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down at Rockland, nor were any or trie • you re a snipouuacr you can it me i »ary practices.in me oiu siupyarua ; some noies, it is true, nut air-un\Bu *JOHN MTORNACK GIVES THE EMPHATIC LIE DIRECTTO YARNS SPREAD ABOUTHABITS OFF STAGEt♦By JOE TOYEi+What stories have you heard about: ■■y -S: * ' \*****♦%iJohn McCormack ?As is the case with trany men who become prominent, there have been hundreds of stories told tbout Mr. Me- t§§ Cormack’s private life. These stories have assumed scores of forms. There have been weird tales of the vast amount of strong drink supposed to have been consumed by the great singer. If they were true, John McCormack would be the best friend theM8tv“• S-i :x-f At* 0 '1 yfe 5?^. -ymm - ■mmV ;,v£y£iX*ION ^§:^;DECLARAT! O N . ____3^ Inrfllid for nil purposes hcmsy yesra uft«r trie date‘ifptIn dv ft; -trh lt;C^Ufi lt;;? th« *«•.*« - Yf'' \ ’* V/* •W-lvvSi*./Ji5f.‘liquor men bad in the world.I had heard a whole lot of backstairs gossip about John McCormack.“Did you know he did this, and did you know lie did that?” and “I have it from somebodv who knows McCor-v*,Vf/.v-• *^v)wA;.%*V*'LE‘’jfeX'ii§tdfeiptfo i contptexM^dJmack that h.'is this and that.” and Ii.-.O,goodness knows what not!I think I've heard them all, and if you know a new one, I don't want to hear it. Life is too short.t Vwas born*lt;lt;$£ • ^ **»+:lt;• v.vx •XI.el me say before we go any further that it is not up to me. personally, to defend John McCormack. I’m under absolutely no obligation to McCormack to defend him, and when T was assigned to write the story of his lifemy only Instructions were to write the story of his life according to fact, truthfully. And I didn't get all myfacts from John McCormack. He corroborated them all and gave me alot more. In fact, I didn't talk w’ithMcCormack about the story until after I had worked a month gathering material elsewhere, from more people than you . could shake a stick at—andl i vTxiigfJted to die United Sfctfer the v«»*t.iytitfi residence wasjaresvrprince, potentate, state, wr vrtyenmy, and jmrtkularty toX of whom I am row a .'stfcjcvt: 1• A.4*44+ « . s/* sV»g» •p • t'r+ir~ , bn »r nbous the lt;3stdCivr*’ ,’amv.i Dwnint I :*«•» no;. «;n«tvbi-«j: I m t«« 4• jr * *. • ’+ * %e' 'jpo;ylt;jn*/t n-»r a bclfener b tlx* pnkttco oi ptdj^amy; and It Is my intention lt;•* $ fslUipermanently »w-i.le tiicfeitu*iu tH'Otroc? «i c it iron ot the Uni It'd States of AnwiSu Hn.P M8 (ioo.a pretty big stick, at that.Case of “A Raw DealMv*€So when I take it upon myself to w-rite upon so delicate a subject as that. of a man's alleged prowess as a drinker of strong drink, I do so with little relish for the task before me. but with a feeling that some people have been handing a really likeable gentleman a rather raw deal.Before I knew John McCormack. 1 neither believed nor disbelieved the stories I heard about him. tBui when a person is delegated to write a biography of any particular celebrity, and that celebrity has been known to him only by reputation, more or less favorable, It Is time the writer settled the matter one way or the other. Either I had to write my story, believingJohn McCormack to be what some people said he was. or I had to write It with the knowledge that some people were awfully careless In their after-uoon-tea conversation.^ ’ '■y' ; hvc-x-:«vV A;TW-v YAiii/i £-/’■ :«*.* -■Subscribed utvl sworn to bef«ge nv in the office of the Cderk ofM\%fv..- ■■■%$■$$. .■ I: ■- •MoCornvtck’s iiilcntion to become a citizen.+quite intently for a moment. He Then the second person will go toseemed to grow a bit sad. Then he be- somebody else and say that a friendof his saw' John McCormack drinking in a hotel. And that one will tell some-came very earnest.Toye, he began, I have heard themmany times. There is a tendency among body else, only this time I was drinking a whole lot. and by the time it gets to about four more people I was Intoxicated, and when the last one tellssome people to say all sorts of things about successful artists, tbeir habits, j their weaknesses and all that.‘Tm glad, now you spoke about it ; it I’m never sober.»~n■ ~ wilI t#li vou now I I think It is about time to come out Boy, he said, if I drank hard orEhC, T 1 t».„ ,nnritmion that S°od and strong on that subject, he abused myself In any way, could I singtfl.Uonr:.;e0rT«n.° maXiy a“ | c.nt,„u.d. iocXIng m. straight many concert, as . do--prominent perR'in egain. ! **S*‘ | “No man. said McCormack to me.to believe it until it hae PJ°' • How Such Stories Start j can be a heavy drinker and at thebefore a full bench.- For I ve round | , *■ • v lt;T urii*t * MHere is the way a story will start: I tmif A M0M9KUI SFtHtthat people have been saying untrue things about John McCormack.It took a vast amount of courage for me to ask Mr. McCormack about? these stories. But it seemed to me that the man I had heard sing and the man I had talked with f*o freely could not possibly be the man about whom somany little tales had been toldSo I held my breath, had both feetPP*rlg* #A*» «■» + i rsv* in“Mr. McCormack, said I, “you noI will be sitting in the dining room of the hotel here. I will order a glass of wine. I want one. It is good for me after a long concert, for instance. So I order It, and I’m not afraid to order It in public. I ’m not like some of those who talk about me. I don’t hide in my room and drink where nobody will see me. and then go out and poseolt;! q 11+r*“Somebody will see me drinking, and Will go out and meet somebody elseEvidence of His Hard Workdoubt have heard most of the stories about how hard you are supposed to j and say: drink? ,ri’—We had been talking pleasantly about pleasant subjects until now. McCormack's smile disappeared. The light in such and such a hotel, died out in his eje». He looked at me wine.’. T VOuenB who 1 saw today?’ “ 'Whom lt;Jtd you **e?' *F saw John McCormack,And it might be well to repeat herethat McCormack, since his debut inNew York in 1908, has given more than900 performances in concert and opera ;he has been in that time twice around the world in all kinds of climates, and *r» all that time has missed barelv ahalf a dozen dates.‘ And you might have noticed that McCormack mentioned a glass of wine. f!* There’* a reason .for it.. He never in hii life tastes whisky or brandy or He was such-like strong stuff. f •drinking I McCormack recently was tendered abanquet by a number of manyof the?n college associates of his \ounger days in Summer Hill College, Migo, Ireland. These clergymen are row attached to the diocese of New York and Brooklyn. If anyone knows McCormack, they should.Among the speakers was the Rev.Livingston, pastor of St.Church, New York, one of known priests in the arch-+* 4IWilliamGabriel'sthe bestuiocese.Now that so many true and beautiful tributes of esteem have been paid to Mr. McCormack. said Father Livingston, “now that so many flattering words of praise have been wafted to his ears; now that so many garlands of affection have been laid at his feet, may we not consider for a moment the rather serious question of our persona) duty to him in the days that are to come? / v?* ‘Great men always have been surrounded by a guard of honor on special occasions, and bv a bodyguard in times of danger, when protection was deemed to be either prudent or necessary. If, then, we are so proud to call ourselves Mr. McCormack's guard of honor tonight, should we not feel bound by a high and holy obligation to call ourselves to be his bodyguard at all times in the future?§4It it be true that ‘death loves a shining mark,* as Young said long ago. It may surely be said that jealousy and ignorance always turn their attention in the same brilliant direction. In these days of ours, even as in former times, every man who attains distinction is subject to the calumnies of the envious and the suspicions of the unthinking.“The character of George Washington was bitterly assailed during his lifetime, though now no man dares raisehis voice against the Father of His Country. Even our blessed Lord did not escape the tooth of malice and the tongue of calumny, though he came to teach the law of love for all mankind. Surely, then, if that law of love is tomack, Mrs. McCormack. Cyril, Gwendolyn, Mrs. McCormack's sister and a nurse. McCormack’s two managers, called by the urgency of business, were there, and I was there. I never was much good at mental arithmetic, but I think that makes nine in all. There wasn't the slightest bit of commotion or noise.It was the same at Atlantic City. They went their way with dignity and quiet, and everybody seemed glad to see them again. I don't think I’m over-enthusiastic when I say that if you met John McCormack and didn’t knew who he was, you just couldn’t help saying :“Well, there’s a fine fellow, now, isn’t he?” and nobody who knew him would pick an argument with you.T* asked McCormack why it wag he took out his first citizenship papers at Philadelphia last January.Why He’s U. S. CitizenAnd why shouldn't I?” he asked.Isn't this the • greatest nation onearth? Didn’t it make me? I’m getting my living here. The least I could do is to become a citizen. Why, boy, there never was a country like it! And you ask me why I became a citizen!”MAre you ever going to bring j^ur mother and father over here? I asked.“Indeed I’m not,” he said. They're nice and comfortable and happy over there in Ireland. And what wmuld happen if I brought them here?‘They’d be entertained and banqueted and kept up until all hours of the night when they should be in bed. They’re too old for that. They W'ould fee killed with kindness, so they're better off as they are, now*, aren’t they?”n , . *** *I admitted they were and asked:“What would you do, Mr. McCormack, if at this moment you should lose your voice, lose your money and everythingyou had?”“Listen to me, boy. he said, eagerly, suddenly becoming quite interested. “I’ ' r M A . f UCVV/lllMih M VJ,VV --be observed by the laity, we of the wag down in xMhvtUe one*.Iclergy, w'hose office is to preach charity, should be the first, not only to practise that divine virtud, but also to rebuke those who may seem to forget its existence. \ *v“Surely then, we shall be on guard at all times, ready to defend tne good name of one wdio is so dear to us, even as we w'otild defend our own. We have placed that name on a throne tonignv; l*t it be ours to see that no man uares to tear it down.’ i .?Slf JrRReply to Priest's Praiset sMr. McCormack, wno, #y tne way,an accomplished after dinner speaker,was visibly affected by the trioutes paid him, and addressing tne garnering and particularly Father Livingston, said:“Father, you have expressed some thoughts tonight that 1 nave secretly been longing for someone to say for many years, some things my position W'ould not permit me t# say myself, and I want to thank you with all myheart,I “All men who attain a certain degree of prominence in professional or public life, it w'ould seem, must expect to be assailed by the ignorant anu tne malicious, and I know full well that Ihave not escaped their pernicious attentions, but let me tonight, my mends, assure you in all sincerity that so rar as. my public or private life is concerned, I look the world ’straight in the eye’ with a clear conscience, ror-tifled with the knowledge mat I have never deviated from w’hat i conceive to be my obligations to my country ar*6 my church. ?My talk with Mr. McCormack on this subject occurred at Atlantic City, wherethe tenor had taken his family tor a short vacation. I had chatted with them but a few* minutes the day before, just before they boarded the train inAfter the concert I tried to talk, t couldn't. I couldn't make a noise at all. I thought I was dumb/c n “What did you do?“[ said to myself, ‘Well, it's come. Now what will I do?’ Then I had an Idea. I turned to McSweeney and I said, ‘Mac, how much would it cost to open a sw'ell phonograph store on Fifthavenue?’ Wj.'* 7“But suppose you wouldn’t have the“Boy, my credit is good.Do you wonder the man is a success? McCormack had promised to take the children for a swim. T had been keeping him from doing it. He had been very patient. Mrs. McCormack, thenurca, and the children had passed us in the lobby on*their way to the beach. Mrs. McCormack smiled; McCormack waved to her, pointed to me and aafd;“I'm still in jail. * lt;So I asked one more question and let it go at that.“When are you going to stop singing? - *“I'll tell you, he answered. 'Tin going to stop singing while . they're wishing to goodness I’d sing some more and not wait until they're saying, ‘For heaven’s sake, why doesn’t he stop?*In next Sunday's Post an interesting persona! letter from Athlone, Irclaftd, the birthplace of John McCormack, will give some entertaining facts regarding the singer and Itis parents, now living in Ireland.DAD STILL WONDERSM Vofu**?»l v mv hov it th*science of cause and effect. Now, you the steam coming out cf the spout of that kettle, don’t you? But you don tthe Pennsylvania station in New’ York. lt;know why it does so fincidentally. I was quite impressed “Oh. yes. I do. dad! The steam coroes with the quiet manner in which the Me-j out of the UettK »lt;• that mother can Cormacks made their departure. There open your ItlWs without your were six people in the party. McCor- ins it!
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