GEORGE GROSSMITH.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1943, 29 December 1913, Page 8

GEORGE GROSSMITH.

1 SING OF "BLOODS" & THE "K-NtiP A BOSWEUL AT THE" CAIETY. ' tM'or.'ie (iror,<,!r.i;K,-. i; : iiie' inun w!io pl(i.vs\ ilin 'pillv/ ;i?s •p:irlr-at f in- fiaioiy 'I iM'at ro.-'-'". * I.sjiirioiK.s.ofliciii 1 -. to lia 1 ■ a : .tb ] cJ-^' by - JiqswoHiT !iiiii ._'.'io t ; li"ut'." .wiiii'' :,M i\ or-oss)ii3tij -i <>r/y]on is 1 toioa hs€,,t!ia t. J ho;]'in;v', [>oi'j(liTO'l ; ov('i'-; arc '.hoainl ol'-iujtiii; pliiioßojiliy. oi mniiv a 1 more staid .mill And /this' ojitlmtiasiic" liorojorsliip' has; led Jl'.'. liosn'ell r (otlionyiseSMr. Stniileyj Niiylor) dmvn tlio 'sliiipniy . jnith enils in printiif"A'.v.olume, issiiod recently;contains .nearly a,.qiiartei\ofja ; 'thousand, pages .of-.Jlr'y-Grossmitli.'sVJ.phTiosoiih.v'! and small talk, and. at tlieifaiuc. tnno. suggests '.finite a jk:V avenue for thi. s triiggling: J 'authoi^ , S^Thc P i 'planJ.vi!srV!. : so'.

"Having r -''sneut'''roany;a'>livri'tirig ; i.hi»lf-; hour:with" Grossmitli."'!.'writes-.tho. Bos-' well, "in the ; discussion of all; sorts of themes. I'ventured to think his random reflectionswould mako an interesting .record. I could .not persuade him -to writo this little book, but ho agreed, to talk it instead..'.'./ ;x'The"'kle-a ..has . pos-' sibilitics".':. -, .'vlvQftSj'.' The Caloty Girt, 'The most interesting,of the reflections have to do with Gaiety Girls, Bloods, and the Nut. -, )\e loam how ladies of the Gaiety. Theatre''."mako love on tho stago. and keep .at, a distance too ardent admirers-'off the stage, how . .they graco their' profession,-! and cheer th'o supper table,' how.they marry , (into tho peerage) and settle, down. Mr. Grossmith is an eloquent champion, and he makes it clcar that what might-, bo good enough, for the Haymarkot or. St. James's might be very far from suitable to tho corneivof Aldwvch and the Strand:—,■.-''' v

"Inevitably, '.we are - bound'to refuse quite one-half of tho recruits who apply to us," .be explains."To 'get on' at the 'Gaiety' a gjrl niiist show -signs of being able to sing and dnnco as weil as act, and it might bo rather a shock to Sir Arthur Pinero and other critics of the musical play to find how many oth erwiso competent actresses are sent away from us because they fall short in one of these-threo essentials.:'l am very sorry, but,you, > are : 'no: i .use;,to .us,!,it breaks. our, th«m..' "I Villi'-ifraitl your nni.v eiisueo is .to; go in ■ior;thei"legitimatc.";?j ( if And so, with downcast hearts and sad face's,' looking pictures: of-i'-'iniiiiito'dejcction," they turn.>:Weari!y away to : try: fortune at the. 'St. "James's-;--!tbo:-:;Haymarket, or 'His Majesty's,! v.. V--' "Bloods'," and "K-nuts." But it- is'.with the references to the. Blood and tho Nut, that' the book attains its most informing and illuminating a&poct. No person of ordinary intoiligcnce, having read this book, need ever again mistake a Blood for a Nut or a Nut for a Blood. To mistake a Nut for a Blood,jiudced, should mean social death. . . . ' ' . ..

The "blood" has Mjv ■ Grossmith's warm csteom. "The more I sec of him tho more I liko him. ... . If you listen to all you hear of him in. certain quarters, and you havo never met a real live 'biood' for yourself, -you naturally think of him as a young man who is at onco selfish, heartless, and dissolute.

. . . But those who know tho 'blood',' know, too, that there is rarely anything abnormal about him. Ho is, 011 the contrary, tho most normal young man one could hope to meet. And tho instinct for gaiety he so exuberantly follows is merely tho ordinary instinct of youth. . -. .'The tray-in-, which -, thc» 'blood'- solvci tlie problem of bow. to bo happy 'may not be' everybody's way of solving it.. ■ But he has, at least, tho courage to show his hand. ■ He candidly admits that he is out for a good time.

. , . Ho is never. , a thorough-going 'blood' unless ho is a.man.of spirit, and as soon as he sees there is 'something really vital at hand to bo done, ho is usually quick to respond. . . . Provided he gets-his teeth into a. job,' either in London or anywhere else, tho 'blood' ii as keen an enthusiast at work ■ as at play. In so far as there is nothing of the atmosphere of the study about him, 110 may not be a thinker, in the academic" sen'so of tho. term, but he is aman of action. 1 Almost always the'blood',.is a man of sound physique. IT« is a ■ patriot,'-'■■ and when tho occasion demands it, lie turns' his patriotism to'good acouut: . " « Of Baggy Trousers, " 'Never marry a man with' baggy trousers, girls,'. : I constantly tell. my lady ' colleagues' 'at- -..the 'Gaiety,' and I believe there- is sound common tense in tho advice. . Looks are. occasionally, deceptive, but why may not a well-groomed person bo symbolical of a well-ordered miiid? Your true 'blood' is never slovenly. He is invariably well turned out, neatly and unobtrusively, of course —not in the exaggerated fashion of the' 'K-nut'—another vastly different type of yc-imc-man-about-tow.n with whom he is too often confounded. And as a rule, in their innermost hearts his relatives and friends are mightily proud of him.

"My own belief is that, all Englishmen. nro 'bloods'-'at heart—yes, oven when they happen to-be curates in person. Some men, it is true, aro temperamentally unfitted, for the part from their cradles,. .They arc born with a kink in their natures through which, try as they will, they. cannot hope to ...be 'bloods.' . But rest assured .they would if they could. For even -the most unkempt, the baggiest-trousered man alive, has felt, at some time, or other, a secret, Jojufing.'.in, bo- spick and'span, to cut a dash. with' '■ no. balf-mcasures-' in the Kay. '.whole r hearted. fashions of'the

But the :."nuf,".' or,the : I'K-mit," is a- very-, different-' person; he -is a sham, not a : realjf dandy ; a .uiasqueradei'.; ■

-'"As - a rule, the ' 'nut':-.has only' ■ lo speak-to:giVo,himself.!.avray.;' but. if .yoii don't hear his 'acccut,' y,-iu.-can usually spot.something about.him 'that betrays, with -silent- eloquence; h.i.y origin. His colia'r is either - : -a "shade: .too'-'high or a shadn too low, or his. spats arc. a shade 100 light, his trousers a shade too wide or-a., shade too' -i.arrowAor-; they- are, perhaps, hitched'.up a shade too' high. There are a hundred and ' one-. little things about- him by which yon can easi'y tell." ■• ■" y ■ v '' '. : The "nut," it'-.seems; makes-the mistake of going to the' hosier rather than the tailor for ..his main effects. But, in any event, a man cnmiot make himself ii "blood," he must .'bo. it. Before all. things, says Mr.; Grossmith,' ■■ tho "blood" is a gentleman. ; ; .'-The following story;; is -designed 'to

slimy.the "blood;' ': In ..a "cnUomaiilr, Ulioiiglr/slightiy -'exhilarated, mood ■~■ ' •''On tliis side of iho Channel," says Onii-smith. "all tin* most. '. interestingtakoVplace, behind closed _ (lours.: natiiral instinct of tlio Kngiishiijan ;is to be on prive, whether ho is building 'a house or giving-- 'a-'- suppcr-pari.v. .. .. -. . And this reminds mo of a curious little'Mistretemps that lit up a littlo supper-party I gavo'a yea? or two ago .in a. private room at a certain restaurant.- -A Cabinet Minister was among my guests, and I have wondered since 'whether lm would not have been a trifle surprised if ho. had known that, . dr.;-' guisod as a waiter, a. certain highlyplaced landowner, olio of his fiercest .polities! opponents, whom ho has persistently attacked from public plat* 'jfor.ras,:. stood behind his chair and p.iu!i d out his champagne 011 that fos■.t.ivn.;cye(n.ing'/'.-' Yet such was indeed the this day the secret ;dias./be.'ehWellikept. though, if Cabinet '■^li.nistersifrc'ad'fc.books.■ about, actors, it .'iliay 'h'ovr bo "a" secret;' no more.''

We'- learn' also'.;iirom'-?.tiiis%iiook that the ' ncwVnrihm' .' for. "•' ":h.V.. limit" : IK^HIi-3rabsolut<s f edge.i'^".Ayesttoßt«r: