South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-08-14

INV Il jim tAAe- Ae--- ne FN-NH
OF Caruso IN all his greatest roles IS
#pIeserved intact FOR the ages "a long
= singers wish 90 study his mar
vel.ous technique and 20 compare his
tonal beauty with that Of other great
teuors yet 20 come. or az long as the
public wishes 10 hear the arias OF
the greatest singer OF his time.
The voice OF the great Mario was
stilled with his death. but the voice
OF CaTuso IS recorded IN about 200
songs. arlas. hymns and duets, IN
metal matrices that are virtually i'm
pertshabls- Millions more OF phono-
graphic records may be added 20 the
several millions already IN existence
without any deterioration IN the
metal discs that first took the impress
ssOa OF the golden voice"
For % years Caruso has been
making records IN this country and
| IN Europe. and his total income from
this source alone since 1906 "a est-
mated by experts at about $1,50o,O0O.
The largest sale OF his records was
IN the last two years and his yearly
fncome from royalties was said 20
DE more than $4,000.
The voice OF Caruso was heard all
6yer town yesterday. many owners Of
records having put them on the ma
chimes. and many having purchased
new records after his death. Deal
ers IN records had many inquiries
about the continuance OF the records.
- About 162 records OK Caruso's al
ready are In the catalogue OF the
81
whom Caruso made records exclus-
lively FOR about IS years, and II was
learned that between 20 and 80 have
not yet been released. These were
made at the recording laboratories
D OF the company IN Camden, ~. J.,
in June and September. 1920.
Caruso's Heirs 90 Get Royalties
The contract under which CarusO
was making records was made in
1911 and was 10 have run until 1895.
Under its terms Caruso was 70 have
a guarantee OF certain amount OF
J royalties each year-it never went
under the guarantee and some years
\ nearly doubled it-and his heirs were
10 receive the same royalties on the
records after his death and jurt as
long as Caruso records were Ia ie.
This royalty was 10 per cent OF the
catalogue or selling price OF each
fecord.
Caruso's first records fo- this coun-
y try were made IN 1902. the year be-
fore he Joined the Metropolitan OPP
era Co. They were taken by the
. Gramaphone Co. in London which al
that time had a working agreement
with the Victor company in this city
c. g. Child, now director OF the re-
cording laboratories OF the Victor
company. met CarusO that year IN
Europe, but IL was not until 1903
that an agreement was made for him
70 make records IN this country foI
Victor dealers.
For these t1rst years he worked on
a cash basis for each record-how
much has not been dlsclosed-but
Mr.. Child said yesterday that when
he reported this arrangement TO his
company some OF the officials told
him that Il would ruin the company.
This Arrangement was continued for
about two years. and then a new
contract was drawn which provided
for royalties IT was the custom TO
run this contract for flve-year per-
1ods until 1911, when Caruso inform
ed the company that he desired tc
make life contract. Twenty-Five
years was the period finally decided
upon.
IN 1911 Caruso had an offer from
another company 10 make records
for a large sum. and he delegated his
intimate friend. Antonio Scott. e
tell the Victor company about this
!. and 10 ask whether it would be pos
sihte 10 make few records for the
second company. A representative
OF the Victor company called upoT
Caruso, who asked what was per
l zrdssable under the contract Th'
kCuestlon OF a new contract came up
onered S25, 900 For New Contract.
II Will give you $4,000 cash JUS
20 sign a new contract" said the
representative.
l when viii you bring the money!
asked Caruso.
Its Saturday now" was the reply
sand I cannot get It until Monday
i'll have Il here Monday noon"
Twenty-Five thousand dollars Jus
LOT a new contract lnAStu A-d4 ucN
"And VIII you let me write my owl
|. contract? No? Well. see this con
tract"
Caruso pulled over a piece OF pa
per and wrote: For the rest OF hi
life Caruso sings only for you"
That wouldn't be a legal con.
tract" said the representative, 'Tt'i
indeterminate."
Then SO years" said Caruso.
twenty-five would be better" re-
piled the representative.
"AIl right. % years" replied Ca.
russo. land never mind bringing tina
\ SIS. 600 check. CarUso has confidence
- IN you"
Mr.. Child. who has known Carus
intimately for nearly 90 years, sal,
that it was typical of him to trus
his friends implicitly. and recalled
that when the first contract wa
signed Caruso said:
you say this is a good contract
Then I'll sign IT now"
| And he signed the contract. virtu
ally without looking at Il. Mr.. Child
said that there was never the slight
est friction over any feature OF tn
contract.
IN a formal statement Mr.. Child
told Of the great work Of Caruso "a
a recorder Of his voice and was loau