Show AMUSEMENTS Either people did not know the scope the beauty the novelty and the magnificence mag-nificence of the exhibition of fireworks comprising The Battle of San Juan or else the town Is surfeited with the quantity o amusements which have crowded us recently Ccrtnlnly last nights display a the ball grounds opposite op-posite the Salt Palace grounds was one unsurpassed here In the past and splendid In every detail Attendance nevertheless was so meager that tho audience was less in numbers than the army of men engaged In the performance i perform-ance The exhibition Is n combination of dramatic and pyrotechnic art skillfully I skill-fully devised and neatly executed r The whole south side of the ball grounds was covered with a background back-ground of canvas painted to represent I the hills around Santiago In tho foreground fore-ground distributed so as to give good perspective were blockhouses tents hospitals and earthworks Those who have witnessed the combination of painters and carpenters art In The Battle of Gettysburg will understand tho plan adopted for The Battle of San Juanthe only difference being that the view Is stretched In a long horizontal hor-izontal line Instead l of the circular method On the opposite or west side I of the grounds is an Immense amphitheater amphi-theater of seats with boxes In front and the grand stand to the west in all seating perhaps 6000 to SOOO people Less than that many hundreds were in I the places last night but those few I were handsomely repaid The scene opened with the arrival of the Spanish soldiers with their bright red suits Detachment De-tachment after detachment marched at swift pace to the foot of the hill and established headquarters The hospital corps went to its station the nurses attendants and priests giving picturesque pictur-esque variety to the scene The death and burial of n soldier were graphically pictured Then came a squad of soldiers sol-diers bringing in n couple of Cuban spies who were tried and executed In military form the whole scene being presented with realistic care Following Follow-ing this a number of acrobats reached camp and amused the soldiers by I their I fancy feats of skill all of which were well done This pleasant sport was rudely broken by the arrival of n runner run-ner with news of the approaching American troops Hurrying and scurrying scur-rying was followed by desultory firing and this in place gave way to volleys of artillery the crack of the guns from the Infantry and the charge of the Spanish stronghold Sheets of fire came from the blockhouse Responses of quickfiring artillery the bombardment bombard-ment by Grlmcss battery and the charge of the American troops put the audience into a state of Intense excitement excite-ment Houses caught lire flags were rent and hand to hand encounters ensued en-sued Finally the Spanish commander surrendered with tho proviso that his soldiers be permitted to march out with their guns The resounding bugle calls and the spirited playing of Dixie and The StarSpangled Banner with there the-re white and blue waving trimphant ly closed this panoramic picture After this came the fireworks proper the unfolding of those resources which Pain has gathered through years of experiment ex-periment study and hnrd labor Just how to describe the myriad of whirling sputtering curling dashing winding scattering shooting dancing streams of lIre would puzzle the most facile pen The ladles of the audience exclaimed Oh and the boys kicked their heels together In undisguised delight I beats all tha Fourth of Julys I ever seed rolled Inter one is the way n youngster expressed It I Rockets whizzed Into lofty heights and broke or burst Into flying fragments which made the dome of heaven radiant In beauty Balloons rose aloft to drop long chains of multicolored fire balls Great wheels ran around with rims of brilliant bril-liant color while hubs o inleimest hue set off the center Everywhere the illumination lumination was gay and beautiful Balls of fire bounced and bounded JumpJngJacks of fiery garb danced and hopped and somersaulted cannons boomed foliage and Mower spread their pretty tints cataracts of lire plunged from the heights and all sorts of I strange feats were performed by the wizard workers who directed this strange startling art of pyrotechny The expense of the undertaking must have been great A small army of men is required in the historical reprcsenta Ion of the battle and a quantity of material In fireworking line that would have broken a strong bank had it been computed at rates one has to pay for private attempts in the line Boys who had spent the savings of months for a Fourth of July blowout must have been paralyzed by tlic lavish disregard with which crackera bombs rockets and whirligigs were shot off last evenIng even-Ing I was n grand sight one that should not go begging as it did last night to empty benches Tonight will be society night and special pieces will be set off for the occasion in addition to thegeneral line Khowedlast evening Last night President Presi-dent McKlnleys and William J Bry ans pictures were shown tonight the society lady will be In evidence through the chemists art p a a The opening performance of the Mathews and Bulger midsummer engagement en-gagement at the Salt Lake Theater was glv n last evening with a very large audience in attendance Mathews and Bulger have long since established thenwclves In popular favor with Salt Lakers and their production of The Night of the Fourth gave them another an-other hold on thcatcrgoers In this city By comparison tho Night of the Fourth far outranks By the Sad Sea Waves the last production In which the two entertalnprs were sOon here last evenings piece being original catchy and strictly new In every particular Laughter was almost constant tram the first rise to the final drop of the curtain and the performance was genuinely cn joed by those present The hit of tho evening waD made by Maude Courtney In her OltTlmc Songs Miss Courtney Court-ney is an entertainer of note In the East where she has appeared with great success at the roof gardens She won hearty recognition from the audience audi-ence A feature of the specialties introduced In-troduced was the ballet by seven members mem-bers of the company the turn being original and effective Mathcw and Bulger this season are supported by a strong and capable company of entertainers Tonight a change of bill will be made and Iloyts A Rag Baby will be presented pre-sented o 0 a John Dunne who Is one of the proprietors pro-prietors of the Dunne Rylcy company I com-pany played In this city away back In the early seventies lie has a very vivid recollection of old times and mentions as the people whom hp used to know very well then Phil Margetts John Lindsay Mrs Annie Adams Maudo Adams as a baby Jimmy Ferguson who married Louise commonly called Punk Young a daughter of Mrs Em meline Free Young and many others The old house has changed but little he said but a the same time I look upon It as being one of the best In the United States I remember once when we played for a benefit to Oliver Doud Byron we gave the audience twelve < acts We began about 730 and It was ncary 2 a in when we quit The nu dlcnce got its moneys worth that trip I The average actor has an Idea that he Is hard worked now but he never played in the good old clays when it Vas not uncommon to put on six heavy plays In one week Yes I saw Jimmy Ferguson whose stage name was W T Harris you remember not long since Both he and his wife Punk are piling on flesh year after year They antI ant-I probably the heaviest couple I ever saw and they appear to withstand the heat of a New York summer as well as any of us No it Is a mistake for people to Imagine that Charles Vivian was ever an Elk He never was although al-though there is no doubt but that the order was the outgrowth of an Idea of his I knew him well and at one time made an overland trip from Missouri to the coast with him lie deserved all the honors that were paid to him by the fraternity but he never was a member of the B P O E r |