AN INTERVIEW.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10225, 28 April 1911, Page 5

AN INTERVIEW.

WITH MDLLE. DOLORES. THE NOTED SINGER. "Mdlle. Dolores nas arrived!" The mailman knew it. The cabman knew it. The man-in-the-street knew it, and, of course, the Age reporter was immediately "in the know." Mdlle. arrived by the. late train from Danneyirke, but she was neither too tired nor too conservative to be interviewed. Indeed, when approached by the Age man she smiled a most beneficent smile as though she quite expected that something of the sort was going to happen. To get to business. "What sort of reception have they been giving you in the Provinces?" "Admirable! Superb!" That was all. ■ : "How long is it since you last visited us, Mdlle?" ' "Well, how time flies; it must be four years. And how well do I remember the kind people of Masterton—the bouquets, the demonstration at my hotel!" "And you have travelled largely since then?" "Travelled!" It seemed that it would take quite a long interview and columns of space to tell it all. In four years the gifted singer has been round the world. In Europe alone, she has : .been' through Ge£- : m;iny, Russia,, and Hungary;, *; and then followed; .England, : Scotland,' and Ireland, In her tours 'Mdlle.' Dolores is accompanied by Mdlle. Vaudner, a life-long companion. To interview Mdlle. Dolores is' to interview Mdlle. Vaudner, 1 ' and both ladies are charming conversationalists.

Their ambition was'to visit "the Zambesi river in South Africa, and Mdlle. Dolores speaks with enthusiasm of. the wonders of that great country. She! and Mdlle, Vaudner. were in trains for days together, but at the Zambesi they saw hippos, monkeys, and many other beasts of the jungle. They saw no lions. "Only the marks of where they had been," said .Mdlle. Dolores with a laugh.

Mdlle. Dolores was astonished to hear that there should he complaints against train travelling in New Zealand. "They do not know what train travelling is," she said. "Let them try some of the provincial trains in England when fit is showing, and the foot warmers.leak—if there are aiiy. There are some very miserable trains in England." Mdlle. Dolores gives the palm for railway comfort in Russia. Mdlle Vaudner agrees with her. To hear these two ladies . quaintly describe sipping tea in a cosy railway 1 carriage is a very high compliment to the courtesy of Russian railway management. And the rest of the world is inclined to regard Russia us very far behind the band! For speed in railway travelling, Mdlle. Dolores commends America.

I Mdlle. Dolores has paid four visits to Australasia, and this has included five tours of New Zealand, "You know," she said, with the charming accent that just fails to be English, "I have watched New Zealand grow up. It seems, my home, and I love it. It is-always good to come back to. And how the population moves! It is nomadic. We find people—such nice people—in Auckland one visit, and the next time they are in Wellington or Dunedin. You New Zealanders seem to be always on the move." "And your concert to-night, MdlleP" 'Ah! I am looking forward to it. I always like to renew the acquaintance of my old friends."