MRS HAMMERSTEIN'S OWN STORY
TODAY: Untold Tales
About Famous Figures
Caruso's Rebuff;
the Capture of
Tetrazzini and
McCormack; and
the $3,000
Melba Defi
\
"THIS IS TO
CERTIFY”—
Photostatic
Copy of Mr.
>nd Mr*. Oscar
Hammeratein’s Certificate
of Marriage. It Marked
the Climax of a Romance
Attracted the Attention of Two
Continents.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY
K Photographic Study of Mr«. Otcar
Hammeratoin When, at the Wifo of the
Impresario, She Was One of the Most
Fantous Figures of New York's
Aristocracy of the Opera.
rHIS is the second of a series of
articles b% Mrs. Oscar Ham
merstein. widow of the famous im
presario. Hers is the amarine story
of a woman who rose from a smalls
town choir girl to become the wife
of Millionaire Julian Swift, of the
famous Chicago packing firm, then
enjoyed prestige and splendor as
the mate of the greatest opera pro
ducer of his time, and finally was
found drifting about New York,
penniless and forgotten amidst the
scenes of her former glories.
By Mrs. Oscar Hanimersteltt,
I THINK my greatest thrill as the
wife of Oscar Hammeratein was the
realization that he called upon me
for advic? whenever he chose a singer.
Even when he did not he would discuss
th# possibilities of such and such a
singer long before he or she became
famous.
How many times I hoard him toll me
how he combed Europe for sensations;
how he had given New York Luisa
Tetrazzini. Mary Garden and Maurice
Kenaud. And I know how he had
brought back Melba and Calve after
they had been given up foolishly by
the Metropolitan. I knew only too
well how he came to introduce to New
York mftsie ToVefs such famous operas
as “Thais/' “Hleetra,” “Louise” and
“Pelieas and Melisamle,”
l think one of his saddest defeats
was his failure to lure over Caruso,
lie used to lunch often at the Hotel
Knickerbocker. That was Enrico Ca
ruso’s home. They were not strangers
by any means. Caruso often came to
our box in the Manhattan Opera House,
and Mr. Hamroarslein often went to
hear him at the “Met.”
One day Oscar told me, in later
years, he felt that the point had been
reached where he might approach
Caruso with an offer, Oscar went
about it quite casually, but there was
a great purpose in his attempt to bring
about a coup. He wanted Caruso be
cause he knew that a successful deal
would make the walls of hie rival, the
Metropolitan Opera House, totter.
They finally met, and Oscar told
Caruso, quite casually, that he “was
thinking" of taking the singer over to
his opera company. This seeming con
descension far from flattered Caruso,
who held the scepter at the “Met.” In
fact, Oscar's pronouncement congealed
the tenor. Finally Oscar offered him
$5,000 a week. But Caruso’s loyalty
was not to be shaken. Oscar never
tried to get him again after that.
JUST A
MEMORY
Mn.
Hammarstein, at
Right, Is Shown
Gazing at’ a Broadway
Banner Announcing the
Famous Hammerstein
Memorial Performance
at the Metropolitan—Once
Her Husband's Bitterest Rival,
Note Oscar’s Picture
Banner.
Instead, he was continually an
nouncing that he had found a
tenor greater than Caruso, Unfortun
ately, neither I nor anyone else re
members such a tenor’s name—unless
it be that of the glorious Zenatello.
But in contrast to that defeat was
his sweet triumph in securing the
operatic works of Richard Strauss, just
when a battle was on to get a corner
on that genius. At a time when Oscar
was making his bitterest fight against
the Metropolitan he and his Manhattan
Opera Company received a cable from
Strauss to the effect that he was willing
to sign up with my husband. DanieJ
Frohman was the first to congratulate
my husband on his victory.
Oscar told me what nobody has
known, besides myself, until this day,
how he secured “Electra.” He ha('
worked in secret, the negotiations start
ing when he met Strauss at a dinnei
in Berlin. Naturally Oscar, by either
direct or devious methods, made it a
point to impound Strauss for his pur
poses and designs. Hammerstein re
garded “Electra” as the great musical
attraction of the century.
He said to me one day: “I was
almost ashamed of having secured the
opera, with the several managers of
tna Metropolitan striving like wild men
to capture Strauss’s work. If Andreas
Dippel and Gatti-Oasaaza had been
quick enough and clever enough to se
cure it, it would have set the Metro
politan up again in a formidable
place.”
Gloating over his victory, he went
on to explain to me, as he paced my
boudoir: "But these two gentlemen
were so busy putting on that novelty,
‘Aida,’ that they let ‘Electra’ slide.
What didn’t the Vanderbilts say? I
can imagine how J. Pierpont Morgan
How We Distinguish
One Taste from
Another
By HERBERT t„ HERSCHKNSOHN.
(Phyiicimn and Surgeon)
THE sense of taste is appreciated
by means of nerves, which are
present in the mucous membrane
ming the mouth and covering the
tongue. On the surface of the tongue
these nerves lie in innumerable
;mall pimple-like projections, called
papillae. In the back part of the
,ongue, near the root, are a group ol
large papillae, numbering from seven
to fifteen, ami arranged in an inverted
V fashion (Fig. 1). A microscopic
ross-section of one of these is shown
in Fig 2. In these larger papillae the
ends of the nerves lie among groups of
cells, called taste buds (Fig- X). The
cells of these buds are arranged so
that they taper, resembling the end of
a watermelon. The ends of the cell?
do not meet at a point, but are sepa
rated just far enough to leave a little
canal open, the same as would be
present if a pencil were pushed into
the melon at the end.
The cells of the buds are merely
supporting beams for the nerve*.
From each nerve a small hair-like til a
raent protrudes into the canal. These
are extremely sensitive, and are
specialized to transmit the impulse of
taste to the brain, where the sensation
is recorded. The base of each of the
larger papillae is buried rather deeply
in the substance of the tongue, and is
Fig. 1-—The Koof of the Tongue
Showing the Position* of (B)
'he Small mid (A) large
Papillae.
Fi|. 2—froM Sertion of the Ur|«
Papilla Showing the location
of the Taste Buds at X.
surrounded on ail sides by a trench
like groove. The taste buds are
especially prominent in the side walls
of the papillae, and are occasionally
found in the wall across the groove.
In order to be tasted a substance
must be in solution. Solids which are
not already dissolved or which cannot
be dissolved in the saliva are tasteless.
Certain parts of the tongue are more
sensitive to particular tastes than
others. For instance, the tip of the
tongue is most responsive to salt, the
back part to bitter and the sides to
sour and sweet. A difference may
even be noted between the papillae
themselves. A mixture of sugar and
quinin, for example, when applied to
one papilla, may excite a sweet taste,
whereas, when applied to another pa
pilla, possibly the next one to it, the
taste may be one of extreme bitterness.
The different tastes are not affected
to the same degree. This is proven by
painting the tongue with a solution of
cocaine. The first of the sensations to
b» deadened is that of bitter. This is
followed by the sweet, then the sour,
while -the taste of salt is the last to be
lost.
In considering the subject of taste
one should not become confused with
flavors. The flavor of a meal does not
depend only ugpn our sense of taste
but rather upon our sense of small. If
the nostrils are pinched while eating,
the flavor of a meal will be almost en
tirely lost, but the sensations of sweet,
hitter, sour, and salt will remain.
Strange as it may seem, when the
sense of smell is destroyed it is diffi
cult for one to tell the difference be
tween an apple and an onion
PRESENTED AT COURT
LEAVING COURT
!
*
I wo Court* ot an entirely Different Kind Are shown in lh«te ricture* which symbolize the tragic
Story of Mr*. 0*car Hammeritein. In the Drawing the Arti*t Picture* the Splendor of Her
Presentation to King George and Queen Mary in Buckingham Palace. But What a Sad Contra*t
I* Preaented in the Photograph, Which Show* Mr*. Hammeritein Recently Leaving a New York
Magiitrate’s Court—After She Had Been Sentenced to a Day in Jail on a Disorderly Conduct
Charge. Prominent Clubwomen Who Became Intereated in Her Behalf Declared
the Charge Unfounded.
.-(pressed himself, and Goelet and
he rest of then.”
At another time, when the Ameri
an opera stage appeared desolate,
so far as great talent was concerned,
Oscar loolced around for new faces.
He found that Mme. Tetrazzini was
the rage in Mexico City. He was in
trigued, and set out to acquire her.
She was a native of Florence, Italy,
and at seventeen had made her de
but in her home city as Inez in
"L’Africaine.” It was one of those
strange accidents of fate which cast
her into the role. The day before
the opening her sister, who was to
have appeared in the prima donna
role, became ill.
Oscar told me how they couldn’t
even get a dress to fit Tetrazzini for
that first performance. He was very
much impressed by her voice. He told
me later that she had earned during
her career the incredible sum (even
for one of the greatest of opera stars)
of $5,000,000.
Oscar concluded she belonged to
How York City. His negotiations with
her were sagacious. He never revealed
himself to artists as being too anxious
for their services. The cUva made her
New York bow in Oscar’s
Manhattan Opera House and
her acclamation was tremen
dous.
knew of them. He went to Italy later,
and I well suspect that he vowed never
to return to the United States. He was
turned down in Italy, too, and went to
London in desperation. Circumstances
were none too propitious for him there.
It was Campanini who tipped off my
husband about McCormack. Oscar
signed him up. For the first
year he was to get $700 a
week; the second, $800, and
by the third year Oscar
hoped to have him whipped
into shape enough 'to be
worth $1,200 a week.
But it finally remained
for Oscar to decide that John
McCormack was not at home
on the operatic stage.
He told me so emphati
cally before ' he even 1
told McCormack. He
said “Mike” was not an
actor, but a genuine
singer. This decision,
later imparted to
McCormack, was
destined to net
the singer hi a
g r e at career,
climaxed by con
1
PEARLS OF NORMANDY.
Waltz.'
Andaniino.
OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN
PIAXO.
An Excerpt from
On* of Mr.
Haramerttein'*
Moat Famoui
Waltzes, “Pearl*
of Normandy.”
Do You
Remember it?
I came to know Mine. Tetrazzini
very intimately and I can say that
she is one of the most charming wo
men I have ever met. 1 cannot help,
however, but ponder on her marital
career. Her first husband was J. G.
Bazelli, tenor. At the age of fifty
two she married a second time —
Pietro Vernati, the son of a small
haberdasher. He was a tenant in the
same building she lived in in Rome.
She said to me one day: “I am surf
that love Is the inspiration of my new
romance, and I rejoice in thinking '
that it was my voice that brought me
into the life of the man who is now
my mate forever.”
Perhaps you may nave read, how
ever, that more than a year ago they
reached a parting of the ways.
One of Oscar’s boasts was that he
had lured from Covent Garden, Lon
don, the late Cleofonte Campanini,
whom I cannot help but regard as the
greatest conductor of the present cen
tury. I am even thinking of Toscanini
when I make such a sweeping state
ment. London was alarmed at Oscar’s
capture of Cleofonte.
But tf the pillaging of tampantni
was an "unforgettable crime,” Lon
don was doomed to another marauding
expedition on Oscar’s part when he
enticed John McCormack to New York.
U is my intention to set forth here the
real story of McCormack’s conquest.
On November 10, 1909, McCormack,
an unknown and almost obscure Irish
tenor, made his bow at the Manhattan
Opera House as Alfred in "La Trav
iata.” With him were Mme. Tetrazzini
and Mario Sammarco, with Anselmi
conducting. The following morning
Oscar telephoned John at his hotel:
“You ought to have vour voice at its
best this morning, Mike. The press is
for you.” (He called all his non-Latin
singers “Mike.’’)
It was only five years before that
McCormack had left New York in de
jection, humiliation and with memories
which he no doubt wishes he had never
known. T am one of the few who
mm
OSCAR’S MEMENTOS
The Impresario’s Calling Card When
Ha Wat in the Midst of His London
Operatic Ventura and Received by
Mrs. Hammeratein During Their
Courtship. Also the Famous Hammer
stein Hat; It Shifted on His Head
According to His Moods.
tracts with the talking pictures, which
paid him $50,000 a week only this past
Summer.
Oscar's dealings with his prospective
and actual stars were not always
genial There are two instances that
come to mind. One concerns Nellie
Melba, the famous Mine. Melba, of the
Metropolitan Opera House.
One evening, while in his suite at
the Grand Hotel, in Paris, Oscar was
informed by a messenger that Mme.
Melba would entertain any business
overtures he might care to make at her
apartment. My husband, supreme ego
tist, did not like her attitude. He was
accustomed to have artists come to him,
Hammerstein went to Melba's apart
ment unceremoniously. She ^as in a
hurry, she informed him, and had
little' time. Oscar said, impatiently:
*Tt will pay you $3,000 a week.”
The statement fell on Melba’s ears
like a vain boast. This made my nus
W9ULMJUIJim'Uil :-i:...&>.&««
OTHER DAYS
Life Wa* Serene and Gay When
Thi» Photograph Wa» Taken of
Mra. Hammerttein, Showing Her
With Vera Brand, a Friend, at
Palm Beach.
band so furious that he took a roll of
notes from his pocketbook, fitfully
$3,000, and flung them
into her face. Before he
parted he said: “There’*
your first week's salary.
If you want to go with
me in my opera house,
let me know. Otherwise return the
money to me.”
That fall Mme. Melba opened at
Hammerstein’s in New York.
Here’s another example of his
quick temper. Me told me
about it, though it hap
pend far back in 1894,
when Mile. Di Dio, in
ternationally famous song
stress from Vienna, made
her debut at Koster and
Rial’s music hall, New
York. Her singing so
irritated Oscar that, al
though he was her man
ager of the house, ho
hissed her from his box.
It was a long, sibilant and
vibrant hiss, heard all
over trie tneatre. ante. ui uo ten. uie
stage in confusion.
For that matter, everybody was con
fused at the spectacle of a house man
ager hissing «te of his own attractions.
As the manager he shouldn’t have don*
it. But 1 suspect that somewhere in
that house were discriminating people
who admired Oscar’s sincere apprecia
tion of music, which, in later years,
was to make a whole world of aspiring
singers tremble.
His mannerisms, of course, were the
talk of the town. His hat was without
duplicate, except that worn by William
M. Chase, the painter, Oscars hat was
a barometer of his temperament. If
the glass had set fair, the placid angle
of the hat was unmistakable. On the
other hand, if a storm was brewing ...
and things had not been fashioning
themselves according to his wishes, th«
tilt of his hat registered the mood.
With his hat went his Prince Albert
coat, touched off with his goatee.
Everybody knew Oscar Hammerstein
as he ' strolled the streets. In his '
habiliments he reflected the grandeur
of the social W'orld as well as the opera.
His clothes fitted into the picture of
this thorough aristocrat—a Roeen
kavaiier of the Opera who never awak
ened from a fair and rosy dream that !
was too sweet to last. i
(To Be Continued.)
Oofprlgfit. 1930. Inlnnuticnal Eeatura Bnrrlo*. Umv. Grant Britain Kiibti BnittmI,