Jenny Lind's First Appearance

Hon. A. .Oakey Hall believes that nö singel ever created the furore that Jenny Ljnd dld upon the occasion of her proiessional visit t o America. He was present "when Jenny sang In Castle Garden," and recalls, In the November Ladies' Home Journal, the famous artist, and the unparalleled warmth of her greeting. In describing her first appearance on the American stage, Mr. Hall writes : "But now expectation Is to an end : for there advances from behiaid the partltion in the flat, which serves as screen and sounding board, a lady Tvitk beaming, child-like face, full of frank sincerity. She wears a gown of simple white silk. The familiar Vietorian bandeau of hair about her temples, procaims this statuesque lady to be the long expected Jenny Iind. At f Irst there is a hush over the great audience, for surely never before was there seen so unpretentiou a prima-donna. "WTiere are her diamonds ? "WTiere the personal ornaments, Jeweled stars and ribboned orders that have been showered upon her by the Old "World's royalties and grandees ? Awakening from the surprise at such simpllclty of toilette as might have appertained to a simple Sweerïlsh malden - not of high dogree- the crowd Hterally g'oes wild with enthusiasm. The men and women rise from their seats with one movement as of a drjjled army, whle five thousand throats produce a volume oí wclcome that must amaze the crewa of the vessels without. Handkerchlefs are waving frantlcally In air regardless of teartng the dell-ate lace of their edges, gloves by the hundred are beïng burst by handclapping, and a torrent of bravos Is being hurled toward the plump little lady in white, whose eyes are becoming moist, but who stands wiith an air of dignity quite distlnct from the ordlnary self consciousness of th average prima-donna. To her face has come the blend of womanly sweetness and modesty, with childlike simplicity. As I gaze she seems to me an embodiment of the confidence of genius and the serene wisdom of art. Minute after minute passes, and yet the cheering, the clapping anci the waving continue. Never before, even in Spasmodic Paris, has such a triumphant welcome Deen accorded her."