THE OBSOLESCENCE OF GILBERTS -ART.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 152, 27 June 1914, Page 14

THE OBSOLESCENCE OF GILBERTS -ART.

."• omic opera "repertory theatre" it in 1.10 air. It is being fugitiveiy dis. cussed here, there, and everywhere. Stray capitalists are promising to put up the money. There is nothing that I should prefer to see; but I say to tha capitalists, Beware. The idea seems to be that the never-to-be-forgotten Gil-bort-Suilivan series should be the foundation of the scheme. But while Sulli. van's music would be perennially popular tho Gilbert libretti, for all their humour fancy, and charm, belong to an age that has passed. They are extravaganzas, and extravaganzas arc dead so far as th« London public is concerned.—Mr Boyle Lawrence, in 'Tall Mall Magazine."

BTjL^FdX3HTTS"G. A modern Englishman 6eldom <thinta of bull-fighting without something of a shudder; yet it is not so very long since ■we as a nation patronised sports that were even more barbarous. So short ii the interval that has elapsed that the arrangements for carrying on buH-ibait-ing and cock-fighting can still he 6cca in some of the older villages, particularly those wtiich are remote and not subjected to the inroad of the holidaymaker. One village at least there is iv the North of England where you may see the 6tone with the ring still attached to it, where bull-baiting was the ordinary amusement of a holiday. In tha place, also, the cockpit (which, hy the by, is not a cockpit, but a raised platform) stands adjacent to the .bull-ring on the sarnie green. Both of tliera amusements brought out what .wa6 the most highly-prized quality of the oldfashioned Englishman—pluck and endur-. ance. There was no skill in the mastiff or bulldog which was brought to deal with the bull; it was courage, and that of a very savage kind, which provided the only admirable element; and how much this admiration of courage hae become part of our nature is shown from the way in which the phTase. "It's dogged that does It,"\has worked itself into our proverbial philosophy. Now, ibuDfighting is not. and never was as savage a sport as bull-baiting. It makes a call not so much upon the mere courage,it though this cannot be' dispensed with, m upon hoiKemanehip, skill, and general activity and adroitness. The woret feature is undoubtedly the punishment to which the boraes, which arc no* combatants, are exposed.

ACs AMUSING 'REMINISCENCE. A desire for rest and a longing t» travel, in out-of-the-way places seem to be the chief reasons for Genee's approaching retirement, judging from her article "Good-bye—and Why" in tfy April "Pearson's Magazine." Incidentally 6he relates some amusing experiences of her professional career. When she arrived in Melbourne, for instance, it was discovered a few hours before lier opening performance -that the 'orchestri had noi music—al! the band parts having been left in Adelaide, one and a-half days' journey away! "It was late in the afternoon before the performance was finally abandoned," says Mdlle. Genee, "and people had already assembled to wait for the pit and gallery. They were very angry, naturally, when the news was broken to ithem; and, although the telephone was i employed lo warn as 'many seat-holders as possible, heaps of people arrived, and had to be sent away.

"Some of the complaints and expostulations were quite funny. I couldnt help laughing at the fury of one stall purchaser, who yelled over the telephone: 'It's al) very fine for you to call the show off; but I've bought two tickets, hired a taxi for 15/. and paid 10/8 for having my wife's hair dressed! Where do f come in 3 She can't keep it done up till Monday!" i

A DANGEROUS SPORT. , Nowadays it is rather the fashion to minimise dangers on land or sea; and "* the time of Scoresby, the famous English whaler, it was also more or less the fashion to do so. But he franklj' says: "I do not try to minimise tha risks of sea life and whaling," and be gives due thanks to his Maker for mas)' hair-breadth escapes which we to-daj* might only put down to our own efforts and straight powder. "When the bear is found in the water." he continues, "crossing fiom one sheet of ice to another, it may generally be attacked with advantage; but when on shore, of more, especially when it is upon a large sheet of ice. covered with snow— M which the bear, supporting itself on the surface with extended paws, can travel with twice the speed of a man. wWi perhaps, sinks to toe knee at ever! step—it can seldom be assailed wift either safety or success. Most of m fatal accidents that have occurred *-**i» bears have been the result of encounter* on the ice. or injudicious attacks niM' at such disadvantage." I urn inclined M think that each person ferts different!? about approac-'iins a bo it on the ice. depending on temperament .ullage. Personally. I feel a faint chill —such as.jSl have before diving oil a rock into the sea—and -after success something of tie glow you have after coming out.. \ rather think thai younger people hare J similar before at;.l .iftcr, Eg stronger—in fact, so strong cs at firs' to upset their aim and -afterwards w make them wildly jubilant. The.iaW feeling 1 am sure *s there, clothes Wj of no account: there is the snow,, tie sky, and the ibig bear hundreds of time* more powerful than yourself—and vouf rule. Before you dive into the srasfS know you can swim a stroke or two! before you wander over the iluC w Bruin, yon know you have to trust w your aim.—W. ii. Burn Murdoch, | "Country- Life.''