New-York tribune., 1922-12-31
Bv H. E. KrehbieI

t.fftc 10 ioiitNsi
,o,hing about their sizc' and con-
.,.,ly had no .utsrest in such dis
"a, q, the medieval INDUCED in
,-lse how many Of them could
/ q, the point Of a needle We be-
,A,t they spent large part OF
-. dancing. OF course it was
-, q less fantastical and the
~ 80, IA, % show our friends that
/ -, tJIsg % keep young Of heart
,-,,b Of emotion despite aging Of
-, ". fond pictures Of the merry
81, fox (hsving no belief in the
..-ltv on,s) in the music OF Weber
"a N,ndslssohn and Berlioz Queen
v,h N the "RomeO and Juliet" SYM
,,ry,. and they always looked. in
:, fsney, Ike the creatures which
-, had described and painters pic
80 Bot we confess that our archa-
s.,,,,l mind received a shock when
4, Conan Doyle showed US photo
,,,b, which indicated that the fairies
souersetshire, England, played an
sw. Greek double flutes instead Of
/ ,sy, instruments. Al once we grew
,,u.minded like Bully Bottom and
sr,d for the tongs and bones.
Also, we liked TO believe that
o-,b,us could tune his lyre with such
,,asiug woe that
-alr,r, forge, 70 run, and winds 10 blow.
rsTs listening forests covered as he
=. ,oN musician IN a moving shade:
se Amphion made such music on
\, lute that the stones danced about
n and shaped themselves into the
nils and houses Of ancient Thebes,
r5 Arion go charmed the dolphins with
;, song that they carried him to
f,rsros on their backs when wicked
ulsrs tried 70 kill him by throwing
In into the sea.
b. this was all in a manner Of
c,sking. as the phrase goes. The
rsriss were old and there was no harm
! accepting them as symbolieal Of the
dsrm and power of music. They were
,,,,ry, not physics. II any one should
en Us now that a brickyard had O.
Is own volition sailed down the Hud-
,a and piled itself up in Carnegie
E,Il % hear Paderewski or Hcifetz play
" should not believe It. Concerning
rE,rn miracles We arc bit skep'
tia. which is one Of the reasons why
m put little trust in the stories OF
,rs agents. We are too familiar with
hem, too we'll acquainted with the
sople whom they are paid TO adver-
.ss, and science has played the very
,isehief with what used to be good
oetical material.
Powers Of Patti
Take one of-tho first stories in
,ookful Of stories by William Arm
trong entitled "The Romantic World
4 Music" New York, Z. P. Dutton &
., publishers). Romantic? Well
}. should say sol We think it wal
N Of forty years ago that we first
card Adelina Patti sing "Homc, Sweet
Home and we think she sang it The
ist time we heard her-with the same
i1pression Of voice and countensnee
hs same little aifcctAtion Of emotion
he same little pantomime Of wiping
non-existent tear out Of her eye with
he corner OF her little lace handker-
.hief. But we never knew that her sing
iis o. il had potency enough to over
uue the laws Of gravitation and strain
ina stress, stay the crumbling Of build
ing Material or stifIen presumably steel
beans. Yet, Mr.. Armstrong tells US
sn the authority Of Nine. Patti her
I,li, that once in the middle Of per-
Ismsnes at the opera house in New
)rlsans "the gallery, which was filled
. Sufocation, started to sink. A STAN
,,de would have brought it down and
sused a massacre. Foreseeing this,
ime. Patti instantly began to sing
Home, Sweet Home without accom-
ianiment, for the frightened orches-
"a had stopped playing. Sight Of her
landing there so calm, and sound Of
isr enhancing tones in the dear, IA
nihar measures, not only reassured
Ssi charmed the audience into still
nsm. In describing the scene she ex-
,Ained simply. 1T seemed the only
hing for me 10 do.
Naturally Il was the only thing for
sr 70 do and naturally, too, the only
hing for the overloaded gallery beams
o do when they heard the dear, famil-
ar measures, was TO brace up and
tand the excessive strain, not only
uring the song but the rest Of the
pera. So at Bucharest a man to gel
better view Of her climbed up or
he side Of the stage and fell on
IOman standing in the wings. "some'
ne called Fire.' In an instant the
audience was in q tumult
h is no frel' cried Nine. Patti
tl, as at New Orleans, started e
Ing Home, Sweet Home In that
rightened throng perhaps a handful
the words she sang to them
iihOut accompaniment, but the sheer
sauty Of her voice brought calm and
lsnee before she had ended the first
srse." This is a bit more plausible
n it was only the audience, not the
ailding, which had begun to disin-
crate.