Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Z Qi 5 L E 5 In PARK EST R FO LAKEIN

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SWAN INTERESTING FACTS PERTAINING TO THE MUNICIPAL OPERA NY number of articles have been written about the Municipal Opera, , but most of them refer to the history of the opera and fail to mention as many interesting facts that are unknown to the average opera goer. Did you know that: The St. Louis Municipal Opera is the only theatre of its kind in the United States? it seats l0,000 persons, and that regardless of this great number, the theatre can be emptied in five minutes? The opera can be enjoyed by every- one, for there are seats to Ht every purse? There are 1700 free seats, and sixty-nine rows of seats ranging in price from 5.25 to S2.00? The advertised opening of the first opera was June I5, I9I9, but that a cloudburst which swept the dressing rooms and scenery into the River des Peres delayed the opening until June I9? The opera went into debt that year, but the guarantors were repaid their advances from the surplus of the next season? ln the last seventeen years one hundred and eighty-two weeks of enter- tainment have been given and one hundred and nineteen different operas presented and out of this number six have been grand opera? The operas are very carefully selected and usually current popular pieces? Many famous stars of the stage and screen have appeared on our stage? Irene Dunn, favorite screen heroine, once thrilled the opera audiencesg and W. C. Fields and Cary Grant have done their share on the Muny stage to entertain the St. Louis people? At the present time Allan Jones, star of the past few seasons, is finding success on the silver screen? The stars engaged during the opera seasons, are of national and international fame? The two giant oaks that lend so much atmosphere to the stage are insured for SI 500 and are examined twice a year by a tree surgeon? These trees are given a certain amount of water a day and are equipped with lightning rods to protect them from storms? The sound amplifiers were not installed until l924? The revolving stage was installed in June, l930? The opera guarantors have never lost a cent of the money they have put into the organization? Our opera is something every St. Louis citizen can be proud of? This fact is well known, for each night during the opera season the theatre is packed to its capacity? Each year the interest in the opera has intensified and probably in ten years from now the Municipal Theatre Association will be the greatest organization of its kind in the world? PATTY MANSFIELD Sixteen

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Wsfilwf HISTORY OF FOREST PARK ACK in the days when Spain owned all the territory surrounding St. Louis, the Spanish government at New Orleans gave a grant of beautiful land to Charles Gratiot. A similar grant adjacent to Gratiot's was given to Jules Papin. Part of our magnificent Forest Park lay in each of these two grants. The region which is now Forest Park was vastly different from what it is today. It was a beautiful wilderness, abounding in game and drained by the lazy little stream, the River des Peres. Zealous hunters, seeking adventure and sport, were the only ones who took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy this region. ln l872, progressive citizens conceived a plan to provide a center of recreation and diversion for the whole community by converting this wilderness into a huge public park. Although Lafayette Park was serving the needs of St. Louis very well, a few far-seeing men visualized the city of St. Louis spread- ing farther and farther west, even past the region that they wished to acquire. They realized that the time would come when it would be needed as a play- ground for rich and poor alike. As the land lay in the county, state sanction for its purchase was necessary. Therefore, through the efforts of certain men, the State Legislature, on March 25, l872, decided to purchase one thousand or more acres on the grants of Papin and Gratiot, to establish a public park. Some of the owners of the land were Robert Forsythe, Thomas Skinker, lsabelle de Mun, Pierre Chouteau, W. D. Griswald, Levi H. Baker, Maria Halliday, Samuel Halliday, Hercules McCord and Jacob Schnepp. We can recognize some of these names as names of present-day streets. Pierre Chouteau and other property owners protested, declaring that their rights were being violated. As a result, the act was declared unconstitutional. Colonel Nicholas Bell and his friends fought untiringly until a new bill omitting the unconstitutional features of the first was finally passed in January, l874. Although this act was also assailed, it was upheld by the Supreme Court of Missouri, before whom it had been brought. This new act provided for the purchase of I372 acres fronting one mile on the King's Highway, and lying four miles west of the Court House. Eight hundred thousand dollars was paid for the land. A Board of Commissioners consisting of nine members was appointed and formally obtained the land on April 27, l875. In its first report, the commission stated that it had found two tumble-down dwellings, several poor huts, three neglected farms, and two abandoned fields in the region the state had acquired. The commission also reported that the rugged natural beauty of the land was very picturesque, and it predicted that it would develop into a park unsurpassed all over the world. Eighteen