The Sunday Oregonian., May 31, 1908, Magazine Section, Image 54

THE frn.VY OREGOXIATV. PORTLAND, 31 AY
1908.
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Mrs. Alma A.
Rogers
Tells of Joyous
Gatherings
Unknown on
American Soil
Praise for.
Francis Richter
From a
Former Com
panion of the Great
Liszt
2TZ3 CJtOVr&?Z TVTTZT
BY ALMA A. ROGERS.
EASTEIl in Vienna Is celebrated with
all the pomp and circumstance that
mark a religious festival In this
moat Catholic country. For a week or
more previous to Easter Sunday there
are various holy days, and on Saturday
the religious service In the churches
climaxes with a procession of gorgeously
arrayed priests carrying the many silken
tanners of their respective institutions.
At 3 o'clock In the afternoon of this
Ia,y I stood In the courtyard of the Hof
t'pclla, waiting with another American
woman for our chanco of admission Into
the royal chapel. We had been permitted
by the Imperial L.ife Guards those mag
V niflcent beings b!x feet tall with the high
helmets crowned with horse hair crests
to pass from the great outer court, where
-k Maria Theresa's apartments front. Into
t
much bog
1 jus we must
I lie could no
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woman
the Smaller court.
Here we found several hundred people
waiting, who like ourselves had been
separated from the great crowd outside
and allowed to pass the barrier. Just
what principle of elimination the officials
followed we could not make out, for
there were all kinds and conditions- of
women and men in the waiting company.
Once when they .pushed too far forward
much bogilt officer rushed in and told
keep back out of sight, for
not let the mob in! Perhaps
looked harmless and non-anar-
I am sure the old peasant
devoutly telling the beads next
me did.
Shortly after this order another officer
ramo forward and permitted the com
pany to pass two by two up the steps
and Into the vestibule of the Chapel,
where was a line of officers. Here an
other halt was made, perhaps to stop a
growing tendency . to rush. One woman
who tried It got a severe reprimand
from the bead officer, though he did not
Keiid her back to the rear of the line
where she started. We observed the
Fame woman later still pushing Into the
front ranks with a wild look in her eye
as if she would not lose tl view even
of one priestly shaven crown, though
bring a Viennese, she had doubtless wit
nessed the ceremony many times.
At last we were allowed to make a
slow and dignified entrance beyond the
portals. nd Were fortunate enough to
get seats next the aisle. The royal
vhapel is very mail, with seating capa
city for certainly not over two hundred,
though many more than this number
were, allowed to nter and stand. The
walls are hung In scarlet silk tapestries,
decorated with gold. The altar Is quite
simple In flowers and candles. In fact
there is much less In this chapel of the
tawdry effort which the excessive gild
..ing and manv Images, of ten times posi
tively grotesque. In the other churches,
create on a mhfd not accustomed to
Catholic forms.
Promptly at 4 o'clock the music began,
the pipe orsan being supplemented by
an orchestra and boy choir. It was of
th nature of a mass, with responses by
the priests, and much incense, the sun
showering find gold over all through the
purple stained windows. The procession
was the chief feature of the service, and
the Cardinal the chief feature of the
procession, lie was preredod by a body
of priests, those invested in gorgeous
robes nd each with a shaven crown,
while the neophytes wwe black, gowns
and were without the murk.
..The Cardinal walked last under a glit
' tertng canopy supported at the Xwur cor
ners by priests. His robe was so re
splendent in gold embroideries that he
seemed literally clothed In gold, and in
his hand he bore the golden host. He
was a very old man with snow white
hair and a face like- fine parchment. In
addition to being a cardinal he came as
the papa) nuncio, the special representa
tive of the Pope. For the Kmperor
rranx Joseph is not only Imperator Aus
Iriae. but apostolic emperor as well, and
his realm i recognized as the chief
stronghold of the Catholic faith next to
Home. When the priests mere expelled
from France the came In great num
bers here. One of the odd sights at first
as the spectacle of barefooted friars
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on the street, some wearing the brown
robe of the Franciscans which recalled
memories of the good St. Francis of As
sist and the long right he had with the
Pope for the privilege of assuming the
vow of poverty.
When we left the , royal chapel we
passed through some more courts and
came out by the Hof Kirche, which is
a very large church, though not espe
cially beautiful, except by the sculpture
of Canova. Here a great. concourse was
assembled, going through the same cere
monies. Across the platz we entered
another church, only to meet a similar
crush, with thousands assembling In the
street for a view of the procession. We
waited with the crowd and found it was
quite the same as that, we had seen at
the royal chapel, except not on so gor
geous a scale, and with a priest under
the canopy instead of the papal nuncio.
With difficulty, for the streets were
so packed as to be almost impr.ssable,
we made our way to St. Stephan's In
the heart of the city. This is the church
of all churches most dear to the heart
of the Viennese. Its tower is a landmark,
and the building Is historic, dating back
to the 12th century. When the Turks
made the second siege against Vienna
In the lfith century some of their cannon
balls lodged in the steeple. I have seen
them, after a tortuous climb up the dark,
worn, stone stairways that lead to the
top of the tower.
There is a story that when Vienna
fell into the hands of Napoleon he rode
his warhorse up St.Nstephan's tower. To
lind out the truth of this all you need
do is to climb the stairs yourself. I
think nine people out of ten would then
be ready to deellre it a myth. But If
he really did get up his horse must have
had wings like the archangles. and come
down in a parachute. Or maybe Na
poleon uttered the magic word and he
became a small gray' mouse.' in the
course of two or Ujree hundred years
it won't matter which of these versions
Is preferred.
Before St. Stephan's another procession
was getting ready, with purple
and gold banners, but the throng
as so great that either access
to the' church or a view of the
procession was impossible, and we were
so tired that we hailed the first omnibus
homeward. When we got in sight of
the.Votlf Kirche, loveliest to me of all
the churches of Wien because of its per
fect gothic lines, behold another con
course, a veritable multitude, and the
streaming silken banners of Another pro
cession. By this time it was 6 o'clock,
and we concluded that the hours of serv
ice must have been set later In each
church to make a continuous festival.
, The Votif Kirche is quite simple in
side, which 1s a relief, and the color
scheme is modem and tasteful. It owes
Us erection to a very interesting Inci
dent. Shortly after the-present Emperor
ascended the - throne an attempt to as
sassinate' him was made on this spot.
The dagger of the assassin was -warded
off by' a butcher. In commemoration
of his preservation the, Emperor erected
the Votif Kirche.
On Sunday we went to the Karl's
Kirche to hear a Beethoven mass.
Everything we had heard heretofore was
either from Haydn or Mozart, and their
works are so much alike that I for one
can rarely tell them apart. But when
the first big, Solemn chorus of Beethoven
rolled out the veriest neophyte would
have known it was something different.
The books say that Haydn and Beetho
ven differed In theory. Evidently! The
more one hears of Beethoven the bigger
he gets and the more the others dwarf
by comparison. One clever young per
son of my acquaintance, whose wit not
Infrequently supplies Items for these let
ters declares that Mozart and Haydn
are hooch and Beethoven, only, the real
coffee. Hooch. It must be explained, is
the name of a breakfast beverage com
posed of three-fourths hot " water with
a spoonful of milk and enough coffee to
color.-
The only Interesting thing about the
Karl's Kirche is Us two . sculptured
towers, which date back to the medieval
period, and have carved upon them in
winding lines wars and kingly proces
sions and what not. Inside It is very
commonplace, with imitation -marble pil
lars. It seems to be the favorite haunt
f beggars. I have spoken before of the
old woman with the great nose who al
ways sat here during the Winter. She
was not there on Easter Sunday let us
hope she has been translated but no less
than four others, men among them,
were hanging around the steps and door
ways. It would seem as If afl Vienna had been
taking part in the Easter Fest, but there
was still one more holy day, the Mon
day after Easter Sunday. Next day peo
ple got intd working clothes again and
there will be nothing particular to deflect
the wheels of industry until the Corpus
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ular feature of the Easter was lackirur
this year. It has been the custom of
the Emperor to take part in the cere
monies in the Hof by washing the feet
of the 12 oldest men in the city.
The festival which commemorates the
resurrection of Christ reminds me by
violent antithesis of the means used at
one period of the world's history to
make converts to his doctrines, or what
what were pronounced by the church to
be such.! In a basement down In the
Kohlmarkt, which is in the heart of
Vienna, can be seen the various instru
ments of torture employed under the
Inquisition to accomplish the work of
grape In the salvation of sinners a
sinner being one who tried ever so lit
tle to think for himself. I saw these
gruesome things more than two weeks
ago and have not been able to get the
taste out of my mouth., '
For they' are not models, remember,
but the real machines, cumbrous and
rusty and blood-stained, on which
agonized human beings shrieked for
mercy from their pitiless murderers.
Figures representing persons In the
tortures are placed In most of the ma
chines. On the rack, that demoniac in
vention for stretching the sinews and
joints asunder, one of these figures lies
palpitating . in apparently the last
agony, while a cowled priest bends
over hlra with book and pencil to catch
the last faint words of the recantation.
It is horribly realistic. A woman who
wears a metal crown that is slowly
crushing the ?kull is likewise a hideous
and true representative of the age when
Satan was let loose upon the earth. It
is almost enough to make one believe
a real devil, with horns and claws, to
Domini Festival in June. One spectac- 4 see such things. x It causes a blush of
shame to be forced to remember that
we belong to the same humanity:
Well! Let us be thankful that's God's
self - appointed representatives no
longer convert by fire and rack, no,
longer force the feet of tender woman
hood upon iron spikes or thrust the
cruel knives of the virgin Into the
quivering flesh. This last device is one
of the most hideous, consisting of a ma
chine in the form of a woman lined
with long knives and with a door which
opens to admit the victim.
: There are many other tortures, all of
which brought back to mind with pain
ful vividness the price that has been
paid for liberty of conscience since the
world, began. And the whole thing Is
Just because somebody had a different
Idea of God from that held by somebody
else.. Nor has the age of religious in
tolerance by any means passed from
the world, though its expression Is
modified to consort with a higher civili
zation. Scratch the skin even in the
freedom of my own blessed land and
you'll find It, In less drastic form, but
still recognizable as a sprout from the
pd root. Sjd long as there exist people
who believe that they hold all the truth
in the compass of their own beliefs, so
long will religious intolerance disfigure
human life. -
Let me hasten to a more pleasant
topic Franciis Richter's last recitation,
for instance. There were about 35
guests present In orr rooms, some of
them distinguished and all musical.
The programme consisted of these num-
Moonlight. S omit a Beethoven
"At the Brook" Theodore Lakh
"Mu?ic Box" I, lad off
Polonalne in A-fiat Chopin
Improvisation In the hymn "America,"
1 Francis Richter, by request
Concero in K-flat I't
In addition to Mr. Richter's playing,
which was masterly, and which perhaps
more than any'other occasion showed
the great advance he has made In the
past year, were two songs by his friend
Marcel de Bouzon: The Wanderer,
Schubert; and Asra, Rubinstein.
M. de Bouzon is a pupil of Frau
Giampietro, working for grand opera.
He has a big baratone voice of fino
quality and a remarkably vivid and
dramatic temperament that will go far
In itself toward success on the stage.
When he began his study vith Frau
Giampietro his voice was overstrained
from much singing by a bad method,
but In the space of a few months she
restored . the throat muscles and
brought out most beautiful low and
middle tones with a constant gain In
the high ones.
One of the distinguished guests at
Francis Richter's recitals is Herr Pro
fesser Ferdinand Domeier, who not
only knew Liszt In his youth, but says
Mr. Richter plays like him. This is
certainly high praise, coming from a
source so competent as pVofessor Do
meier, who Is himself both a pianist
and composer and has been decorated
by several of the crowned heads of
Europe. But what Is of more conse
quence, in my opinion, is that he also
played for Liszt and seems to bear
about htm some of the traditions of
that master.
Professor Domeier Is a German by
birth, from Hanover, and has traveled
extensively In the Orient, where he
was entertained in the houses of the
pqshas and played before the Sultan.
He also played before the King of
Servia and the courts of Luxembourg
and Hohenzollern. His decorations
may be seen "in the photograph.
Though his hair Is now white, he
still1 plays and composes. At the re
cent Easter fest his Andante Reiigfoso,
a very beautiful composition, was ren
dered by violoncello and organ In one
of the churches here. Among his nu
merous works, most of which are pub
lished in Leipslc and Budapest, - are
Konigfest Polonaise for grand orches
tra and two and four-handed piano;
"Die Schwestern," a composition rep
resenting Germany and Austria, for
men's voices and the piano; "WicKen-
lied,' for violoncello and piano; also
the Mondnacht, a . romance for the
same.
The waltz. "An Evening on the Bos
porus," is one of a number of ' waltz
compositions, all of which are marked
by exceptionally spirited rhythm. Pro
fessor Domlerer's courtly bearing1
fessor Domeier's courtly bearing gives
him an air of distinction in any company.
, Aia and the Goldcu Kulc.
Ex-Secretary of State Richard Olney.
The Western powers have insisted on
equality for all missionaries and others
who may go to China. Yet they claim
the right to bar all Orientals at pleas
ure. This attitude prevails everywhere.
It is illogical, unfair and opposed to in
ternational law and comity. It Is up to
the Western nations to follow the Golden
Rule in their treatment of and attitude
toward Orientals. If they persist, noth
ing but brute force can make their posi
tion respected or respectable. And if
persisted .In the inevitable war will come.
The theory of an Interminable conflict
between the West and the East savors
of pessimism and the doctrinaire. The
inevitable increase in intercourse between
the nations will cause them to be mon
tolerant and they will grow to realize
that there is room enough in the world
for everybody, and that war produces ills
infinitely greater than those designated to
be cured. " '
Blue Laws at Concord, X. H.
New York Sun.
The ' women of Concord, N. are
struggling to have . the word "male""
omitted from the new city charter that
Mayor Charles R. Corning has recently
appointed a committee to draft. It is
asserted that the present charter of Con
cord is one of the most antiquated ift
America. It is a copy of Boston's original
charter and among its provinlons are
minute directions to- the chief of police
assigning him all sorts of puritanical
duties. Witches are warned to refrain
from their sinful practices and tradesmen
against selling rum to Indians. The
women now say that to prohibit them
from voting at this advanced state of the
world is just as antiquated and as Irra
tional as the provisions relating to
witches. '
H.. G. Wells, the Kngllsh litterateur. In
his youth often wrote 8W0 words a day,
while Conan Toyle. It ts said, once wrol
a tory of 12,000 words a sittlns.
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