I" THf,B- TTni iwpiimiiiimi iiMtminmrn '8? W '1 I'. . B What the Music TVJe FAMOUS TOP HAT. AND Tfie IMPRESARIO'S DAUGHTER STELLA Remarkable Achievements Reflect Genuine Originality of Man Who Trusted All to 'His Own Genius and Found His Chief Joy in Being an Impresario WHEN the newspaper men of London surrounded Oscar Hammerstein on the eve of the opening of tho opera house he had built In the British' metropolis and implored him to say with-what 'he was going to open, tho Impresario ,'fcfiri America repuea: - "With debts." A new word, a real American word ought to bycolned to fit Oscar Ham; mersteln. He loved the word 'Im presario' and rolled It constantly on his tongue, but It Is too foreign to de scribe Hammerstein and his activities. At the funeral the other day there were many men In tears who hadn't wept for years. These were tho men who had been most closely associated with Hammerstein in the climax of his life and musical career at the Man hattan Opera House. They were men who had at times suffered from his sin gular personality. They appreciated the fine qualities of the man and for got in their admiring remembrance of Ms genuine originality the squalls through which they had passed with him at the helm. Their tears were gen uine and made a beautiful tribute to the good things, and they predoml nated in this strange character. Money a Sienna, Not nn End. Money to Oscar Hammerstein was but a means to an end. It would be using too big a phrase to nay that ho was an idealist and beUoved in art for art's sake. His early hardships and the defects of his education kept htm from that pose. He liked money be cause it permitted his joy in life to develop, and this Joy came from be ing an Impresario. It is not quite cortain that he really enjoyed music or in a lifetime devoted to It in a peculiar personal way that ho ever understood the goddesy. He made no effort to enter her kingdom by the recognized door, and ho scoffed at tho preliminary steps which lead to the altar. May wo not say, without putting ourselves In that unpleasant class that takes a certain ghoulish pleasure In decrying the dead, that if he had educated himself in muslo or In the other arts and sciences he dallied with, Oscar Hammerstein would have lett-a greater name and -would himself have been a .happier and wiser manT This Is a mere plea for convention ality in art! a plea fopthe belief that to know anatomy and perspoctlve does no harm to the most idealistic and color drunken pointer, that the study m of what the world has tn great archi tecture benefits the man who designs summer cottages. Art has her Immutable rules and the true worshipper learns them first and then departs from them. Aa overweening confidence In one's elf; a conceit that It la the fashion to ceil nowadays pathological vanity, Is a marketable quality. We see what It seHa for every day. But when the bargain Is mads the purchaser ac quires wisdom. He rarely buys such a commodity again. This conceit, this vanity is the attribute that nature employs very often to get her work done'.' Especially when that work is something grandiose! and scares tho careful man who is In the habit of measuring accurately his own capa bllltles. Poor devil, his very care to tw accurate in making the measure ments often prevents him from doing w uui ia conventional things. Modesty In our world Is the angel of the fireside- and the evil demon of tho fctreet. This strange combination of man who has but departed from life was a genius and he look advantage of trot fact by seldom or rarely pre-' paring himself or his materials -for an1 overwhelming success. He rrl53e" wonderful record through his belle"! In himself, he accomplished things he might not have attempted It the trait of foresight had been granted along with his other great endowments, but It would be fatal to say . . . fatal' to all rules of probability, what he might have accomplished with this gift added. Hammerstein was a natural genius In many directions and he had never any hesitation In making the state ment "I am a genius," said he boldly and as if defying contradiction, "as a me chanic, as an inventor, as a chemist, and most of all as a musician.'' Oddly enough; for statements like this, while 'they may dazzle, generally lead to laughter, what he said he dem onstrated. He was a mechanical genius without knowing very much of, physics. The stage hands and car penters and mechanicians used to go to blm when their mechanical troubles got beyond them, and with no pains at all, without explanation of how he did It. and it may bo without knowing how he did it, he straightened out their difficulties. It was the same In ar tistic things about which ho may not have been expected to know very much; he had a remedy for tangles of this fcind also and applied It with out regard to precedent. The confi dent manner In which he went at aU things half solved them, and there may have, been that fine aualltv of "horse sense" added to his other assortment of traits. That he dldnt ftDDly It to oersonal criticism was for tho result the sad dest part. He built him a house rather early In his career in the Mount Morris Park neighborhood whore he was his own architect This house was a mixture of majestic architec tural features, incongruous for Its size, and meretricious ornament which would Indicate in the builder corre sponding traits and tastes. It was, he thought at tho time, the house he wanted and It served the purpose of impressing the ignorant, but Hammer stein learned' better In a very short time and decided that it "was not the bquse he wanted. Throughout his career of builder, however, ho con tinued to do what he liked. The re sult -was that ho has left no perfect architectural monument. What la Conscience? Lack of knowledge in an .art. If it be but deep enough and urged by a powerful pride, Is a. force. That has been proved to the dismay of many devotees of art who would gladly lay down their lives at her shrine. Never, It would seem, has the dismay spread so wide as it goes to-day. The suc cess men .achieve In making them' selves remarked, opposed and accepted. who lack the qualities that the cold principles ox art demand in her VO' tarles, is very, confusing to a student of art,. He sees a painting or a statue or a building gain the admiration of the world when the books all teach him that each Is falw In principle. In his lack of worldly wisdom he takes It for granted that a painter, a sculp tor, a musician, must have an artistic conscience and that every artist fits himself by study and reflection to ex pose It What the student does not define correctly Is the word "con World s U i iimmit ItTii ar.....- n MMBfJB I fciM Wis, In i il 1 Mi -HI 1U inf9IMU?H'4))hi3 I science." It Is the reflection in our selves of our neighbors' opinions of us. If you don't value their opinion there need be no conscience. Hammerstein didn't Everything ho did was done because he wanted to do it, and to do It In his own. way. There is-'much' To 'adnflnP ihr-tbe 'bigness11!; his courage and In the way that he' sacrificed money, past achievement everything ho had gained by work and thought to do something "beyond" that tempted this proud, self-confident spirit This lndepenence of mind saved him, in his career of builder in the midst of sordid battles with con tractors and every sort of annoying commercial controversy, from going under as smaller men would have gone. Wafted .forward on the strong breeza of his own Judgment which he ner learned to .distrust he went from dis appointment blithely .to new achieve ment But no man can go througn. sucn an ordeal wltnout marks on his soul, and there Isn't a doubt but that Hammerstein had them. At this period. between the building and the loss of Olympia and the construction of the Victoria Theatre, a certain morose- ness, which he tried among his friends to throw off, Indicated the marks In side. But at this very period ho was dreaming his most shining dream . . . to throw off the old vaude ville man and put on the impresario. What Blade Hnmjnertcln ? What made Hammerstein? What early training, what hereditary traits, what education or lack of education. what Influence of people .contributed to the full growth of this barbarlo genius? Born in Berlin, he had run away from a despotlo father whose Ideas of education were to make an "all round" son without permitting natural bent to have a say. Ho had to study scl- Former War Dog Becomes Fire Fighters' Mascot WHEN the men of the gas bat tallon of the Seventy-seventh Division let loose their pigeon messengers during the rainy, spirit depressing days of the Argonns Forest and Mouse fighting It often happened that tho birds never reached the friendly loft In the front or rear lines. The story of how the birds fell, wounded by shrapnel. Is now history. But the story of the stray dogs which associated themselves with the battal ions heading for the front lines, and then accredited themselves by doing the most daring of things is yet to be told. Americans who soldiered in France will never forget the stray dogs that made friends with the doughboys. Every contingent that landed at Brest, St Nazalre, La Pol lice, Bordeaux or other port was bound to come upon one of these stray dogs Inland. Like au war refugees the dogs were always hungry and they quickly realised the doughboys were friend worth having. Over tn the quarters of Engine Com patty No. 19, at 355 West Twenty-fifth street, there is a small undorslzed Dal matian who wags his tall when one calls him, "Ted." Wflfh this dog goes an Interesting history of how, before me nrcmen came into possession or him, he lived, with and did errands f of the herolo men who made up the gar battalion of the Seventy-seventh Dlvl slon. This mascot, a thoroughbred Lost When Oscar Hammerstein Died ARTHUR HfMMER.STElH ence, especially chemistry; he had to learn bookkeeping and other things ho hated, and the only relaxation per mitted htm the lad found In the bow French War dog, was known on the' western front by all tho soldiers of the division as "Phosgene." He Introduced himself to Company O of the gas bat talion soon after the St Mlhlel action and was befriended by Sergeant Harry J, Bailey. A few handfuls of slum gullion and cornod "willie" convinced the stranger that his associates tad "beaucoup chow," Ono night the gas battalion found themselves up on the front lines observing German artillery fire, which hadu plentiful mixture of gas shells. Some pigeons went bock with messages, but an hour later the men stationed upat the front realized their messengers wore falling them Then tho thought of training the dog, whom all endearingly called Phosgene, occurred. In very short time the men by dividing themselves into small groups and hiding In the dense wood land of the Argonne Forest trained the dog to carry messages from one group to another. Time and again thereafter In actual battle Phosgene made, good, tramping back and forth from rear to front lines with a message hidden under his collar, which some of the men had made for him and on which was placed a silver plate with the divisional name and company letter of tho outfit to which tho dog was' accredited. Tho dog had many narrow escapes from bursting shells, but ho always carried on. He was a marvel at leaping across shell holes and trenches. The least noise when he was at the front from the direction of the enemy was sure .to be detected by the dog. He seemed of his violin. After the parent had beaton him unmercifully with a skate strap young Oscar sold his violin for $35. ran away to Hamburg and to know Just what he was doing and how it should bo done. He showed great aversion to German prisoners, and when a line of Boches were marched by he would daft out and bark defiance at them. I After the armistice was signed Phox- geno came back with the division. It was an easy matter to smuggle blm aboard a transport at Brest and carry him to Camp Merritt when the gas battalion arrived in this country. Then every one in the hurry and ex citement of getting nomo overiooxea the dog. He was being sadly neglected when Fireman William Kennolly of Engine Company 19 found him at the camp. Kennelly was Just about to leave the service, and after ho had solemnly promised the men that he. wou'id get the dog a good berth In the engine house over in Chelsea village they allowed htm to take their friend. The firemen changed his nam from Phosgene to Tud." In telling about Ted. and his now career with tho city lire department. Captain Ferdinand Butenschoen of No. 19 said: "Why, all the village la crazy about the dog. When any one looks at his collar and sees that he has been to war they make friends with Ted forthwith. He Is a very Intelligent little fellow. Whenever wo get an alarm hero he runs around the chauf feur to see If he Is going to crank up the motor on the hosa tender. You see we only turn the motor over when we are scheduled to go out on a sta tion. Otherwise we do not touch the apparatus. Well, this dog watches to ses If the crank Is touched, and when crossed the ocean to America In the steerage. Hero he workod In a cigar factory tor $2 a week, and when by showing his boss some Improved way to cut tobacco leaves this wage was Increased to $5 weekly ho married. Now his mind was turned to In venting Improved machinery for the cigar manufacturing business. Ills patents proved valuable and coirc apondlngly his own value to an em ployer rose. Ho became editor of a little sheet known as tho Tobacco Trade Jnrnal. In a word, a life of comparative comfort opened before him. Then, as later, he deliberately turned his back on such a lifo. His ambition was to be a theatrical manager, and when he had enough money saved up from the tobacco business ho leased It is ho leaps right up on the rear of tho wagon and rides to the fire with us. Sometimes tho mon fool him by making bellevo they are going to 'crank her up,' and tho dog Jumps up on the roar. Then they run away and laugh at him. He climbs slowly down and surveys tho crowd with a look in his eyes whjch plainly means f lease aon t iooi mo iiko mac "I am very glad that he rides on the wagon, because It moans he will not meet the fate of other fire house mas cots who run ahead of the apparatus and get killed. Ho Is a wlso little fel low and, like a" lot of 'tho boys from around here who went to war, he learned something in France." Peddling in Uniform TCt THEN you seo a man In uniform yy peddling souvenirs do not Jump v v to tho conclusion that he Is a poor soldier In need. In all probability ho Is an impostor using tho American uniform as a stock In trade for mak ing a living. It Is your duty to notify tho nearest policeman and have his case investigated. Col. Arthur Woods, assistant to the Secretary of War, has written to tho chief of police In every city In the United States asking for the coopcrtv tlon of the police In dealing with the peddler, panhandler and street faker In the unlfbcm of tho army and navy, Tho uniform, he says, is as sacred as the flag itself, and the police forcos of tho country can do no finer thing than "go to any limit to protect If the Stadt Theatre, opposite the Thalia Theatre in tho Bowery, and produced thero "An Errant Knight" It wns a failure. Unlit to l'lenae nimaelr. Without being discouraged, he cm- barked In tho construction line and put up first the Harlem Opera House and second the Columbus Thentro. These preceded Olympia and Victoria, and among his later buildings In this city aro tho Manhattan Opera House and the Lexington Avenue Opera House. Tho buildings ho erected for opera In Philadelphia and London need not affect what Is to bo said about those which stand for his monument In New York. The latter are invari ably characterized by an unfinished air. as well aa a lack of oomfort which Is harder to support than their lack of elegance. In every Instance Hammer stein built to suit himself and not his audiences. "I wasn't thoroughly taught to bo a builder, a machinist, a chemist, or any thing else," said he, nursing a grudge of a lifetime against his fathor, "Had I boon; who knows what -I may have accomplished In one of them? But It Is as well, for my passion la muslo. I should have been a great composer." Feeling thuB while still in the. prime of life and with vaudeville at the Vic toria marking triumphal tlmo for him, what would have been more natural than for the operatic aspirant to study the arts of harmony and counterpoint whatsoever drudging first steps divine music requires? But no; sedulously and oven contemptuously avoiding theso suro paths (for they certainly lead Bomewhere), ho set ,to work to compose a light' opera or two. One of these, "Snnta Maria," was produced without success. Ill Unparalleled Feat. Nevertheless, from that failure, Ham merstein passod at once to the proud position of a world Impresario. In 1906 the Manhattan Opera House proved hospitable to a flock of singing birds from Europe of a degree of splendor rivalling tho aviary of the Metropolitan Opera House. One man unassisted had gathered them thero, It was njcat without a parnllej. It Is not Just to soy that the triumph of this first ueuson of opera at the Manhattan Operu House was merely a success of circumstance, duo to tho growing boredom which a succession of broken tenors and fleshy German sopranos living on the relio of repu- I I WUUIl IIAU IIV4UVA4 III ilia KiiUlU I J til I of the Metropolitan, fitxaagehj enough. this man born In Germany had buz little admiration for German lingers. "They all want too much money," he used to say, whatever ho felt c( admiration for the great Wagner. He know little Indeed of musical history and confined himself to two or three modern composers, French and Italian, but his outspoken contempt tor tht "old masters" found warrant In thi taste of tho public. His first operatlo season bore out his judgment. At the start of tht second, "Thais" on Its first night at tracted a house of curiosity. It drew real admirers before tho first wcekwia donn and the same may be said of other modern scores first Introtod by Hammerstein. But while hla Judg ment of what the public wanted In opera In those days hit the bull'a ere, his triumph Is not properly to be at tributed to chance. It Is a great Usk to summon from nothing a fine com pany for opera, a great orchestra, the Scenes, the costumes. Indoed to evolve the setting merely In a house without tradition Is a task tnat would etagsM most Imaginations. Hammerstein car ried It out In cold blood. IIoiv lie Doncht an Opera. Ho meant first of all to triumph, and the cause of music, if it were tote ' furthered, came secondary. His doubt about "Pelleas and Mell.sande" as ex pressed by himself and the comiwr clal decision ho rendered in the esse of "Thais" would prove that no care was to be omitted which should at tract people to his opera. He had never heard a certain new opera, but while waiting In tho drawing room of Cava Hori In Paris as she was running ove some new music with a tenor. Ham merstein Jumped to tho conclusion that tho piece was the much heralded Kore, and cutting snort his Interview wlt'i the diva ho rushed to the rompofw " sign a contract frr the exclusion ri-hti for America. "But will you not hear my music! asked the famous Massenet "Afterword! Afterward' '' rej'llcdlt busy Hammerstein, Following that eventful firt 5"? when all signs had fallnd and onlv the audacious Impresario had won. Hair. morutein became In outward appear ance and manner a changed man Ilii mien now lived up to what lie tlioutht was tho true impresario model Oon were tho shirtsleeve days and FilfOt the hoarso voice singing its oR" strange compositions. Now in immac ulate garb under tho famous high h"' Hammerstein demanded and rc-c!N tho bomago of his singers and the deference of tho nubile. AcceptM-fl-' an arbiter of music, ho turned hlscrlV leal faculties to other arts beside n did not hesltato to pass upon a tooK or a picture. He was of Uie moderns In all theso things. Listen to a thing he often said, for It is lllumlnaung the man: II In Scorn of tho CIrmIc "What do wo need of the art and literature and music of dead people' Theso were mado for tliclr own as and raco by tho men who.a names read on tombstones. They never thought of America or tho twenties century when they compo-ed and m hear thorn here like eavesdroppers. Tho Richard Strauss operas are , 4 V ,-1 our day and we can nror -without eavesdropping, npparerw. Hammerstein presented "Salome" aa "Electra" a3 If their composer no thrown his scores at the puoiiu -Hommorsteln's lart year at the Mn hattan Opera House he offered mado of both theso ultra mw Bcores. Such generosity stunned nn public Now came tho moment when Wm merstcif was to be bribed to fllnt' A cold million and two hundred thou sand dcllars took him for a period yoars out of the character ho 0("r'' loved to play. In explaining ' rangement ho made with the U'(C" of the Metropolitan Opera House w Impresario laid stress on the bud mui cal year he had endured in Mn" with the elder house and h1'" polntraont In Philadelphia and Low0" and his need of rest ,v- Most men would hare taktrn money and enjoyed life on It r j Hammerstein, Or rather Just to H" mersteln. Ills way of e-Mojlng was to produce; lie could not rust ' xpent a Inih-e part of tlie mon.' building the ioxlngton Avenue w-- - . . ..... . fnr APre uouso unu lie itveu nuninh - 20, 1020, to como around. Wilcb wou. removo tho legal restrain' thai : iw him from producing opera. A 6 ' on his dying bed In tho Lenox AJ nue Hospital, without fearing tj1" " was his dying bed, ho ouii"" great plana, r r . urn ' .., ' ' .1