, - . ! . '!!.., yHfyJ ZmrfJ 1 H Mme. Lipkowska, tke Metropolitan Soprano, OW Escaped from the Madame Lipkowska in Her, Native Russian Costumct '. X 'lit ' Russian Bolskeviki Wearing Disguises and Playing tke Parts m Rel Life Wkick Ske Had Acted on the Stage ' - ' f ' ' V , ft', ' ' Iff u, u A, 'l( ' ' i E i ,j , , t , jar , ' , v . f 2 m V-ry ...SS i.. Ml . , - , - " " . , t"4lie t I Xi . " YvSzU0 mm - a .,! l- --!., n A "The Bolshevik leader tore the jewels from her. throat, ears and fingers, while others explored her clothes and person. One ruffian stripped off her fur coat and another i loosened her corset and tucked it under his arm." UDIENCES at the Metropolitan Opera those instances, thi uouse before the war remember impassioned lover well the attractive colorature bo- was a well-washed. prano prima donna, Mme. Llpkowska. Not cleanly clothed tenor -only did this singer possess a memorable or basso, bat her ex Voice, but she was rather exceptional as perlence In her roles one .of the tew prima donnas; who was stood her in good really pretty, for nature unfortunately does stead, and with th sot always endow a singer with a grand graceful a g i li t y cpera voice and great personal heauty. t learned from many The war Is over and this distinguished ; rehearsals under the musical artist is again in America. But greatest stage man In the time which has elapsed since the agers of the world, grand opera lovers of America last saw and with the help of ber she has lived through quite as remark- her maid Mme. Lip able a series of dramatic events as any of kowska eluded' the the characters in the. various operas whbse drunken eoldler and Imaginary Joys and sorrows she has in- slipped from his terpreted on the stage. And as the lead- clumsy embrace, lng role in-every opera usually ends with jj this was the . a happy romance, so, too, Mme. XJpkowska ay things were go has lived through a multitude of tragic jn jn the Bolsheviki situations and emerged from it, all as the capital 1 Mme. Lip real life heroine of Just as charming a love fc0wska decided that airair as any or tne various Heroines sne the time bad come ; has impersonated on the operatic stage. to leave Petrograd. But the news of her re- Mme, Lipkowska was in Paris filling an sistance to Lenine and Trotzky authority, as - engagement at the Paris Opera House represented by the peasant soldier, spread, when the world war broke out In the ana an effort was made to bunt down and coursejrf developments it became desir- seize the singer. Her maid was found and able for the President of France to make thntnpd And comhelled to leave herl Her APT DA sin official visit to the Czar of Russia in " Petrograd for reasons of state. At the Russian court in those days things were done cm a magnificent scale, and the Rus sian Government bestirred , itself to pre pare a welcome and a series of entertain ments in honor of the French President which befitted the representative of Rus sia's firm friend and ally, France. Among other things a special gala per romance at the Imperial Opera House in ' Petrograd was arranged, and by command of the Czar Mme. Lipkowska, the great " . soprano, was telegraphed to come back from Paris and sing the title Tole of the npera that night. Things were unsettled in Paris and the managers of the Imperial Opera House per suaded her to remain in Russia. Then came the overthrow of the Czar's Govern ment, and this was followed by the Keren- sny revolution, and then came the over- former friends were watched and warned noto help her. Her bank account was seized and her famous collection of china was put under guard. Alone, with only such money as she nap pened to have in her pocketbook. the prima donna crept out of petrograd in the night, wearing the rough clothes of a peas ant girl and seeking work along the way as a chambermaid. But in spite of her disheveled hair and uncomely clothes there was something about her which did not fit her pretended vocation. Everybody was spying on every boy else and In terror of their lives. Hardly did she secure employment in a. home or little hotel before she found she was being watched and suspected, and was soon noti fied to move on. Again, and again her beauty attracted the leering familiarities of the newly made throw of the Kerensky regime by the Bol- utmost patience and adroitness to escape li?; JIh. v 2 ?V "f f of V16 Bofshe- from their hungry attentions. Slowly and SS-lkS-iVV"?1?. L1P0Wiika cautiously, with nnbrushed hair and dirty te'nl1dstGf troubles. The face and hands and ragged clothes. Mme. . . if 1 f5i!i L, ,briecause Be Lipkowska picked her way by a tortuous 71 A.Krth?JL Kl"tertnK of Journey to Tifiis in JTrans-Caucasia.- ilJ? lV6"? B5e1wor,e Pencil But here the ty was swarming with v 80.lD 7lth ttnu l619; Bolshevik civil authorities, military ; offi- '--1- J!nt dmfU Indnis e- cers and spies and undisciplined soldiers. A rfnacingV m day a She must move on. Again taking the high- X et?l0dJ r. .emboMened with way and traveling mostly at night and : ? v ed uth0,"1ty. flms often through the fields, the singer finally li ?Z V?l,. J?ranwm. e 8treet niae her way to the city of Odessa, on and tried to kiss her through his bristling the Black Sea, which the Ukranian forces lrV . , -T . had been able to hold against the Bol- V Mme. Lipkowska had played romantic sheviki lles on tho operatic stage, although in in Odessa Mme. Lipkowska at last was Madame Lipkowska, yho Outwitted the Bolshevik Spies . By Her Convincing Acting and Disguise. able to draw a safe breath. . There were French there and some Americans, and she threw off ber chambermaid raga and sang In concerts. Still greater was her Joy at now being near her little thirteen-year-old daughter Aldenna, who was living at the singer's native city of Klcolalef, not far from Odessa, on the Black Sea. pavement, which he seized. At the same time another band pulled offher waist, and the last of the band, determined to , secure something at least for himself loosened her corset and tucked it , under his arm. In some way word had reached Bolshe vik headquarters i from Petrograd that But Mme, Lipkowska was not, long to be Mme. Lipkowska was to be taken over by left In peace. The onward sweep of the I the Government -the singer was to be Bolshevik army. Anally enveloped Odessa, ; "nationalized." They traced the singer and the old horrors of her Petrograd ex- to her, hiding place and explained 4hat in periences again faced her. Suddenly con- i her case the Government desired to "oa fronted on the street by a party of Bol- tionalize" her as an artist and not because sheviki soldiers on her retufn from a eon- of her beauty and physical charms, cert, the leader stripped the wrap from her The Bolshevists and the Menshevists, shoulders, and with a grin of Joy cried: or Moderates, became involved In an argu Ulve me those diamonds! My wife can ment over the relative merits of the ref wear Jewels Just as well as yottl"; ngee artists in Odessa. Characteristically. Assuming a perfectly cool air Mme. lip- they decided to have a trial of their ideas JLS ai" . t0 reason vU1 . in public, a sort of competition much like m- "ut i, too, am a worker." she argued. a horae 8how. with the artists soing - n Pera gerand these Jewels through their paces before the Jury. An are my tools of trade. I need; them quite , opera soviet was formed, the members te as much as you need your rifles" eluding even the Janitor. The artists were . Without any reply the leader tore' the t to receive equal pay with ushers and scene Jewels from her throat and ears and fin- shifters. "Faust' was selected for the gers, and while he held them to. the light first performance. to examine his prize others of the party r Lipkowska sang Marguerite, Rushoff took possession of her and explored her ; was the tenor, Mme. Kouznetzoff was in clothes and person for their share in the the cast, also Kotchanovesky. Rushoff booty. One ruffian stripped her fur coat i was so frightened he could hardly produce off, while another slipped his knife under s a bote. The audience howled with rage, her waistband and her skirt slipped, to the A shot rang out from the balcony. Ruse hoff, In the costume of Faust, Ml to- the stage. Mephlstopheles tried to escape, but the guards brought him back. His charaqter of Satan pleased the mob; they cheered him. He Bang to Faust, the dead body lying on the stage in a pool of blood. Lipkowska sang her own role and that of the dead Faust The ker mess scene excited "the mob and they swarmed over the, footlights anff raided the chorus of pret ty girls. Then they made LlpkowBka sing the Mar seillaise twelve times, without even piano ac companiment A giant of a man leaped on the stage. ' "Stay here," he whis pered; "wait until the rest go. Then you and Iwe shall have refresh ments, and I will be your protector." Lipkowska knew what that meant. She and Kouznetzoff locked them selves in a dressing room. 'Kotchanovesky- a gen tle, much-beloved man came to their door and whispered, "Try to get away. Cover your heads with shawls and creep out quietly." Even as he whispered the giant and his com rades came up. They ordered the door opened. Kotchanovesky placed himself before it and de fled them. There was a short struggle. The' basso fell, stabbed and shot In a dozen places. , In the con fusion the two girls escaped. .... In the early morning hours Mme. Lip kowska left Odessa In an automobile in peasant costume. f Mme. Lipkowska avoided the main thor oughfares and traveled by the less-frequented roads to Nicolaief. hoping to pick up her little daughter and escape from Russia. The Bolshevik! were already in posses sion of Nicolaief and the singer dared not go to the house where her child, lived. Dismissing the automobile in the suburbs of the town the singer sought work as a chambermaid In a house half a mile away from her own residence. At night she crept through the shadows of her own home and prepared for her young daugh ter to join her as soon as she could com plete her plans for a safe escape for them both. . But the next night on reaching her home she found the child gone and the house empty. A v pair of drunken Bolshevik! stopped her and were about to force their attentions upon her when a young French officer, hearing her cries, came to her res cue and put her assailants to flight., Tlje tlnger recognized that there "was not a moment to lose.' In despair she confided to him the desperate situation. He ex ' plained that, h was Lieutenant Pierre Bodin, of the French Cavalry, and she af terward found that he was a man of wealth and a poet of considerable distinction In France. While the distracted singer and the gal lant French cavalryman were pondering what to do the two Bolshevikl ruffians re turned with reinforcements. Lieutenant Bodin felt equal at any time to two or perhaps a dozen Bolshevikl, but with a woman to protect- he did not dare risk taking on a whole i company of Trotzky troops single handed. Seizing the tremb ling soiprano by the arm he rushed her to a spot nearby where six of the French, officer's comrades were in hiding. With a, word of explanation he left them to bold the oncoming Bolshevikl while he and the singer made their way down the street and into a rowboat which had been hidden underneath a wharf. Rowing out to a steamer which was Just getting under way. Lieutenant Bodin hailed the captain and put iis charge on board. Not satis fied with the conduct of the captain of the ship, Bodin decided that he would see Mme. Lipkowska safely through to Con stantinople lest some unforeseen disaster should overtake her in the strange, dis orderly, motley i assemblage , which h found swarming the ship's decks, e But the end was not yet. Poor HtUt) Aldenna had been of necessity left be hind. The mother could not rest contented In safety in Constantinople while the little thirteen-year-old dear one remained at the mercy of the Bolshevikl. Lieutenant Bodin paced the fldbr and twisted his mustache with perplexity. Willingly he would go back and face the turmoil in Nicolaief, but he did not know little Aldenna by sight and might not be able to trace her. Mme. Lipkowska. insisted that she her self must return and search for the little one. Lieutenant Bodin finally matm-ed their plans, and enlisting the help of half a dozen other brother officers bought a fishing boat in ' Constantinople, and the entire party disguised themselves as Black Sea fishermen. ; They slipped out of the harbor, sailed along the Black Sea, and arrived off the port of Nicolaief, but dared not enter -until nightfall. In the darkness they sailed the little craft in and anchored it, and Bodin and Lipkowska, with the guard of ehivahoua French officers, went swingingfup the street, carrying fish bas kets and crying fish for sale. The singer's house was still deserted and the problem was to trace the where abouts of little Aldenna without risking ither the child or the rescue party. For more than a week, the distracted mother and her protectors fished by ay and dressed their catch on the beach, and at night Lipkowska and her protectors walked up and ! down the streets plying1 their wares. ' Where, was the child? How was the mother to find her? Of all Mme. Lipkowska's many operatio roles the Bell Song from "Lakme," that most difficult of colorature parts, was the - favorite bit of music of little Aldenna. Again and again from earliest babyhood the child had loved to hear her mother sing to her this bit of composition. In the opera beautiful Lakme sings the Bell Song in the market-place to attract the ear of her lover and briny him to her side. Could the singer make use of the j-ame song for the same purpose and bring her little one to hert It Aldenna could hear it now, with all the feeling and expresslon'of the mother's distracted heart she knew the child would recognize it And so, from time to time the prima donna would cease her cries to buy her fish and would glide Into a bit of the Bell Song from "Lakme." i At last Aldenna heard it The old nurse made her way out cautiously from a cot tage gate and peered suspiciously Into the darkness. Mme Lipkowska instantly rec ognized the faithful old nurse, and in an other moment mother and child were In each other's arms. They crept down to the beach, found their way to the fishing boat' end sailed away to Constantinople before the sun rose on Nicolaief. It Is scarcely , surprising that the pas senger list of an incoming ship, as it swung into Its dock In 'New York recently, bore the words "Lieutenant and Mrs. Bodin." Mme. Lipkowska's first husband she had divorced several years ago. How could she better repay her debt of grati tude to the chivalrous French officer thaa. to accept his plea to become his wife? (C) 1820. InternaUonal Feature Serrice. lac 6iet Britain Rights Beserred