We left San Francisco late that evening, being accompanied by Mr. de Young, the proprietor of the leading newspaper, and his charming wife, and we arrived in due course at Salt Lake City on Tuesday evening, where Mdme. Patti dressed in her own railway car, which afterwards conveyed her to the concert. At the end of the concert she returned to the car, where a magnificent supper had been prepared for her, and the train then started for the East.
Meanwhile, the Mormons had been enthusiastic at the idea of their magnificent Tabernacle echoing with the tones of Adelina Patti. President Taylor, the Prophet of the Mormon Church, assisted in the preparations made to receive the great songstress. A special line of railway had been laid down from the regular main line of Salt Lake City to the Tabernacle, and on it the special train ran without a hitch up to the very door of the building. Upwards of 14,000 people were present, the event being considered one of extraordinary importance throughout the whole of Utah territory; and the proceeds amounted to nearly £5,000.
We left Salt Lake city after the concert about 1 a.m., and reached Omaha on the following Friday, when Mdme. Gerster appeared as "Lucia di Lammermoor." The train consisted as usual of four baggage cars, four coaches for the principals, four coaches for the chorus and orchestra, four sleeping cars, including the extra boudoir cars, La Traviata, La Sonnambula, and Semiramide, also the Lycoming, my own private car, followed by the car of Adelina Patti. The inhabitants were struck by the elegant style and finish of our equipment, and as the train rolled into the station curious crowds came to look at it, and also to catch a glimpse of the two leading stars, Adelina Patti and Etelka Gerster.
Several artists who had to perform that evening left for the town. Mdme. Patti went for a drive with Nicolini. During her absence a limited number of notabilities were allowed to inspect her car, which had cost £12,000. It was without doubt the most superb and tasteful coach on wheels anywhere in the world. The curtains were of heavy silk damask, the walls and ceilings covered with gilded tapestry, the lamps of rolled gold, the furniture throughout upholstered with silk damask of the most beautiful material. The drawing-room was of white and gold, and the ceiling displayed several figures painted by Parisian artists of eminence. The woodwork was sandal wood, of which likewise was the casing of a magnificent Steinway piano, which alone had cost 2,000 dollars. There were several panel oil paintings in the drawing-room, the work of Italian artists. The bath, which was fitted for hot and cold water, was made of solid silver. The key of the outer door was of 18-carat gold.
On Patti's being interviewed she spoke with unbounded enthusiasm of her trip to California, and expressed at the same time a wish to sing in Omaha the following year. One of the most constant companions of the Diva is the famous, world-renowned parrot, which has mastered several words and sentences in French and English. On Patti whistling a particular tune, the bird imitates her exactly. The reporter wished for its biography, and asked whether it was true that whenever Mapleson entered the car the bird cried out: "Cash, cash!" The parrot had really acquired this disagreeable habit.
That evening Mdme. Patti attended the opera, and received a perfect ovation. At the close of the performance the whole Company started for Chicago, which we reached the following Sunday, when I received telegraphic news of the sad state Cincinnati was in. The riots had assumed terrible proportions, the streets were full of barricades, the gaol had been burned down by petroleum, and the prisoners released from it; whilst absolute fighting was taking place in the streets, and numbers had been killed or wounded.
According to the pictures sent me in an illustrated paper, the militia were firing upon the populace; the Court House had been destroyed by fire, as well as the gaol; and the struggle had already been on for over three days. I therefore telegraphed at once to Fennessy, at Cincinnati, the impossibility of my coming there, the singers one and all objecting to move.
To my great regret I was obliged to cancel my Cincinnati engagement, and we started our train in the direction of New York. On the succeeding Monday we opened the season, during which we produced Romeo and Juliet, with Patti and Nicolini, and gave performances of Elisir d'Amore, followed by Semiramide, in which I was glad to be able to reinstate Scalchi as "Arsace." She having been thrown out of her engagement by the collapse of Mr. Abbey, I readily re-engaged her, not only for that year, but also for the year following.
Mdme. Patti afterwards sailed for Europe, leaving by the Oregon, which was to start early on the Saturday morning. She decided to go on board the day previously, but as it was Friday she drove about the city until the clock struck twelve before she would embark. The following day I shipped off the remainder of my Company.
I myself was compelled to remain behind in consequence of a deal of trouble which was then gathering, and which began by the attachment of the whole of the Patti benefit receipts at the suit of the Bank of the Metropolis. This bank had discounted a joint note of guarantee which the stockholders of the Academy of Music had given me early in the season to enable me to defeat the rival house, which I succeeded in doing.