The San Francisco call., 1913-07-20

concerned she is waning. I mean
70 say that she is on the point of de-
parture Her engagement at the ma
tive home of light opera is expiring
and after THE Mikado" has gone into
temporary silence she wends her way
east to prepare for another engage
ment elsewhere and that larger success
for which her singing talents easily
fit her. Our musical hearthstone, pro-
vided of old by DOC" Leahy and the
Krelings, and our family of gods of
music will be distinguished by a va
cant chair wherein for the brief pres
ent, Hon now. sits and smiles.
x x
HAVE said that the case of lion
Bergere is peculiar from many
points of view.
For one thing, she has never sung
in stock" nor has she ever appeared
in the merry merry" The nearest
she has ever come to that devoted
band of JOY promoters was when she
sang in the choir Of the First Metho-
dist church in St Louis-which is, you
may insist a far distance from the
ranks of the chorus. But 1t is the
nearest Miss Bergere ever approached
that throng of ensemble singers. She
stepped from the choir out into the
nd
no intermediate intervals of hardship
or struggles to negotiate.
Miss Bergere is singular in comic
opera because with the spirit of a
comedienne and the personality of a
daughter of smiles she is equipped by
nature to sing prima donna roles. Dur
ing her choir days she even seriously
considered the grand opera stage and
might now be a weeping Lucia or a
tragic Violetta or a hysterical San
tuzza, but that an easier road to sue
cess lay closer at hand.
you see." said she, IT had to get
the money. and had to get it quickly,
and the road to grand opera salary
is long and tiresome."
And that's another count in favor Of
my contention that the case of Hon
Bergere is peculiar, for, with gifts
suggesting art with capital A, she
pretends to harbor no illusions con-
cerning the musical stage, but to be
'out for the money"
You will approve the sentiment no
less than the candor of its acknowledge
ment when inform you that Hon Ber-
gere went upon the stage in behalf of
a dear little audience of two-Rita.
aged II. and Monroe, aged 8. That is
TO say, Rita and Monroe are now aged
Il and 9 respectively. but at the time
Of their mothers abandonment of
church music for operate their com
bfned ages were u years
Four years ago, so Hon Bergere in
formed me, David Bauer, a st. Louis
business man, died, and left Hon Bauer
widow When she played in "a
Broken Idol" B. c. Whitney's produc-
tion, she took off weeds in her dress
ing room to exchange them for the
costumery Of a merry musical play.
1t could not have been easy, either.
But women do these things for their
children in real life very frequently.
in spite of IbsenesCue suggestions to
the contrary-and they do not talk
about their heroism, either, nor do they
seem to know that it is. Miss Bergere
told me with simplicity that she had
lost the best husband in the world, Eat
that she had the best two children in
the world, for whom she was grateful
TO be able to work and struggle
Monroe's picture she fished from a
handbag and wanted me TO publish on
this page. She said that she'd rather
see it than her own-but that wouldn' I
be fair to you However, I may tell
you that Monroe is a fine looking chap,
with a great shock of blond hair and
a smile which comes naturally to a son
of Hon Bergere. He has fine, manly
bearing and in the picture he wears q
brave military suit and looks like a
captain or something as he salutes you
from the print. He is at St. Johns
military academy at present. but in a
week will be fastening to a rendezvous
at Valley Stream, Long island where
he is to meet his sweetheart, his
mother.
7 did not see picture OF Rita, but It
was clear that her mother was dis
appointed in her because she, too, did
not resemble her father. It's my per-
sonal opinion that Rita is fortunate in
selecting her mother for resemblances,
but these are questions one is not wise
to discuss with mothers
Among the many wise things that a
certain wise man. whose name I can't
just now recall, has said was this:
For the pride which is proud of its
want Of pride is the most intoIerable
of all"
Similarly the bravery that is con-
scious Of its own heroism is also in
tolerable and the humility of humble
ness is offensive.
Hon Bergere neither knows nor sus-
poets that she has endured sorrow
with a smile and struggles with forti-
tude for the sake of Rita, who is aged
II, and Monroe, who is aged g. There
isn't any Nora in this star Of comic
opera, and I'm afraid she's going to be
terribly angry with me for leaving
the picture or her boy out of the dec
orative scheme of this page. 1t