The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
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Copyright 1111. by the Star Company. Great Britain nights Reserved.
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MissKaterine Minahan, Who Has Cultivated the Bird Part of Her Voice to the' Ex
clusion of the Reptile and Human Elements, Studying the Tones of a Frilled Lizard.
THIS Is partly to inform tho
Carusps and Tctrazzlnls, and
also tho baritones, contraltos
and basso profundos of grand opora
of their lndobtcdnoas, not only to tho
birds, but to snakes, frogs, HzardB
nnd other reptiles, for their ability
to oztract annual millions from tho
pockets of music-lovers.
Any musician will tell you thnt
the twlttoring of birds is not sing
ing, and probably you don't need to
bo told that tho croaking of frogs
Is not music. You will therefore ho
surprised to learn that tho musical
human volco is tho result of nothing
mora nor loss than tho nn atom leal
combination in tho humun vocal
apparatus of tho widely differing
mechanisms which enable birds to
twitter nnd reptiles to croak or hiss.
You see, it is like tho caso where
tho chemical union of two very dif
ferent elements produces chlorldo of
sodium common salt, a most uso
ful, even Indlsitcnsnbie. article nnd
which can bo obtained in no other
way. Equally, without both tho bird
element and tho reptllo element in
your volco, you can't sing.
Sclonco physiology understands
this, but it was loft for fho inquiring
mind of n vocally talented llttlo girl,
n student of birds and frogo twitter
ing nnd croaking In their natlvo
haunts, to drlvo tho lesson homo in
a popular way. This sho is doing
for she's grown up now hoblnd tho
scenes of n big New York theatro
nightly, and it ueems to tho de
lighted audiences that living birds
in the fairy play are responsible, for
the chirpings and twlttorings which
add so much to tho realism of tho
scene.
But It all comes from the throat
of the girl behind tho scones Miss
My Secrets of Beauty-No. 2 1
TillIB Is tho Boason when a
' woman looks into tho mirror
with more than the usual mis
givings. Her anxiety concerns hor
skin.
Tho greater amount of food par
taken and the heavier nature of it
Cor six months lhavo probably mottled
the skin with thq red of pimples or
the brown of liver patches. Tho
cold has drawn the oils from tho
skin and left it dry, and you aro for
tunate it fine lines havo not been
etched upon it for Winter Is an ox
ipert with skin for material and
wrinkles as tho marks of his crafts
manship. The social activities of
some and tho study and work by
gaslight of others have causid the
muscles to shrink away fiom the
skin, and tho skin has acquired a
flaccid, dragged, looBe-hanglng ap
pearance. The texture of the skin
has also coarsened, as it always
does In Winter.
- This It the crisis, the condition.
What is to be .done? You mutt
awake the akin from ts sleep,
arouse It from Its laziness. You
mutt set It to work. The lazy skin
Is like the lazy body. If left unex
erclted It grows flabby and unlove
ly, and la liable to be afflicted with
disease. Make the skin perform Its
chief duty, which Is elimination of
the waste of the body.
Tear open the closed poros of the
outer covering. Open them until
the skin Is sleve-liko in Its porous
ness, so that refuse matter can
Jreely pass JJirougb it
Kathorino Mtnahan, n pretty New
Jersey girl, daughter of Colonel
Mlnahnn nnd n protegeo of tho former
Mrs. Frank Gould. It has taken Miss
Mlnahan six or soven years to sepa
rate tho bird clement of her volco
from tho roptllo olomont as chem
ists rosolvo compound substances
into their olomentary constituents
nnd dovelop it to tho point whoro It
debolvos oven tho birds them
selves. No toxt book or profossor of
anatomy had told her about tho
structure of the human vocal ap
paratus being a composite of those
of tho bird-kind and tho roptllo-klnd.
Sho hud listened to nnd practised tho
croaking of frogs and tho twtttoring
of birds in tho Jorsoy groves and
meadows, nnd thought it out for hor
self. One tiny early In her 'teens
Bho astonished hot family by deliv
ering a brief lecturo on tho subject,
In substnnce ns follows:
"Thoro nra thrco kinds of voices.
Last night wo hoard tho frogs croak
In tho nioiidow that Is tho llrst
kind. This morning wo woro awak
ened by tho twittering of tho birds
that Is tho second kind. A llttlo
Inter, whon Hans, tho Bavarian fruit
pcdler, enmo down tho street ho
was singing, yodollng that Is tho
third kind of volco. But It Is mndo
up of tho othor two. Whonovor n
porson sings I enn licar In his tones
both tho frog-volco nnd tho bird
volco. Mora than that, I ought to
know, for I have nil throo' kinds
and I can provo It."
Which sho did, by croaking llko a
frog, by twittering llko a wren and
by singing llko herself.
Eventually llttlo Miss Mlnnhan'a
strange accomplishment, and hor re
markablo discovery, woro bound to
got into tho nowspapers. Sho had
There is a deep, changeloss truth
in tho old adago: "Wo scarce begin
to llvo ero wo bogln to die!" But
wo need not be mournful about
tho anclont saw. It refers to
tho fact that Uto la a flux, a con
tinual chango. Tho body is as a
house that as fast as it is built it
is torn down and rebuilt ' This
building up and tearing down medi
cal men term metabolism, so don't
fancy that you are afflicted by any
Incurable disease If a doctor men
tions It when discussing your Spring
cold or your Summer heat stroke
To impress upon you the need of
the skin casting off quantities of
matter every day let mo remind you
what is tho ash (or waste) of tho
body. First, thero ts carbon dioxide,
tbo ash loft by tho burning up of
tho tissue. Thero Is urea, formed by
tissues that havo decomposed;
thore are salts, there is much water
resulting from tho transformation
of tho food taken' tnto tho body Into
fluids. Thero is goneral effeto that
is dead matter.
Theso aro cast into tho Ufa
stream tho blood as Umbers are
flung into a river. Tho three great
eltmlnatlvo organs the lungs, the
skin and tho kidneys should rid
the body of most of this waste. But
part of tho waste remains If the skin
is lazy. The results aro pimples aud
a muddy, yellowish skin. So Bet
your skin to work. Do this by two
means exercise and baths. Kvery
skin Is an artful dodger that does
not freely perspire.
If it mutt bo taught over again
to perform this function, as a person
kept up hor
prac.tlso of
bird-notes, had
acquired qulto
a roportory of
t h o twlttor
phrases of all
tho fnmlllar
songbirds, and
whon, with the
patronago of
society lend
ers, sho gavo a rocltal at tho Waldorf-Astoria
in Now York, hor ser
vices enmo into considorablo de
mand for such occasions. Tho ben
evolent Countess Leary added hor
lnfluonco to that of othor persons
who holpod smooth, tho way for tho
development of n talent so unique.
Apparently thoro is ns vast a dlf
fcrenco botweon a frog and a bird
ns thoro Is between tholr voices.
Yet fossil remains of anclont birds
nnd reptiles indicato plainly tholr
common origin nnd that tho bird
tribo Is ovolvod from roptllo spocles.
From crawling and hopping about
on tho ground and burrowing In tho
mud of ponds to sailing through tho
bluo othor was a protty long step
for tho species of roptlles who
achieved their ambition to bocomo
birds, and tho transformation It
brought about In their voices was
equally remarkable
Anatomy shows that In tho reptllo
stnto tho volco IS produced almost
wholly by organs in the head as
the croaking of frogs and tho his
sing of snakes yot theso samo or
gans aro lndtsponslblo in producing
tho pure, carrying tones of tho musi
cal human volco. In the bird stnto,
however contrary to tho general
impression vocal sounds proceod
from tho larynx, and aro actuated
and controlled by tho lungs and tho
Mme. Lina
You Can Sing, You
Have BothFor Science
Shows That the Human
Vocal Apparatus Is a
Composite of That of
Birds and Reptiles, and
Here Is a Girl Who
Uses the Bird Part Only
Vocal Organ of Bird, Reptile and Man. From Right to Left The Bird's Larynx and Lungs Are Highly De
veloped, Producing Clear and Powerful Tones Without Reliance Upon Sounding Cavities in the Head; the Reptile
Relies Solely on Its Upper Throat and Head for Its Limited Vocal Powers; in Man the Bird's Throat and Thor
acic Organs and Those of the Reptile's Head Form Composite System Which Makes Human Song Possible.
dlapraghm, as in tho case of man.
But tho bird la, ablo to vocallzo with
brilliancy and great carrying power
with very llttlo ' dopendenco upon
tho resonanco cavities of tho skull
and nasal structurp, so necessary in
giving the human volco quality and
resonanco.
8 - Is Your
Davis &
SANFB..H'V.
Cavalieri.
THIS
So it appears that tho llttlo New
Jersey songstress and student of
tho vocal mothods of frogs and
birds was right In her theory that it
takes both tbo vocal organs and
mothods of tho reptile and tho bird
to produce tho human singing voice.
Now comes tho story of her oppor
Skin Lazy?
long III has to learn again how to
walk, you can begin by a few Turk
ish baths, perhaps by a course of
them If you have the time and
money. But warm baths at home
will further the work, especially if
you stimulate the skin by pouring
Into the bathtub a 5-cent bag of
table salt. Two double handfuls of
washing soda will help to rip open
Beauty Questions Answered
F. A. J. says: "Will you please
give mo full instructions for develop
ing the bust and tell me what results
I can expect and how long It will
take? I am 5 feet 7 inches tall and
weigh 133 pounds and I am almoBt
as flat-chested as a child."
I will wager you are a shallow
breather. Breathe from, the abdo
men deeply and many times a day.
I know an Instance of a chest ex
pansion gaining seven Inches In a
year in that way. Cocoanut oil
patted light into the breast should
be an aid, but nothing can take the
place of deep breathing as a chest
expander.
"Will you kindly let me know in
next Sunday's paper what to do
for a yellow complexion?" asks
M. P.
"Set your lazy liver to work bY
exercising more out of doors. Slap
the body lightly but firmly on that
side. Drink copiously of water and
eat freely of fruit"
C. "3. writes of ber experiments
k
Miss Minahan,
Her
Bird-Voice
in Rivalry
with a
Canary, to
David Belasco,
Who '
Promptly
Engaged' Her
to Furnish
Bird Notes
in His
Fairy Play
tunity to take theso truths out of
the hands of scientific circles and
demonstrate them to the general
public.
It was David Belasco, dramatist
and producer of plays, who is al
ways looking for now and useful
stage effects, who gave Miss Mina
WITH
"Whenever a persons sing. I can hear in hi. tone, both
fiy MK.tfcuvfe!ri'
tho pores, though this remedy la
barred to tender skins.
A coarse flesh brush or a rough
band or rough towel rubbed vigor
ously over tho parts of the body you
can conveniently reach and drawn
across those less accessible, as tbo
back, will coax the tight pores to
open.
Much fruit eating and water
with all the depilatories and com
plains that the hair comes back.
I have said over and over again
that nothing removes superfluous
hairs except electrolysis, and that
that sometimes falls. When the
root of the hair Is destroyed the
hair will grow no more.
B. U. sends the plaint: "Will
you kindly print directions to make
my bands soft and white? I am
eighteen years of age and do no
hard work of any kind, such as
housework. Yet my hands aro very
red and rough. I cannot understand
It
Avoid tight sleeves and gloves.
Bath your hands neither In warm
or cold .water, but tepid. The best
cosmetic for the hands is made of
equal parts of rote water and glycer
ine. I wash my hands In It after
washing them In warm water and
soap and before they have been
thoroughly dried by a towel I al
low the rose water and glycerine to
dry on or Into the hand
t
MAKES THrS
han this opportunity. Having read
of hor theory and her accomplish
ments, occasionally during sev
eral years ho assigned Bomeono
from his staff to hear her and report
hor progress. Theso reports
grow in enthusiasm. It was a bird
voice no doubt about that
At length, a few weeks ago, when
Mr. Belasco was worrying ovoi
fatry-liko atmosphero for his forth
coming production of "The Good
Llttlo Devil," he suddenly lssuod tho
order:
"Got, tho girl with tho blrd-volco.
Go at bnco bring hor to mo, hero."
Willingly she came to tho theatro,
sang a dozen bird notes and by them
soothed tho worried manager as
David by his fresh voico cast tho
troublesome spirit out of Saul.
"Exactly what I noed. I know I
should need you some day," ho said.
"I am worried about this play.
There aro many difficulties In tho
way. I want you to Blng those bird
notes when the fairies gather about
a llttlo blind girl. Will you?"
Tho day after "Tho Good Llttlo
Devil" was produced in Now York,
nil the critics spoke of tho delicious
sounds proceeding as though from a
flock of song birds.
Back in tho "wings" stood a slen
der girl in a black tailor suit, her
chin uptilted showing a beautifully
full and dellclously curved throat,
her . I pi n pursed In the form of a
beak, thrilling, warbling, whistling,
carolling. i
Few people who road tho an
nouncement of tho bird songs ren
dered by Miss Katharine Mlnahan,
as .heard in Juliet's garden scone in
"The Good Little Devil," have anyt
idea of tho method by which thesa,
effects are produced.
Various explanations aro gtvon"uy
the audience for this effect, somo
claiming that it Is mechanical,
others that a real nightingale has
been captured and held subject to
the genius of Belasco. But for tho
benefit of the curious It may bo of
interest to know that theso are the
real bird notes, though produced
qulto naturally by a young woman.
Unlike most attempts at this sort
of thing, theso bird notes are not
mero imitations. They may bo said
to bo the real bird. notes, or as near
td them as tho human throat Is cap
able of producing.
In other words, this Is really tho
music of tho feathered songsters.
These are songs sung as tho bird
sings. For In this respect Miss
Minahan produces tho tones Just as
tho bird does with the same throat
formations and same use of tho
breath copies', In fact, from tho
birds themselves.
Tho Interesting scientific point,
however, is that for the first time it
has been proved possible for a
human vocaUst to separate tho rep
tile part form tho bird part of her
voice and to develop the latter to
the exclusion, not only of tho
former but of their human com
poslto.
drinking will atd tho work of cauB
ing perspiration. But teach tho skin
this habit, for to use the Inelegant
phrase of a Turkish bath attendant
who waited upon me In London:
"No sweat filth inside, bad akin!"
Surprised.
JT was tho yearly Inspection of Oil
school, and the Inspector, a talL
thin, wizen-faced gentleman, was quest.
Honing on the meanings of words con
talned in the reading lesson.
'"Tho spectra from behind him rose,"
quoted he. Then, turning his eyes upon
a girl In the front desk, he asked:
"What Is the meaning of 'spectre'?"
Tho little girl's face paled as aha
rose.
"Please, sir, I don't know," ahe ad
mitted, shamefacedly.
"Just think. girl." he said. "The man
was dreadfully frightened and the
'spectre ruse behind him' and fright
ened him still more.".
She was going to say something, but
stopped.
"Come on, girl," said the Inspector,
"speak out. Don't be frightened. I'm
npt going to eat you. Now, what Is tho
spectre that usually frightens people?"
He walled In silence, then the llttlo
girl, suddenly bracing herself up, an
swered: "The school 'spector, sir."
IN ONE THING.
"I'm glad to nnd vou as you are."
said the old friend. "Your great wealth
hasn't changed you."
Well.' replied the millionaire. "It
has changed mo In one thing. I'm now
eccentric where 1 used to be Impolite,
and delightfully sarcastic where
used to be rude."