THE CALIFORNIA BOYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 533, 19 June 1909, Page 5

THE CALIFORNIA BOYS.

It wu * vwy ploasajit..- entertainment ::• whigh' Major, Pmxotto's California Boys<pre- .' son-ted at •• the Town Hall ■ last night. i Thoy ~ - weat through their various :'_turns" of. singing, dancing, 'acrobatic posing, and comic - . ; lusmesa with'boyifth cnthnsxismi yot with a ; . -skill ; that showed caroful'training;. • • • ;• .'•v.-•. .Tho' a short speech, introduced : ' tis youthful chargcs'to Wellington and to. ■ the Dominion genoral]y. :Hc saJu tliey repre- : sontod an ,ljoys' club' in San Francisco., .■• Sixteen . ago a groqp •of iyoung men ..and -. women : .Vwhp 'word . interests! in .tho". higher education, • felt ?■ s'ii-lthit'they, would Jike.to.'give.lbut/'something.of. ■ what they had'go-tton from contact with the . better things of lifo by spending some ;time,' ' : in a.distriot whcro the,boys-had not had the ..... advantages that they themselves had enjoyed. • ; Tho' work they had-startcd. had grown into a very interesting and successful institution, and San Francisco. was very proud of it.' American: cities had grown: wonderfully of lato: years, and.tho boyshad suffered for lack of playing-spaces,. Many -of them did hot / know how to play, or • where to play, and ; ■':+ they-could the':happy':boyhood life' : a : / ;boy must Ino if ho was to develop into tho . ' higher ..type of man. The Major then de--scribed,tho various moans whereby the club Bought to give -the-boys a. wider outlook and a happier life. Ho told of their, games, their v -music, dramatics/:manual ..trainipg,' gymnas- : t-ics,'outdoor athletics, and walking trips. Ho concludedMvith ■ the hope 't-h.".t' they 'would . , : much in. '.'tliis; beautiful :land, which so much resembles our-own California," ' . The:iirst item of the programmo-was. some , «dmirablo nwing by..tlic 'T-yramid Team" of ; 10 boys. Tney : arranged theijisolves ]in several .'different. designs, and -.the u'itlls and towers - .: and pyramids of boy wore vory effective. Four boys;,then appeared in. sailor costume and. »ang a nuinbor of sea songs, which wore vory well recomxl, "The Thrco Fntzes," a oonuo . - sketch, which is-understood to owe its au- ■■■■. ihorship :to -. boys of; tho club, was - very , spiritedly presented, the horso-play and tumbling being deftly done., The playing of leveralfAmerican :.war-time,; melodies by . a quartet, of cornets ./deserved the hearty olaudiis.."iyHjch fit. evpltei);. .:.Master Sheridaii Williams, the "boy baritone," proved himself ■ • :I. vtfc&hst-of'remarkfiblo power foT one bo - . ;70)nig. His solos, "A-Friur-of Orders Grey" : 'ind .''School Days," .'and '-hia:sailor, songs . . were among' the, most momoraMo features' of an escollent programme.. Masters.Emil Hastings and' Edmund Nelson were irresistiblo m - thoir comic iii2ger> songs,"and Master Abo \v\ '.-Sehmul was;:deli^litfully. : ih lhafsong and dance :ns a- littlo, vory black, and very ■ oenighted cannib:U.v ; Six'.boya wlio. sang ana dancc<l American comio songs-with tho accessories of quaint make-up and abundant >, ,wcre jivst -as popular. '• The bit ml. and orchestra reached a high level in . some of thoir- nnmbers. . :Two things were, partioularly noticoablo ' abotrt tho :;. ;.-bpvs^-their i .; and' thoir .look of physical and moral-health. Tho ; only'r'ogrottablo; feature of the entertainment . • was that it did not attract bo large a-n audi- ;■ .: ...eneo as',it'.'.moritodi V Tl;e yoiing i»ilors of' thp ; Amokura wore present, The Califonua Boys '; will appear again to-night. . '•