Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-24
PATTI, DIVINE DIVA,
WORLDS BEST SINGER
Greatest Soprano of all Time; Was
Born With Marvel
GUS Voice.
ssarl X. Kitchen in Now York World

Karl X. Kitchen in Now York World.
Adelina Juana Maria Patti, to give her
full name, has sung her last farewell.
There Is no mistake about it tins time
II Is not unlikely, however, that she is
causing unrest among the angels IN the
celestial choir. If she is able to sing up
there rs she once sang down here not a few
Of them will be pretty peevish. For Patti
was the greatest soprano of all time.
She was cosmopohte IN every sense of
the word. Born In Madrid of Italian and
~icilian parents she WAS reared IN New
York and Philadelphia, and in her later
wears became naturalized Engllshwo-
man Her first husband was a Frcnchman,
her second an Italian, and her third Swcdc
IL was popularity supposed that Patu
was born with marvellous voice.
Nature WAS indeed good to her in tins re-
spcct, bat she studied singing with hcr
parents and other teachers from the age ol
tour At the age of sixteen she WAS known
rs La Petite Jenny Lind Her two sisters
also possessed unusual voices: IN iac''
II her sister Cari0;ta had rot been lafne
she might have riyailcd her on the ol'orauc
stag
PATHS three greatest roles were Lucia
IN the o,,,ra Of the same name, Roslna IN
..Th, Barber of Seville, and Nioletta in
Ia Travlata She WAS gifted comedl-
erne. as well rs q great singer, and Tor that
reason she was unquestionably the greatest
Rosina the world ever heard.
She never sang unless she got her money
IN advance.
There are many amusing anecdotes in
This connection At one time in New York
she hld the curtain IT the old Academy of
Music for nearly an hour because Col.
B neI,, hf- ctty, 4ol
p7Ice Sh, was completely dressed for her
ral, with the exception OF one slipper,
which she positively refused to put on
uattl he $500 was forthcoming.
nike most opera singers, Patti rarely
song Tor charity. She was not money mad
~he SIMPLY believed in being paid for
everything she did and she believed in
safety first by getting every dollar IN
aivaa-e Naturally this gave her the rep
Itation OF being hard, and there are
many stories which reflect on that side Of
her character.
One az them concerned child Of ten who
sInuCglcd herself INFO IN opera house to
zee the great diva TIE child-a girl of the
-trc..t- -s,>creted herself in the flvs far
aboy, the stage, and IN her efforts to hear
the singer fell headlang to the wings.
breaking every bone IN her body When
Patti Joined tho group Of stage hands and
singers around the PROSTATE form and
learned the circumstances, she was at
solutcly unmoved.
Everybody must pay or die to hear
me sing she said without . tremor, and
moved OF 10 her dressing room.
Another time Armand Barili, the son Of
her half-brother, Fttore Barih, who was
living in Philadelphia in rather straitened
circumstances. wrote to her 70 send his
child q Christmas present, adding that
even a faded flower would be appreciated
Il it came from her"
Patti took her relative st his word,
sad at the next Christmas time uny
yer box arrived IN which WAS small
tod violet.
ms same haf-hrother, Ettore BarilI,
he way, used IN be the organlst Of
Johns in Phiiadelphla.
,ttI made her first appearance nj
.alo's Garden in New York on the night
Nov Is, 1850 She was then seven
wears of age. She sang her first. opera
role at the age of sixteen, when she ap-
reared as Lucia In Lucia dl Lammer-
moor" at the old Academy of Music
She was away from America for more
han twenty wears, and when she began
her first American tour n 1881, she
repeated her girlish triumph on the same
stage at the Academy of Music. The
following wear she sang at the newly opened
Metropolitan Opera House, where her
salary was 5000 night, exactly twice
the amount Car1lso receives at the present
time.
She wss the first operate singer IN the
world TO be made . Cheyalier Of the Legion
Of Honor.
PATHS first husband was Henri Mar
ctlis de Caux. an eQuerry to Empress
F4Iqenie. Consequently she had an en-
yia5le position ST the Court OF Napoleon
III Her husband divorced her, but did
not press the charge Of inldelty which he
made against her. He was commended for
his restraint in this respect by the French
courts. but the scandal spread all over the
world and il resulted IN Queen Victoria s
refusal 10 meet her again. However, the
old Queen still enioved her singing and she
invariably attended two or three OF her
concerts, although she refused TO allow
her 70 be present at court.
PATHS second husband was Ernesto
Nicolini. an Italian tenor. He toured the
world with her and WAS the soul OF
devotion. Once, when $hey were en- route
for Australia, there was an epidemic on
the ship and all the milk Of the two or
three COWS on board was restricted for the
exclusive use OF the children. Patti pro
tested at the ruling but OF course was
f,ow-erless to do anything However, after
hrae or four days II was noticed that the
sllDplv OF milk for TIE children was notice
sblv less. 4 watch was placed on the COWS,
and in the middle Of the night Nicolini
was discovered IL the act Of milking one OF
them for his exactlng wife
The third husband Of this remarkable
woman was the Barren Cederstrom He was
swedish nasseuT, and he first met Patti
n = professional way She suffered with 3
stiff knee, and he succeeded IN curing
It. or at least IN improving il
At her second wedding, which was St
tended bv several New Workers who are
still IN evidence around the Metropolitan
(grpera House. she revived the old custom
Of distributing pieces Of her garters among
al theguests.
Immediately following tie wedding
breakfast. which lasted until nearly four
o'clock IN the afternoon, ste excused her
self from her husband rs well as her guests
to take her usual afternoon nap
She was not overly fond Of bathing, and
on oi tie guests ~ TINS function recalls
how size p.rfuned herself with musk until
the uioln establishment rceked with it
She h.I !. habit Of rubbing various sweet
smelling ointnents on her face and lips
and kiss from her lips WAS not forgotten
for q considerable length Of time.