Melba Farewell

A queue of people waited all night and all day outside the doors of His Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. At an auction sale, held from the stage, tickets were sold -some at 100 guineas each. It was Dame Nellie Melba's farewell appearance -Melba, for over 20 years the world's greatest singer, true successor to Patti. The vast audiences went wild with joy, cheered and cheered -and eight carloads of flowers were carried to the stage.

Helen Porter Mitchell (Melba) born in 1859, made her first public appearance at six years of age at a school-concert, when she sang Comin' Thro' the Rye to a delighted audience. She received a good musical education, mostly at the piano, married one Captain Charles Armstrong when 23 and sang and played at private musical soirees in Melbourne. But, because of some prejudice against her early marriage to a well-to-do man, the Australian public ranked her "an amateur." So she departed for Paris in 1884, trained her voice -and studied hard -under the famed Mme. Marchesi, adopted the name of Melba, hastily derived from Melbourne. She made her debut in Brussels in 1887, as "Gilda" in Verdi's Rigoletto and in Covent Garden (London) in 1888, when she sang the Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor which always remained her favorite role. In 1893, she appeared at La Scala, Milan, and made her first visit to the U. S. Then began her brilliant career ; her "liquid voice" became known in every opera house in the world, in Germany, Austria, Spain, England, Holland, France. She made many visits to the U. S.

Owing to her continuous engagements, her private house in Paris was seldom occupied, except during the holidays of her little son who was at school in England.

Critics have complained of her coldness as an actress. Triumph was in her voice.

Last week Dame Melba announced at this one special farewell performance at Melbourne she had undertaken to raise -L-20,000 for limbless and tuberculous soldiers. The eight carloads of flowers which were presented to her, she gave to hospitals.