OUR LONDON FLANEUR The Gossip of Club and Saloon.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 184, 25 December 1886, Page 5

OUR LONDON FLANEUR The Gossip of Club and Saloon.

3F«oktdon Without a Big "'Show"— Richard Belt's ability as a Sculptor Proved at ' Last —No "Ghosts" in Prison — Gun ( Ckimintal Populace Decreasing — Tiik I SILBNT SYSTKM PkONOUNCKO A SUCCRSS— Coleridge on I'entovvillk— Lord Ailes i bury's Funkr\l -Society and the New < Marchknkr^ Three Dowager Lady As— , Effect of Pubmcation of Dilke's >otes - 1 The Salariks ok Tiikatkicai. and Mvsic hall "Stars" >x France and England— ( Dkath of Poor Frkd Alukkt. I London, October 29. ; London tradesmen and hotelkeepors are ) ( "beginning to look graye — as well they may ' — over the prospect of there being no exhibi- £ tion at South Kensington next summer. ' The big shows of the last four years have ' been the means of attracting loreignerg, ( provincials, and tourists innumerable to the ' metropolis, especially during the autumn, f and to have each an immense source of i revenue suddenly cut off n a very serious t thing. True, the ** Imperial In?tituto "—" — i An emasculated edition of the " Golindies " i — will be open, and so will the •• American , Exhibition" at E irl*ciurr ; b.it there doesn't 1 promise to ba much in either of these to ( ** fetch " strangers. The American Exhibi- 1 ' tion was a capital idoa, and if it had been Countenanced by the United Statea Govnrn- ] ment, might have proved a big "draw" ( Ac a small private bpscilation, in the hands ] of persona with neither much ©xporienco \ nor coin, it does not, however, ippear likely ' to hive a great future before it. No, the 1 big '• show "of next summer (jo far aa Eng- ] land ia concerned) will indubitably be at c Manchester, and to " Cottonopolis ' instead < Otto the metropolis torn i<-t$ and pleasure- \ seekers will becaae themselves. c The question of poor Rich u\l Belt's ability l 88 a eculptor ha^ been finally pet at rest A since his imprisonment Even after the great civil auuun, in which the unfortunate aim's professional reputation wag supposed to be white waali?'"*. MV I.au-es and a number of other riva'-i pur^sted that ho wag entirely unable to sculp the smallest thing without substantial "ghostly" assistance. Well, one may, 1 tbin'c, bo certain that the only grhosts which can penetrate within Belt's C9ll at Petitonviileaid tho " ghosts of a happy and p-orpeiou-» pi?t," yot it is announced that the sculp* or lias carved some decorations of the hi^nt^t artistic merit for the prison ehjpot. E.en one of Belt's bitterest enemie , v ho paid a visit to the prison chapUin -p- cwlly in order to got a sight of the work, feel 3 hnn^lf constrained in common honour to admit its excellence. Poor Bolt ! Talking of prison- 3 , wha* are we to think t)f the srrikint' urcre^a oi the ciiminal population of England and Wales during the last decade. It 1355 there were only 9,236 males in oar convict oiisons as against 10.51S in 1577 ; naoretvt'r, the sentenced passed during 'b"> wore 23 per cent, lower than during ar.y j:ro.ioa=- year, and only half of the, numb: <• sentenced to penal servitude 20 years bef -rt. C i-i it be that tho world ia indeed ireninj betrei, or are our pol"tC9 s iniplv un »bly co r<>po with the shrewder ra=-c ils of to clay. 1 conte=s I lean to the latter view. The di ertois of convict prisons attribute tho gr.itiiwng decrease in their proteges to tho success of tho " silent system,'' about which snr;h an outcry was raised when it wn? initiated in IS4U. At first, you miy r3Ui-smber, every prisoner sentenced to a term of pennl servitude had to do 2 years' solitary conn lenient : but this f»B9 found to be far too iong. and by decrees the period has be^i» louucoii to S months. Twas of Pentonville Model Pri a on, which built specially for a trill of the silent system, that Coleridge wrof o — "As ho Treat through Coldbath Fields he saw A solitary cell Aod the devil wn pleased, for it s^ave him a hi^t For improving ni3 orisons in hell." Dickens, too, had a profound disbelief in what was then termed " Whurnoliffe'a newfangled idea," and openly derided the probable results in a well known chapter (the sixty-firet) of *' o>»vid Ooppirrield." At the funeral of the third Marquis of Ailesbury. on Frilay last, the new peer (late Lord Savemake) wai mo?t cordially received by the gentry of Wiltshire, who are, however, in a 8"d etew to know what course to pursue with regard to the new Marchionesß {nee Dolly Tester, a late chorus girl at the Comedy Theatre). The Wiltshire folk feel anxious both to forget and forgive the young man's *' wild oats," and would like to give him every chance in the future. Nevertheless, it seems impossible to admit into aristocratic society as an equal the " young person " who has thus been Buddenly raised to tne rank of nobility. People are waiting to see what course the three Dowager Lady Ailesburyg Will pursue towards their successor. The Oldest Dowager, the sportive and venerable "Maria," wife of tho first Marquis, and known throughout society as " Ividy A," has great influence in the fashionable world, and, with H. R.fl's support, might even bring about the recognition of a Dolly Tester. We shall see. The publication of Sir Charles Dilke's notes on the Crawford trial has lod, as might have been expected, toalotofgossiDofamore or leae ecandalouß description. The general impression created is, however, favourable to the baronet. Th 9 discovery that Fanny Stock's residence was well known to Mrs Crawford for more than four weeks before she disappuared haa suggested an altogether fresh, eolution of the •• vanishing " mystery. Supposing, after all, it should be Mra C. who " spirited " away the girl 1 Admit the possibility of a conspiracy against Sir 'Charles, and one can at once ccc how important it was that the girl should disappear. A paper called "The Bat" professes to 'have discovered that Fanny is residing at Addleatone-on-Thames. Another journal adheres equally firmly to the thoorv ot her 'being in Australia. Some statistics hava been published in the which will dissipate a very general impression in England to the effect that the societaires of the famous 'Comedie Fran G ai s draw big salaries It seems evan artist « like Gnt and Coquelin do not make more than £2,400 a year, and many members get much less. On the other hand, the prime donnt of the Grand Opera, Madames Krauss and Fides Devries receive salaries of £6,000 a year. M. Las' selle, the leading tenor, makes £3,000, and Faure, the great baritone, can command £60 a night whenever ho chooses to sing. Sarah Bernhardt got the same sum for the runs of "Fedora : ' and " Theodora " at the Porte St. Martin, and Jadic receives £40 a night at the Varieties. Many music hall artistes (!) make far more than the societaires of the Francaig. Tho volatile Theresa never warbles one of her cerulean ditties afc the Alcazar under £20, and the " great " Paulua (who holds the same position in Paris as our own dear MacDermott does here) earn* £12 a night all the year round. On this side of tho water we don't know -quite co much about theatrical salaries. For one thing, it i^n't etiquette for a manager to " split " wbat he pays the different •members of his company; and for another, actors themselves (unless very sucpessful) consistently Ho on such subjects. Nevertheless, faits do sametimes leak out. At

the Lyceum, for example, we know* Irving pays Ellen Terry £60 a week, Young Alexander (Faust) £40 ; the rest from £25 to £5, according to their parts. At the Savoy I don't suppose the highest salary (Grosemith'e) touches more than £30 a week, but then the leading members of tho company have been engaged uninterruptedly by D'Oylej Carte for the la«t ten years, t.n immense consideration, Florence St. John commands a very high salary ; so, till recently, did Violet Cameron. Amongst low comedians Arthur Robert (late of the Music Halls) gets the " champion screw ;" Lionel Brough, I should think, coming next. The King of Music Hall "stars" just now if, ot course, MoDermott, who warblea his detestable ditty relative to " Charlio Dilke Bpilliug the milk" in four halls nightly, and earns perhaps £35 a week. Jennie Hill, '• Vital Spark, earns (according to her o\\ n confe a sion) £20 a week in London, and gets £40 for pantomime in the provinces at Christmas. The two Beesieg — Bonehill (an " immense " woman as regards size and pong) and Bellwood (chantewie of the notorious •* What Cher Kia")— run Jenny close, and another famous pair, the " Knockabout " Macs, earn at least £50 por a week between them, By the way, I see Fred Albert's death in the papers. He hadn't visited the colonies, but nevertheless many out in your part of the world will be aorry to hear " poor Fred's " gone. Albert both wrote and composed all bis Bong?, and shocking stuff the majority of thorn ware, though the iingling choruses pleaeed the gallery. He was, however, a most respectable man (as Music Hall "chappie's" go), neither drank nor swore nor made questionable jokes on the stage. Moreover, he has left hie wife and child decently providod for, an almost unheard of circumstance in the profession. Albert was not a "star," but when in London could generally rely on doing thiee hauls a night. Probably he made £15 or £20 a week. ______