TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 487, 9 July 1890, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Social, Sporting, Theatrical, and | Literary. j (From Odr Special Correspondent.) London, May 17. Mr Ernest Benzon has been released from durance vile, and Mrs Giacommette Prodgers has passed away to that land where cabmen cease from troubling and there is presumably no four-mile radius. A Strand jarvoy, on being informed that the too familiar figure of the redoubtable ladj r need never be looked for more, shook his head solemnly. “ Depend upon it sir,” he said with conviction, ‘ whichever placo the old woman’s got to, she quarrelled about the fare.” ... , .. Mrs Prodgers honestly believed it was her mission to terrorise predatory cabmen. She succeeded brilliantly. To drive her was either to lose your fare or be summoned for extortion. Some fled at her approach, but it nvailed them nothing. The old lady simply took the runaway's number and hauled him before the Beak for refusing a fare. Everv police magistrate n Lon lon knew and (it is not too much to say) feared Mrs Prodgers. Her phenomenal knowledge of fares, distances, and by-laws was only equalled by her impressive appearance and overpowering dignity. The Wells Collection. At the sale of the Wells collection of pictures on Saturday 104 Landseers fetched £177,000, and Mr Agnow gave 7,sooguineas for a small but exceptionally fine Turner, reselling his bargain in a few minutes for B,oo(fguineas The precise sum originall v paid Turner himself for this-gem was £IOO. The Drawing room. The Duchess of Portland, looking “pal 6 and interesting,” was presented “ on he r marriage ” at last Friday s Drawing-room-Her Grace wore a very rich, soft, creamcoloured ivory satin dress. It was arranged with graceful simplicity at the back and sides. The bodice showed in front a wide band of gold and silk wrouglit-net arranged like a centaur belt in a perfectly straight line round the figure. Over this were folds of satin gathered in the middle, and each following a pretty curve. The back of the bodice and the train were made all in one of the most exquisite reproduction of an Old World brocade. The ground was of the same rich deep tint as the dress, and the design was conventional groups of carnations in quaint and curious colourings consisting of many soft shades, no special one predominating. This was lined with Kothschild carnation pink satin of a lovely subdued shade. The bodice fitted tightly at the back, and then loose portions of brocade, faced with satin, were parried to the back and turned back as picturesque revers. The sleeves of brocade were high on the shoulder, and the revers were caught back through the folds of the train below the waist. Her Grace carried a large posy jf soft pink carnations arranged as though they were growing with their own greygrecn foliage, and tied with cream-coloured satin ribbon. The Duchess of Westminster’s skirt was of rich ivory-tinted satin, veiled with mistlike chiffon, dono with star-like touches of nale gold. Her t:ain and bodice were of Louis Seize brocade. The ground was a deep tone of ivory colour, and the design, in stripes, was of small roses and foliage in softly subdued shades of pink, deepened into an artistic tone of petunia and mingled with the palest green foliage. The train was lined with petunia-coloured satin, the hue between mauve and heliotrope. It was turned over at one sido to show the lining, and tied back with straps and bows, gracefully arranged, of satin in this curious shade. The other side was draped with old lace stitched with golden thread, so that it sparkled and glinted as though it had been powdered with gold dust. The favourite material of dress was brocade, in which many original designs were seen. The majority of the colours were delicate and pale, with occasional glimpses of brilliant' hue, which served to show to the best advantage the new shades produced by soft and subtle blendings of old ones. Many of the dresses were lavishly trimn ed with real roses, in their many varieties of white, pink, yellow or damask red. They formed garlands, cascades, flounces in rich fragrant beauty, and the bouquets corresponded with the dress trimmings. These were chiefly made as “ posies” and tied with long ribbon onds, to some of which a stray bud,leaf, or petal were delicately fastened. Orchids were used for several, as in their various strange tints it ia possible to find the most perfect harmonies of colour for all dresses. Lilac was employed also in conjunction with the fashionable tones of heliotrope. A curious question has just been decided by the Mistress of the Robes. It is quite the latent idea in Paris to wear evening and reception dresses of the beautiful smoothfaced velvety cloths produced this year, and as these look remarkably well when trimmed with metallic or other passementeries, feathers, or feather bordering, it was asked whether they would be admissible as Court trains. The Duchess of Buccleuch pronounced they were not, siik satin or velvet being obligatory. The Truth About Pigott. The feature pcir excellence of the June magazines will without doubt oc the lengthy statement which Mr Houstoun is preparing of. his connection with the “Times,” ino Libeial Unionists and the late lamented Mr Pigott. Mr H. has, tis whispered, been left vory much in the lurch by his erstwhile employers, and feels about as amiable ns persons usually do under such circumstances. Ho will set down nothing in malice, but neither will he aught extenuate. Mr Walter was a good deal concerned when he hoard of Hous- , toun’s intentions, and sent a pacificatory envoy to the young man empowered to make liberal oilers. The envoy discovered to his dismay that his mission was useless. The odium in connection with the forged letters has rested almost entirely on Houstoun and clouded his prospects in life. If he cannot remove the trouble wholly, he can at least show that ho always acted conscientiously and that many other shrewd men were equally at fault. About Dukes and Duchesses. The late Duke of Manchester was scarcely cold before the London correspondents of certain provincial papers were gracefully speculating on the probability of Lord Hartington marrying the Dowager Duchess. Society very properly poohpoohs the idea. Her Grace is sixty and pa&see to a degree. Lord Hartington, however, like many apparently phlegtnatic impassive men, has strong passions, ana there is no saying what he may do. Very little has been heard of the redoubtable “Kim” since he succeeded to ducal honours. One thing, however, seems certain, viz., that when Viscount Mnndeville’s creditors have (according to the arrangement effected a few months back) been paid, the Duke of Manchester won t have much left. The Duchess of Marlborough has gone to America for a prolonged visit, without the Duke, who is said to be growing more eccentric daily. All the Churchills are blessed with a dyspeptic temperament,

which makes them difficult to live with. There can be no doubt whatever that Lord Randolph Churchill would have prudently continued to control himself and never delivered his famous Parnell Commission philippic but for an attack of dyspepsia, which rendered him temporarily irresponsible.

“Letters From Hell.”

The lucubrations of the dead man whose “Letters From Hell’ continue to run serially through “ Lippincott's,” are, on the whole, neither edifying nor instructive. Occasionally, however, one comes across a passage of gloomy, morbid power, such a 3 the following The writer tells us through tho realms of hell, her eyes fixed and widedistended in agony, and her hands clutching ceaselessly at her bo'om, as if the heart of her was being riven in twain. “Oh, God !” I heard her cry, as she passed me, “my heart is broken ! my heart is broken ! and, alas, one cannot die of a broken heart in hell.”

1 saw her once again. She had fallen to the ground, and with hopeless hands pressed against burning brows, was writhing as if in physical pain, and with her very soul consumed of passion. One whom I knew—it was his sister —was kneeling beside her, and with gentle words besought her to calm herself, but she pushed the ministering hand away despairingly, crying out : “ A heart cannot break as mine is breaking without a shriek. If I had loved him, and he me, and he had died,” she saiu,“ I could have borne it, knowing that 1 should meet him again hereafter, but to live loveless through a loveless eternity, that,’■ is the thought that kills me and then with a great cry of ‘Oh ! why should a merciful God let any poor human soul suffer as I am suflering now ?” she tosc up, and lied away before me.

1 never saw her again, nor do I know whether or not it was given her to win back the love she had lost. How he met tho woman who, out of mere vanity, had sot her cap at a friend of hi--, had won his love, and than had broken his heart, he describes as follows : Of all the faces which I saw in hell, there was one which had for mo a fascination beyond any other. It was tho face of a beautiful woman, queenly of manner and fair of figure as a full-blown lily, and with those deep dark eyes that -s can to shine out from soul-depths, deep as the distant heaven, and yob may mean no more than does tho shallow facing of quicksilver behind a milliner’s mirror. I recognised her instantly by the portrait, and never out of hell have I seen such misery on any i woman’s face a sl I saw on hers. The sentence in punishment of her sin was a j strange one. It was that she should now love him, whose heart, she had broken, with the same passionately intense but hopeless love with which ho had loved her. It was a just bub awful retribution. As some death-stricken and hunted creature presses frantically on as if to escape the arrow that it carries in its breast, so, heedless of all that was passing around her, heedless of shadow or shine, she pressed on and on. The Obkrammergau Passion Play. The first performance of tho Passion Play at the tiny Bavarian village of Oberammergau will be given to-morrow. For some time past the male villagers who enact the apostles, etc., have been letting their hair and beards grow. The severest ordeal, however, is that of the new representative of the Chrisrus (Herr Meyer), and it can only bo gauged by those who fully understand the fatal seductiveness of Bavarian beer. For 47 years of his life the guileless Meyer has enjoyed his daily “ bock’ and his game of skittles at the village inn. Bub those innocent relaxations are not considered compatible with the dignity of the role he is studying. For weeks past, therefore, Meyer has been cub off beer and condemned to solitary seclusion in his cottage. Like all previous Christs in tho “Passion Play,” Meyer is a man renowned for his simple piety, high moral character, and picturesque appearance. Gilbert and Sullivan. I lb is formally announced that the alliance between Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan is permanently dissolved, and that Sir Arthur will in future devote himself entirely to grand opera. The name of the librettist of the work upon which the composer of the “Light of tho World” is engaged for D’Oyley Cartes’ magnificent new theatre in Cambridge Circus has nob transpired authoritatively, though several names have been mentioned in connection with it. That the work must bo tolerably far advanced is, however, apparent, as last week contracts were signed with Mr Ben Davies (of the Lyric Theatre) and Miss Marguerite Macintyre to appear in leading roles. A Breeze over the Halle Farewell. Messrs Broad wood have gob themselves into rare hot water through the reckless and indiscriminating manner in which they distributed cards for the Halle farewell lecepbion. It certainly did prove a terrible fiasco, and everyone concerned felt more or ‘less annoyed, from Sir Charles and Lady Halle themselves (the centre of a tightlypacked crowd of noisy nobodies) to the real friends of the departing musicians, who ar- ] rived only to find the doors slammed in their faces. A “Victim of Messrs Broadwood s Practical Joke ” thus growls on the subject in the “St. James” : “Enthusiastic musicians,both professional and amateur, felt personally complimented by receiving, some weeks ago, a polite invitation to a farewell reception held in honour of Sir Charles and Lady Halle by Messrs Broadwood on their premises. No single recipient of this invitation probably realised for the moment that he was not ono of a select few, but that in reality he was one of a vast public to whom the invitation cards wore sent broadcast, after the manner of ordinary advertisements. This was, however, fully realised on the afternoon of the 2nd of April in the slums of Soho, when tho highly complimented individual attempted to fulfil his engagement. Then it was evident that an invitation had been sent to apparently several thousands of Messrs Broadwood’s patrons, with tho phrase ‘ and friends,’ so that it is easy to see how the total number of thoso who desired to attend the reception became very large indeed. The consequence was that Golden Square, Great Pulteoey-street, and all the approaches were thronged with a multitude of all sorts and conditions of the men and women who had ever played upon or seen or heard of a Broadwood piano, plus the residents of the Soho district, chiefly of juvenile appearance, who were attracted to the spot to see the crowd and the horses’ heads. Great Bulteney-street is not a wide thoroughfare, and therefore not tho most convenient placo for the youthful inhabitants of that district to assemble to view the spectacle of a vast concourse of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, cabs and carriages. People walked, or lather scrambled, from one entrance to the other with the frequent injunction of the police to 4 stand on ono side, please.’ This went on for several hours. Tho mass of the people, of course, did not enter'the building. One cannot resist the feeling tflat tho practical joke was, on the whole, a poor one.—l am, sir, your obedient servant, “ One of the Victims. “April 4.”

Music and Morals. Another of tho “World’s” staff is i n trouble. Four monthsorsoago Mrßroadloy (as everybody knows) had to leave London under highly unpleasant circumstances, and now an action for seduction is pending against this paper’s well-known musical critic and litterateur, Dr. Louis Engel. Tho young lady (a Miss Knight) was one of the worthy Dr.’s pupils, and is understood to be quite a girl. On Saturday last an application to have tho trial postponed was refused. It is announced that during the coming Italian opera season, Madamo MelbaArmstrong (as she now prefers to be called) will, besides creating (in French) the titular character of Goring Thomas’ “Esmeralda,” sing “Elsa” in “Lohengrin” for the first lime. Amongst the other famous prime donne secured by Mr Harris may be mentioned Patti’s “ hated rival,” Ebelka Gerslir, who is said to have quite recovered her beautiful voice; Miss Marguerite Macintyre, and Miss ZeTie de Lussan, neither of them powerful enough for Covent Garden ; Madame Tetrazzini, a florid vocalist from Italy ; and Madame Basta, of the Grand Opera, Vienna. The tenors include the one and only Jean de Roske; Mr Rawner, an American whose voice extends to D in alto; M. Ybos (of Brussels), M. Vignias, and Lassalle,_ for whom Ambroiso Thomas’ “Hamlet” is to be revived. Joan de Reske’s new parts will be “John of Leyden” in “Le Prophete,” and “Captain Phoebus'’ in “Esmeralda. ’ Co wen’s New Opera. Mr F. H. Cowen’s friends in Australia will be pleased to learn that all who have been privileged to hear tho rehearsals of “ Thorgrim ” are delighted with the work and prophesy a great success. The precise date of its production has not been fixed yet, but it will probably be in about a fortnight. A Barrack Room Ballad. Tho “ Atheineum,” belated as usual, has (some two months after everybody else) “discovered” Rudyard Kipling, and in its current issue blandly reviews “ Departmental Ditties ” and “Soldiers Three ” as though they were new books. The beautiful part of this is that three years ago, when those works were originally published in India, young Kipling sent copies over to tho great literary journal, and for months after anxiously scanned its pages for a notice. At length the expected review appeared. It filled two lines under the heading of “Our Library Table,” and briefly described Mr Kipling s versesas“ Anglo-Indian Rhymes,” and “Soldiers Three” as “Stories of Barrack Room Life.” Evidently the reviewer had not opened either book. Last Saturday the “ Athemcum ” devoted all but five columns to the same works, comparing the freshness and originality of “ Soldiers Three” with “ Sketches by Boz,” and hinting pretty broadly that ho may, if he works hard, become a second Dickens.

One is glad to notice this adulation does not seem to be spoiling the quality of the youthful Anglo-Indian’s “copy.” lake the following barrack-room ballad cub from a weekly paper. Isn’t it redolent of the strange mixture of prejudices, bombast, jollity, self-pity and slang, which compose Tommy Atkin’s en deshabille ? And yet beneath the surface one can detect a tone of subtlest pathos THE SONS OF THE WIDOW. Ave you ’card o’ tho Widow at Windsor With a hairy gold crown on ’cr ’cad 1 . She ’as ships on the foam—she ’as millions at ’ome, An’ she pays us poor beggars in red. lOw, poor beggars in red !) There’s er nick on the cn valry ’orse3, '! here’s ’er mark on the medics 1 stores— An’ ’er troopers you’ll find with a fair wind be’ind That lakes us to various wars. (Poor beggars !—barbarious wars !) Then ’ero’s to the Widow at Windsor, An’ ’ore’s to the stores an’ the guns, The men an’ the 'orses what makes up the forces O’ Missis Viciorier’s sons. (Poor beggars ! Victorier’s sons !) Walk wide o’ the Widow at Windsor, For ’alf o’ creation she owns: We ’ave bought ’er the same with the sword an tho flame. An’ we’vo salted it down with our hones. (Poor beggars!—it’s blue with our bones!) Hands off o’ the sons of the Widow, Hands off o’ the goods in ’er shop, For the Kings must come down an’ the Emperors frown When the Widow at Windsor says " Stop! (Poor beggars !—we’re sent to say “ Stop ! Then ’ore’s to the Lodge o’ the Widow, From the Pole to the Tropics it runs— To the Lodge that we tile with the rank an’ the file. An’ open in form with the guns. (Poor beggars!—it’s always them guns !) We ’ave ’card o’ the Widow at Windsor, It’s safest, to let’er alone; For ’er sentries we stand by the sea an the land Wherever the bugles are blown. (Poor beggars!—an’ don’t we get blown!) Take ’old o’ the wings o’ the mornin’. An flop round the earth till you’re dead; But you won’t get away from the tune that they play To the bloomin’ old rag over ead! (Poor beggars!—it’s o’t over’ead!) Then ’ere’s to the sons o’ the Widow, Wherever, ’owever they roain. ’Ere’s all they desire, an’ if they require A. speedy return to their ’ome. (Poor beggars!-they’ll never see ’ome !) Mudyard Kipling, in the “Scots Observer.” Mr Rudysrd Kipling’s verses “The Last of the Light Brigado ” have resulted in nearly £6OO being sent to the “ St. James’s Gazette,” for the Balaclava veterans. The young man, I regret to learn, shows decided symptoms of being spoilt. No fewer than three friends of mine have been asked to parties (dinner parties) to meet him. On none of these occasions did Mr Kipling either turn up himself or send an apology. Of course, all sorts of aberrations are allowed to genius, but as yet tho AngloIndian’s performances can scarcely bo called more than clever. Like so many promising young litterateurs, it is quite possible he may never do anything really and truly great.

Dramatic Notes.

The new play which Mr Henry Arthur Jones has written for tho Shaftesbury Theatre is called “Judah,” and will be in three acts. The action takes place at Asgarby Castle in the Midland atthepresei.t time. As “The Middleman” was concerned with the struggle between capital and labour so ‘ Judah ” is concerned with tho far more profound and subtle strife, also characteristic of the age, between spiritualism and materialism. Judah Llewellyn (the part to be played by Mr Willard) is a young minister, ha'f Welsh, half Jew, of an intensely religious and spiritualistic nature. His cure is in the city of Beachampton, adjacent to which lies Asgarby Castle, the home of an old English family. The problem Mr Jones touches upon is new to tho stage, and may not, he admits, prove acceptable. M rGilbertHare, son of Mr Jno. Hare, made a successful debut of the Richmond Theatre in “ Mama” on Saturday last. Young Mr Haro goes into the provinces fo gain experience in the first instance. Later he will doubtless take a regular place in the Garrick Company. Luncheon and lush were supplied ad lib. yesterday to the crowd of hungry liners who represented the press at the private view of the empty barrack, grandiloquently designated tho French Exhibition. What

this precious show may become presently, I trow not. Just now only one word aptly describes it—fraud. Madame Melba, who has become an established “star” of prime magnitude at the Paris Grand Opera, made a great hit as Marguerite in “Faust ” last week. Various Literary Notes. The one hundredth edition is announced ol Jerome’s “ Idle Thoughts.” Under the circumstances one is scarcely surprised to learn that the ox-city clerk has set to work on another work of a similar character. “Traced and Tracked,” a batch of detective stories, by Dick Donovan, is neither better nor worse than “ Tho Man Hunter,” by the same somewhat slipshod writer. Mr Donovan’s “Man from Manchester” aspires to be a more ambitious attempt. It tolls the story of a commonplace quarrel between two men which results in one resolving deliberately to hound down the other to ruin, madness, and suicide. The book would have been readable enough as a shilling shocker, bub six times that amount is far more than anyone ought to pay for such trivial reading. “ Sentenced,” another detective yarn by Somerville Gibney, shows how a man sentenced to death for a murder, is saved by the acuteness of a friend, who discovers that the gun of the deceased has been scratched by a dog, and convinces the Home Secretaiy that it was the dog, and not the sentenced man, who pulled the trigger and shot tho victim. Rider Haggard’s “Beatrice’' was published on Monday ,‘ia.st at 6s, but 1 have not had time to read it’yet. The new number of the “ Review of Reviews ” is quite up to its predecessors. Dir Stead’s character sketch of “Emin Pasha ” and the exhaustive description of “ Lux Mundi ” being alone worth twice the sum asked for the voluminous publication. Do not let the savage satire of High Tory reviewers pub you off reading O’Brien’s “ When Wo Were Boys.” Its style may be “turgid,’’and its “politics deplorable,” bub after all the story is interesting. The Queercus Club.

Mr George “Abington” Baird having been expelled from the Pelican Club, has provided what he gracefully calls “ the spondulicks ” to start a rival establishment, and last Sunday night the Glaucus Club was formally opened. Curiously enough, one thing that Mr Herbert Standing (tho Secretary) and his Committee appeared most anxious to impress on possible members was that Mr George Baird had no locus standi whatever in the place. He has, we were told, been elected an ordinary member, bub ho will nob bo permitted to disport himself noisily in the establishment nor to introduce therein any of the noble brethren of “bounders.” Altogether, Mr Baird’s position seems at once dignified and useful.

George R. Sims suggests Queercus as a more suitable nomenclature for the new club than Glaucus, and offers for the Committee’s consideration the following rules :

The Queercus Club shall consist of a limited number of members and unlimited drinks.

Any member convicted of conduct unbecoming a gentleman shall have the option of standing drinks round or fighting the proprietor. The members of the Committee will wear gold knuckle-dusters, with which they will knock one another down in the event of any disagreement during the Committee meeting.

No member to throw another member out of any window higher than the second floor.

No member to irritate any member who may be under remand for assaulting him.

Every member may bring his own poker, but must leave it in the umbrella stand until required. The proprietor to have the privilege of introducing six professional pugilists during the day and twelve after midnight. A respectable solicitor and a skilled surgeon will be in attendance day and night. Telephonic communication with the principal police-stations and hospitals All overdue subscriptions will be collected by a champion. N. B. :—The housekeeper has strict orders to take charge of all ears, eyes, teeth, noses, fingers, whiskers, or moustaches found on the club premises after they are closed, and to return them to the owners on application the next day.