VOICES OF REMARKABLE^ RANGE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 6, 8 January 1908, Page 8

VOICES OF REMARKABLE^ RANGE.

Opera-goers have been enraptured, by the extraordinary ease with whirh Ime. Tetrazzini, the new pnma donna at Covent Garden^ smgs her top notes. Her trill on E flat m alt. is the admiration of professed vocalists as well as the public. In fact, people are asking themselves what is the limit of this marvellous voice. Mine. Tetrazzini lives the simple life, and seems perfectly impervious to* the pett yills which usually affect all singers, particularly those who are unaccustomed to this unequal climate; She iis not .hedged round with a - lot of superfluous precautions which some might imagine she would ado.pt. Through the aid of an interpreter it was ascertained on November Bth that in " Rigoletto," she has to sing E in alt half a tone higher than in ' Trariata " ; and this is the real limit of her voice^— that is, as she explained, to keep it in character with the rest of her voice and to be able to hold the note and swell it into a full fortissimo or reduce it to a delightful pianissimo at will. • In "La Somnambula," another opera in which Mme. Tetrazzini will doubtless be heard before the season is over at Covent Garden, she sings F, or half a tone higher still—but this is only :' staccato," or sung in passing. Among the great prime aonne of the world there is not a great difference i n the height of their voices. No operatic soprano is thoroughly equipped without a reliable E flat or E in alt. This was Adelina Patti's limit in her prime, while her sister Carlotta could touch the F. Melba is credited with an F sharp, while Christine Nilsson was able to touch G, and Jenny Lind even an A. These ranges are,, of course, phenomenal, and are rarely found among concert singers. "Operatic sopranos^" said a vocal expert, " are not trained for phenomenal heights. The greatest of them would' probably be able to reach astounding altitudes. Their object is rather to preserve the weight, beauty, and character of the voice within the limits in "which music is written—^and that is sufficiently trying."

At the School Attendance Court this afternoon A. Brunnette was fined 2s and costs for failing to send his child to school as required by law. ■ A paragraph taken from the Auckland Star is being quoted in New Zealand newspapers stating that for the year 1907 Auckland's output of hemp from the grading stores was 47,750' bales, and adding "On these figures Auckland province is turning out one-third of the total yearly hemp output of the Dominion." This statement is true, but Wellington does still better (says • The Times). From the' annual volume of the Department of Agriculture we learn that for the year ending March 31st, 1907, the- total of hemp graded in the Dominion was 153,579 bales, of which Auckland supplied ,50,239, or nearly 33 per cent, while Wellington contributed 64,830, or over 42 per cent, of the number of bales. It is*, however, a fact that Auckland produces a larger number of small .(2 ewt.) bales—for convenience of car-* riage over rough country—than any other- district. •, > , As announced by a Press Association telegram yesterday, the firs,t case ,un T der the new Gaming, Act. will be heard at Martinborough on' Tuesday, 14th inst. It is stated that under sub-sec-tion six of section 29. of the Act, the Lower t Valley Jockey Club instructed | the Wairarapa Standard, Greytown, Ito supply on the second day's racecards, which that paper printed for the Club, the .results and dividends paid on the first day's, races. The Standard, it is stated, followed instructions, and delivered the rac;o books on the morning of the races to the Club, .which in turn handed them to/a thirdi party who had-purchased fchje privilege of selling them: It seems that the man who had, the privilege to sell the, cards did not confine* his sales to the racecourse proper, and accordingly the police have taken ,the -matter. - yp r s and laid, an information agaips b the. ,'-, Standard proprietors tshargiittg-them with, publishing the information. • An amber of tariff alterations, under tho Act paslsed last session, came into force on January Ist. The removal of the duty of 10 per cent, on cotton piece goods (including Turkey twills, dress prints, denlins, drills, dimities, flannelettes, army grey shirting,! moreen, canvas for fancyl work, dungaree for working suits, cotton cord, 'finings for dressmaking* and liberty muslin, is a departure which will be welcomed by all housewives. Similarly a duty of 20 per cent, is re-v moved from > plushes, all kinds of damasks, sateens, serges,^ dress hoilands, holland curtains, linen sheetings, amd towellings, and a_ hundred and one other things which come within the same category. The duty on lace goods, satins, velvets, etc., will be reduced from 25 to 20 per cent. , There are many other aticles on which reductions in duty operated as from Wednesday last, but those outlined are the principal changes which iaffect the masses. Mrs Russell Sage, the philanthropic widow of America's most careful millionaire, still remains at her country home in Long Island, in the state of siege (writes the New York correspondent of the Daily Telegraph). She has given away £3,000,000 of the £15,000,000: which her husband left, and with, every gift she makes she receives fresh batches of begging letters from all parts of the country. "People don't consider the woes or the rich sufficiently," she said to her secretary the other day. "We are more onpressed than anyone else,1 and there is no remedy, apparently." Mr Rockefeller has a powerful electric searchlight on the tower of his New Jersey country seat, which sweeps all the approaches to his home, and nobody can enter there, by night or day, without proper authority. Mrs Sage has not fot a searchlight, but little cottages aye been built as outposts on her country estate, and are occupied by guards, who protect her as best they can. However, the beggars defy all precautions—guards, dogs, servants, and police—and to-day we have the amazing spectacle of this aged widow, whose philanthropy and wisdom are unquestionable, complaining that she is practically denied" the pleasures of an ordinary citizen, of walking or driving, _or even paying a social visit to her life-long friends. Mrs Russell Sage will return to her New York town house shortly, under an armed guard. For the first time, her resir dence will be patrolled by a special guard who will keep off all persons except those having appointments with Mrs Sage. The only effective remedy for indigestion is Pearson's Pepto-chlor. All chemists*, Is 6d, 2s 6d and 4s. ; Just received, at Expr#» osee, "In Memoriam ir cards, iflTery choice designs.