Gilpin observer., 1915-08-12
the operate stage.

the operate stage.
During my school days. when 1
was twelve years old, did solo
dance with tie Whitney Opera COM
pany in Chicago. Aubrey Boucicault,
Grace Golden, R. E. Graham and
Hugley Dougherty were with TIE COM
pany. if l remember rightly.
Then my father became interest
ed IN mining, and we all moved to
a little mining town in Colorado 1t
was called Black Hawk. There we
built beautiful, big log cabin, about
eight miles from the town, and fin
ished it with redwood inside and fur
nished it comfortably and had some
real Indian rugs on the floors. I
have never lived in a place that L
loved more" size breathed a deep
regretful sigh. and we were in such
wonderful location. too. ten thou
sand feet above sea level, almost at
the foot of James Peak, which is
higher than Pixies Peak, upon whose
crest the snow never melts We were
right in the heart of the Rockies,
with the white peaks all around. and
rarge after range of hills stretching
CIT until tie clouds met them. L
used to love to climb so that l could
get view of Clear Creek Canyon
with its tumbling waters winding in
out h. "A
| could see the city of Denver in the
far distance. In winter the SHOWS
We're almost impossible at times.
learned 10 walk on snow shoes there.
We still own tie log cabin and have
caretaker there and some day I
mean to go back and don divided
skirts and ride and climb and ski to
my hearts content. l kept up my
singing and used to practice in the
open. end l often used to sing to
the miners as they sat around smok-
ing their pipes after the days work
had been done. Oh, could talk
about the mountains all day long
1--WE used to go to Denver quite
oN'Nis uiia he"' - sOu p-Soot- W.
will pass on to Canyon City. in Col
oraGo. where l went on several oc-
casions to sing to the convicts at
the Penitentiary. You know they
have a wonderful chief warden at
Canyon City, WHO puts the men on
their honor and gets them to work
on the roads and the men worship
him and he always welcomed my
visits and allowed me to talk to-
some of the men. | loved to sing
to them, and l get into the way of
going up on Sundays, when they
would choose their hymns, and they
always wanted me to sing The Holy
CITY, What a wonderful audience
they made. with their earnest faces.
/ sang to them as 1 never sang be-
fore, or since. and when they all
Joined in the hymn. Nearer. My God
to Thee 1t was the most impressive
sight can recall. No one can make
me believe many Of those men are
really bad; they have made mistakes,
that Is all. Several OF the convicts
made presents fer me. and one OF
them gave me a beautiful bride made
Of hair and mounted with silver. He
used to sell them for from fifty to a
hundred dollars" 4
"'What them" !
81 returned to Chicago and set
tied down for long time to serious
operate work. and again joined the
Whitney Opera company. among 9TH
ers. and l was on the road for a
long time as prima donna, and sang
in a big variety of parts. both in
opera, comic opera. and musical COM
edy. and In between times sang
on the concert platform. But got
terribly tired of the travelling. and
then ! went into motion pictures.
Just love everything connected with
tie work.
Here the call of camera" was
/ feard. and Miss Stedman darted
away to the scene OF action.