obediently sang whatever they de-
manded Sometime too, we went to
concert halls, After each Of these ex-
eursions the priest would give me candy
and apples, promising some sweetmeats
the next day ON condition that l said
nothing at home
Months later 1 learned that this sing
1nsE; for which I thought a handful of
sugar plums was splendid pay, was net
ting my teachers considerable sums of
money, not one soldo of which ever
found its way into my pocket.
Then, one day, there came to visit
us friend; perhaps a distant relative
of the family. I do not know. Only I
remember she had a figure like an
omnibus and a face like a grenader.
| dldn t love her much.
However. the first evening she ar
rived, it seems, ] was out III the back
ard y,n1ar CT
split my lungs. As the first notes flew
upward to where she sat with the papa
and the mama, she threw up her hands
In ecstasy and cried:
''the vocet che bella voce. T, un
angelo chi cantaif
CANCEL, Baht' retorted nv matter
of-fact father, "it is only that little
demon of an Enrico who gives our
tortured ears no peace by day or
night
But the woman insisted that she had
found a treasure aud that my serious
education and the cultivation of my
voice must be undertaken at once. Ny
parents agreed that she might do as she
liked, 50 one fine morning off | marched
with my new benefactress.
I still lived at home, but went to her
house every day to be given lessons in
reading, writing, and. above all, in the
true Italian language. Up until that
time | had been accustomed to speak
the Neapolitan dialect. the patois. T.
was a strongheaded youngster, and II
still spoke it when I chose. whether the
old grenadler liked it or not. She fused
day after day until she lost patience,
and finally she slapped my face. I ran
home crying, and never went to see her
again. So back to the parish school
was sent. Ny experience with the
woman had made me lazy and averse to
study
Nor was Enrico's voice the only
quality to lead him out Of the beaten
path. The rod of the elder Caruso was
necessary and the singer evi-
IDENTIFY has not forgotten It's effect. We
read:
1t was IN the springtime. la bella
primavera, so instead of going to school
made friends with the urchins of the
streets, and played truant-hookev
you call it-for one solid month All
this time my parents thought / was al
my books. but one day a gossiping
neighbor told them the truth, and next
day when | set out as usual. MY father
was spying. half a block behind. though
little suspected it.
You know that great. wrought-iron
grille in front of the central railway !
station at Naples? Well. the idea struck /
NIX + bu would h. 49, 49,,