177.—MADAME PATTI.
Adelina Patti has every claim to the distinction of a "Queen of Song." She was born, of musical parents, at Madrid, on February 10oth, 1843. She made her first appearance in 1850, as a child of seven years of age, at Tripler's Hall, New York, when she sang and acted. From her seventh to her tenth year she travelled as a prodigy through South America, where she was at once received with that extraordinary enthusiasm which has always attended her progress everywhere. Her first appearance in London was at Covent Garden, in the opera of "La Sonnambula" on May 14th, 1861, when she at once took everybody by surprise, and she immediately shot into the front rank of popularity. She had arranged to sing for Mapleson at the rate of £40 per week, singing four nights a week. The same impresario subsequently paid the Diva no less a sum than £1,000 for each performance during his American opera tours. Some ingenious American mathematician made a calculation as to how much Patti received for singing each separate note in Rossini's "Semiramide," with the result that he discovered she put into her pocket 7110 cents more per note than Rossini received for writing the entire opera.
Wonderful accounts are recorded of Patti's American journeys. The railway car in which she travelled from city to city was a marvel of workmanship, and cost £12,000. The drawing-room was decorated in white and gold, and on the ceiling was displayed several figures painted by Parisian artists of eminence. The wood-work was of sandal wood, the curtains of heavy silk damask, and the walls and ceilings were covered with gilded tapestry. The lamps were of rolled gold, and the furniture throughout was upholstered in silk damask of the most beautiful texture. The bath,
