SCENE IN A THEATRE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 21 August 1880, Page 2

SCENE IN A THEATRE.

The Dublin Freeman, under the heading " Politics in a Theatre," publishes tho following:—Recently in the Grafton Theatre, Bhortly after thfe performance commenced, a male Binges- came out and sang a song, the concluding stanzas of which praised Mr. Gladstone and censured Lord When the song ended a perfect storca o£ eheers and hisses arose from all parte of the house, and the uproar was indescribable. The hisses and cheers seemed, to be about equal in tho uallery, but in the pit all cheered again and again except one man, a well-dressed, powerfully built young fellow, with black whiskers and moustache, who hissed vehemently, a cry was raised to throw out that " Tory" :.nd two men rushed forward to do so; ut they miscalculated the sort of customer they had to deal with, for the young man struck out and sent them both rolling over, seeing which the rest hung back, and the performance proceeded; but not for long, for Lord Beaconsfield's admirer, emboldened by his easy victoiy, interrupted the singer again and again,, and finally wound up by offering to fight' the three best Liberals in tho house. His taunts at length became so galling that the Gladstones again rushed at him,, headed by a young man said to be a clerk in a Government office. Tho " Tory," seeing the odds against him, retreated to a corner, where he stood up at bay, ari.d r as his opponents came up, with a single" blow of his fist he knocked down the reputed Government clerk, and catching the unfortunate man by th» collar out* waistband, hurled him at his friends, three or four of whom were knocked down by the novel missile. The excitement in the house wasi now intense. Several m the gallery tried to, get dawn into the pit to join the row, while the whole audionc° on the benches to catch a glimpse of the desperate struggle which was going, on. The combat was too unequal, however, to last long, and in a few minutes; Lord Beaconsfield'a unlucky friend waß knocked -senseless to the ground, and was. carried out by a few of his friends, W" 0 had, however, prudently refrained fro' n< helping him before. The performance' then proceeded, but it was a long wnufr ere the excitement ceased.