ful living. Even
public life with its exciting experiences, perpetual change and scenes,
its endless procession of new faces may in time become monotonous. The
artist life of Camilla Urso has been active and varied to a remarkable
degree, but to repeat the details of such a succession of concert tours
would be simply wearisome. Events are of small consequence except as
illustrative of character and we must only select such as serve to show
the woman and the artist in her true character. On returning from Europe
Madam Urso at once resumed her concerts and appeared in New York and
others cities. In January, 1867, she was engaged to play the
_Mendelssohn Concerto_ at one of the concerts of the Harvard Musical
Association in Boston, and in order to be present in good season for
rehearsal started two days before from New York by the way of
Springfield. On the road she encountered a severe snow storm and was
blockaded thirty-six hours between Worcester and Boston. Determined to
keep her engagement with the Harvards she pushed on as long as the train
would move. Again and again they were stopped, in gigantic drifts that
came up to the tops of the cars. The train people resolutely shoveled
their way through and pushed on again The day of the concert came and
still they were twenty miles or more from Boston. The fires gave out and
not a thing could be obtained to eat or drink. Still she would not give
it up. Perhaps the train would yet reach the city in time for the
concert. Finally the city came in sight. The wind had blown the the snow
away from the track on the marshes behind the city and the last mile was
made in good time and then the train plunged into another drift just
beyond the junction of the Providence Railroad and where the Dartmouth
street bridge now stands. It only lacked 60 minutes of the concert hour.
She would leave the cars and walk into the city. Perhaps she might be in
time yet. One of the gentlemen of the party took her violin case and
they set out to reach the houses on Boylston street that were in plain
sight not twenty rods away. It was a desperate undertaking but she
resolved to try it. She must get to the Music Hall if possible. The snow
might be overcome but she had not reckoned on the temperature, and
before she had gone twenty yards down the track she found her hands were
rapidly freezing and she seemed ready to faint and fall in the terrible
cold. The gentlemen at once took her up and after a tremend