The Mapleson Memoirs, 1848-1888 Volume Ii Part 4

The Adelina Patti epidemic gradually disseminated itself from the moment of her arrival, and began to rage throughout the city from early the following morning.

Many ladies joined the line during the night, and had to take equal chances with the men. Towards morning bargains for good positions in the line reached as high as 4, a sum which was actually paid by one person for permission to take another person's place. Numbers of those in the van of the procession were there solely for the purpose of selling their positions.

The next morning I rose early and took a stroll to admire the city. I observed a vast crowd down Montgomery Street. In fact, the pa.s.sage within hundreds of yards was impa.s.sable, vehicles, omnibuses, etc., all being at a standstill. On inquiring the reason of this commotion I was informed by a policeman that they were trying to buy Patti tickets, which Messrs. Sherman and Clay had for disposal.

On forcing my way gradually down the street and approaching Sherman and Clay's establishment, I saw, to my great astonishment, that there was not a single pane of gla.s.s in any of the windows, whilst the tops of the best pianos and harmoniums were occupied by dozens of people standing upon them in their nailed boots, all clamouring for Patti tickets.

Messrs. Sherman and Clay solicited me earnestly either to remove Patti from the town, or, at least, not to entrust them with the sale of any more tickets, the crowd having done over 600 of damage to their stock.

I had no further difficulty at the moment with Gerster, who believed Patti was going to sing but one night. Besides, the sale of tickets had been very great on her account before Patti's presence in the city had become known.

About eight o'clock that evening a serenade was tendered to Patti by a large orchestra under Professor Wetterman; the court-yard of the Palace Hotel where she was staying being brilliantly illuminated. The six tiers of magnificent galleries surrounding it were crowded with visitors and illuminated _a giorno_. As soon as the first strains of the music were heard Mdme. Patti came from her room with a circle of friends, and was an attentive listener. After remaining some time she deputed Signor Arditi to congratulate the orchestra on their brilliant performance, the favourite conductor receiving quite an ovation as he delivered the message.

The preparations at the Grand Opera were most elaborate, and the decorations particularly so. The theatre and pa.s.sages had been repapered, flags festooned, and in the centre facing the main door was a huge crystal fountain, having ten smaller jets throwing streams of eau de Cologne into gla.s.s basins hung with crystal pendants. All over the vestibule were the rarest tree orchids, violets in blossom and roses in full bloom; while the corner of the vestibule was draped with the flags of every nation, among which England, America, Italy, and Hungary predominated.

On the opening night the Grand Opera-house presented a spectacle of magnificence which I may say without exaggeration can never have been surpa.s.sed in any city. The auditorium was quite dazzling with a bewildering ma.s.s of laces, jewels, and fair faces. Every available place was taken. Outside in the street there must have been thousands of people all clamouring for tickets, whilst the broad steps of the church opposite were occupied by persons anxious to catch a glimpse of the toilettes of the ladies as they sprang out of their carriages into the vestibule.

The season opened with _Lucia di Lammermoor_, in which Mdme. Etelka Gerster appeared as the ill-fated heroine. I will not go into details of the performance, further than to say that the stage was loaded after every act with the most gorgeous set pieces of flowers, several being so c.u.mbersome that they had to be left on the stage at the sides in sight of the audience during the remainder of the opera. The next evening was devoted to rest after the long and fatiguing journey that we had all undergone, Mdme. Gerster remaining in her apartments to prepare for her second appearance the following night.

The next evening was devoted to a performance of _L'Elisir d'Amore_, when Mdme. Gerster drew another 10,000 dollar house--the floral picturesqueness of the auditorium of the previous Monday being repeated.

Mdme. Patti was now to appear as "La Traviata." On the day of the performance it took the whole of the police force to protect the theatre from the overwhelming crowds pressing for tickets, although it had been announced that no more were to be had. Long before daylight the would-be purchasers of Patti tickets had collected and formed into line, reaching the length of some three or four streets; and from this time until the close of the engagement, some four weeks afterwards, that line was never broken at any period of the day or night. A brisk trade was done in the hiring of camp stools, for which the modest sum of 4s. was charged. A similar amount was levied for a cup of coffee or a slice of bread and b.u.t.ter. As the line got hungry dinners were served, also suppers. High prices were paid to obtain a place in the line, as the head of it approached the box-office; resulting only in disappointment to the intending buyer, who was, of course, unable to procure a ticket. Large squads of police were on duty the whole time, and they were busily employed in keeping the line in its place, and in defeating outsiders in their attempts to make a gap in it. Later on it was announced that a limited number of gallery tickets would be sold, when a rush was made, carrying away the whole of the windows, gla.s.s, statuary, plants, etc.

Ticket speculators were now offering seats at from 4 to 10 each, places in the fifth row of the dress circle fetching as much as 4, being 400 per cent. above the box-office price. They found buyers at rates which would have shamed Shylock. Later in the day fulminations were launched upon my head, and I was accused of taking part in the plunder. I therefore determined, as far as possible, to set this right.

At length evening approached, and hundreds of tickets had been sold for standing room only.

Meanwhile Chief Crowley and Captain Short of the police, on seeing the aisles leading to the orchestra stalls and dress-circle blocked by the vast crowd, many of whom were seated on camp-stools which they had secretly brought with them, procured a warrant for my arrest the following morning. Several hot disputes occurred about this time in the main vestibule in consequence of numbers of duplicate tickets having been issued; and several seatholders were unable to reach their places.

One gentleman challenged another to come and fight it out on the side walk with revolvers.

To describe the appearance of the house would be impossible. The toilettes of the ladies were charming. Many were in white, and nearly all were sparkling with diamonds. In the top gallery people were literally on the heads of one another, and on sending up to ascertain the cause, as the numbers were still increasing, the inspector ascertained that boards had been placed from the top of an adjoining house on to the roof of the Opera-house, from which the slates had been taken off; and numbers were dropping one by one through the ceiling on to the heads of those who were seated in the gallery.

Patti, of course, was smothered with bouquets, and the Italian residents of the city sent a huge globe of violets, supported on two ladders, with the Italian and American flags hanging over each side. At the end of each act huge stands and forms of flowers were sent up over the footlights and placed on the stage. To name the fas.h.i.+onable people in the audience would be to go over the invitation lists of the b.a.l.l.s given in the very best houses in the city. It would be useless to describe a performance of _la Diva_, with which everyone is already familiar.

Gala.s.si, the baritone, made a great success; and in the gambling scene an elegant ballet was introduced, led by little Mdlle. Bettina de Sortis. Chief Crowley reported that it would require 200 extra police to keep order the next day. On going through the tickets in the treasury, we discovered upwards of 200 bogus ones taken at the door. These counterfeits were so good, even to the shade of colour, that it was almost impossible to detect the difference from the real ones; the public having smashed into the opera as if shot from howitzers. Several ladies declared that their feet had never even touched the ground from the time they got out of their carriages; and it was with difficulty that the tickets were s.n.a.t.c.hed from them as they pa.s.sed. Many who had paid for standing room brought little camp stools concealed under their clothes, and afterwards opened them out, placing them in the main pa.s.sage ways. Had any panic occurred, or any alarm of fire, many lives must have been sacrificed.

Of course the blame for all this was put upon me. The next day there were low mutterings of discontent all over the city against my management, whilst the newspapers were unanimous in attacking me, some of their articles being headed "The Opera Swindle."

The following day I was arrested at half-past two o'clock by Detective Bowen, on a sworn warrant from Captain Short, for violating Section 49 of the Fire Ordinance of the city and county, in allowing the pa.s.sage ways to be blocked up by the use of camp stools and overcrowding, the penalty for such violation being a fine of not less than 500 dollars, together with imprisonment for not less than six months.

In obedience to the warrant issued, I entered the police court the next day, accompanied by General W. H. L. Barnes, the eminent counsel who had charge of the famous Sharon case, and Judge Oliver P. Evans. On Barnes asking to see the order for arrest he found that I was described as "John Doe Mapleson," the explanation being that my Christian name was unknown. I was charged with a misdemeanour in violating the ordinance of the fire department, which declares that it is unlawful to obstruct the pa.s.sage-ways or aisles of theatres during a performance. After some consultation a bond was drawn up in due form of law, General Barnes and Judge Evans being my bondsmen.

A meeting was afterwards held in the court, when the licensing collector suggested that for the protection of the public, ticket pedlars on the pavement should be made to take out a licence at an extra charge of 100 dollars each.

Notwithstanding this enormous tax, more licences were issued that afternoon at the increased rate.

At the next _matinee_ Mdme. Gerster appeared in _La Sonnambula_, when the house was again crowded.

I now announced a second performance by Mdme. Patti, for the following Tuesday, in _Il Trovatore_, stating that the box-office would open for the sale of any surplus tickets on the following Monday at 10. Early on the morning of the sale, the line, formed between four and five o'clock in the morning, was gradually increased by new comers, all anxious to secure tickets; and by 10 o'clock, without exaggeration, it had swelled to thousands.

I herewith quote the following spirited and characteristic description of the scene from the _Morning Call_ of March 15th, 1884:--

"To one who has stood on Mission Street, opposite the Grand Opera-house, yesterday forenoon, and 'viewed the battle from afar,' as it might be said, it seemed that a large number of people had run completely mad over the desire to hear Patti sing. Such an excited, turbulent, and, in fact, desperate crowd never ma.s.sed in front of a theatre for the purpose of purchasing tickets. It absolutely fought for tickets, and it is questionable whether, if it had been an actual riot by a fierce and determined mob, the scene could have been more exciting or the wreck of the entrance of the theatre more complete. After the throng had melted away the approaches to the box-office looked as if they had been visited by a first-cla.s.s Kansas cyclone in one of its worst moods. The fact that tickets were on sale for several performances had much to do with it. It was a sort of clean-up for last evening and to-day's _matinee_, but above all for the Patti night on Tuesday. A line began to form as early as five o'clock in the morning, and it grew and multiplied until at ten o'clock it had turned the corner on Third Street, while the main entrance was packed solid with a writhing and twisting ma.s.s of humanity, which pressed close to the gla.s.s doors which form the first barrier, and which were guarded by a lone policeman. He did his best to reduce the pressure upon himself and upon the doors, but as the time pa.s.sed and the box-office did not open the crowd became more noisy and unmanageable, and finally an irresistible rush was made for the doors. They did not resist an instant, and gave way as though they had been made of paper.

In the fierce tumult which followed the gla.s.s was all broken out of them, a boy being hurled bodily through one of the panes, with a most painful result to him, for he fell cut and bruised inside. There was not an inch of available s.p.a.ce between the street and the main entrance that was not occupied by men, women, or children, indiscriminately huddled in together. The potted plants were overturned and annihilated under the feet of the throng; the gla.s.s in the large pictures which adorned the walls was broken, and the pictures themselves dragged to the floor. The box-office was besieged by a solidly-packed and howling mob, the regular line entirely overwhelmed, and a grand struggle ensued to get as near the box-office--which had not been opened--as possible. Then the crowd itself essayed to get into some sort of order.

"The more powerful forced themselves to the front and started a new line without any regard for those who had been first in position before the barriers were overthrown. It twisted itself about the lobby, forming curves and angles that would have made the typical snake retire into obscurity for very envy. This line was pressed upon from all sides by unfortunates who had been left out of the original formation of it. The air was thick and sultry, the crowd perspired and blasphemed, and the storming of the box-office became imminent. Just at this juncture Captain Short arrived with a large squad of police, and under the influence of a copious display of suggestive-looking locusts [the truncheons of the American police are made of locust wood] the crowd sullenly fell back and formed a somewhat orderly line. A line of season-ticket holders was also formed to purchase tickets for the next Patti night, and these were admitted through the inner door and served from the manager's office. In addition the crowd was notified that no Patti tickets would be sold from the box-office, but that all must go inside. This produced a yell of anger and turned bedlam loose again, as it broke up the line. But the police made a grand charge and forced hundreds outside, against the indignant protests of many who claimed that they had been in the regular line all the forenoon, only to be deprived of their rights by the police. The sale which followed seems to have given more satisfaction than that for the first Patti night."

Prior to the opening of the sale I discovered that some thirty speculators had somehow got to the inside barrier close to the office before the _bona fide_ public, who had been waiting outside so long. I found that they had broken a window on the stage; afterwards clambering up and pa.s.sing through the lobby of the theatre to the inner barrier, before the outer doors had been opened. I then saw that they intended to secure the whole of the tickets offered for sale. I therefore, in pa.s.sing a second time, quietly nudged one of them, winked suggestively, and pointed to the upper circle ticket office; leading the willing dupes who followed me through a door in the main wall to an inner office. No sooner had the last one gone through than I had the door locked. I thus "corralled" between 25 and 30 of these speculative gentry, and kept them for over two hours, during which time the tickets were disposed of. This cleared my character with the general body of the public, who at once saw that I was in no league whatever with the speculators, or they would have turned King's evidence after my treatment of them.

While I was performing this manoeuvre, the rush and jamb in the main vestibule became so great that the police officers were obliged to draw their clubs to maintain order.

On that evening we performed the opera _Puritani_, in which Mdme.

Gerster again sang, to the delight of the numerous audience. About this time I discovered that the head usher had been in the habit of secreting a lot of stools and hiring them out to those who were standing at an extra charge of 12s. apiece. I at once sent for Captain Short, the esteemed Chief of Police, who said to the usher--

"Have the kindness to ask that lady to get up and take that stool away."

"All right," said the usher. "Please hand me that stool, madam."

The lady responded--

"But you made me pay 12s. for it; at all events, return me my money."

The Captain said--

"Give the lady back her 12s."

The answer was--

"We never return fees."

The Captain then gave instructions for one of his officers to take the usher off to the Southern Station and lock him up on a charge of misdemeanour.

The following morning I was again notified to attend the Police Court.

My counsel, General Barnes, pleaded for a postponement for one week, on the ground that he was busily engaged in the Sharon case. To this the prosecuting attorney objected, saying that the outraged public demanded the speedy settlement of Mapleson, and the case was therefore set for the following morning.

When the case was called I was not present, being unavoidably detained at the bedside of one of my ba.s.s singers, who had suddenly died of pulmonary apoplexy. The deceased, Signor Lombardelli, was a great favourite in the Company.

General Barnes, however, appeared, demanding a postponement of the case, and intimating that a trial by jury would be demanded.

"If this should be conceded the case will go over until next May or June," replied the Clerk of the Court, "by which time the accused will be in Europe."

He therefore protested against the postponement. The Judge said sternly that it would not be granted, and the case was therefore set for the morrow.

On the following morning I came up to the Police Court, which was crowded. Police Captain Short was first called for the prosecution, and testified that the Opera-house was a place of amus.e.m.e.nt, but that it had been turned into a place of danger every evening since I had been there.

Stools and standing spectators were in the main pa.s.sages, and in case of a panic the consequences would have been most disastrous. Officer O'Connell testified that on the particular night in question there were 57 people standing in one little pa.s.sage-way having about a dozen small folding stools amongst them. I was then placed on the witness stand, when I stated that I was the manager of the Opera Company, but not of the theatre. I had simply control of the stage, whilst the manager was responsible for the auditorium, and had provided me with the delinquent ushers. The box book-keeper was afterwards placed on the stand, who swore that I had ordered him to sell one-fifth less tickets than the manager had stated the house would hold. The defence only desired to make out the point that I was not the responsible manager. The Judge, however, decided otherwise, and found me guilty.

I was to appear the following morning to hear sentence. A heavy fine was imposed. But it was ultimately reduced to 75 dollars, which the Judge, evidently a lover of music, consented to take out in opera tickets.

That evening Patti appeared as "Leonora" in _Il Trovatore_. Standing room on the church steps opposite the main entrance to the theatre was again at a great premium, and a force of policemen under Captain Short was early on duty keeping the vestibule clear of loiterers, and allowing none but those who intended to witness the opera to be present.