davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11

national scope. But this belongs 10
another chapter; suffice it that the
plans of world conquest came TO
naught.
Reports of the engagement OF
Messrs. Gatti and Toscanini came
in January, 1908, but were denied
by both gentlemen, as cable dis
patches told us, and Mr.. Conried
protested ignorance on the subject.
These denials persisted as late as
February 8. Meanwhile, at a meet
ing Of the board Of directors of the
metropolitan Opera and Real E,s-
tate Company on February 7. Otto
ii. Kahn and Edmund L. Baylies,
directors of the Conried company.
made a request that the period of
the lease, which still had three wears
to run, be extended. The lease hav-
ing been framed to be operative only
during the administration of MIR.
Conrled, the directors of the Con
RED company asked that this re-
strlctlon be withdrawn. The obvious
conclusion from the fact that the
matter was discussed for two hours
and then laid over was that there
was division in the Conried COM
pany on the question of the reten-
ton of the president and managing
director. On February 10 it was
reported that Conried would resign
on the following day, that the resig-
nation would be accepted and that
he would be succeeded by Giulio
Gatti-Casazza and Andreas Dippel
as Joint managing directors. The
statement proved to be in accord
with the facts. On February IL the
directors of the Conried company
made official announcement that Mr..
Conrled, on account of the condi-
ton of his health and consequent
inability to continue in charge of
the affairs Of the company. would
retire as president and director not
later than May l. 1908; that the
company, while retaining its corpo
rate entity, would change its title
and be known thereafter as the Met
ropolltan Opera Company; that as
such it had leased the house for five
years beginning June /, 1908, and,
with the approval of the Metropol-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11
Advent of Heinrich
Conried; His Prom
ises and Their Fail
ure; Gatti -Casazza
and DIPPED

With Mr.. DIPPED the opera lovers
of New York were we'll acquainted.
He had been a member of the Met
rcpolitan forces ever since the last
German season. directed for the
owners of the opera house in 1890
81 and had made himself a popu-
lar favorite by his extensive knowl-
edge of operas and his readiness as
we'll as ability to come to the res
cue of threatened performances by
taking any tenor part on mo-
ment's notice. An amusing news
paper caricature Of the day pict-
ured him as sitting in his dressing
room in underwear, an alarm clock
at his ear, the costumes Of score
OF characters hung on pegs within
easy reach, awaiting the summons
of the call boy.
The new arrangement was tenta-
tive and provisional in character. 1t
was to be tried for year and then
a permanent plan was to be adopt
ed. The owners of the opera house
as we'll as the operators were dis
posed to be cautions, bat in their
caution they planted the seeds of
inevitable discard 4 Janus-faced
management of uncertain tenure
could not long endure, and it did not.
as we shall see. The capital stock
of the Conried Metropolitan com
pany amounted to only $4,000
and on this the owners are said to
have received 60 per cent in divi-
dends. Mr.. Conried sold his share
in the assets of the company for
$4,000 and a member of the board
of directors of the reorganized com
pany took over his holdings. The
directors, to secure themselves
against loss by the termination of
their contract with the owners Of
the opera house, had insured the life
of their president. Before the
death of Conried legal complications
grew out of his contracts of sale
and insurance, but they were ad-
justed without scandal after his
death
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11

edge of business methods in general
and cut of all proportion to their So
cia! ambitions and zeal for art. They
had perforce to learn many things,
and some Of them were not to their
liking. Among other things they
learned that a system of farming out
artists with whom they had con-
tracts which brought emolument
only to the Herr Direktor and his
factotum in the matter was in opera
ton. Concert givers who wished to
avail themselves Of the services of
Metropolitan singers learned that
Trey could be more simultaneously
hired through musical agencies than
from the opera company. They also
learned that the artists paid COM
missions on their honoraria to the
director. The cost of production was
steadily growing, but there was no
corresponding growth in receipts
nor obvious reason why perform
ances should cost more than better
representations had cost in the past.
The managers perquisite of an
annual benefit was utilized in man
ner which was lowering the artistic
standard of the house, Mr.. Conried
giving performances of German
operettas and holding out such lures
to the public as the spectacle Of all
the artists in the company dancing
ii the ball scene of Ole Fielder
maus.' The directors benefit which
Conrled thus degraded into a vulgar
sensation was an institution which
had come over from the preceding
administration; but Mr.. Grau re-
fused to make it the basis of a spe-
cious appeal for public support and
frankly admitted that it was a mat
ter OF private agreement between
him and the singers whom he en-
gagged. When the reorganized COM
pany set to work upon internal re-
forms in the season 19OS-O9 thew
turned the affair into an annual
benefit for a pension fund, and such
1t has remained in name ever since,
though how Il pension fund can be
administered by a corporation whose
tenure of existence hangs by so frail
a thread as the annual, triennial or
qulnquennlal renewal of contracts of
lease and service is not easily under
stood. Enough, however, if the en-
ployes of the opera company are in
some manner the beneficiaries Of the
annual performances to which all
the artists contribute their services
without pay and for which the pub
lie pours out u largess of patronage
without thought of charity.
Performances
During Five Years
The vicisstudes Of the various
factors in the polyglot scheme dur
ing the five years Of the Conried
administration are illustrated in the
following tabuiation of performances
during that period:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11
Italian Ideals
And Methods

Enough of this. 1t had been de-
creed before the middle of the fifth
season that Mr.. Conried must go. In
the winter Of 1908, Rawlins L. Cot
tenet, one Of the directors of his
company, was in Europe, and rumor
had it that he was negotiating with
Giulio Gatti-Casazza and Arturo
Toscanini, respectively director and
conductor of the Teatro della Scala
IN Milan, with a view to their en-
gagement in the same capacities at
the New York establishment. When
Mr.. Cottenet returned to New York
in March he denied all knowledge of
TIE negotiations, but by that time
they had been contaminated. Mr..
Conried also gave out denials de-
signed to conceal the purpose of the
company to put the direction of the
opera in the hands of foreigners, a
purpose which, when divulged,
caused a deal Of apprehension on
the part of a large and faithful con-
tingent Of the institutions patrons
who dreaded the introduction here of
Italian methods no less than Italian
ideals. How the directors met these
apprehensions by the association of
Andreas DIPPED with Signor Gatti
will presently appear.
Some of the incidents of ten years
ago, when viewed in rearward per
spective, seem to indicate that it was
not only a desire to be rid of Con-
ried with which the directors were
filled, but also that they were big
with a truly Alexandrine ambition
to conquer the spacious operate
world. The suggestion may have
come from Grau's assumption of the
management of Covent Garden in
the summer of 1898, or it may have
been prompted by the familiarity of
the directors with business enter
prises of vast dimensions and inter
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11
A Review of Periods
Preceding the Sea-
.on of 19O7-'O8 and
Ideals Left by Maui
rice Grau
CHAPTER II
Memoirs of q Decade of Opera
By II. E. Krehbiel

Copyright. 1918, by H. E. Krehbiel
"HE history of opera in New
York, so far as it is directly
concerned with the Metro
politan Opera House prior to the
period whose incidents l purpose to
relate, falls into four eras, defined by
as many changes in management
IN a considerable extent defined also
bv the same number of policies with
reference to the public and to the
lyric drama. These preliminary
reriods were described, their records
set forth and their products dis
cussed in the "Chapters of Opera"
nublished in The Tribune ten years
ago. To an understanding Of the
state of operate affairs in the
American metropolis at the date set
for the beginning of this narrative
a cursory survey of the preceding
quarter of a century may be help
full In 1888 the time seemed ripe
for the amalgamation of the old
Enickerbocker social regime with
newer order of society in New York.
The former element was rooted in
old, if not ancient, traditions of
birthright and culture; the latter
was founded on wealth and the So
cal power which money gives with
out always commanding rights or
privileges. The elements were at
enc in the conviction that box at
the opera was more visible, potent
and necessary sign Of social position
than a seat in the Stock Exchange
or mansion in Fifth Avenue.
The institution which had for
nearly a generation been housed att
the Academy of Music, in Irving
Place, could no longer accommodate
all the representatives of the two
elements in the city's fashionable
circles. A conveyance Of the fac
tons had begun some time before
the doors of the Metropolitan Opera
House were thrown open, in the fall
of 1883, but the union was not sealed
until disastrous rivalry between
the old and new operate institutions
had taught the lesson, which is as
old as opera itself, that no metrop-
oils is large enough to maintain two
fashionable opera houses. The dis
tinction indicated by the word fash
ionable must be kept in mind. If
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11
HENRY ROGERS WINTHROP

SIX performances in the first year
eleven were devoted to "Parsifal, y
whose first production outside the
sacrosanct precincts Of Bayreuth
was the sensation of the season
Throughout the civilized world. Its
attractive power remained without
serious Impairment in the second
year, when it received eight perform
ances. In l905-'06 it had four. in
19O6'07 two and in 19O7-'O8 it was
reiegated to the special list. where
1t has remained ever since by virtue
OF It's potency as a getter of money
f'om the multitude. In like manner
the novelty of 1905-'O6, "Hansel und
Gretel,' had eleven performances
that year and eight in the next, and
was then made to take the place once
occupied IN our theatres by the
Christmas pantomimes. Nearly one
quarter of the German representa-
tions in the lustrum were devoted to
the two sensations of the hour, while
the dramas of THE Ring of the
Nibelung,' which with "Tristan und
Isolde" had been the backbone of
the German repertory, had only
fortythree performances, and "Tris-
tan only nineteen in the five years
Moreover, five representations were
wasted on ode Fledermaus," which
had been injected into the repertory
to enable Conried to put all his sing
ers on show at his benefit, one on
Der Zigeunerbaron" and one on
"Salome" with which Conried had
hoped to duplicate his profitable
"Parsifal' stroke.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11
Performances
During Five Years

The vicissitudes Of the various
factors in the polyglot scheme dur
ing the five years Of the Conried
administration are illustrated in the
following tabuiation of performances
during that period:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11

The significance of these figures
does not appear on their face; other
wise they would indicate little else
in respect Of change Of policy than
a purpose to augment the Italian
list, which Purpose reflected the
wishes of a majority Of the directors
Of the company. The German record
must be Analysed Of the thirty
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11
JAMES SPEYER

Of them in silence because of man
agerial if not public exhaustion.
The administration of Maurice
Grau, begun in company with Henry
t. Abbey and John Schoetfel in 1891.
was concluded by his retirement
from the dictatorship of the Metro
nolitan opera at the end of the sea-
son 1902-'O3. In the last five years
of this period the opera reached its
apogee of brilliancy. His associates
were few intimate friends, none of
them eminent in wealth or social DO
sition. who gave him free hand in
the direction of the enterprise and
made no protestations of purpose to
serve art for arts sake. Mr.. Grau
made the opera financially profitable
and artistically successful, and
turned it over to a company organ
lied by Heinrich Conried, to which
the Metropolitan Opera and Real
Estate Company leased the building
in February, 1908
The new company came into rich
Inheritance and the public into the
righteous hope of continuance of
the institution on the lines which
had brought prosperity to Mr.. Grau
and qualification to the lovers of art.
The public was justified also in an
expectation that the late directors
programme would be extended and
made more perfect; for Mr. Conried
had enlisted in his enterprise men
Of wealth and social position. some
of them part owners of the building,
all of them we'll able to withstand
the allurement of money getting or
to sacrifice it for the sake of social
prestige and the glory which would
attend idealistic strivings. That the
majority of them we're fired by this
lofty ambition is indicated by some
Of the;r acts during the Conried lus-
trum, and these acts it sholl be my
pleasure to laud; but l cannot with
stand the conviction that within that
lustrum, and repeatedly within the
ten years which have elapsed since,
they yielded to the spirit of COM
mercialism which was.the dominant
inspiration Of Conried and also to
the clamors of a reactionary element
am.:lg the boxholders and season
subscribers, with whom the opera in
stead Of a serious artistic institution
was chiefly social diversion and
an occasion for fashionable display.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-08-11
Dissension Among
The Directors

The opera company was, and still
is, close corporation which takes
lie public into its confidence only
when it is necessary to defend or
exploit its own doings or purposes
Nevertheless when Mr. Conried is
sued the prospectus for his fifth sea-
son in the summer of 1908 it was
widely known that his policies and
methods had caused serious dissen-
sions among the directors of the
operating company. 1nasmuch as
these gentlemen had upheld him in
his efforts to introduce "Salome"
into the repe-.ory of the Metropoli-
tan Opera House until the owners Of
the building had exercised the right
of censorship and exclusion which
they had reserved to themselves in
the lease, and had shown no opposi-
ton to other deplorable features of
his administration, it seems fair
conclusion that their dissatisfaction
with Mr.. Conried was due to other
than artistic reasons. The knowl-
edge of business methods in general
business methods Of opera giving
was in reverse ratio to their knowl-
Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-08-29
Fish Famine Is Latest
Threat for the Nation

WASHINGTON. d. c.. Aug. 90
The aircraft has cut down
the supply of nsh In the United States
by three million pounds. Sound
strange? It's a fact! 1t happens this
way:
salt water fish have very little
sense. Fresh water fish are smart.
A salt water fish Will walk into a
net made of cotton string and get his
gills tangled; not so q fresh water
fish. 1t takes a linen net to catch
him.
But the government has comman-
deered the supply of linen for aircraft
purposes, SO there is a lack of linen
for fresh water nets. That's what's
the matter with the fresh fish situa-
ton,
Altogether the fish proposition 10 a
mesa. The food commission has
dipped into II. A special commission
err from this city is now on his way TO
Canada to interview the premier In
the hope that he will ask Canada to
eat less fish. Sixty per cent Of our fish
food comes from Canada.
The Atlantic ocean is full of blue
fish, but there is some kind OF a Juicy
vegetable skum-like food all over the
surface and the blue fish r fed up
on this, SO they have no appetite for
bait. The only answer TO this IL q
tremendous storm which will break
up the skum food and make the fish
hungry.
Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-08-29
Boy Scouts Are Organized;
May Have Two Troops Here

Tho arst regular meeting of the
newly organized Boy Scouts OF thiE
city was held last night in the library
auditorium. Great enthusiasm was
shown among the boys.
One troop Of scouts has been fully
organized and another is being form
ed. The patrols n their leaders in
the first troop were named as follows:
Wolf patrol, N. Henry. leaderi A.
Hass, assistant leader; @. Preacher,
ID. Fran, ]. Palisi. ]. Stocked T. Won
Daggenhausen. T. Hoy.
Raven patrol. H. Frus. leader; y
Ryan, assistant leader c.. Beck, II
Stark, A. Rasmussen, r. Dennis J.
Dennis, d. Boyssen.
Beaver patrol @ Ryan. leader, T
Woodcock, assistant leaderi l. Mel
con, T.. Gottstein. T.. Schmidt O
Turek, W. DeRusha, J.. Golfer.
Eagle patrol. p Davenport, leader;
c. Hughes, assistant leader; A Stern,
Edward Lake. II. Stark. c. Lamp.
At the next meeting which In to be
held at the same place on September
II, tenderfoot examinations will be
given 20 an the scout enrolled. All
interested in the scouts are privi-
legged to attend the meeting.
Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-08-29
Want 500 Women
to Drive Autos
on Other Side

Three hundred women motor driv-
ers for overseas service in France are
wanted by the American Red Cross
within the next six months. The re-
cruiting of these drivers will begin
Immediately. 1t is expected the first
contingent will sail about October 1
for motor messenger service, ambu-
lance service and. to a limited extent
for canton service.
Candidates for this service will be
selected from the American Red
Cross Motor Corps in all cities where
such motor corps now exist. Volun-
teers for this work are sought and the
candidates must meet the require
ments for this overseas duty as set
forth by the War Department-25
years of age, loyal and healthy. The
American Red Cross will pay the
transportations and, IL necessary, the
volunteers will be given an allowance
of $50 francs a month for expenses
when out of Paris, where they will bs
employed, principally, and 500 francs
, a month for expenses when in Paris,
Special qualifications for this serv-
ice are: Certificate of the First Divi-
sion Red Cross Motor Corps Ambu
lance and Truck Driver, or successful
passing of examination in mechanics
| and flrsr aid as specified for Amert-
can Red Gross First Division Motor
Ambula nee and Truck DRIVERS. Won
en- desiring to volunteer fc- this sew
ice are requested to make application
at once TO their local captain of the
American Red Cross Chapter Motor
| Corps, where such corps exist, or tc
the director Of Motor Corps of theil
division. About fifty women will be
sent over to France every month fol
rxlx months. Additional calls for WON
en- Srit ers will likely follow.
Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-08-29

This is not. however, his first ex-
pSStence In Washington. Since 1905
he has spent most of his time there;
first as associate editor OF the Ma
chinists' JSurnal and since 1905 as
a member of>the legislative commit
tee of the American Federation of
Labor.
His record in this work was re-
markable. During ten years he help
ed secure the passage of lis sepa-
rate pieces of legislation favorable
to labor, to defeat six unfavorable
laws and to bring 1t to pass hat not
one unfavorable law was enacted,
When 1t Is remembered that this work
was accomplished in the face Of the
most strenuous activity On the part
of the National Association of Manu-
facturers and OF the railroad compa-
MES, the performance becomes note
worthy.
or course Holder went to Wash
ington with previous experience
which trained him for his Washing
ton successes. In Iowa he was active
in politics, was deputy commissioner
of labor, was the states first factory
inspector, and soon after coming to
Washington he was sent by the United
States bureau OF labor statistics to
Europe to make a thorough study of
compensation, mediation, concfIiation
and arbitration laws In England ana
Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-08-29
State SeHasG Richards In
Hot Reply to Mr.. Grey

TRENTON. Aug. 29-In 1s stateL
ment released for publication today.
State Senator Emerson l.. Richards.
of Atlantic City, and an Edge spokes-
man, declares that Congressman
Gray's senatorial candidacy Is mon
essential" and that the wal board
should suppress him. The statement
is In reply to the sharp personal at
tack Gray made on Richards last
Saturday following the latter's TRADE
against the congressman.
Richards says that Gfay's former
political employer, Stokes. his Repub-
lican congressional colleagues and
other political associates have refused
to come out for him. II the men best
In a position to know refuse to coun-
.tenance his candidacy why should the
average voter be inflicted with Mr..
Gray's candidacy without a program
hat any self respecting Republican
could support and with no motives
that rise higher than revenge. disap-
pointment and egotism. 1t would be a
good thing IL the war board would
suppress Mr.. Gray as a ~non-essen-
tial," says Richards.
Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-08-29
Chaplain Wins Victoria Cross
for Services at the Front

LONDON, Apg. : The Rev. The
dore b. Hardy, a chaplain who has
been at the front since 1916 and who
had already won the medal OF the Dis
|tinguished Service order. has been
awarded the Victoria Cross for his
.heroism under fire.
Though 50 years old he has won
great praise for his feariessness and
his devotion 20 the men Of his bat
talon. Three examples OF his valor
were cited In honoring him.
Hearing firing In No Mans Land.
he followed q patrol for 400 yards be-
,yond the front line and found an off,
Ger dangerously wounded. He re-
manned under fire until he got help.
On another occasion, despite she'll
fire, he went to the spot where a Ger
man shell had exploded, to extricate
two men. He got one out who had
been completely buried; the other was
dead.
In another battle It was believed
that all the British troops had been
withdrawn from q wood. but the
chaplain came out of II, asking for
help to get In a wounded man who
lay within 10 yards OF a pill-box which
had been recaptured by the enemy.
The man vas too weak to stand. but
the chaplain and a sergeant got him
to the British lines.
Less than a year ago he won the
d. 8. o. by bringing in wounded men
after his wrist had been broken and
put in splints. His only son is a cap
tain In active service and his only
daughter a nurse in France. His
Pensioners at Hutton Roof gathered
around the village smithy and hailed
the news of his W o. with cheers.