THE SU.NDAr OKEC.ONIAX. TORTLAXD, OCTOBER 1903.
(4 ' , ' Yxi .- JbACK INTO. fiA,WOBKAT' VBSJTA. ji " lV:-!
V " V ' MORE HOraFil THAN M 1 '4 ft
V.I AI.M.V A. r.OGErtS.
PKANVIS KICIITKK lias taken up
t!i routine of stutlfnt life again,
liaving returned to Vienna the 3d
of September. A few daja later Tro
er Itbor. lii teacher in composi
tion, also returned, and lessons were
renewed at once.
Mr. Rieliter Is so desirous of master
ing t!ie idrtu-e of music that he has
started in on two lessons weekly. Ho
Is now in third part counterpoint, a
section that abound in technical prob
lems, the solution of which is necessary
to correct construction of musical com
position. The les-sons with Irofessor
Ijabor are alway a delight to the young
student. It Is the Herr 1'rofessor. it
will b remembered hy those who are
follow inif Mr. Kichtcr's progress, who
taught him the Hraille. Tims the study
In Franie progresses with the study of
music. "The exercises to he solved are
written down in the Braille musical
rotation. - The stmh-nt then works
them out at the p'ano. copl.-s them on
Mj Br.iillo typewriter, and returns the
copy to hiff teacher.
I don't thiok 1 have mrtnltoned the
Kraille typewriter before. It is a small
machine with six piano keys, correspond
ing to the si. dots usful in the Kratlln.
Tty different combinations of these dots
the alphabet and notes are represented.
letters being used for the latter.
typewriter reduces th labor of writing
oulte one-third. To write by hand a dou
ble slate of metal punctureil with tiny
holes in sections of six is required. Heavy
paper is placed between, the slate closed
and the writing accomplished by means
of a sharp pointed tool, the stylus, being
inserted thrunfch the metal holes into the
paper. .A series of raised d'rts results,
which the student in time learns to read
with great rapidity. - At first the work is
very slow and trying, each dot of each
character having to be counted. But as
the pupil gains in his conception of form,
he begins to observe tl angles formed
by the dots as ell as their number, and
when proficient follows the angles almost
entirely. Vancis ltichtcr is well along
in this last stage.
l;i-litrr"s TchcIkt in New Location.
We were quite surprised to find .that
the Uabor family had left the old house in
which they have lived for more than OS
years, every corner of which was fan)iliar
to the Herr 1'rofessor. It is one of the
oldest houses in Wien. I should fancy,
with a narrow court presided over by an
ancient house bosorgerin a woman who
takes care of the halls and opens the door
t night, besides serving the landlord in
the capacity of agent i. The LAbor woh
nung Has at the top of the our long and
narrow circular flights of stairs. Years
ago. when Herr labor's sister's husband,
a sculptor, was living, the old house Is
aid to have been the gathering place ot
artists, musicians and poets. Many me
mentoes f the sculptor s art remain.
The new woiinung is in a modern
house with large, lofty rooms, one of
the largest of which is set apart as the
llr-r Professor's studio. The room is
high enough to p. rmit of the placing
of the fine pipe organ, which waa the
gift of a musical society 15 years ago.
In addition arc two concert pianos,
several bookcases filled with Braille
volumes, sculptures and various rih
hons and otucr mementos of the public
honon accorded to 1'rofessor libor.
who not only holds the gold medal of
the Society of Arts and Sciences, a
must distinguished honor, but has also
been accorded the title of Hoyal Organ
ist to the Court by the Kmpcror Franx
Joieph. A jrroup of a doaen or so tiny
busts uf great musicians is interesting
from their suggcstlvencss of models
which t-he sensitive fingers of the blind
nrtist have -no doubt lovingly studied.
To have his ortan at hand must be a
great Joy to the Herr Professor, and
effort! compensation for the strange
ners inelaent to new surroundings. The
Id roenui were too low to allow the
organ to rn, set up.
We were privileged to hear the organ
rt the' last composition lesson, when
Herr Iabor p'ayed the Bach Faniasie
and Fugue In G minor for his pupil,
whom he wishes to acquaint with or
gan literature. Nobody in Vienna can
play the organ like Herr Ijibor. The
instrument has a splendid tone. It Is
one of Francis Richter's dreams to pos
sess a pfoe crgan of his own. and. since
everything seems to be coming to him
these davs. no doubt the oraran will be
along- when it is needed. It is strange
how nature sometimes withholds the
showers until hope is almost spent, and
then pours them out in torrents.
Krjoicing Over Braille.
Mr. Richter spent his vacation with
his aunt and cousins in Germany and re
ports a fine time, of which he gives
evidence in Improved personal appear
ance. Last year wore off a good many
pounds, but he .has them all back now,
and has returned rejoicing in the work
before him. He now perceives the sig
nificance of the Braille to his life, and
Indeed I do not think a single day since
his return has passed without some ex
pression of his joy In it. 1 w ish every
person who has assisted in giving him
this opportunity could hear him ex
claim, as I many times have: "O, my
lovely Hraille, my lovely Braille." It
Is literally opening a new world to him
to take the place of the one which la
t hut out.
Perhaps here I had better say that
nothing can be done for his sight. His
case has been passed upon by three of
tne chief oculists in Kurope: Pr. Fuchs,
whose position at the head of his spe
cialty in the Vienna Medical clinic has
made him known the world over, as well
as his hooks; l"r. Meller, a younger man.
noted for skillful operations; and third,
Ir. Pgenstecher, of Wiesbaden, who has
performed some remarkable cures. Each
one pronounced the case absolutely hope
less. So now the best thing seems to
be to turn all possible attention to the
Braille, which gives him a 'measure of
independence that nothing else can. I
fumy the most bitter drop in the cup
of tlie unseeing is the dependence on
others which it engenders.
rlting Into Literature.
Wh-n Mr. Illchter left Vienna the
middle of last June, he could scarcely be
said to have passed the painful stage in
the acquirement of the Braille. He car
ried with him a book of contractions in
the Knglish. While every letter In the
alphabet has its own sign, the advanced
reading is condensed by means of the
contraction of words, something after
the phonetic method, and sometimes by
arbitrary signs. That is, instead of
writing out the words in full, they are
reduced as much as possible to save time
and space. A Braille book is a bulky
matter. Thus "ab" stands for about,
"aftn" for afternoon, while merely a cer
tain sign represents "and." There are
something less than 3X1 of these con
tractions to be memorized before the ad
vanced books can be read. Francis
Richter learned all that were in his
book, about 1 and upon his return. I
at once sent to lndon Kugllsh Fraill
cannot bo had here for his tirst books.
They were "The Merchant of Venice,"
with which he is familiar, and "Ivanhoe,'
the latter til abridged form.
We learned then that there are now
three grades of Braille, the first grade
without contractions, the second mod
erately contracted, and the third more
fully contracted. I,ast Sunday was really
an event day in his history. He read the
news of the week in a magazine of
Braille in the second grade. He was so
happy he said he felt like jumping Into
the atr.
Francis Richter unexpectedly found a
helper in tlie Braille this Summer In the
person of his 1-year-old cousin, who be
came greatly interested and learned the
system. Together they created several
bulky volumes, copying Schiller's "Bell"
In the German, (without contractions. He
now has the German contractions also)
and other things. So that the young man
has already the beginning of a library.
The photograph shows tlie two cousins
and. tile Braille typewriter.
Th cousin put his new science to an
amusing use which shows the boy side
of It. He is the presiding officer of a
secret society of boys about his own
age. five or six of his playmates. It
occurred to him that the Brllle would
make a fine secret code. So he intro
duced it into the body, and now those
boys are the envy of every other boy In
school.
Rk hter Gives a Concert.
Francis Richter gave a concert in the
neighboring city of Kalbe during his
vacation. The Dress reports, written by
m n .. - si fx --'.-'MiL : , f
- i
a professional musician, are gratifying la
the extreme. H!s repertoire consisted en
tirely of numbers studied here, among
them the Sonata Appasioiiata. by Bee
thoven, his last study with Prentner. His
Bach playing was called perfect. I re
met that I have no translation . of the
article.
Mr. Richter was also the subject of a
most unusual notice In the June Musical
Leader, New York, written quite un
known to us hy the musical correspon
dent of that paper who was present at
his improvisations on the Odyssey.
The Hem also contains at clever al
lusion to Leschetitky's fourth marriage,
which occurred about - the same time,
he having succeeded in divorcing his
third wife in order to marry a pupil.
Numbers one and two were likewise di
vorced and are still .living. The new
bride is jit a little matter of 50 years
younger than her TS-year-oId husband.
The correspondent deem th marriaje
an evidence of Leschetizky's "love of the
lull quartet chord
The subject of Ieschetizky reminds me
of a good story. Let me preface by say
ing that the general idea of Amaricane
over here is that they are a people of
strange and sensational attributes. iven
to as great extravagances of action as
of money. The incident occurred in the
Leschetizky house. The new bride and
some friends were celebrating the Herr
Professor's birthday no they plarrncd a
little drama representing lxschetizky in
the process of an interview with an
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American prodigy, brought over by his
adoring inammu. The prodigy wore
short trousers, bare legs and child's high
white ruffle although his head was on
a level with the Herr Professor's. The
dialogue runs in this wLsc, after the
adoring mamma has come to a period:
Leschetizky: "How old is your son,
madam ?"
Adoring Mamma: "Six years. Professor,
ho is the twin of his brother."
Leschetizky: "But I thought you said
hiu brother was &?'
Adoring Mamma: "O. all things are
possible in America, Professor."
These Wonderful Americans.
This Summer when I was spending some
weeks In the -Kaxnic Alps in Southern
Austria, we took come walking tours
among those splomlfd and little-known
mountains. Upon one occasion we met
a middle-aged German, who looked like
he might be a college professor, with his
wife, returning from our objective point,
and we stopped to ask the way. They
informed us that Seisera was half an
hour further and that it would iiflt be
possible to makeit and traverse fne six
miles back to the station in time for
the train, as they tbemsslves had only
sufficient time. We went on, found the
wild little valley at the foot of a bleak,
jagged mountain and stopped at the inn
for coffee. The keen mountain air
quickly revived our weary bodies, and
even infused itself into our minds suf
ficiently to exude as sentiments written
in the traveller's book, and on the in
evitable postcards. Twenty minutes were
consumed, and then we took the trail
back. The dread of havin to walk four
mtles more from the station gave wings
to our feet and we arrived there just
as the German "Professor and his frau
leisurely walked in. Phey greeted us
smilingly and we entered into conversa
tion, covering points of interest in the
vicinity and Switzerland. When they
learned that we had climbed the Grindel
wald glacier, said to be the most danger
ous in the Schweiz. to a point of be
tween 9000 or 10.000 feet in ordinary
clothes and tshoes, the guide taking only
the precaution to rope the three of us
to him, the German lady threw up her
hands and exclaimed in good-humored
deprecation: "Diese Americaner!'
Changes of the Grand Opera House.
Opera under the new management
shows numerous changes. Mahler, now
of the Metropolitan, New York, was a
stickler for the classics. His successor,
Weingartner, has put on several new
operas and for the first time in 30 years
opera, has been heard in French. This
last innovation is due to the presence
of a new tenor star, Delmores, who- is
winning many laurels. He was even per
mitted to sing his role in Carmen in
French while the balance of the opera
was done as usual in German. Samson
and Delilah was given entirely in French.
He is already engaged in the Manhattan
Opera-house, New York.
Kric Schmedes, the favorite Siegfried
of the Hofoper, lias obtained leave of
absence and goes now to the Metropoli
tan for a season. He will sing Parsi
fal, Siegfried' some others, and the new
opera of Tieflanti, which has made a
sensation here. It is written by D'Al
bert, the famous musician of Berlin.
As I expect - to accompany Francis
Richter there tonight, I may have
something more to say of it next time,
as well as our experiences in seeing
the Wagner operas. Under Mahler, tlie
entire Wagner cycle was given three
times a year, and there is considerable
curiosity as to what his successor may
do. "Wagner holds as nothing else. In
spite of the fact that the other operas
beside the Ring are repeated many
times a year, seats go so 'quickly that
they ere difficult for .students to ob
tain. Sometimes in the first ha If -hour
after-the opening of the bx office all
the low-priced seats are gone. We
early learned, however, that the "bu
reaus buy up seats, and we often ob
tain them there at the advance of a
krone.
The programme for the season of the
Philharmonic, Tor.kunstlcr. Concert
Verein and other societies ,are out with
a simply bewildering wealth of musi
cal offerings. If one were hearing
music . simply for pleasure, one could
easily fall into hopeless confusion in
trying to make a selection. But as we
adhere strictly to the educational line,
we have at least a guiding principle.
Last Sunday morning we had a break
fast consultation, as usual. Indeed, the
consultation, also as usual, was the
greater part of the breakfast, we hav
ing become accustomed to t he Kuro
pean fashion of coffee and rolls. Marcel
de Bouzon read tlie entire list of con
certs and Francis Richter selected 60
that he just couldn't miss. So the
strenuous days are beginning.
Vienna, October 2.
A Wife in Kach Place.
New York Press.
Sherman is an excellent story teller.
It is said he can beat Drpew and Adla!
Stevenson. Our candidate for Vice
President is credited with the following:
"There was an awfully irreligious fel
low in Utica who had been given up as
a hopeless case by his family and
friends. He cursed end swore like a
pirate, and was always kicking up a
row about nothing. One day the Rev.
Ir. G. happened to hear one of his
outbursts and said to him: 'My friend,
just drop a few of those hard words.
Did you ever stop to think where you
will go when you die? 'Go!' shouted
the fellow. 'Go! Why, to heaven or
hell; it doesn't make much difference.
I have a wife in each place "
Frcachinjc and Practice.
Puck.
I h-ard him in the courtroom.
His speei-h transfixed the crowd;
"Never," said he. "should violence
Or mob rule be allowed.
Rise calm o'er passions, slow to judge;
Heed well tlio ancient saw,
'Obedience to authority
ls frie keynote of the law.' '
I saw him In the grandstand,
Hattess and out ot breath.
He joined the crowd that clamored
For the helples umpire's death.
"You robber, saphe&d. ruffian, thief, '
You cheat! We bad this cinched
Till you butt- In. you dough-head dolt!
Too bad you can't be lynched!"
And when the ump wont down mid b!o
and l:i'-k
Twas my frienda hand that fired the fatai
briuk.
f