Evening star., 1922-01-29

80.
URSULA GREvILLE. "SCOTTISH JE;
FAME BY MEANS OF
her he could by law have compelled
her to return. So she hid in a single
room in a slum lodging house near
Kings Cross. Her choice of this dis
trict is especially interesting. because
it was near here that England's
greatest master OF humor and pathos.
Charles Dickens, spent some Of his
boyhood days, miserable, unkempt.
half-starved, working In backing
factory, a Child slave" And out Of
these sordid slums he rose to world
fame and wealth. Any one who knows
the slum district of Kings Cross will
understand a little what the abrupt
change from her family's luxurious
Scottish mansion to this slum lodging
must have meant to Ursula Greville.
THE street I lived in," she told me.
twas an evil-smelliug, noisome place."
And here this slender girl Of fifteen.
carrying with her jewels of great
price. though their true value was
unknown to her. started her upward
climb. handicapped by the very cir
cumstances that. under other condi-
tions would have made easy her path.
One can imagine her slipping in and
out Of the sordid street. an alien to
all the life around her, fearful, rather
helpless, but sternly faithful to her
self-appointed task. The wonder is
that she was never robbed Of her
valuable pearls. Il needed no little
grit for such a girl to tolerate for
years the unsavory conditions Of life
in such a district. Up to the age Of
fifteen she had been waited on hand
and foot. She had not been taught to
do things for herself. Why should she
have been when there always were
plenty Of servants to do them for her?
Here she had not only to learn how
to become a great singer but also how
to look after herself. how to cook
meals. how to buy. now to mend, how
to clean and how TO make her bed.
Life must have been extraordinarily
hard for her. Not knowing the real
value Of her pearls nor realizing that
the necklace as a whole was worth
very much more than the separated
single stones, she sold them one at a
time as she came 70 the end of her
money.
uERE is her own modest story Of
her early struggles az told to
me. II was really only f1fteen," she
said. when I came to London and
lived in a single room in a slum lodg-
ing house. I had to do that because
I did not have the means to live under
better conditions and carry out my
scheme to become q singer. I knew
successes was going to mean a long
struggle and that should have to
work hard. I meant to do the whole
business thoroughly. Accordingly
took music lessons from different
masters. always choosing the best
available, and I learnt French. Ger
man and italian, and studied music
all the hours of the day. . When
l became hungry and the time came
around for me to pay for my various
lessons used to take pearl from
my string and go out and sell it. I
knew that the pearls were valuable.
but I never had them valued and had
no idea Of their true worth.
II found q very ommodating Jew
and my method was to find out how
much I owed and bow much should
want for my immediate needs and ask
for just that sum in exchange for the
pearl. He paid me without mur-
mur and always seemed to be glad to
see me. But even rope of pearls
cannot last forever and by slow de-
grees it melted away until I was left
with only a dozen. Then one by one
they followed the rest until had only
one left. I still have it. the only
pearl left Of that family heirloom. and
I will never part with it. I am going
to keep it for luck"
It is an interesting fact that Tet-
razsini gave her her first inspiration.
Ursula heard the great singer when
she was a small girl. Fired with the
ambition to be a second Tetrazzini,
she came to London was to scrape
together all the money she could to
buy a ticket for q concert given by
the prima donna. The cost Of that
ticket was a small fortune to the girl,
but it gave her her first real lesson
In the art Of singing.
1t had meant very careful saving
and much sacrifice. But it was worth 1t
all. Ursula had written to Tetrazsini
asking her to inclu le In her program
q little song which she hoped after
ward to practice for herself on the
T4trazsini model. She wrote to the
prima donna that II she would sing
the song ''she would make q little
girl very happy" In the crowded hall
that night there sat an excited girl Of
fifteen, waiting for the magic mo.
ment when the first full notes Of the
song she had asked for would ring out
from that wonderful mistress Of song.
But item followed item.
Encore succeeded encore. And still
she waited for the song that did not