Life — March 25, 1909 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

404 Shall Women Vote > The Important Question Settled at Last FTER reading the following com- munications, all doubt as to the justice and general desirability of women voting should at once be removed Dear Lire: I think it would be just lovely to vote, and I cannot understand why the privi- lege has been denied us so long. I am not quite twenty-one yet, but I will be next year, and I have often been awfully interested in some of the questions dear papa talks over with his men friends when he has them to dinner. Papa is delighted that I take such an interest in the government of our country, and I feel sure that he would approve of vot- ing if I should ask him. It would be so nice to have something real interesting to do besides playing golf and seeing football games. Besides, if we had can- didates each one of them could have different colors, and I should think it might be very exciting. Of course I should have voted for Mr. Taft, because he has a daughter in college, and we college girls ought to stick together. It would he awfully good fun to stand in line at the booth—I believe that's what they call it— we waited. for us? nd wave our colors while Won't you do w Cordially yours, Dottie t you can Vas Burt. Dear Lire: Tam a member of the Colonial Dames, the Daughters of the Revolution, the W.C. T. UU, the Y. We C and it makes my blood boil when I think that the sacred privilege of the ballot is de- nied to me. I tell you, sir, that this country is on the brink of a mighty revo- lution. Unless we get our privileges. there is going to be real trouble abroad Things will never be any better than they are, with the men in charge. I have lived with several of them and know what they are. Although they all left_me, before they did so they com- mitted the most awful crimes! Coming home late at night, tracking mud all over, and indulging in that vicious curse, the serpent Rum. If I had the privi- lege of voting, I would make them stand around, I can tell you. I have been longing all my life to go on the stump. Yours vehemently, Susan. OME women resemble angels only A Composite Singer HERE used to be a mania for print- ing a lot of photographs on top of one another and calling the result a composite. So we had composi clergymen, artists, athletes, assassins—what not. Being everything in general they looked like nothing in particular. Two negatives may make an affirmative in grammar, but in photog- raphy, no. Try to arrive at the look of an eclec- tic poct and what happens? Shake- speare’s bald dome shines through Ra cine’s flood of curls; Dante's hook nose Verlaine’s scoop; Poe's oustache shadows Goethe's lip; s cheeks are lost in Swinburne's disconsolate whiskers and those in the flood of Bryant's beard which hides Byron’s lyrical collar, while Walt Whit- man’s swelling thorax wars with Pope’s corseted ribs. The result is not compo- sition, but cancellation statesmen, is annulled. by sickly Shelley How much better if one might reall: compose by selection and elimination, tuking the best of the best,-and making a better than best. I have often bewailed our inability to correct the anatomy of some of our operatic Now [ am tormented by a desire to compose a new star out of the star dust of the whole galaxy. What a soprano we could make—if we could. Mr. Henderson, the critic of the New York Sun, once complained that Tetrazzini drawing and queens. while sang her downward runs superbly, she sang her upward runs in such a fashion tWat if she were in a conservatory she would be refused a diploma. Little if any fault has ever been found with Mme. Sembrich’s vocalis: or south bound. Now wait. north if—but Several critics avowed that while Mary Garden's physique was a feast for the eyes, her high notes gave them the earache They usually say that, though Emma Eames’ beauty fires the blood, her vocal and dramatic work brings icicles to the brow. They complained that while Calvé’s interpretation of “ Car- was dramatically thrill- lieri’s gracile charm has led the music critics to refer her to the art critics, since they have found her musical be. havior faulty. Now suppose—alas, we can only sup- pose—that we were permitted by the anti-vivisection league and the grafter's union to dissect and analyze, then syn- thesize and reassemble the choicest traits of each of the cohort of geniuses at the two opera houses. It were a consum- mation devoutly to be wished! As Omar might have said: Ah, love, could you and I with fate conspire To grasp this cast of characters entire, Would wwe not shatter it to bits, and then Remold it nearer to our heart's desire? For instance, to compose a ravishin ‘out of vocalism? Take five golden bead-chains of Tetrazzini’s; five pearly cadenzas of Sembrich’s; add a. suffi- ciency of Destinn’s dramatic recitation Fremstad’s warm human tones, Bressler- Gianoli’s middle voice, and a mixture of the poignant notes of Schumann-Heink’s lower voice with Louise Homer's deep contralto. Stir and knead this mixture till it is perfectly blended, then pour it into a form composed of the best por- tions of Farrar and Cavalieri with the grace of Garden. Now there is a singer as is a singer The same method could be applied to the men with profit. Take Caruso’s top notes and Bonci’s art, Zenatello’s fire and Erik Schmedes’ heroic frame with Dalmores’ gift’ of characterization, Dufranne’s mellowness and Renaud’s dramatic genius—then where would your critics be? The answer, of course, is that they would still find plenty of fault, since no combination would suit every- body, for there are nearly as many ome lettes as there are eggs, and ears have their individualities as well as voices. Rupert Hughes “po YOU UNDERSTAND, HENRY? YOU ARE TO SET ON TH EGGS WHILE TAM AT THE MOTHER'S MEETING.” because they are continually harp- ing, her impersonation was about ing. fifty pounds too heavy. Cava- comicbooks.com