TOPICS OF THE DAY. London, November 9.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 332, 9 January 1889, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY. London, November 9.

Tjir: case of the young Creek Glyka, who Avas recently sentenced to ton years' penal servitude tor foryeiy, is typical of the value, of a good cleric in London nowadays Glyka was the manager of the continental doparfcmenfc of Vagiinno Bros., a firm of I rich merchants foi whom he annually made tens of thousands. In return' for his services the young man received £150 per annum. Four years ago Glyka, feeling he was undei-paid, ventured to remonstrate with his principals and demand a rise of .salary. The request wns granted will) some demur, but Vagliano Bros, at the same time informed their cleik that he need never in Hie future expect to get more' I than his increased salary (,€180), as they could leplacc him at any moment on similar terms. Up to then the Greek — despite boundless opportunities for robbing his employein — had been strictly honest and taibblul. Bub the thought that he, with all his cleverness and busine&s aptitude, would never be able to scrape together more than a pittance whilst he was making a fortuno for the \ r agliano Bros., seems to have been too much foi his piiuciples. Gi\ka carefully elaborated an intricate scheme of forced notes, and to well did it answer that two years later, when he was attested, he had plundeied l>i« firm's bankers (the Bank ot England) to the tune of C 71,500. The money did not do him much good, as he lost it all, or neaily all, on tho Stock .Exchange. Strange to say, the Judge who tiied the cape did not seem to think the young clerk's inadequate ' salary ,my excuse for his conduct, though it was .shown in evidence that a1 the time he ya\e way to temptation ho had initiated and carried through, on the firm's behalr, .■successful ventures to the amount of neaily half a, million. Yon must read the " Pall ft] all V " Grand Old Man" extia. It is tho best piuce of woik Mr Stead and his. clever ".sub,'' Mr E. T. Cook, have turned out for &ome thne past. Specially amusing and characteristic is. the anecdote anent Gladstone'? and John | Blight's mutual opinions of one another nowadays. It seems when Frank Holl, the sjreat portrait painter, was at work on John Bright, ' about eighteen months ago, he | ventured to sound his sitter on the subject of the CO. M. " It must," quoth them tist, I "be a painful thing for you, Mr Blight, t"o ' have to diller so seriously with an old friend like Mr Gladstone."' "Indeed it i.s," responded Honest John, "(o think that after r we have trod ths same path shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand we should be forced apart in the evening of our lives. And by what? By a bogey that has risen i up within him, and is beckoning him away fiom duty and sense by his own Frankenstein's monster. Do you know, Mr Holl, I seriously fear my dear o'd friend's mind has really become radically undermined V ' When I was painting Mr Gladstone, tho subject of Mr Bright.? poi trait cropped up ? "Ah !" said Mr Gladstone, with much interest, "and how did you find him '" (i Fairly well ; and he spoke affectionately of you, Mr Gladstone." " Did he, indeed ?" replied he fcoirowfully, "did he, indeed. Ah, that wasaciuol blow: thafc after a lifetime of mutual esteem and ot good woik cairied thiough togethei we should be divided on so clear a question. Tell me, JNf r Holl "' — and heic his mouth twitched and his voice shook with gieat emotion — '• tell me, did you observe anything in the mannci of my old friend which would load you to believe that his reason was becoming in any way unhinged ?"' The Baron won a £150 plate at Lowes Li^t week, starting at 4tol in a poor held it i« now stated that, the colt is not a louue at all, but simply a vciy bad horse. He cci randy seemed to sti uggle gamely enough in bhi-5 Lowe" ia.ee, though his earsweie lather {significantly laid back. Mr Fern, who has almost mined himself backing the beapt for big handicaps, hrid only £10 on at Lewes. Jlc naturally never ceases regretting ha\intr refused the ten thousand offered him for The Baron before last year's Oerbv. Mat Dawson meed him to take ib, but Fern and ii lends thought they knew better than old Mat. " Mr Man ton" has again had a smashing season. What with foifeits, training expenses and bets, her racing bill will tot up to something like £30,000. Her Grace '. seems at length to be getting rather sick of ' the gieat game, 1 ' and Mr Milner's entiies or the creat laces of "89-189 C are veiy few in number. The old lady keep- a terribly j ( sharp eye on her youthful spouse There as an amusing scene at the Lord Waiden, at Dover, the other day. Her Gi ace was (so poor Mihier thoughts well on the way to Monte Cailo. >She left London on a Thur?da\, but feeling unwell stopped at! Dover. Thithei, too, on Saturday came Mr Milner in company with a. — well— we'll say "pictty cousin,'' to whom he wished to give a whift of, sea air. The young lady wentupstahs to change her dress, Milner meanwhile intending to order dinner. ETc A\as just about to do so when a well-known \oicc gieeted his alarmed ears, and looking through the glass door of the coffee-room he saw his buxom spouse contentedly dining with (ominous conjunction) her solicitor. Without gi\ ing another thought (o the " prctt\ cousin," the horiiticd man fled back to town by tho first train. Presently the young lady descended, and finding the duchess in the coffee room, and Milner non t c>>/, quickly realised what had happened. Undisturbed, shcVlined luxuriously at an udlacent table and thon returned to town too, leiuingthe bill for her "friend's mother'" (as she pretended to believe the Duchess) to pay. What happened when tho document in question was presented toherCiracewitha polite message fiom "Mr Milner's lady friend," I leave you to imagine. The Duchess of Rutland, a very virile old lady with "strong views'," is about to stump the country in aid of the temperance cause. She will of course only address meetings of Jadies, or rather women. To the prosent generation the name of Mr Sawtrey Cookson (who died the other day) bears littlo significance, yet twentylive years ago Mr Cookson was the most successful public breeder of thoroughbred stock in England, and even to this day the few Neasham yearlings sent up year after year to Doncaster are amongst the highestpriced and most sought after offered by Messrs Tattersall. Mr Cooksdn. first made his mark by breeding Mincemoafc, who won the Oaks in 185/1, and four other winnors of the Oaks were subsequently bred at Neasham, the last being Jenny Howlet. But Mr Cookson's great year was 1861, when the JSTeasham yearlings — Kettledrum and Dundee — ran first and second for the Derby. Amongst other famous animals sent up to the Doncasfcer sales by Mr Cookson may be mentioned Formosa (winner of 2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and Legor), Brigfintine. and Pilgrimage. The Neasham stud may bo said, indeed, to have held its own till Mr Cookson, in an illadvised moment, sold the splendid Buccaneer (who subsequently sired Kisber) to tho Ausb'ians. Since then Mr Cookson J s successes have been less numerous. Archibald Claverins? Gunter, author of " Mr Barnes of New York,'" &c., has a new story under weigh called "-Mr Nobody oi Nowhere." BJTbe cheap and lavishly-illustrated edition

J of "Sha'.ijusfc issued by Longmans is a { charming work. Maurice Grieffenhagen, ' to whom the work of .making the necessary drawings was entrusted, has caught the spirit of the romance better even than the artist-ot the " Illustrated rLontlon News." The pictures of " AyesliV Unveiling'" and " Ayesha Wrapt in the Flame of Life " are nearly perfect. Hitherto Griellenhagen has been known principally by his iunny little designs in "Judy" and "Scraps," but this ednion of " She " will undoubtedly land him in the foremost rank of book illustrators. ' , Mrs Frances Hodgson Barnebt has accepted £3,750 from an American publisher for a new work on bircilar lines to the phenomenally successful " Little Lord Fauntleroy " This is the largest sum ever paid a woman for a short story. The Kendal& haive purchased Mrs Campbell .Praed's dramatic version of " Tlie Ladies' Gallery," a play in a prologue and three acts called " The Binbian Mine." It the diama be as good as the work it shouJd prove a big hit. Great things lam told are hoped trom the prologue, the scene of which is laid in the Queensland bush. De&pite fine acting, smart dialogue, and the qualified praise of the press, "The Dean and His Daughter" has proved such a frost at St. James's? Theatre that the uufoitunatc manager has had to close up pending rehearsals of Mr Gilbert's new play. Afc chc Shaftesbury, too, "As You Like It," which cost nearly ,C 4,000 to mount, had to be withdrawn within a fort> — , night, and now Miss Wallis is playing Pauline in the " Lady of Lyons " to 'rather^ belter bouses. A revival ot " The TamingM of the Shrew " will, 'tis said, follow. ■ The portions of John Coleman'b " Playeis ■ and Playwrights I Have Known,"' which wi)l 1 be most-eageily icad and appreciated in 1 your part of the world, will bo the chapters I relating to theauthor'ndealings withChailes ] Dillon, Charles Matthews and G. Y. Brooke. The two Charltsses appear to have been appalling men to have to do with from a managerial point of view. Mr Coleman telates an amusing story (told him by Mr Chas. Wilmot) ot Dillons first appearance at the Theatre Royal, Dunedin, New Zealand. At the time the curtain should have gone up the tragedian, who had ignored rehearsals totally, was non cd. Wilmofc found him seated in the tap-room, then attached to the theatre, calmly smoking, and regarding his counterfeit presentment as " Belphegor '" in an old number of the " Illustrated New?. " "Time to begin, Mr Dillon !" said Wilmot. "Coming, my boy, coming. Look heje! isn't it marvellous 1 should meet this old villain in these ' diggin's ?', Housed to dress us at Marylebone when I was" ft lad. Still more marvellous tha 1 ; this should turn up ab the Antipodes ! It was taken duiing my h'rst season at the Lyceum, sh*. I remember the night well. I was thenight when Charles Dickens ctlme round 1 to me witb. John Oxenford, and said, 'Charles,- my boy ' " " Really, Mr Dillon," "I must remind you that the stage is waiting. ' > ; '" Let the forum waic for us,.' There isn't much of a house ; I've been counting the beggars as they dribbled in." " They come in late, sir. There will be a splendid houf-e by-and-.by, if you'll only get diessed."' " All right. Have a drink ?' Against his inclination, poor Wilmot was obliged to imbibe. At last ho coaxed the recalcitrant tragedian (not without making a halt at the oilier bar) to his dressing100 m. " Now, my dear, where are the ' props V " blandly inquired Dillon ot his compaync de VOlfCl'Ji. " 1 haven't the faintest idea," replied the lady, l< unless you lett them behind in the last town."' "Good b_eavens ! You don't say- so? This is a lively look out ! Wilmot, what is to be done? I can't go on without ' props,' you know. You had better dismiss the house."' '■Heaven foibid :"' replied Wilmot. " But do you really mean to say, Mr Dillon, you have neither properties nor dresses ?"' "Not a rag for Yirginius ! Better dismiss, 1 tell you."' "Dismiss the l de\il !'' roared the manager. " Wait a moment." So saying, he ran to his lodgiugs, which were in the immediate vicinity, and returned with his own fleshings, sandals, and a Roman shirt, into which Dillon struggled as well as ho could, -while Wilmot went round to the wardrobe to if he could find a toga. There was only one in the theatre, and that had been a heady appropriated by Appiub Claudius, who could by no amount of per-ua.sion be induced to relinquish it. " Ko, cir,"' exclaimed that noble Roman, " Vhc,inius is> only a centmion. 1 aVn. the iiicjt- decezmir, and was born in the purple. ] have lived in it, and mean to die, in it." And die in it he did in due .course, when j Vngiuius strangled him in .the, last-scene. Away uiahcd poor Wilmot back to his locicinjub again, whence 'he emerged with a fcheet, which he had plucked from his bed, and which Jillon had to arrange us the toija i hili* as best he cou'd. Later in the play, when he had to doii his fighting gear, one of the supers was oblige'd^ to bo stripped of his armour. It may '"Sot easily sumuscd that under these circumiSj stances the Dunedin public were not uro^Jl founrlly impressed ivibh the great metro- 3 politan tiaeedian. This, it is to be feared, "' ib only one of the many instances which marred his progress through the colonies. '-''