3 TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND. JANUARY 10, 1909.
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MARY GARDEN
ROUTED THE IRE
JTB PROFANEA JAGRED
OPERA. BYTAiTSTOMlNG THE ROlE
OFA MAN IN A WORK WHERE
WOMEN ARE BAREDo
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M
ART OARDKN. the American
prima donna, may not find the
latchstrlng of Paris out for her j
when she returns there.
The artistic population of the great
French city Is outraged because of the
fact that she Is appearing in the role
.f Jean the Jusxler. in Massenet's
opera, "Le Jongleur tie Notre Dame."
Sacrilege" in the term by which
many describe her action in assuming
the role written for a tenor. They say
the injection of a woman into a work
written with as reverent ' a spirit
this latest production of the noted
French composer defeats the whole
purpose that Inspired Masaanet to
write it.
Meantime, ignoring all the hubbub.
Mirs Garden has been singing the role
in New York and Philadelphia with
most distinguished success, and if the
attitude of Paris has any concern for
her she Is not permitting any traces
of her worry to show In the delight
fully fresh and spontaneous perform
ance she tflves the part. ,
Back of the row is an Interesting
utory. In whl'h are involved the names
of at least three great prima donnas
and one of the foremost of the world's
living musicians.
The musician is Masvanet, now aged
ti. a wonderful master of orchestral
color, whose operas have not only been
the delight of Europe, but have come
to be deeply loved on thts side.
,
Massanet has for three decades been
composing, and it is a somewhat Inter
esting fact that most of his works
l'ave been written with some especial
prima donna in mind for the leading
rol-.
He was deeply enamored of the beau
tiful Sybil Sanderson, and it was for
her that he wrote the operas "Le Cid"
and "Manon Lescaut."
Sanderson had a romantic career.
Sh was a California girl. and. being
j: If ted with a good voice, she went to
Paris to learn to sing.
Here her wonderful beauty attracted
even more attention than her excel
lent vocal equipment and her dramatic,
kill.
The city rared over her melting eyes,
her boautlful profl'e. hr opulent figure,
and no shifter on the French stage wns
more talked of than the beautiful Ameri
can. Masanet especially came under her
tr.rall. and in addition to writing these
tmo operas, especially gave her tne add
!:!or.al help of preparing her for the
part. and or aid'.i:? with his advice and
conohirg.
Sanderson a'lcceeded In Europe, then
she came to the I'nited Slates with the
Metropolitan t'era Company, and was
m-l'omod in Iut own country.
fltuininc to Paris. he was effusively
e!romrd by Masanet. who promised to
rti. HfoMirr opt'ra. for her.
Thi n r.ime her ui!tn marriage witi
Ar.toi.lo Trrr. Hi had millions ni -e
fair Sb:I was unable to refuse herwelf
'lit'0l of them.
1 he i-omnT was Ini-onsolnhle when
ti-i- s;pk'r -thl-t and pltmsed Into his
nri-l; wiin tr-f it' rtnyialion to resard
been rr.-diud with being. He could
only write under the spell of the in
spiration furnished by some woman, they
whispered.
He would lit an opera to Sanderson or
to Calve Just as their costumera' would
make them a gown. It was not compos
ing music in the abstract, regardless of
who would sing the parts: it was rely
ing on the fame of some noted prima
donna to carry Ills productions to suc
cess. When finally the stories reached Mas
sanet. he became furious. The pride of
the artist was intensely Injured by the
insinuations.
...
Then lie promised to show them. He
determined to write an opera, which
should be absolutely unique in the his
tory of music In that It should contain
not one role for a woman. He would
abolish the other sex from his compo
sition absolutely and produce a work
that should depend alone on its musical
merits. He would succeed without a
woman If only to confound his critics.
He looked around him for a subject
and then he chanced upon a little storj
by Anatole France, one of the foremost
of French prose masters.
This toid the pitiful tale of how a
wandering troubadour, a Juggler in the
middle ases. wearying of the hards.iipa
of his strolling life had entered a clois
ter. Here he would have been happy but
for the fact that he felt so keenly his
lack of accomplishments, as compared
with his fellow monks. They could sing,
write music, paint, achieve in writing
or sculpture, while he could do nothing
but Juggle.
Reasoning It out In his own simple
way, he Hnally decided that juggling
Itself might be considered an accomplish
ment if it be directed to the glory of the
Virgin, therefore he donned again his
juggler garb, took his place in front of
the altar and Juggled in honor of the
Virgin.
It was while thus disporting himself
that he was caught by the prior and f!ie
other priests. They were horruied at
what they deemed his scarilege, but in
the midst of their condemnation of the
hapless youth the face of the Image of
the Virgin lighted up as if to show that
the act. fur from being condemned.
Massanet fell In love with this little
plot and proceeded to adorn it with some
of the most beautiful music he has ever
written.
When it was completed he announced
a challenge to his contemporaries and to
the critics. Ho had written an opera
without a woman. He cared not who
produced it. The work should stand ab
solutely on its merits.
Six years ago it was produced for the
first time at Monto Carlo, of all places
perhaps the most uniitting for a work
dealing with such a sacred subject.
But in TOite of the uncongenial at
mosphere of the gambling capital of the
world, the opera made a prorouna im
pression. The enthusiastic critics' of the nation
nrnnouneed It a work comparable to
Wagner's "Parsifal."
It was sacred enough to be produced
In a church, they said, and Massanet's
triumph was complete.
But the daring and original Miss Gar
den, one of a. number of American prima
donnas who have achieved the marvel
of bringing Paris to their feet, had been
looking Into the possibilities of the part.
Witli only slight alterations, the music
of the leading role, the juggler boy,
could be changed to suit her sopan3.
She was not daring enough to attempt it
for the first time in France, but now slie
has done it with success in the United
Slates.
Massanet declines to comment on the
profaning of his sacred opera by the In
troduction of the sex he had meant to
ban. but Paris says it was wrong of
ftliss Garden and the critics are heaping
their harshest comments on her.
She, too. has maintained silence, prob
ably finding In her success complete
balm.
SOME HARD WINTERS IN OREGON
Snow Covered the Willamette Valley for Nearly Three Months in 1862-Other Severe Weather.
r im i'
Mr. Terry d:J not survive long after
1. marriage to the singer, and left her
a widow with wen'th almost beyond
computation.
.
Itit only a slmrt time aftr l'aris was
started witli the news that the widow
hfld also died.
Meantime Massanet had addressed him
self to the task of eomiiosing an opera
f'r another sin3r whose talents he
pratly admired.
This time It was Emma Calve he fa-
or.vl.
Taking a short story on the Franco
Prussian war. one of the kind of tales
that the French writers know so well
how to make real, he produced his thrill
ing one-ai t music drama, "La Navir
raise." it w-ored a splendid success, but In
sr.ad of greeting the composer with the
a c I.iim due a man who had triumped
an-w. Taris had a nuict little laugh to
its. if.
The Jealous In the gay French capital
K(n to intimate that Massanet was
not as much of a musician as he had
Wrtttrm from Memory by ( J ru H. Walker.
ALBANY, Or.. Jan. . (To the Editor.)
On the editorial page of a recent number
of The Oregonlan was the following: "The
oldest inhabitant whose mind goes back
to the storm of 'JS. ia having things his
own way. Nobody can dispute him."
As I am the only '3Ser I know of, the
Item probably refers, to me.
Of course, being an Infant, born at
Whitman Mission December 7 tnat year. 1
have no recollection of events that took
place, nor does the diary of my mother,
kept from June 10 to December 31. IV!',
make any mention of weather condition
during December, hence 1 infer the Win
ter that far was quite osen.
The first hard Winter I can remember
was that of lsttMT. The mow at Tahima
kaln (now Walker's Prairie, 33 miles
northwest of Spokane), was four feet
deep. Around our yard enclosed as a
stockade about six feet high, to keep out
coyotes, and Indian dogs equiilly ns de
structive to poultry, the snow drifted so
near tre top that I remember I could step
over It on the side east of the house and
Immediately north of our storehouse,
where was kept dried salmon, etc.
The Spokane Indians lost nearly all titelr
horses and went to work making bows
and arrows to trade to the Cayuscs for
hores.
We caved most of our cattle and horses
by taking them to a swamp several miles
northwest of the mission and cutting
down the pine trees, so they could eat the
moss. etc.
Cruel Weather in Inland Empire.
One day the Indians drove down from
the mountain east of the mission several
deer: One fine buck lay down on the
now on the plain north of our home. My
father put on his large Indian snowshoes
and started out to catch the deer. I fol
lowed him on my snowshoes. When near
the deer, it Jumped up and ran off
toward the timber north of our mission,
when my father caught it in the dry bed
of Tshimakain Cretk. I was there in time
to see an Indian shoot It in the Bide with
a barbed arrow. Pulling out the arrow,
the barb remained in the der, which
V i t
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L
CYBIS H. WALKER
jumped up. ran a few yards and died. It
Seemed awful cruel work to mo.
Of this Winter. Kev. H. H. Spalding,
of the Ner Perce Mission Lapwai, thus
wrote to mv father under date. "Clear
water. March 8. 1S47. This has been the
severest Winter as to snow, cold weath
er and want of grass ever known by the
oldest Indians in this region. Very many
horses and cattle have "died. Some per
sons have been frozen to death. Several
of my cattle and horses have died. I
tremble to hear from your place. We
fear you have lost all. There has been
snow and cold weather for three months.
For two weeks snow was over a foot
deep in thus valley. January 16 and 17
were the coldest days I have experienced
In the country. Think the mercury would
have falen to 30 degrees below zero."
Cold and Scarcity of Provisions.
The Winter of 1S48-19 we spent in Ore
gon City. Back of the bluff at Oregon
City during the Winter was quite a lake.
This froze over so that we boys could
skate on it. but with no skates. One
day we got an old sow on to the ice
and had lots of fun seeing her try" to
walk.
The Winter of 1S4!-dO we were at For
est Grove. Early In December came a
heavy snowfall, about two feet. It
stayed on about three weeks, then went
off with a warm rain, causing a flood
in the Willamette that did first damage
to Oregon City.
rtw- wintap ..f isr.T-K:! hnd three weeks
of deep snow (two feet). A warm rain
thoroughly saturatea me snow, ana wim
in 24 hours there would probably have
been the biggest flood in Oregon's his
tory, but it turned cold over night and
. . " . l. olifinlr Hia noltihr. hut
jroze ciiuuk" .... . c,.
the flood was bigger than in lb49. .That
was a terribly hard v inter upon uie im
migrants, who came that year by hundreds.
r lour v .vo i - i
bushel. Father Alvin T. Smith, an early
. . .-Hrt harf nnp nf the hest
pioneci. ... - -
farms near Forest Grove, economical as
was his training as a Connecticut farmer,
sold wheat to immigrants only at J3 per
bushel.
The Winter of 1853-4 came a blizzard
from the North and froze the bare ground
very hard. I remember how the Old
Academy bell sounded out so clearly
mornings. The Winter of 1858-59 was
warm and open, with rain, until in Feb
ruary, 1859. came cold storms that con
tinued until the 1st of April, filling
the Coast Mountains with snow. The
day before the storms began it was
warm and sunshiny, so much so that we
students of Pacific University spent a
part of the afternoon out of doors on the
sunny southern slope south of the Old
Log Church. Dr. C. H. Kaffety, of Port
land, was one of the students. The next
morning it was snowing.
One Genuinely Hard Winter.
The Winter of 1S61-63 I consider the
hardest ever known to white settlers.
The first week in December came the
Willamette's biggest flood that com
pletely wiped out Linn City, across the
river faom Oregon City, and carried away
Dr. Ml'Loughlin's flour mill. At Albany,
the river rose to 3ti feet above low water.
Freezing weather followed until Jan
uary 1, lb6J, when toward evening a dark
bank of clouds came up over the Coast
Range and we thought a thaw was
coining. But not so. About 9 o'clock it
comni'-need snowing. The ground was
not bare again until late in March, when
the snow disappeared beneath the sun's
warm rays. There was sleighing galore
that Winter. Several times a thaw would
come and it rained a few hours; then the
wind whipped to the north and we got
more snow. Some clear nights In Febru
ary were Intensely cold. The river at
Portland froze over and for weeks teams
crossed on the ice. Hay that had accu
mulated during the very bountiful season
of lSi0-61. so much so that you could
hardly give It away, rose to fabulous
prices. California wild oat hay was $40
per ton In Portland. Oats that were slow
sale the previous Fall at 20 cents were Jl
per bushel; other farm products rose to a
like proportion.
It was from the above oat hay that it Is
claimed wild oats got a start in Oregon,
for Sliany years a curse to our grain
fields, but now well eradicated.
Some Milder Ones.
The Winter of 18;4-bu came a hard
freeze about December S. but did not
last long. The succeeding February on
the llkl. or Washington's birthday. Com
panies B and F. First Oregon Infantry,
then stationed at Fort Hosklns. Kings
Valley, Benton County, celebrated the
day in a parade with snow about two
feet defp.
January 9, IMS, came a blizzard that
closed the Yamhill River and other
streams for about six weeks. The. steam
er Dayton, plying between Oregon City
and McMinnville, commanded by Captain
J. T. Apperson. failed to put in a welcome
annearance to our longing gaze for that
length of time. I was then in charge of
the Dayton warehouse
Shipping Tied Up.
During the Winter of lS74-7ri I was at
Astoria. After a light snowfall the pre
vious evening, about 2 o'clock in the
morning of Monday, January 11. came a
terrific blizzard down- the Columbia. For
several weeks a closed river shut off all
water communication with Portland. A
Mr. Hoyt was the first to venture down
from Portland on the Ice. Nine grain
sailing vessels anchored In front of As
toria found it necessary to reanchor in
the cove front of upper Astoria.
At least two steamers came In from San
Francisco with passengers during the
"closed season."
The la3t trip of the two a number of the
passengers struck out tiirous't tbe moun
tains for Forest Grove and thence to Port
land. .
The morning the blizzard began I called (
in at the Rev. W. A. Tctiney'ti, the Con
gregational minister, then in charge at
Astoria; now living at Oakland. Cal. 1
1 found Mrs. Tenney sick at heart ovr
the loss of all her house plants.
The mercury f. 11 to 10 decrees above
zero, unusually cold so near tke ocean.
The Winter of lhSl-82 was open uniil
near February. 'Si I was at the Warm
Springs Agency. There was no storm to
speak of, hut it froze night after night
until the ground was frozen nearly two
feet deep Here in the valley the bar'
ground froze for a time, then came a
sudJen thaw that killed nearly nil the
Winter wheat, and wheat had to be im
ported from California for re-tscedlng.
It is claimed that the wild mustard
seed wahen brought that has been such
a nuisance to some fields in the Willam
ette Valley.
The Last One.
During my stay of 15 years at Warm
Springs the Winter of 1SS4-S," was the
hardest. The snow storm began early
the mornli.nc of December 15. The thaw
came with a chinook, January S. '85.
Snow at the Warm Springs Agency
over 30 Inches deep. At The Dalles it was
said to have been six feel.
Horses and cattle were caught out nn
the range, and had to stay where the
storm overtook them. Mercury went to 18
below zero. It was a pitiful sight to see
the dead animals after the snow was
gone; where they had grouped around
some juniper trees and had perished in
their tracks.
In January, 1SS7. came a hard snow
storm for Haetern Oregon, followed by In
tense cold.
One morning the mercury was ?.Z degrees
below zero: perhaps the coldest ever
known al Warm Springs.
In February. 1VA we had a freeze. If
I remember r!(,'lu, it was 15 degrees be
low zero at The Dalles, and only about
12 degrees below at Warm Springs. The
Iiesehutes River never Ikir lee npposile
the agency west or the Agency l'hiins east
of It. The river may have a tempering
Influence down the Deschutes canyon,
some 800 feet below the table lands.
For 24 years we have had no heavy
snowfall in the Willamette Valley, and
since lVfl no very cold weather.
The present storm is a record-breaker
for later years, and yet so far. is not com
parable, to the Winters of pioneer iias
for severity.
I have often been led to think that our
climate is getting warmer. Be that as It
may, we have one of the best climates in
the world, and the healthiest.
I grow more and more proud of our
peerless Oregon, where all my life has
been spent, and want sometime to sleep
beside one of her murmuring streams, or
beneath her lofty pines.
The Woman With a Figure.
Atchison Globe.
A woman with any sort of a figure ia
prouder of it than a man Is of a million
dollars.