The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 26

THE BEOOKLYN DAILY EAGLE. NEW YORK, SUNDAY, OCTOBEB 22, 1899. 26 MORE FAMOUS SONG SINGERS. made several tours ol the world, reaping a fair fortune from his specialty. Of the singers of the past twenty five or thirty years, Sims Reeves, the world famous tenor, probably stands at the head of the sing RESIDENCES WHICH ARE HISTORICAL.

"Old Houses in and Around Elmhurst Which. Remain to Call Attention to the Picturesque Past of This Locality The Betts House, Formerly Occupied by "captain Richard Betts. "Who Quarreled With Governor Stuyvesant, and Ended by Purchasing a Tract of land Prom the Indians at the Rate of One Shilling an Acre The pish Family and Its Associations with This Part of Long Island. and In 1870 an organ was put In at a cost of $2,000. Again in 1874 it was thoroughly repaired, new pewB and new windows of stained glass replacing the old ones, at a total cost ot $6,000.

In 18S8 the organ was repaired and enlarged, and removed from the gallery to the rear of the church, just back of the pulpit, all at a coot of $2,800. Elmhurst's M. E. Church was erected in 1839 on its present site on Broadway, while the German Reformed Church, which, like that of the Methodist, is a frame building, dates back only ten years. More than half a century ago the colored people of the town formed a church and erected a building, but the society is now too scattered and small to engage a regular pastor, and the edifice is consequently not much used.

Educationally, Elmhurst will be well provided for when the new high school, upon which three weeks' work Is required to fit It for occupation, has been completed. Official red tape has prevented any work being done for more than a year and pending this continued incompleteness. Principal F. H. Meade, with twenty assistants, is teaching some 600 pupils in the old building adjacent to the new structure on Chicago avenue, overlooking the common.

Secular interest centers In the so called White Pot School, situated one mile east or Elmhurst Village, in a farming section, of which the principal properties are those ot Fred and John Backus, the Squire estate and David Springsteen. Mr. Springsteen enjoys the honor of being the lineal descendant ot Jacobus Springsteen, who in 1739 gave the plot of ground on which the White Pot School was built, upon condition that it should always be used for school purposes. The present building Is the third erected on the site, and the regular attendance ot pupils always exceeds a hundred. It is the oldest school site in this part of the borough, which is still used for its original purpose.

Another old school building since diverted to other purposes is the structure enlarged, remodeled and now occupied as an office by the Newtown Register. The founder of this local journal, the late Charles White, was before the war a prominent Massachusetts anti slavery advocate, and beside other offices held the post of State Auditor. Removing to Newtown, he founded the Register in 1873, and died in 1888 at the age of 76. For many years he was a close friend of the late Vice President Wilson and Charles Sumner. A son of the deceased, Arthur White, is an enthusiastic antiquarian and has unearthed many relics of the olden time.

His scrap book and its accumulation of valuable material rivals that of Adrian Vanderveer, the real estate broker of Flatbush. In this old center, of which Elmhurst Is the aristocratic outgrowth, no one prominent in public life now resides, excepting Garrett J. Garretson of the Supreme Court. Two conspicuous nestors and living representatives of Colonial ancestry are the venerable James L. Moore, who lives on Grand street, near Maspeth, and his cousin, John Jacob Moore, who lives on Court street, both ot whom have reached 80.

The old Moore homestead, built more than two centuries ago, is now owned and occupied by Mrs. Oliver H. Perry, who zealously preserves the building in Its primitive condition, and has purchased adjacent property to prevent the advent of saloons and other undesirable neighbors In her vicinity. Opposite Mrs. Perry's survival of the seventeenth century is another old dwelling, in which Bishop Moore penned the well known poem, "Still as a Mouse; the Night Before Christmas." (To Be Continued.) then new building had been presented to the Presbyterian Church in 1715 by Jonathan Fish, an earlier scion of the same family.

Altogether there are some three hundred headstones within the cemetery bounds, all of which show marks of a common neglect. Originally all interments were in the town cemetery, but at length each denomination had its own churchyard. Nearly 150 Interments have been made in St. James' Churchyard, which began to be used in tho early part of the century. Unlike the Rapelyes, the Brlnckerhoff family, which originally owned property in every part of Newtown, has wholly disappeared and left no local representative behind it.

This merely means that the family has removed to othertowns, counties and states. The Brlnckerhoff cemetery occupies a commanding position on the bluff overlooking Flushing Bay, at Corona. Their old home, which in by gone times supplied this old cemetery with tenants, is situated close on the shore of Flushing Bay, in a picturesque, well sheltered corner; it is a comfortable, spacious house, built in the true Dutch style. The family burial place is too thickly covered with trees, brush and shrubbery and too infested with mosquitoes to be profaned by curious intruders. This Brlnckerhoff Cemetery presents the curious feature for which Newtown is peculiar.

Not only were interments made in the churchyards, but each family had its own private burial place, with a necessarily small number of graves. Many of these family repositories of the dead still remain as witnesses of the custom which formerly prevailed. The Burroughs cemetery faces on the commons of Newtown and was distinguished by three towering fruit trees which dated back to the Revolutionary days. They were the center of the camps for the sake of the well under their shade. The last Interment here was in 1871, and one inscription, that of William Howe Burroughs, who died in 1805, aged 26 years, marks the prevalent custom in the Revolutionary period of christening male infants after the English general.

Sir William Howe. One of Newtown's famous families was that of the Rikers, whose members were long distinguished in every walk of life. It began with Abraham Riker in 1640, and this ancestor or many somebodies founded a family In which longevity was well nigh universal. The Rikers became so numerous that some of them, to avoid confusion, adopted other names and were known as Lent and Krankheyt. The spacious old house surrounded by many trees along the sea beach, with its classic library and numerous patriotic prints was in earlier days a sort of Liberty Hall, where distinguished guests were hospitably entertained.

Dr. Berrien Riker accompanied Washington for eight years as Army surgeon, while Captain Abraham Riker stood beside Montgomery when he fell at Quebec, December 31, 1775, and was borne off by Aaron Burr. During the War of 1812 Captain Andrew Riker commanded the privateero, Saratoga and York town, and brought his captured prizes to the island, which has since borne his name. A short distance from the house is the IUker burying ground, where repose the remains ot many members of this prolific, long lived and active family. In front of the cemetery is the Jacob Rapelye residence, earlier known as the Lent property, and originally forming part of the Riker estate.

This quaint cottage contained many curious relics and was the favorite stopping place of British dragoons seeking bread and whisky for themselves and watering their horses at the trough by the roadside. It was then a tavern and the broad old fire place may still be utilized for cooking a good dinner. Its relics include an old family prayer book, in Dutch, date of owner, 1745, with two brass rings attached to the clamps for carrying purposes, and a ponderously bound Dutch Bible printed in Rotterdam, 1730. Separated from the house by tho orchard is tbe just mentioned cemetery, and the inscriptions comprise names of Captain Abraham Riker, who died at Valley Forge in 1778, Captain Andrew Riker, who died at Port Au Prince in 1817, and Maria McKlsson, who died in 1829, a confidential friend Mrs. Governor George Clinton.

At a point more inland on what was known as the Tudor patent resided another branch of the Riker family, in a house which was built in 1733 and has stood to the present time. It Is situated on the old Bowery road, and was the headquarters of Colonel Abijah Willard, chief of the British commissary department. In the Riker burying ground at Bowery Bay are interred the remains of William Sampson and Dr. William James MeNevins, Irish patriots of 179S. Sampson died in 1836 and McNevin in 1841.

In the Lawrence family cemetery at Bowery Bay some thirty headstones mark the graves of departed Lawrences, beside which there are seventeen of the Saekett and four of the Hartman family. of the Morrell family, which, although much altered, is in a good state of preservation. The old well still gives as good water as when it supplied the Hessians of 1776, who were camped all over the farm. Among the numerous fruit trees there still remains the one from whose limb ol'd Morrell was suspended by Hessian soldiers to extort from him the hiding place of the money. Seven headstones of the rudest kind mark the graves of tbe departed members of the family and many old bullets and flints have been plowed up at various points.

A near neighbor of the Morrell house is the old Sackett residence, since modernized into a mansion. It was a spacious structure and the rooms were exceedingly well finished. A circular mound in the woods opposite is, according to tradition, the remains of a hermit's cell, whose story was the subject of a romance. Down the road westward, and across the railroad track, is the wreck of the Leverich house, which was a favorite rendezvous for English officers during the Revolution. The great fireplace of the kitchen recalls pictures of the soldiers smoking around blazing logs and watching the bread drawn from the old oven, whose mouth is in the chimney.

Near this ruin is the old stone house of John Lev eridge, not far from the burial plot of the family. The date of erection, 1737, is cut into a stone by the door side. Everything here is in the best preservation. A Scotch colonel and his regiment were quartered in the house and in huts, some traces of which have remained to the present day. Beside these revolutionary relics, many Indian arrow heads and tomahawks have been dug up from time to time about the farm.

One mile further north was the old Hazard farm, with the fine old house and handsome lawn, and trees planted by James Hazard, Judge of Common Pleas for fifteen years, who died in 1765 and was buried in the family vault on the farm. This vault in which were the remains of many Hazards, at length feel into such decay that the coffins were carried off by boys for boats and children played with the scattered bones. To prevent the desecration the vault was finally filled up, and nothing remained visible except the monumental slab, on which the names of those reposing beneath arc inscribed. The Hazards are now a wealthy family in Rhode Island, Philadelphia and Gotham. Van Duyn hill, which preserves the name of the Van Duyn family, was the only Newtown property confiscated after the Revolution for the tory sympathies of its owner.

In later times it became the property of A. S. Mills, and thi large and spacious housa was very attractive to British officers during the struggle for independence. The basement was of heavy stono and served as a guard house. Near the Van Duyn house was the llttlo cottage of Samuel Waldron, the blacksmith, who was forced to shoe the soldiers' horseo without pay, and robbed of all his cows, except one which he had hidden in his bedroom.

At the northern extremity of the road which bounds the west side of the meadows, was the residence ot Jacobus Riker, whose home was plundered by the British soldiers. The house is well kept and presents a neat appearance. A mile south of it a slave named Fronce, owned by Rapelye, shot and killed a Scotch soldier engaged in plunder. In later times the house changed its position somewhat and became part of a larger structure. The center of all the camps in Newtown, was the now decayed mansion of the Moore family, which was the headquarters of General Sir Henry Clinton.

When the late Georg. Rapelye died some five years ago at the age of 83, he left no recognized successor to his position of the oldest inhabitant. He began life with the century and the fact that his father, grandfather and great grandfather, each of whom had borne the name of George, had met their death by drowning, induced him to turn his attention Points of Uiew. Most time to get away to the country, if you want to see the October pageant. There are not many days of it left.

Some of the trees are bare already, and the color is settling toward the ground, where you find it burning in the sumacs, the blackberries, the blueberries and the smaller, tough leaved shrubs that inhabit the marshes. This 13 the dramatic and romantic season. Winter is bare and summer is trite when we compare them with October. The sunset reds and yellows that flame, too briefly, among th oaks and maples forespeak the coming of the night and the long sleep of chill that must pass before the earth is green again. Yet, It is surprising how much green remains after repeated frosts, and "after the trees have begun to drop their foliage.

The grass and clover and many of the wayside growths are almost as bright as in June, and even some of the deciduous tree3 bold to their leaves wonderfully. One of the singular things Is the variance that is seen in a single group, a cluster of maples, for Instance. One of the lot will ba green, the next red, the next yellow, the next green touched with yellow and the next almost leafless. So It is not frost that makes the autumnal change, for all of them are equally and simultaneously affected, and in the South where there are no frosts, or very late ones, you find the color as prompt and as bright as In the North. The leaves, I suppose, are made to last just about so long and are then cast aside for new ones, with more of the earth life In them, more tender and flexible, with more affinity for oxygen.

Leaves may grow to" be fogies, like people, and so long as they work In communities, that won't do. Trees take queer freaks, occasionally. There is a maple in a Vermont village that has a raspberry bush and a mountain ash growing in a crotch of it, several feet above the ground, and the other day, in the White Mountains, I found a birch and a raspberry growing together in the hollow of a big stump, the birch having contrived to get food enough to rear itself to a height of 16 or IS feet. If you really want to see the mountains this is your time. The only trouble is that the taverns are shut and you must scratch along as best you may, hoping that some little annex to a hotel will be found open, or that some diniug station will disclose Itself on some of the post roads, for It you fall to discover these life savers, the chances are that you may have to sleep in a barn and feed on the few raspberries s.ad the occasional chokecherries that you pick beside the way.

The chokecherry Is a noble provision the chrysanthemum of fruits last to offer itself and full of the spice and tonio of the forests. I picked several handfuls'Tn a snow storm the other morning, about 3,000 feet above sea level. And raspberries! I have never been in New England in October without finding them a somewhat timid, but toothsome second crop. Thcac things interest the natives more than the mountains, or the trees, or the fall color, tor it often seems as If such things were invisible to them. On a recent afternoon I asked of some farmers, grubbing in a ditch, what the certain mountains were that lay about us, their sides gorgeous in red and green and brown and yellowr.

Had the day been clear I should have known most of them, but meir tops were buried in swirling clouds that poured into' their hollows and occasionally bent into the plain. They did not know. One of them said he had been living there goin' on sixteen year and he'd never took the trouble to find out which was which. He knew Mount Washington and Mount Lafayette, because they happened to be highest, but that was all. But no doubt he knew how many hens Abe Jenkins' widder kept over to Nazareth Corners.

No doubt also, he and his hired man had been up on those same mountains with guns, murdering birds and trying to stavo in the heads of some of the smaller quadrupeds found there, for the echo of the gun it to be heard up there every day, and the women, with piety in their faces and vanity la their heads, wear the dead bodies and broken wings to church on Sundays. But he does not take any interest in the mountains that supply his timber, his water, his dead birds, and his income. Nor is it always the aesthetic interest to which so many men are dead. Thousands are not alive to their own personal interests or to the interests of the race. Thousands march to the polls and vote for a government of corruption and extravagance and one man domination, apparently never thinking that they are limiting their chances of fair trial if they get into the courts, of honest service from the police or the army of clerks in the vaTious departments, of a chance to get their children into the schools or to keep good teachers there by paying them, of the hope of assistance in emergency from the coteries ct politicians knowrn as boards of health, or that by their votes they are encouraging and authorizing negligence, arrogance, bossism, incompetence and dUhonesty in every depart" ment.

And it is the same in rural districts. Go into the mountains and see the devastations that the wood pulp makers and the tanners have ordered; see the dry brook courses that mark the place of former streams; see the: rivers, on which they have erected their mills, black, turbid, carrying filth to all the towns below and spoiling the drinking supply for thousands. Yet, it must not be interfered with, because wood pulp and tan yards and woolen mills and shoddy mills made money. They never look on the other side of the picture and see the distress, injustice and poverty that accompany this making of money. They never think of the farmers driven away by failure of the springs and streams, of pastures dried and abandoned, of; supplies of firewood and building material swept from the hills in the indiscriminate and savage slaughter ot the trees, of arable land buried under acres of gravel that corns down in landslides and spring freshets.

No, they never think of these matters, and do not care. When it is proposed to stop the slaughter of birds, for millinery, the feather workers petition everybody not to allow the gunnners to be restrained, because it will interfere with buiness and put them out of a job. Never mind about the farmers a thousand of them to one of the feather workers who are hampered by the insects that the birds would eat if the gunner would let them. Never mind that the woods are often silent when before they were full of song. Trade is of more account than all things else.

When are we going to grow out of this narrow view? When are we going to teach the sacredness of life, as we teach the usefulness of things that pertain to our own lives? When are we going to Introduce In our schools some simple studies that will open the senses, as we try to open the minds, and lead the children to find pleasure in nature, where they now seem to find a happiness In spoliation and destruction? If in our country schools a few hrurs of a term were devoted to the plants and rocks and mountain forms, to the colors of May and October, to the habits of the insects, to the uses of bees and worms and birds, the youngsters would be inducted into a new world; we should hear less of cruelty and find dozens of avenues opening to new enjoyments. To a sane man who can walk in the woods and enjoy their color and music, their grace, their dignity, their unfailing and wonderful variety, there Is no satisfaction in taking the lives of the harmless and pretty creatures that abound there. It is going to be a dull world when we have reduced the population of it to mere human beings, as we are trying, to do; when the forest aisles are silent; when not a blue bird or a robin or a thrush utters a silver trill of gladness or even a useful crow calls his homely note. These little creatures are better and happier company than many of the blood (craving bipeds. Therefore, you who love them desist from wearing them and preach the needed gospel of respect for their useful lives.

Thp 'he woods will ring with thanks. C. M. 3. ers of ballads.

Charles Santley, the baritone; Edward Lk" the tenor; the great Mile. Trtlens, Anna Bishop, Mme'. Patey and Mme. Sherrington were famous ballad singers in their day. Tbe great operatic singers or the present day are more or less distinguished as singers of songs, but none of them has made a specialty of song and ballad singing to the extent of retiring from the operatic stage in the height of their popularity to sing the people's songs.

The late Signor Brignoli, once a famous Italian operatic star, was one of the few Italians who essayed to sing English songs and ballads, but being a very poor speaker of our language at the best, his enunciation and pronunciation of English words invested his rendering of the ballads with a tinge ot the ludicrous, heightened by the perfectly serious and earnest manner in which he sang them. Speaking of poor Brignoli, I must tell you a little story. Walter Birch (now deceased), a former tenor In the Caroline Rlchlngs and other opera companies of twenty five or thirty years ago, was one day telling me of some incidents in his professional career, and among others of his first visit to the Academy of Music, Manhattan, to hear Brignoli, who was then the operatic hero of ttie day. He sat in the gallery, next to a big, brawny man, whom he Judged from the appearance of bis hands to be a blacksmith or engineer. The hardy son ot toil was an attentive listener, and occasionally gave a condescending nod ol his head to a friend of his on the other side ot him when any good effect was made, and when Brignoli had made his big hit on the high In the "Di Quella Pira" he was condescending enough to say "very good, Brig that ain't so bad!" with a strong Cockney accent.

At the conclusion of the opera his friend, as they rose, said: "Well, Jim, what do you think of the great Brignoli?" Well," said Jim, "he's got a pooty good pair o' pipes, but I think I could give him a lively shake meself, you know. Where would he be with me in 'The Death o' Reference has already been made by me in a former talk to Mme. Mara, one ot the most celebrated singers of the last and first part of the present century. As she as the first great singer produced by Germany a short sketch of her career will not be amiss. She was born at Cassel, February 23, 1749, and her mother dying soon afterward she was left to the care of her father, a repairer ot musical instruments named Schmaling.

In order to be able to attend to his work he tied Gertrude Elizabeth In a chair, where she passed most of each day. The child succeeded in getting hold ot a violin when he was absent and began to draw musical sounds Irom it, for which she was punished when he came home and discovered her trying to play. She. however, continued to follow her musical instincts by endeavoring to play on any in strument she could get her hands on; and one day her father came in and found her playing an air on a violin and discovered that she had mastered the scale. He gave her a few lessons and played duets with her when she was 5 years old.

At 9 years ot age she gave concerts at Vienna and from there her father took her to England, where she was patronized by the Queen. Her voice at this time attracted the attention of some of the women ot the nobility, who persuaded her to study singing, and she became a pupil ot Paradisi. From London she returned to Cassel, and from there went to Leipzig and made her debut as a singer in 1771. Her voice ranged from the middle to in alt. Her first appearance In opera was made in Dresden and was a pronounced success.

Frederick the Great was persuaded to hear her sing, notwithstanding his prejudice against her on account of the place of her nativity, he being of the opinion that only Italians could sing. He was immediately converted when she sang an air of Graun's at sight for him. He then engaged her at a salary of 11,250 francs per annum for life to sing at the opera. While there she became acquainted with and married Mara, a handsome but dissipated violoncello player, against the wishes of the ki' g. The Grand Duke Paul of Russia visl Frederick the Great while she was the favorite of the opera, and the king sent word that she was to sing.

Mara was angry with him at the time, and sent an excuse that she was sick and couldn't sing. Frederick sent back word that she must get well and sing, whereupon Mara took to bed and got worse. Frederick sent a carriage and eight soldiers to her house two hours before the opera, with a message that she must come. "You can take me," she said, with tears of rage, "you see I am in bed." "That's ot little consequence," replied the officer, "we'll take you, bed and all." She stormed with fury, but the obdurate captain was immovable, and she agreed to go rather than be taken by force. She determined to sing as badly as possible, but, carried away by her art and the presence of the Grand Duke, she sang magnificently and executed such a marvelous shake as to call down thunders of Frederick refused to allow her to go outside ot his domains to sing, but she escaped by stratagem from Germany and appeared at Vienna in 1780 and from there went to Paris in 1782.

Here a bitter rivalry sprang up between Todl, the reigning operating favorite, and her, which divided society into factions. In 1784 she went to London and sang for six nights at tho Pantheon, making a great success. This she duplicated at Westminster at the Handel Commemoration Festival, and again at the Commemoration Festival the following year. Her first appearance on the London stage was made on April 1, 1786, in "Didone Abbandon ata." Her next success was as Cleopatra in Handel's opera, "Giulio Cesare." She sang in the opera in London until 1791, after which she devoted her professional labors principally to concert and oratorio, and occasionally in ballad operas. Her voice beginning to lose strength, she left England in 1802, after giving a farewell concert which netted her over 1,000.

She retired to Moscow, where her worthless husband and several lovers, among them Florio, a flute player, dissipated her money as fast as she earned it. She then began teaching, and acquired a small competence which she lost in the great fire in Moscow in 1812. She afterward traveled in Livonia and settled In Rand, where she taught singing for four years. At the age of 68 she took a fancy to revisit London in 1819. Her managers announced her on the bills as "a most celebrated singer whom they were not at liberty to name." She appeared at the King's Theater, and when she attempted to sing it was seen that not a shred of her once magnificent voice remained.

She never appeared again, but left London and returned to Revel, where she died at 84 years of age. J. CLARK BROCOLINI. (To be continued.) FORCE OP MORAL SUASION. Jonesmtth Let a wife alone for getting all the money she wants out of a man.

She'll put her arms around his neck, lay her face against his cheek, tell him he is the dearest old darling on earth, and then ask him for a little money. And what plan could she adopt to get It quicker? Henry Peck Well er the other plan is quicker, I think. Judge. VERY SHARP. Teacher Now, Johnny, if the earth was empty on the inside what could we compare it to? Johnny A razor, ma'am.

Teacher A razor? Johnny Yes, ma'am: because it would be hollow ground. Brooklyn Life. BETTER THAN HIS ANCESTORS. Bacon I see they say Dewey descended from some of the old English kings. Egbert Well, he seems to have worked up again, all right.

Yonkers Statesman. John Braham, Who Wrote and Sang "The Death, of Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale; Sims Reeves and Signor Brignoli, Who Sang in English. The following is the fourth of a series of. articles concerning music and musicians, written (or the Eagle by J. Clark Brocollnl, formerly prlmo baBso ot Her Majesty's (Italian) Opera, London, and of the principal opera companies of America and Australia.

Signor Brocollnl Is well known in musical circles In Brooklyn and Manhattan and his "Talks to Singers" will be found Lo be both Interesting and Instructive. (Copyright, 1S90.) IV. Eminent Ballad Singers (Continued.) Another celebrated singer of ballads and songs was John Braham, a contemporary of Incledon. Braham was in London, Jewish parents, in 1774, and wien a little boy sold pencils in the streets of the East End. When very young he became a yupil of Leonl, the singing master, and sang a French and English song between the acts at Covent Garden as a boy When his voice changed he became a teacher of the pianoforte.

He appeared again as singer in 1794 at Bath, under Rauzzini, who gave him singing lessons for three years. In 1796 he made his debut at Drury Lane in "Mahmoud," and next year was engaged for the Italian Opera House, but went to Italy to study. He appeared shortly afterward at Florence, then at Milan, then at Genoa, where he studied composition under Isola. From thence he returned to London and sang at Covent Garden in 1801. From that time his every public appearance caused a furore.

He generally composed the scenes for bis own part in the operas he appeared in, a custom he adhered to for many years. He had nineteen notes of compass from to A under such control that It could not be shown where the register changed. He was the original Sir Huon In Weber's opera, "Obe ron." In the singing of songs and ballads he made his greatest successes with the public. He composed "The Death of Nelson," and other songs and duets that attained great popularity. He made a large fortune by his singing, but lost 66.000 in unfortunate speculation between 1S31 and 1836 and died within a few years after.

Among the most prominent of song and ballad singers of the present century was Catherine Hayes, a famous prima donna, born in Ireland in 1826. She became a pupil of Sapio in Dublin and afterward studied with Garcia in Paris and Rohconi in Milan. She made her first appearance in Marseilles in 1845, in "I Puritani." She afterward toured with success in Austria and Italy, from whence she went to London and made her first appearance there In "Linda." From there she went to Ireland, and toured the country singing Irish songs and ballads and creating a turore where ever she appeared. She then made tours through the United States, India, Australia and Polynesia with the same success. She returned to England with a fortune in 1857, and married a Mr.

Bushnell and retired from public life. She died at Sydenham in 1861, when she was but 35 years of age. The most prominent cantatrice of the century, who sang her way into the hearts of her hearers, not only on the operatic stage, but as a concert singer, was the famous Jenny Lind, known the world over as the "Swedish Nightingale." She was born In Stockholm, October 6, 1820, and studied there with Berg, a teacher ot singing. When about 20 years ot age she appeared as Agatha, in Weber's "Freischutz," and la other operas, with brilliant success. She then went to Paris and studied with Manuel Garcia.

In Berlin she made her appearance in "Norma," and remained there to study German. Meyerbeer was much taken with her and she appeared in his opera, "Feldlager in Schleslen," afterward remodeled as "L'Etoile du Nord." Atter making a tour of Germany she returned to Stockholm. She first appeared at tho Gewandhaus concerts in Leipslc in December, 1S45, after which she made a successful appearance in Vienna. Her first appearance In London was made at Her Majesty's Theater in "Robert le Diable," with pronounced success, and she became a popular favorite at once. Moscheles, the eminent pianist, thus wrote of her performance in the "Camp ot "Jenny Lind has fairly enchanted me.

She is unique in her way and her song with two concertante flutes is perhaps the most incredible feat in the way of bravura singing that can possibly be heard. How lucky I was to find her at home. What a glorious singer she is, and so unpretentious withal." She took London by storm. Ladies would go to the opera and sit on the stairs when no seats were to be had to hear "the Swedish Nightingale." Her voice was described as a soprano ot bright, thrilling and remarkably sympathetic quality, from to D. The upper part of her register was rich and brilliant, and superior both in strength and purity to the lower, but she managed the two registers In such a skillful manner that the upper should not outshine the lower.

She had wonderfully developed powers of respiration, enabling her to perform long and difficult passages with ease, and to make the finest pianissimo. Her execution was won derful, her shake true and brilliant, and her taste in ornamentation original she nearly always made her own cadenzas, and her chromatic cadenzas were the perfection of execution. Her last appearance In opera was made in "Robert," in London, May 18, 1849. She retired from the operatic to the concert stage, and in 1850 signed a contract with the late P. T.

Barnum for a two years' concert tour in the United States. She was received here with the greatest enthusiasm, her success was phenomenal, and she cleared $100,000. In Boston she met and married Otto Gold schmidt, February 2, 1852. She returned to England and devoted her American earnings to founding and endowing art scholarships. She afterward traveled through Holland and Germany, and thence back to England, where she retired to private life.

Later on she assisted her husband to train the female voices in the Bach choir, of which he was the conductor, and she led the chorus. She died a few years ago. Henry Russell, who toured Great Britain for many years, was the possessor of a robust baritone voice and made a comfortable fortune singing songs of his own composition, principally. In descriptive sea and picture songs he was especially popular with the people. His son, W.

Clark Russell, has since reached fame and fortune as a writer of sea stories. William Kennedy, a singer of Scotch songs, was a poDular favorite some years ago, and FOR A SWEDISH HOSPITAL. Big Pair to Be Given in Old Thirteenth Regiment Armory to Aid Building Fund. Great activity Is at present manifested among the Swedish citizens of Brooklyn in the preparatory work for a fair to be held, through the courtesy of the School Board of the Borough of Brooklyn, In the old Thirteenth Regiment Armory, corner of Flatbush avenue and Hanson place, from November 18 to 30 inclusive. In the month of July, 1896, the Swedish Hospital in Brooklyn was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and sanctioned by the State Board of Charities, and it is for the good of this institution that the fair will be given.

The result ot the endeavor of the Hospital Association so far is the free and clear title to the entire block Elmhurst is the modern climax of that historic locality formerly constituting the Town Newtown and now comprising the Second Ward of Queens Borough. Unquestionably one of its peculiar features is the risible reminders of the past which strike the eye on every hand. Old houses remain to preserve the memory of their Colonial tenants, and these primitive homes of pioneer farmers are especially conspicuous on the old Newtown road btween new Calvary Cemetery and Maurice avenue. A cloud of old time associations invests the ancestral home of the Betts family, founded by Captain Richard Betts, who for sixty years was a leading man in the town and died in 1713 in his hundredth year He. with several other Englishmen, came from Plymouth in 1651, and the founding of the colony was immediately followed by bitter hostility between Betts and Stuyvesant, the Dutch Governor.

Upon the Governor's refusal to issue a patent to the settlers, Betts and fifty five associates, purchased the land from the Indians at one shining an acre, or for a total price of sixty eight pounds sixteen shillings and four pence. A further payment of seventy six pounds nine shillings paid to the sachems, Pomwaukon and Rowerowestoo, extinguished the Indian title to Newtown lands by deed dated July 3. 1666. Captain Richard Betts preserved his erect figure to the end of his life, as is evident from the straight backed chair which he occupied. Shortly before his death he dug his own grave on a spot near the room which he occupied and from which he was carried for interment.

The old house contained twelve rooms, in one of which was a broad window sill on which were written many important documents of Newtown's history. No tonib nlonrl his; rnve as his sons had become Quakers, who discarded such marks of respects for the departed. In their stead were rude slabs bearing the initials of Daniel, Mary and Daniel Betts. The widow of Daniel died in 1ST7 at the afje of 100. A wrought iron latch opens the back door of the house, and the polished nags arouna me well where the redcoats were wont to wash their rations have retained their old look up to the present time.

Curious closets, cupboards and nooks all kinds were scattered over the house, many doors being guarded by antique locks with their works incased in wooden dugouts. The floors were supported by. square hewn beams, fastened by nails, which from being twjsted when hot were given: a screw shape at three fourths their length from the point. This building is now the property of Calvary Cemetery and is occupied by an employe. As no care is taken it, the house is in a tumble down condition and will doubtless be demolished in the course of a short time.

Next in antiquity and perennial interest to the Betts abode comes the old Corner House, as it is called, in Newtown Village. This spot began to be a landmark in 1700, and owes its importance to Jonathan Fish, who was town clerk for fifteen years. At that time Newtown had a population of 1,000, of which 190 were males over 16, 227 males under 1G. 207 females over 16, 213 girls, and 161 slaves. Jonathan Fish died in 172::.

leaving a son, Samuel, who died in 1767. Samuel Fish's son Richard was captured by the British during the Revolution, on a merchant ship, of which he was captain, and died a prisoner of war. Jonathan, a brother of the captain, aiea in 1779, leaving a son Nicholas, who served with distinction under Washington throughout the. Revolution, holding tho rank of major and participating in the battles of Long Island, Saratoga, Monmouth and Yorktown. Shortly before his death, in 1833, he resigned the post of Adjutant General of the State of New York, winhnias Fish's son.

the distinguished Ham ilton Fish, who was born in 1S0S, was elected I to Congress in 1S42, Governor of New ork in 1848, and to the United States Senate in 1851. and concluded his public career by holding the post of Secretary of State under the two administrations of Grant. The Fish family woro amnne the orieinal patentees, and left their name to Fish's Point, where in 1713 one of the family lived and owned a mill. The mill's first owner served as supervisor for twenty three years and left the property to his eon John, who accumulated a quantity of. gold.

In 1776, raaurauders from Westchester tortured Fish with hot irons to discover the biding place of1 his hoard, but without success, Even Fish himself finally forgot where the gold was hidden and the pot was only discov ered by strangers years afterward. The mill itself gains an added interest by the still preserved rude wheel, keyed upon a i shaft cut from the primitive forest. The In dlan name, Sackhicltneyah, still adheres to the creek which turns the mill, and tho neighbor hood was the scene of several early Indian I massacres. From the earliest times the Fish family were continuously prominent, and the I fact accentuates the interest taken in the old house, which was finally turned into an cmnoi iruh whfi hod three wives and fifteen children. The large barroom on the right of the hall door, and the reception room on the left, in 1755 resounded with the preparations for the French and Indian War, and Samuel Fish received and cared for Seres Ethben, with wife and eight children, who was one of the unfortunate Arcadian exiles driven from Nova Scotia by the British, and whose tragic fate is recalled by Longfellow in his "Evangeline." Throughout tho French War and the Revolution which followed it.

Fish's inn was the favorite resort of army officers and soldiers. From 1770 to 1783. the large! hall which formed the top floor of the build lng was the scene of frequent nails in which officers participated, and the innkeeper as sisted in the escape of prisoners by encourag fag tbe orgies in which his unwelcome guests never failed to indulge. For seven years the Inn was the focus of British rule, and the i town chronicle a long series of marches, bugle calls, balls and revelry. During the seven years of Hessian possession Abraham Rapelye, of portly frame, presided as bust, and con tlnued In control until his death in 17MS.

His house was large enough for a regiment of soldiers and, except in front, remains much in Its original state. The ball roOm extended OTer the length of the upper floor and half the width of the house. On the attic iloor Is a fine specimen of solid framing, seasoned to i tho hardness of lignum vitae, and fastened with wooden dowels. The rear door is in the old style of two sections, swinging on four great hinges, which bind the double planks firmly together. Many patriot refugees found SU2 asylum and good cheer under Rapelye's iot.

Subsequently the building ceased to he used as an inn, and at length, shortly after tie Civil War, the property was purchased by a Mr. Brown, whose widow now occupies the premises as a residence. What was once the ball room on the upper floor has been cut up into a number of apartments. Reverting to the primitive Fish and his mill, it may be i noted that the edifice erected by him in 1713, for the grinding of colonial grain, was re modeled many years ago into a house, and i afterward became a saloon. At present it is unoccupied.

Trains Meadows is another historic locality, i On, its, southwest corner is the old farmhouse THE PROPOSED SWEDISH HOSPITAL, to horses, farming and town and church affairs. He was full of revolutionary reminiscences gathered from participants in the war of 1776, many of whom were still living in his earlier days. Mr. Rapelye was of sturdy physique and retained to the close of his life that erectness and activity belonging to men many years his junior. When elected to the office of road commissioner he succeeded old Mayor Roberl Moore, who was so severely wounded in the engagement with the British near Jamaica when General Woodhull was killed.

Not long before his death Mr. Rapelye drove to the Episcopal Church to examine the slate roof then being put on. In 1848 he had supervised the shingling of the then new church, and in 1816 had shingled the roof of the earlier Episcopal Church of 1732, which is now used as a Sunday school. During the veterans' tenure of office as road commissioner, he straightened out the old Dutch lane, and one of his best acts was the opening of that road which runs from Calvary Cemetery to the ancient house of John Morrell on the Dutch Kills road. It seems strange that where all is progress any place should be left for neglect and decay.

The old town burying ground presents a sight which ought to be invisible. The fence is broken down and weeds and wires cover the entire inclosure and conceal the stones which mark the graves. At one time $290 was raised and expended in clearing up the interior and surrounding the grounds with a picket fence. All signs of this passing attention, however, have wholly disappeared, and not a few of the stones are broken. Content Titus, who died January 17, 1730, was one of the most zealous and prominent members of the Presbyterian Church during his time.

While the cemetery did not belong to the Presbyterians, a large majority of those Interred there were of the Presbyterian faith, as that denomination counted most of the Inhabitants among its members. The remains of three former pastors of the Presbyterian Church repose In this weed choken spot. Those are Samuel Horton, who died in 1786: the Rev. Samuel Pumroy, who died in 1744. and the Rev.

Peter Fish, who died in 1810. Nine other members of the Fish family also have their mortal resting place here, and the inscriptions show the names of Mary Fish, 1757; Nathaniel Fish, 1769; Jane Fish, 1789; Anne Eliza Fish, 1815, and Jane Maria Fish, 1S19; Jonathan Fish, 1779; Elizabeth, wife of Jonathan Fish, 1778. Jonathan and Elizabeth Fish were the grandfather and grandmother of the late Hamilton Fish, Secretary of Stale under Grant, and great grandfather and great grandmother of ex Speaker Hamilton Fish of Putnam County. Some time since the Rev. Peter Fish of Suffolk County, a descendant of the Rev.

Peter Fish above mentioned, endeavored to interest the wealthy members of the family In the restoration of the cemetery grounds and graves, but his efforts proved wholly abortive. At last, despite his slender means, he has determined to personally assume the expense of having the grave of Peter Fish put in proper shape. Heretofore the Presbyterian Church has done nothing toward the restoration and continued care of the tombs of its three pastors, one of whom, Peter Fish, was mainly instrumental in procuring the erection of tho second Presbyterian Church edifice, to replace the earlier structure burned by tbe British during the war. This was in 1787. and tbe site of the Greater antiquity, superior numbers and z.

notable bequest have always given the Presbyterians a chronic conspicuous in Newtown annals. The present structure on the Hoffman boulevard nearly opposite the old church of 1787, testifies to the liberality of the late John Goldsmith Payntar, who died in 1891. This zealous Presbyterian was, born September 22, 1S22, in the old Payntar house, which stood on tho site of the residence of the last William Howard of North Terrace. Mr. Payntar was named after his father, John Payntar, and the Rev.

Dr. Goldsmith, the former pastor of the Newtown Church. When 18 years old he entered the clothing house of Aaron J. Close of New York, and later became a partner in the same firm, retiring from active business In 1862, after amassing a fortune. Throughout his life Mr.

Payntar retained a strong affection for the old Newtown Church, and this sentiment found practical expression in a bequest of $65,000, which was to be expended in the erection of a new building, the corner stone of which was laid in 1893. According to Mr. Payntar's directions the new structure was modeled after the Presbyterian Church at Cherry Valley, Otsego County, N. and upon its completion the entire church property inclosed with a handsome stone and iron fence. A fund was left for the proper care of the church yard.

In which the remains of the benefactor and other members of his family are interred. A fine monument has been erected to his memory and the terms of his will were faithfully carried out by his widow, who had been a life long friend and whom he had married about a year before his death. A proposal looking to the removal of the remains of the three Presbyterian pastors from the old town burying ground to the present church yard has been under consideration for several years, but has not yet been carried out since I the completion of the new church, the old building has been utilized for a Sunday I school and other subsidiary purposes. Colonial memories also hover about St. James Episcopal Church, first erected in 1732, and now in a modernized form, utilized as a ehapel and Sunday school.

In 1S43 an or gan costing $600 was placed in the old builil ing, while in 1S4S a new church edifice, occu pying an advantageous position, was built on i ground given in 1761. The building was of wood, with open roof, and had two west tow crs. In K7() it was enlarged and altered so i as to change Its character. These lmprove meats included nave aisles and the deepening of the chancel, the building of an organ chamber in the east end, and a new vestry room. The organ was enlarged at the same time, and two windows were placed in the i church, one at the east end as a memorial to the Rev.

Samuel Shelton, and one in the west end to Mrs. Samuel Lord, given by her children. Funds for the above mentioned enlargement were obtained by the sale of a part of the land given In 1761 by Lockett. After standing ninety eight years the ear liest (Dutch) Reformed Church erected in i 173.1, was torn down in 1831, and the present edifice built and dedicated on July 29, 1832. It ivas enlarged under the Rev.

Mr. Strone, fronting on Sixth avenue, between Fifty fifth and Fifty sixth streets, South Brooklyn. This property is beautifully situated with a view over New York Bay and is valued at $12,000. The energy of the association is now directed toward the increasing of the building fund, which at present amounts to only $3,000. Early last spring the board of directors decided upon a more vigorous policy in the work and issued a call to the different Swedish organizations throughout the greater city to take part in the fair to be given in aid of the building fund.

The call was responded to with a will, a3 the following list of organizations that have already signified their desire to actively co operate in the work will show: The Swedish Hospital Society, the Swedish Ladies' Society Freja, the Swedish Young People's Society Linnea, the Sewing Society Barvannen, the Scandinavian Society No. 1, Scandinavian One Hundred Men's Society, the Swedish Sport and Athletic Association, the Swedish Glee Club, the Swedish Bartholomew Church, Singing Society Lyran, John Ericsson Lodge, I. O. G. T.

Emanuel Lodge, I. 0. G. Svithiod Council No. 62, 0.

C. F. Court Svea No. 317, F. of Valhalla Council No.

7, O. C. Sweden Lodge No. 420, K. of H.

Company Fourteenth Regiment, N. G. N. Y. (Swedish Guard).

With the assistance of this great army of thrifly workers the coming fair will, It is believed, he a great success, and 4he committee in charge expects to make it surpass in interest and attraction all previous undertakings by Swedes in this or any other city in the country. Many features will he char acteristic ot the Swedish people and naturally, novel and interesting to the general public. The management has opened a temporary office at 6 Fourth avenue, opposite the armory, at which place every one interested in the welfare of the Swedish Hospital in Brooklyn can get thoroughly acquainted with the proceedings. THE DIFFERENCE. Long Did you have a seat on a stand for the parado? Short No; I had a stand on a seat.

Yon kers Statesman. 4r.