One of the best-paid singers in the world, it is an interesting fact that the first fee which Madame Nordica received was not for singing, but for consenting not to sing. As a little girl, at her home at Farmington, U.s.a., she used to love to try her voice at all times, and, much to ..the annoyance of her elder sisters, would persist in joining.in with them whenever they sang duets, together. So, in order to silence the future diva, they resorted to bribery, and gave her some money on condition that she promised to keep quiet. Born in 1859, Madame Nordica came to England in 1878 with an American orchestra known as Gilmore's band, to whose programmes at the Crystal Palace she contributed vocal numbers and won a big success. Returning nine years later, she appeared at Covent Garden with equal success, and since then has gone from triumph to triumph. Madame Nordica has been twice married-first, in 1882, to Mr. Frederick A. Gower, who lost his life in a balloon accident eighteen months later; and again, in 1896, to Herr Dome, an Hungarian tenor. Madame Nordica is intensely patriotic, and is reported to have asserted that it is in no way necessary for an American girl to study the art of singing abroad. Her own early training was received in her native city under that excellent master, Mr. J. O'neill.

Madame Nordica

A. Dutontt