THE "ICE CARNIVAL" AT THE ALBERT HALL. Sawdust and Snobs. (From Our Special Correspondent.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 366, 8 May 1889, Page 3

THE "ICE CARNIVAL" AT THE ALBERT HALL. Sawdust and Snobs. (From Our Special Correspondent. )

London, March 22, 1889. Aktkk the flowery and elaborate " advance pars." that have appeared in most of the London papers descriptive of the great social event of last week, it may seem hard to .summarise it as above. But truth com" pels the admission ; and, in the cold light of experience, as opposed to the roseate hues of fancy which coloured the statements of the society journalists and the "Daily Telegraph " young men who had anticipated the reality, the general verdict is that the whole thing was a vei'y poor show indeed. The " Daily Telegraph " especially let itself out in fancy descriptions of " the Palace of our modern Snow Queens," who were supposed, like Gerda in Hans Andersons charming fairy tale, to be going to melt the ice-bound; hearts of the hardhearted in the cause ot charity; not, indeed, by a kiss like her, but by the mere sight oi their youth, beauty and innocence. If mature matrons masquerading in balletgirl costume form a touching picture of youth ; if theatrical celebrities painfully got up even in the broad light of day form one's highest conception of beauty ; and if a sprinkling of young girls, unsexed for the time being and pertly importuning any and every passing man, appeal to one a3 a touching picture of innocence ; then, indeed, the "D.T.'s" description was realised. And yet the pitiful snobbishness of human nature is such that, although everyone one meets admits that the whole J thing was an utter failui'e from an artistic point of view, yet not only was the huge Albert Hall crammed to suffocation for i three consecutive days, but not one of the best London dailies has had the courage to comment honestly upon it. There is one honomable exception, by the way, the " St. James's Gazette," which in this, as in most things, takes a sensible, honest and moderate view of the matter. Even it only goes the longth of saying that '* ladies of mature age and robust habit of body ought to be prevented by Act of Parliament from making a lavish display of their charms in fancy dress in broad daylight." Financially, of course, the show has been a great success, although artistically it was beneath contempt. The prices of admission were ten shillings on the first day, five shillings on the second, and half-a-crown on the third, and from this source alone between two and three thousand pounds must have been derived ; but although " It's for the sake of charity, you know," is all very well as a plea for asking a subscription, it is not an equally good excuse for the artistic failure of a show that was heralded with such a flourish of trumpets' as this. Tho decoration of the hall, arrangement of tho stalls, and general management were confided to Mr Whitely, the great Universal Provider, who has the reputation for doing this sort of thing cheaply. " Cheap and nasty " wore certainly synonymous terms in this case. Sawdust and dirty cotton wool, under the best circumstances, do not make a good substitute for snow, but the whole effect, apart from this, was of the most shoddy and tawdry description. To begin with, only the area was utilised, the whole of the stalls, boxes and galleries being left dismally unoccupied. Round the area were arranged stalls repi'esenting the winter abodes of various nations, with attendants in the national costumes. All, therefore, that one saw after fighting one's way in, was the unadorned backs of these stalls in the middle of the vast hall, with a struggling and perspiring crowd of half-dressed women ■ and bepestered men penned up in the narrow space within. In the conservatory, for entrance to which, as to every other part of the building, one had to pay extra, a spasmodic attempt was made at intervals by some blanket-clad individualsin Canadian winter costume to get up snow-shoe races on a sawdust track, while a melancholy individual occasionally piloted an electric dogcart round a narrow ring. The effect was rendered more depressing by the fir-trees covered with dabs of the aforesaid dirty cotton wool, which was supposed to represent snow. The cafe chantant upstairs was equally disappointing. There was a rumour to the effect that Grossmith was to appear. I believe, indeed, he did come, but owing to the bad management and overcrowding, had to go avvay as;ain. 1 got an elaborate programme of about twenty items, and thought that hero, at least, I would get some value for my money. But no ! after hearing a duet played by Herr Ganz and Signer Ducei, and a couple of songs sung by the Hon. Lady Macdonald, the audience were politely requested to leave .to make room for others, or to pay an extra shilling if they retained their seats. Wearily I sought the tea-room adjoining to refresh my inner man, but on learning that one had to pay 5s for a cup of, very inferior 2s per lb. tea and a little bread and butter, once moi - e I turned disconsolate away. I heard a much-excited Frenchman pouring his sorrows into a policeman's ear. He had, with native nallantry, taken five • ladies and three children into tho tea-room, and had to pay up the sum of £2 2s 6d, he himself having- had nothing but"aleetlo nasty deerop," as he told the etolid British" bobby. He insisted on the guardian of law and order going to demand at least a 1 sovereign back, offering a guerdon of sixpence for the task, but the British bobby wisely declined. And why were people willing to be swindled in this outrageous fashion ? For tiho sake of charity ? By no I means, my masters ; bub simply * because

duchesses served out the . tea, ■> and countesses and comedy-actresses liberally displayed their charmß for them to gaze at ! The snob forms at least as important an element in society as Oarlyle's '* mostly fools," even if he be not synonymous with the latter. One or two of ' the *, women formed pleasing pictures, notably Mips Dallas-Yorke, the Duke of "Portland's brideelect, as an Italian peasant-girl, collecting coppers for the charity in her tambourine (silver or even gold not being, of course, objected to) ; and Madame Nordica (otherwise Mrs Norton), the new American singer who has taken the town, as a Snow Queen, in long white dress, with wide, hanging sleeves, all covered with crystal pendants. Mrs Arthur Stannard ("John Strang Winter"), did a roaring trade in other people's autographs and her own books ; and the Duchess of Montrose made a charming waitress in the tea-room, in a plain black dress with pale pink cap and apron. Miss Walt Whitman, as a North American Indian, in wampum petticoat, beads and eagle's feathers, startled one as much, and attracted one as little, as her father's socalled poems, while various other American society beauties showed off themselves and their diamonds in robes of rainbow hues. But with regard to the majority of the women, the best thing I have heard was said by an Eton boy, who was asked by his aunt, "with whom he was staying, what- he thought of the show to which he had been taken, " Oh, auntie, it was so jolly, and such fun ! All the duchesses had stopped at home and sent their servant-maids to serve out the tea ; and there were a lot of balletgirls about the hall, so it wasn't a bit stuck-up, you know." " Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, etc." But the West End Hospital for Paralysis and Nervous Diseases, in whose aid the febe was got up, will have golden reasons for being grateful that female vanity and male snobbishness have had such an innings last week.