| Show AT THE PLAY london august 26 1898 we had bad been basking in the sun on a bench near hyde park corner in the park the butterflies of fashion were flitting along in decorous stateliness in their handsome equipages equi pages for be it known the london season was at its height an endless procession of britaina Brit ains bluest blood was passing in review like the ever changing pattern of the kaleidoscope one and all clad in a supercilious stare and an eye glass the promenade prom enad ere era not the kaleidoscope of course not that it is intended to infer that their sole attire consisted in the above questionable weatherproof weather proof articles of apparel for the contrary creations by worthy madame louise and other well known society upholsterers were on view on all sid sides e s but any anyone on e w who ho has haa encountered the average aristocrat lit in his native lair or for that matter the wide world over is painfully conscious of the aforesaid supercilious stare to the utter disregard of further detail deball tom in parenthesis tom like the writer was another member of that noble little band of defenders of the falth faith stationed in london in the region of that aesthetic and salubrious quarter known as merrie Is lington hl as sole lament being that he could not preach a sermon off hand with the same degree of abandon as that with which he could bestride the gay a and 4 festive cayuse of the good old Uta Utahn halan laa sage brush was taking in the nighta he wore an expression of countenance similar to that indulged in by some enthusiastic thusia venerable bald headed entomologist who has just discovered a new bug and is watching it kick and perform its peregrinations thle w N an eye e ye opener to tom but 4 say he queried where all the hildren children bless his honest old heart explanations explanations followed were 0 low only poor jp 60 had children dren or at least were BUI so BO to tob J of course society had too afat t they were evidently I 1 k 4 11 a being detri detrimental pa to t the her and uninterrupted participation to in i cw functions function a children were w in evidence in the park hamde e to any marked that V were trotted au out it 10 I 1 the morning attea abid tair nurse maids clad in ate with bonnet strings qt of their respective mothers W r ring M g in the afternoon t to 0 allow IRn panting ting overfed dyspeptic usurp their rightful PIS lee cushions of the family landau tom scratched his head look looked elp WV it if possible than heretofore exper OX abed and in his sinful vulgar wa WO f X claimed rats lets get out of t air and dive into wine back alley iju just swarms with kids that Is ba it came about that we visited sal wells theater we had seen society in the 1 fr end decorously enjoying itself rather as much of it as a mere 31 tine could ever expect or h hop respectfully view from without pale now we would see whether ether or nr the other extreme of society great unwashed took their ig as sadly saaly as did their betters bettem everybody in london knows sad bad j lers gs wells theater situated on rose 1 ry avenue Cler kenwell in the good old days when dolly varden of dickens 1 no barnaby rudge fame used to reside 8 in the near vicinity and turn the w heads beads of all the gay apprentices of the hi district strict with her bright smile and saucy dimples there were green fields in the vicinity of the famous angel inn of 0 Is lington prosperous city merchants had bid their homes in the immediate district affluence and respectability reigned predominant the most famous actors of london subsequently used to entrance fashionable audiences in the then suburban theater of sadlers wells alas how h have ave the mighty fallen the theater still stands so do a great many of the noble residences of the departed city magnates but no longer do 4 garrick and a siddons tread the boards no longer do the link boys of these hard drinking old eastern merchants chants extinguish their torches in the hd iron snuff snuffers era beside the portal 0 of f heir masters residences the famous theater is now a second cousin to what Is 19 termed in the modern babylon a penny gaff the man flione and terraces that still stand are now nothing ifo thing more gr or less in the majority of cases than noisy holsy overcrowded human warrens with three or f four our families and attendant gT fnning children whose name is legion to each floor of a single dwelling house sadlers wells theater carf hardly be said to be e situated on an aristocratic thoroughfare while seeking the entrances you may if you are shortsighted fall over a fruit stall or two together with a collection of second hand band rusty iron bedsteads that are exposed for sale in the streets by the storekeepers who conduct at the best a Vre carlous livelihood in the immediate vicinity the theater itself presents to the eye a dilapidated exterior it is wit built after the simple but unobtrusive tyle style of architecture commonly known sea b the dry goods packing case pattern four straight brick walls punctured here and there by a stray window the beams of a flickering yellow gas lamp revealing a dismal attempt at a pilaster pi taster chipped portico before the carriage entrance ine the time for commane ftp the second house had already truck ryck when two and I 1 pulled up out 44 ide temple of thessis Th espis dulcet trains strains were issuing from the into inin which a bass basa drum and a trombone took a prominent ort A portly and individual stood at the box el entrance trance he wore in the precise oA center capter pter to be of an acre f diore or less of Immacula ite shirt bosom de e of the most moot berf perfect act specimens of tie lass cutters art as I 1 have ever en BH privileged to encounter the bereit ret N nelsis sis apparently recognize london don another international cour that demonstrates johnny bulls jy attitude for in a few minutes after r producing our pasteboard we e ere e ushered into a stage boox booi by a emsel with a most tearful fearful and wonderful cranial integument in the khe form aga huge greasy bob as big as a foot bal on the back of her head we e put on alre airs until we learned that Ai regular price of the stage box was 09 ofle shilling each or to be vulgar two irith A 4 time TM was in full swing and al fiby ly there was trouble brewing so 90 badh ob that thie the first words that greet earn were stand back cur r roe ail we stood back and throwing alar IT arnus arms aroland argued each other wept bit V th lit associations connected with adobe theater in a certain city some ato away amay passed before us in stolly arlly we j echoed Is a it Is our long lost loit lincoln J car ter there was something touchingly familiar about that cur r arse yer that conjured up visions of a terrible leap for life the greatest mechanical stage effect of the age once more we saw paul hamer stoically cally transferring his gaze from the desolate to the top heavy gallery in the center of the front row on which with elbows squared sat the two deaf mutes of the northeast bench whilst president simpson of the newsboys union was to be observed nearby supported by his noble henchmen peanuts and english in evening dress 1 e shirtsleeves shirt sleeves the play apparently was of the rohnl shot ike and the vigilantes order there was a loving roll about that cur r arse yer which lingers in my memory even yet the observation was on the part of the leader of the aforesaid who apparently had ike cornered Corn bred together with his sweetheart the heroine and of course her mother who was there to play propriety just as we were fairly seated and things had begun to assume a miniature assault assaul t on san santiago alago aspect a peculiar individual fearfully fer fully and wonderfully der fully attired to represent a miner of desolate gulch at least so the playbill play bill led us to believe strolled nonchalantly on the playbill play bill led us to believe strolled nonchalant lyon the khe stage and in the purest cockney accent I 1 ever heard outside of informed the audience in gene raland the first violin in the orchestra in particular that he had arrived to see fair play and coant yer bergit mt hit what I 1 liked most about this individual then and ever afterwards was his supreme coolness in everything he undertook and which never deserted him not even in that fateful moment when he asked the heroine to become his bride much as though he were asking her forthe loan of her wash tub one must not infer that there were moments when this perambulating arsenal could not rise supreme to the occasion such as for instance when he seated himself and with grandiloquent impressiveness demanded of gobby george the gladiator of the gulch bar two coffin screws and a pile driver subsequently I 1 hunted through the bartenders companion and ignominiously failed to locate the particular beverage beve Tage I 1 all went merry as a marriage bell I 1 have encountered that simile elsewhere but let itao until one of the vigilantes attempted to jab a couple of cold steel into the cool ones cervical verter brae retribution swift and sure followed the cool one lit a two ter fer and sailed in down went the vigilantes down went the audience to liquor upeor the next act or rather to be accurate part of them rem remained aanen to yell themselves hoarse over the telling finale now we could examine the audience at our leisure and they likewise ariti else cise the two doffs in the box as far as criticism went the honors were distinctly with the audience what an audience we shall never forget that penny two centhy cents gallery to our dying day tom wanted to be where there were kids they were here in shoals pre prematurely premature matur I 1 old little urchins with matted h hair ar dirty faes faces and rags that in a windstorm would flay them to death one and all jabbed in so tightly that when the center one coughed he shook the entire row the house fairly clean and tidy in itself was packed in every part mostly by lads and young girls costers bootblacks fur pullers bullers pul lers trolley boys flower girls match sellers odoriferous fish porters factory hands onland one and all mixed up indiscriminately and enjoying their penno of blood and gunpowder pandemonium reigned supreme once e more I 1 plead guilty to the charge of plagiarism apparently the band was playing but although the first cornet was visibly going ba black tin the face with his exertions bafo before N toy very eyes we were hardly aware thim that the orchestra was discoursing blach blatant 4 ft music little street arabs who to have been still in kilts or in bed where they managed to get their ad mission money from goodness only knows were doing their juvenile JuvenI 16 beat to split ones tympanum with ear split ting whistles and cat calls coy maidens wearing impossible hau that must have been conceived A j by delirious milliners were yel yelling lift with astonishing vigor facetious greet ings to palpable acquaintances across the building wat 0 liza wot arlo yer pearlis pearl is in the pit sf at number of caster girls 0 oc the large hat grea greasy s y bang a and n d m colored ostrich feather varle variety ty aft werft exchanging in stentorian tones froines sweet no things nothings more to the point than bran wibb elegance thus did festive poverty opolis apolis lay tribute to the 1 1 muse the popular pastime of the guv i gods seemed to be to bo provide theal t selves from the universal purveys who hawked his wares between with a harpoth ha poth of cherries in a sack which they devastated in an incredibly short space of time then fro vary taft monotony they would beguile the aja flee ing moment aad surreptitiously ineat 4 a well sucked cherry stone between be tween twel A dirty thumb and finger and take i steady alm aim tor bor the eye of the long aut fering artist in the orchestra who p pre sided over the big drum depart department departie me A aal gentle squeeze a savage whoop of t arf u bullet had ad fou fc bill bilt billt t ever and anon thy goiri VM I 1 r fa fhi 1 1 po fo th t lav in front row of the pit stalls who aril providing a diminutive infantile dl of her noble maternal matern al aa light liquid refreshments quote the immortal bard a worm turn if trod rod upon even a sausage 4 turn if kept too bong the ma matr atit lady arose from her seat infant and all and with long suffering mt ma erly dignity observed t fro 0 the occue occupants occupant an a of the gallery in general that thai hlf hilf ya coant chuck hi hr t ill come hup punch yer bloody eads 11 finally the band prevailed the V fad ack tain went up the committee on af from the irrigation department ct up likewise and wl with th a lot of a ap antly unnecessary waste wake of pu puig lings gate unintelligible sar sarcasm casid sanguinary conversation resumed i respect respective lire benc benches ties and procedda proc eddi edelL drink in the next nex installment of bl bi and thunder the youth who du dorfi them the last lae five minutes had been arr bree a well developed riot incidental ta successful angling with a bent bi thre thread adfor for a very sporty leghorn fial the pit below was wag ignominiously downstairs out inato the dold world by the low atte ahtes order was once resto restored ed alt after r second act had lieen b een andera undera way fully seven minutes we saw the villain with we ari reiteration mon catch the herdine on o n atie so BO to speak and after dusting his a p pi ent le leather shoes con template fate fifi a mining camp desperado in pate p a ate leathers light the regula regulation clog leisurely pick up his unconscious bl den blow a thick cloud and 1 bauc MW i on the opposite side with a big pa of the heroines ready made pallor 6 the left shoulder of hs ho velve velveteen teen cotet the heroine was waa not 90 either for when she broke in ud upon A a nice little lynching lunching lyn ching bee in which taft hero was to be the star attract attraction loo erfft ax ath the aid of two revolvers revolver and bulldog cleared the canyon really thought the heavens would bom associations co conjured nj u r e d u p up by y the were beginning begin I 1 g to be to abdo mu W we e were were ulla so rising arb from our abata Ms we the dark damp diannah night return urn to oui our lodgings and fill up pages of our journals indignant d denying max ORell orellis ls assertion at a toe the english people take their sadly GIGO GEO E CARPENTER |
