The New York herald. [volume], March 12, 1922, SECTION SEVEN, Page 8, Image 88

About The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
The Grand Opera House, Eighth avenue and Twenty-third
street, once the center of New York's musical world,
now a landmark soon to pass before commerce.
nd Opera House
What the Great Building
Meant in the Musical
Life of New York
Despite the Handicap
Forced Upon It by Its
Owners?Famous Stars
Who Made It Famous
IF a building could feel, what would be
the sentiments of the Grand Opera
House in New York city if it knew
that it was doomed to destruction? A fine
house like this one, with a stage 80 by 70,
a comfortable auditorium, with seats far
enough apart to prevent spectators from
always being conscious of their knees, a
foyer to stroll in between the acts?in a
word, a house so well built and so capable
of modern embellishment must feel?if It
can feel at all?that it has done nothing
to deserve its doom.
But fashion has decrees that no one is
able to ignore, that a great and expensive
monument has no power against, and it
is helpless in the track of encroaching
an all-absorbing business. Of what avail
would be the plea to stay both fashion and
business, which should rehearse the inter
esting history of this amusement house?
Who would waste a sigh because *of its
' impending demolition, because Adelina
Patti and her sister Carlotta used to go. to
shows here in charge of their stepbrother
Bar ill?
Who cares that operatic history tells
how In this house Clara Louise Kellogg,
singer, adapter, translator, director, made
the first attempt to sow the seed of Ameri
can grand opera? And if in the same
full chronicle It is restated that the Ameri
can debut of beautiful rich-voiced Pauline
Lucca occurred here, as well as that of the
equally famous but ill-fated lima di Murska
(they sang here on successive days in
October, 1873), what is to be gained in the
way of a respite for the famous house by
these tender evocations of the past?
Nothing.
Time, relentless time, goes on unmoved
by memories or tears. Change, as relent
less, drives on, building, tearing down, re
building. ?
In the dying strains of "II Trovatore,
as they were sung by Max StrakoBch's
opera company on the night of January 9,
1868, there was felt by certain tempera
mental persons in the great audience an
omen of the fate of the Grand Opera House.
They left the building with their doubts
fconflrmed that the beautiful house, so ex
cellently suited to its purpose, would never
be able to rival the popularity of the Acad
emy of Music, farther down town but more
' central of situation as it was. either with
the fashionables or the hoi polloi of New
York.
Handicapped by Sponsors,
House Faced a Struggle
Scoffed as this omen was with its predic
tions of bad luck by the money kings of
that generation, who for a whim, a caprice,
had determined to compel fame and popu
larity for the house, it worked more or less
powerfully and continued to balk their ef
forts throughout the early chequered years.
Jay Gould and "Jim" Flsk, money mag
nates of the moment, were hardly the kind
of men who could command and lead public
opinion or direct successfully the fortunes
of a house devoted to music. Their at
tempt to do so is one of the exhibitions of
singularity that crop up continually in
human nature. Gould, as a matter of fact,
never had more than a lukewarm feeling
for the enterprise, but Fisk, a much warmer
nature, a man, despite all his faults, of
wide sympathies, had It close to his heart.
If the bullet fired by Edward Stokes on the
staircase of the Broadway Central Hotel
had not killed him, the name of the great
building mlRht not have degenerated into
a misnomer* so early in Its career.
In many various wayd, the more numer
ous because of this very name, the Grand
Opera House has Influenced the life of New
York for over half a century. It haa heard
the greatest Blngers of their day, some of
whom were heard only here In this coun
try; It has staged a couple of world
premieres in operas which have long been
forgotten, nearly all of the famous trage
dians of the days following our civil war
trod Its stage, and actors like Rlstorl, Nlll
son, Forrest, Ole Bull, Charles Kean. Ellen
Tree, Davenport, Mounet-Sully. Edwin
Booth and Lawrence Barrett are but a few
of the long roster of celebrated performers
who drew great audiences.
Astounding attractions like these long
ago deserted the fine stage of the Grand
Opera House, which in these latter days
ban been turned to vaudeville and moving
pictures. -But the end is near. Recently
the Grand Opera House property, at the
northwest corner of Eighth avenue and
Twenty-third street, which has been owned
by the Gould heirs since 188"4, was sold.
The building will be taken down and a
modern giant office building, so rumor says,
will take its place.
The neighborhood, like the Grand Opera
House itself, rather disappointed the wise
acres who are always present to tell us
what the future of. this or that part of New
York will be. In the palmy days of its
construction a goodly number of what are
called "nice people" had their homes in
this vicinity. London Terrace, for instance,
composed a rather pretentious-collection of
houses with well known names on the
plates. The bijou dwelling erected by
James Fisk for his favorite, Josie Mans
field, was not then, as it has long been, the
almost solitary residence house on West
Twenty-third street, but had many notable
looking neighbors. This house, it may be
said in passing, was the one rented and
lived in by Lily Langtry during her first
season in New York. It was secured for
her by "Fr*ddy" Gebhardt.
Chelsea Village Resented
March of Business
Immediately to the south lay Chelsea
vllage, which, Btrangely enough, has suc
cessfully, if silently, resisted the encroach
ment of business better than the neighbor
hood to the nortS. From Nineteenth
street to Twenty-third street, in which
vicinity still stands the fine old house once
owned and lived in by Edwin Forrest, are
to be found living the descendants of old
New York families, but this resistance was
not strong enough in West Twenty-third
street. There all is changed sinca Jay
Gould's day?all except the Grand Opera
House, whose time has come now to yield.
In Chelsea lived Bishop Clement C.
Moore, who is endeared to the child by his
poem, "The Night Before Christmas," and
this revered poet owned the land incor
porating the site at the Eighth avenue cor
ner." He leased it in 1843 to George C.
Peters and William C. Lent, who oper
ated a line of stage coaches to Westchester
and New Jersey. In'1864, Samuel N. Pike
of Cincinnati bought the lease and acquired
the fee. He put up the present building
and called it Pike's Opera House. Mr.
Pike's daughter is still living in New York.
James Flsk and Jay Gould purchased the
house after it had been open less than a
year. Gould almost at once retired from
any active management and Fisk renamed
the house and started in to carry out his
ambition to make it, world famous for
opera, ballet and spectacle. In its strange
history before T. Henry French became the
lessee, two productions indicative of
Flsk's dramatic taste stand out. Theso
were "The Tempest" and "The Twelve
Temptations." Of the latter, legend re
ports* there were more shocks in it. than
were to be had from the famous "Black
Crook," but to our more sophisticated mod
ern ideas of a ballet, these appear quite
innocuous.
Gould and Fisk Hid
In Opera House in Panic
Unfortunately for the success of these
first efforts, there existed a prejudice in
those stirring days following the civil war
against men who mixed up in their busi
ness affairs grand opera and corners in the
gold market. Jay Gould, perhaps realized
this feeling and promptly withdrew the
use of hiB name, but James Fisk went
ahead boldly doing just what he like'i.
Matters reached a climax in the fall of
1869, when the manipulation of these two
daring speculators in their attempt to cor
ner the market culminated in the panic
known as "Black Friday," on September 24,
of that year. The feeling against Gould
and Fisk rose so high that their lives were
in danger. They took refuge from the mob
in the Grand Opera House, where thoy lay
in hiding for several days.
Jay Gould purchased the property after
Fisk's death, and under new managers the
policy of the house changed from opera to
drama. Among the successive managers
were Henry E. Abbey, Poole and Donuelly,
and Augustin Daly. The conjunction of
these ? a m e 8
will Indicate to
the knowing
theater
goers how
many varieties
of plays were
offered at the
hcjuse.
In these days
when a con
tract between
impresario and
singer is too
often treated
as a "scrap of
paper" the
sensation cre
ated when
Pauline Lucca,
tired and bored
in Berlin, where she had a life contract,
broke It and ran away to sing in America,
cannot be Justly estimated. It made floods
of talk and filled columns in the newspa
pers. She was in her prime, for she had
been singing only fourteen years since her
debut in "Ernani."
New York rose tumultuously in recogni
tion of her beauty, grace and wonderful
voice. The city well knew how to judge
voice, for in its early days it had a
standard set by Pattl, who made her first
appearance in opera here, by the beautiful
Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa and by Malibran.
Pauline Lucca's audiences were true music
lovers. They held the palm suspended for
some time between this diva ana di
Murska, the divine Jlma, whom they were
to hold for so' long and whose miserable
death by self poisoning they were later to
deplore.
Minnie Hauck was a New York girl, who
sang in opera in this house not long after
her debut as Amino in "Sonnambum" in
Brooklyn, in 1866. Her apearances were
generally made here In "Carmen," a, part
The immortal
Adelina Patti was
one of many great
artists of her day
who made the
Grand Opera House
a Mecca.
with which she was not long in identify
ing her name. Later she brought to this
house her own company and whenevor Bhe
sang herself carriages conveying fashion
to the West Side of town completely
blocked transit on Twenty-third and its
contributing streets.
European singers famous in their day
won much of the additional fame they came
to America for by appearing in this house
and many of these are quite forgotten, save
in yellowed programmes or in minds even
less accurate, age having dimmed their
recollection of dates. Among these came
Krauss. who by reason of her superior act
ing was called the "Singing Rachel," and
Julie Aimee and Elizabeth Lawrowska, a
star of Russia.
Dimmer, almost lost in legend, is the
story of Anna Hunt, an American girl
who at a very early age proved on the
stage that she possessed one of the most
beautiful voices of her time. Almost with
out instruction, certainly she appears to
have been without operatic coaching, she
formed her own opera company and was
the first to give opera in San Francisco.
ALCHEMY, the crude chemistry that
sought the transmutation of base
metals Into gold, has not been ac
complished?despite the recent declaration
to the effect that German science had
achieved a synthetic gold equal in quality
to the most precious metal mined. Unfor
tunately for Germany, perhaps; but for
tunately for fhe other countries of the
world that statement was based upon a
misunderstanding. It is not synthetic gold
which has been made by German scientists;
It Is synthetic coal, "black gold," and that
is vastly more important.
A druggist in Munich?Prueckner, his
name?has actually managed to produce a
high grade anthracite from stone quarries.
It is quite true that such a transmutation
has not Interested the scientists of all the
ages and is not as engaging to the minds
of modern scientists as elusive alchemy
has interested them, but the discovery of
a method of producing coal without mines
is really much more pertinent just now.
and to Germany the end Is the same?and
better. *
If It had been true that Germany had
found a way to make gold from tinfoil or
pewter then It Is likely the new and chaotic
republic would have started forthwith
down the path of industrial detay. and
the German people would have begun train
ing to be "Lotos Eaters" Indeed. But
coal!?well, coal is a different influence.
It is the life giver to German Industry.
It will set the wheels of Industry alive,
and more than the scientists will be held in
the thrall of coal. To the new Industrial
Germany coal and iron and steel are the
masters of all men. And coal is the master
of Iron and steel.
Consequently, science, economic*, state
craft and labor are equally Interested and
enthused by the discovery of the process
of producing synthetic coal. Prueckner's
discovery promises to be of far greater
benefit than even the discovery of great
gold deposits could be.
Germany has lost its richest coal mines
in Upper Silesia to Poland. It is consid
ered probable that the French will keep
the Sarre Valley, and are eagerly looking
for any opportunity to occupy and retain
the Ruhr district, containing the most im
portant coal mines of Continental Burope
and the only rich anthracite territory still
under German control. Germany's water
power resources are relatively small; if
fully developed they will not yield more
than 2,000,000 horse-power of "white coal,"
since the French, in the Versailles Treaty,
secured the exclusive right to develop the
Rhine between Rasel and Lauterburg, and
the other big rivers, with the exception of
the Weser, have been internationalized.
So It seems that Germany's very exist
ence was placed in jeopardy, the more so
as the peace treaty prevents her from
entering into commercial treaties, except
on minor subjects.
Nineteenth and twentieth century civiliz
ation is largely based on the use of me
chanical power for the purpose of produc
tion. The mutual relations of mechanical
power and civilization have never been
driven home to the public at large as they
have been brought to Universal attention
by the world wide coal shortage during the
war.
Though the Berlin Patent Office has not
yet rendered a decision of Prueckner's ap
plication for a patent on his synthetic coal
process the fact that Prueckner produced
synthetic coal that in every respect Is the
equal of anthracite has been established
beyond any doubt by a number of official
practical tests.
One of the tests wnsxnader to ascertain
the heating power of each of the two kinds
4
of fuel. The synthetic coal burned with
out a smell and with an insignificant vol
ume of smoke and produced 7995 heat
units per 100 kilogrammes, 220 pounds,
while anthracite coal has a heating power
of from 7,000 to 8,000 heat units per 100
kilogrammes and emits many times more
smoke, causing the well known odor. That
means that synthetic coal, If used to pro
duce directly heat or steam, at least equals
high grade anthracite.
Still more favorable was the gas test.
One hundred kilogrammes of anthracite
were placed In one retort and the same
quantity of synthetic coal in another.
Both retorts were subjected to the same
heat, and their contents converted into gas
and coke.
The gas obtained from the synthetic coal
yielded more heat units per second while
it lasted and it lasted longer than the an
thracite. The coke of both kinds of coal
equaled in weight and heating power.
That result Is of special importance be
cause Germany is consistently striving to
restrict consumption of coal to factories
and gas works, and hfts made already much
progress in that direction.
The heat from burning coal is to be
utilized to make steam to drive stationary
engines. But thereby not more than 18
per cent, of the Inherent power of coal can
he utilised. Not to waste the remaining
power, the fires beneath the boilerB will be
connected with gas generating plants, the
illuminating gas yielding about twice as
much heat or power as the direct burning
of coal.
The chief by-product of that process is
coke to be burned on board of ships and
in households, which may also use either
illuminating gas or hydrogen gas for heat
ing purposes. The hydrogen gas is pro
duced by pouring water on live coke. Small
and medium industrial establishments will
by and by have to install gas motors and
use illuminating or hydrogen gas. Dr.
Walther Rathenau, former president of the
Allgemeine Elektricitaets-Gesellschaft (Gen
eral Electric Company), estimated that by
these improvements coal consumption can
be reduced by 50 per cent.
The process of production of synthetic
coal is simple, according to Prueckner, who
operates near Munich a small plant.
Prueckner said:
"Factories will be erected in the vicinity
of quarries. Two different kinds of soft
stones are crushed and ground into fine
sand and mixed with certain chemicals.
The mixture will be moistened, pressed
into briquets, heated, dried and cooled.
"The synthetic coal industry will not
depend on anthracite or bituminous or sub
bituminous coal or peat, or ttafelr by-prod
ucts, or on any other material feed as fuel.
"Germany, like nearly every *>ther coun
try, has a superabundance of the necessary
minerals and can produce the chemicals in
unlimited quantities.
"As produced in the little plant near
Munich, synthetic coal can be sold to the
consumer at half the price of anthracite.
It is certain that the cost of the product
will he reduced when manufacture on a
large scale is begun."
The formula is ef course kept secret at
the present time, and probably will not be
disclosed when a patent is granted. For
of all the victors of the world war, only
three?England, Belgium and Italy?have
renounced up to now their Versailles
Treaty privilege to subject the "property,
rights and interests of German nationalu
to exceptional war measures that have
been or will be taken with regard to them"
?in other words, to seize German property,
including patents. 0
For that reason there is no prospect, that
synthetic coal will be produced outside of
Germany until a non-German makes an in
vention similar or identical with that of
Prueckner, the Munich druggist.
Above is Josie
Mansfield, whose
public career was
linked with the
Grand Opera House.
At left is Pauline
Lucca, who made
her American
debut in the old
building.
She had married her conductor, a M. Thil
lon, when she invaded New York, and
leased .for a period of weeks the Grand
Opera House. Little has been preserved
in recollection of this bold girl's experi
ment, save that it was far from meeting
her expectations, and but one opera repre
sented by herself and associates had any
real "draw." This was Auber's "Diamonds
of the Crown," a piece that has been en
tirely forgotten.
Offenbach's lighter pieces frequently were
given in this house by different visiting
artists. "La Belle Helene," "La Creole" and
"Madame Favart," covering a period from
1876 to 1878, all had prodigious cuccess,
and again on such occasions the beauty
and fashion of the city displayed itself
nightly in the orchestra circle and broad
balcony, as well as in the boxes.
More Deeply Connected
With Speaking Drama
These song events were sporadic, how
ever, and ere long the house became more
deeply connected with the acting drama.
Besides the foreign celebrities who made
their bow here, whose names have been
briefly mentioned already, the list o> well
known American actors who trod these
boards in their day includes Joseph Jef
ferson, James O'Neill, Emma Abbott, Rich
ard Mansfield, Fanny Davenport, Clara
Morris, Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett,
Lester Wallack, Mr. and Mrs. McKeo Ran
kin, Mary Anderson, Digby Bell, Madame
Janauschek, Nat Goodwin, Robson and
Crane and Denman Thompson.
Others as popular as those in thic ljst
might very well be written here, ior in
the day. of the star system the season of
every active company usually began or
ended with a couple of weeks at this house.
And when a visiting star had played a
season on Broadway it was customary to
present him here for a brief season before
he left the city. Such was the policy of
the house during the 1880s and 90s.
By that time the audiences of the Grand
Opera House had completely changed.
Only now and then a seeker after fome
novelty in diet would leave the beaten
track of Broadway to cross to the West
to see what the Grand Opera Hoosc was
offering. Occasionally a melodrama of the
most lurid type would be produced there
and then the house would be filled nightly
by the people on whom it coul<j most
surely depend. These audiences fell off
alarmingly when a serious society drama
or a revival of a Shakespearian piece went
on.
"No Marriage Bells for Her," wns one
of the late successes of the house. This
piece and others of kindred type rarely
failed in drawing a big audience, one to
which opera In the grand style would have
made no appeal and which got very little
in the way of entertainment from comedy
except of the knockabout variety.
Therefore the step to vaudeville was
made in natural transition, although the
house was too big to afford this kind of ?
show its best opportunity. The cinema
made its inroad there somewhat stealth
ily; in its early days, when moving pictures
of several reels were a novelty, these were
exhibited in this house to invited audi
ences. It was not very lonrf, of course
before they were comfortably Installed
there.
tUc transit filoria. Fame, glory, every
human prize has its day and passes. \
house hallowed by greater memories than
those which cluster round the Grand Opera
House can hold to none of these things If
trade passes It by. A long string of once
very popular theaters have disappeared
from New York, the disappearance or this
one must have been discounted long ago.
mm,.