Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1911-07-20

rough laundry and the rent OF the
piano. We have good steaks and
chops and an American variety OF
fresh vegetables, warmth, light, leis-
ure, freedom, silence-and pocket
money!
The distances are great in Paris:
but We lake cabs only when we are
late for a IS singing lesson, or when
1t Is stormy. One must not catch
ctld-that is another ruin! Our fine
laundry costs us each Is cents PEI
Week-much cheaper than In America.
Our economies go to opera INT thea
ters, cabs, music and books.
And clothes? One must have q
smart evening gown and a fancy tailor
for afternoons, when invited out. That
is all. For the rest, most American
girl students come to Paris to wear
out their old clothes. I have been In
Paris three years and still have some
Of the things / brought with me. 1
e them still. Students are not ex-
pected to dress"
The daily routine Of the songstress
is full. Of pleasant activity. Care Of
her physique is Of capital Importance.
Her
or grow tat.
On rising, the future Patti takes :
tub-unknown object IN the Latin
Quarter. though there is said to be
n In the Boulevard Montparnasse,
but as the girl lives very retired. few
have seer it. Breakfast must be only
a cup of coffee and a roll. Then you
read the society columns OF the Paris
Herald. Mail and American Register
important to a girl whose life on the
edge of high society becomes almost
a business proposition. In the after
noon more singing.
The first concert Is a great scheme:
there are men students who repeat 1t
annually. l confess, the girls employ
1t less.
The only expense Is printing and
mailing the complimentary tickets.
You send them broadcast to the rich
and famous Americans, English,
French, South Americans, Russians.
Germans, Italians and Spanish OF
Paris-with the word "Complimen-
tary" rubber-stamped in big letters.
Such rich folks are unwilling to &C
cept a complimentary" from an un-
known singer; but they think 3aM
must have met them somewhere. and
hate. also, to throw back the offered
seats In your face. Therefore they
mail you a postal order for the price
of each, $2-$4 In all-and lever at
tend your concert.
Once a year the precious voice must
be heard by the real critics. For the
mer1torious, this long-dreaded. long
w~ished-fOr addition believes is a con-
s~ecration. The voice is heard by the
critical Paris public. It is judged not
only by critics, but by gathered i'm
p%resarios. After such a hearing the
girl may be offered an immediate en-
gagement In such a swell opera house
as the Monnaie of Brussels, as I have
known to happen to American girls
nine times in the past ten years.
One reason why our girls pay s.
apiece for half-hour Lessons from the
famous but negligent old trainers who
receive social callers In the class
hour is that they make up for all neg
lect at their additions, great functions,
in which they have the power of draw
ing the elite Of the profession. Less
famous trainers-better, perhaps, for
the voice-cannot get that crowd to-
gether.
Each student sings two pieces, and
into their rendering is put the train
ing of long weeks. The hall is packed.
The hour has come. One by n the
girls pass to the ordeal. And it Is
finished. They have been heard. They
have sung in Paris. Their perform
ances will be noted at length in the
daily as well as the professional pa
pars. The fmpresarios of all the
world will know OF them by magic.
It is to this sort OF thing Paris owes
its vogue as a voice center. Fewer
new operas are brought out in Paris
than in many a German city. Paris
engagements are VIGOROUSLY i'll paid.
The Paris public does not love music.
Some OF the great trainers are Ger
mans, some Italians, some Spanish.
Yet they must teach in Paris. Paris
is the center for the cultivation Of tho
voice; and It sufices.