Omaha daily bee., 1911-05-07
MARY AT THE LEOPARD SHOW
Miss Garden Admires Trained Beasts
From Jungle,
ON VAUDEVILLE STAGE AT LAST
There, But Behind the Curtains
Interested I'm Training
of Animals,

Mary Garden loves animals
Therefore Omaha is assured prominent
place in Mary Gardens impressions of her
present concert tour. This isn't entirely
Omaha's fault; II is partly Omaha's good
fortune.
Mary Gardens first impression of Omaha,
you see, was of Omaha's packing houses
She ddn'e visit them; she didn'e even see
them, but she did use them as a topic of
conversation against the trio of newspaper
reporters who invaded her railroad castle
soon after It crossed Omahas drawbridge.
She then expressed both her interest in the
business which so quickly converts living
creatures into merchandise, and her inter,
est in the animals-before their conversion.
But the more vivid impression was also a
more convincing impression of this inter
est in animals It was the prima donnas
visit TO the leopards who have been ap-
pearing this week at the Orpheum.
And the Mary Garden who watched the
performance OF the five beautiful jungle
expatriates was very different from the
Mary Garden who leaned among the cush-
ions of the room of her car and lazily but
graciously answered the queries of the
press representatives-and made CONVERSE
ton. She was both more interested and
more interesting.
Anyway this Mary Garden at the theater
she was a very smart looking person.
gowned I'm blue tailor-made and hated in
lavender ribbon bows, and accompanied by
we'll set up young northumberland
forward in the box and watched with most
evident admiration the tricks of the little
spotted beasts In the cage on the stage
And later. after the act, she went behind
the scenes and talked to the leopards and
Madam Vallecita, their trainer.
First Appearance in Vaudeville.
1t was Mary Gardens first appearance
on vaudeville stage. She Acknowledged
the fact with a smile when querIed. It
was very pretty first appearance and
quite captivated those who witnessed It,
First the visiting opera star wanted to go
up to the stage and look at the leopards
perhaps stroke them A watchful attend
ant warned her back.
THE chinchilla fur madam" he said
They don't like that"
And madam lifted the broad stole of fur
with a light French movement of the
shoulders and obeyed stepped back a
little.
Il wonder" she unused, how long 1t
took to teach those animals to play the
! Last Rose of Summer as they do"
| To wonder was 20 know apparently, for
the prima donna met the leopard tanner
and asked her The leopard trainer flushed
slightly with pleasure and pride in the
others interest and answered Just about
two years"
Two years, Think OF that. 1t must
take a great deal Of patience and courage
The opera queen in her conventional
street gaTb stood smiling across at the
| leOpards mistress, who still wore her steel
link douhlet and hose and nright-hued
cane. The leopard's mistress flushed again
in her pleasure.
You have to keep right at il. don't
you?" the opera queen asked That Is, II
YOU start to have them to do trick you
always make them do It, don't your
A pause made the question impressive
"Oh. yes" the other replied 1t Wouldn't
do at all not to. II once let one off ]
would not be able tY control him next
time"
And the two women, who when they
start out to do anything do H. Immediately
understood each other.
Perhaps this understanding was respOn-
sihle for the eagerness with which Nine
Valleoita later led Mary Garden TO the
cages and introduced her first TO gentle
obedient Tom. and then TO growing, Zero
cous Grace.
Anyway, the Mary Garden who looked 50
intently upon the performance OF the
p lCopards and chatted so eagerly with theiI
trainer was more Of the conquering OBJ
servant artist who has won rank in the
operate armament than was the Mary
Garden who talked lazly to the press rep
resentauVes who interrupted her luncheon
, and offered to write stories about her.