The Ocala evening star., 1921-08-17
CARUsO WILL SING FOR
A THOUSAND YEARS


fellow artists as has Caruso's. 1t is
not straining the word to say that he
was loved by the men and women
who sang with him and those with
whom he had business dealings. Envy
is common enough in the world of art,
but nobody apparently was jealous of |
Enrico Caruso. Nobody disputed his /
claim TO first place among living /
singers, and some say that his place |
is first among those living or dead of /
whom we have any record. Admira-
tion for his voice would not alone ex-
plain the regard in which he was gen
orally held He was a very human,
Kind hearted, almost boyish character, |
always ready to help friend, always |
ready to contribute TO charity or |
patriotic organization. He was bub-
bling over with fun, but took his work
most seriously 1t is said that he was
invariably nervous in the extreme be-
fore going on the stage in big role,
but once there Immediately submerg-
ed himself in his part.
Caruso's voice has not been stilled
by death. for by means of phono-
graph records it viii be carried to fu-
ture geenrations The Victor Talking
Machine Company. for whom he sang
exclusively, has some 200 records
made by Caruso. One hundred and
sixty-two of these have already ap-
peared in the catalogues and there re-
main some thirty odd that have not
yet been released A Victor official
said that the master records never
wore out, and could be played for
many years without showing the
slightest deterioration. Other records
can be made from them if it is desir-
able, so that it will be possible to per-
petuate Caruso's voice for a thousand
years if that is desired. The official
said that he considered HandePs
Largo" the greatest of the records
and added: "It will be singing lesson
for generations to come" Caruso
was most painstaking in making his
t records Often after one had been
| made his wonderful ear would detect
some slight defect that the critics had
missed and he would insist upon MAX
ing a new record.
Caruso's first records were made
for the United States in 1902, and
were taken by the Gramophone Com
pany of London, which, at that time,
had working arrangement with the
/ Victor people. The next year he
made an agreement with the Victor
company, receiving lump sum for
each record How large this amount
was is not stated, but it is said the
sum frightened the directors of the
company, who feared it would ruin
them The short term contracts that
| the singer had with the company ex-
pired in 1911, and another firm had
made avertures to Caruso with a
view of superceding the Victor COM
panv. He sent his great friend Scotti
to the Victor concern to find out just
where he stood, and representative
of the company hastened to visit him.
In the course of the talk the matter
of a new contract came up.
81 will give you $4,000 cash just
to sign new contract" said the rep
resentative.
'eWhen will you bring the money ?"
asked Caruso.
|'It's Saturday now," was the re-
ply, "and / cannot get it until Mon
day. I'll have it here Monday noon"
twenty-five thousand dollars just
for new contract" unused Caruso.
stAnd will you let me write my own
contract? No? Well, see this con-
tract"
Caruso pulled over piece of paper
and wrote: "For the rest of his life
Caruso sings only for you"
"That wouldn't be legal contract, !"
said the representative. ''It's inde-
| terminate"
''Then fifty years." said Caruso.
twenty-five would be better" re-
piled the representative.
'sAll right, twenty-five years" re-
piled Caruso. "and never mind bring
ing that $4,000 cheque. Caruso has
confidence in you"
/ Mr.. Child, of the Victor Company,
who has known Caruso intimately for
raarly twenty years, said that it was
typical of him to trust his friends i'm
plicitly, and recalled that when the
first contract was signed Caruso said:
ssYou say this is a good contract !?
tt en- I'll sign it now"
And he signed the contract. virtu-
ally without looking at it Mr.. Child
said that there was never the slightest
friction over any fetaure of the con-
tract.
For the ten years which the con-
tract had run at the time of Caruso's S