TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10998, 22 June 1901, Page 7

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

W, t> . TBw ficpare which ie the I? uu» Story ■Oβ"* oi to-day** imposing !%', of "iPJetoria oeremonial has reached great- ? . Square, new through a wore varied -fp-' , coarse of experiencea than f'- ■ hs» f^ len iA> ftny oti ** J* 0, * 1011 °* tb * . years a ?°' ifc *** m nam * V' ««l%e Market Piace"; in fact, a wild tract, " thiongh which iwJlock drays kbouved as f jier lttigM on tiseir vra.y to and from the '" fstt-off Papa""" Baft- The site that to- ■' -dey nfeows a« a cultivated city garden, on " r *hiob a ure m «J rf Kngland laye the •' ImtDdeitkin for the msmorioJ oi-<)ur fifty progre ,Bß ' our sods' late share in ■Sβ dirfeiwe of the Empire, and our love for "the My ""i* 9 yraa ' during all those years, - Queen, found its earK«it form of usefJneea to tie colony at* the Chrlstchurch'' .flftwJ-pftf Old coioajste will recall Lojr" , "■' *h* n** ll "* l ** pla** at Chrietchwrch-was , pad* an excavation; ' 53>e-ffl»vel taken thence being used; for re- • iMtntion W«•^Bea*^ 001 * Ferry road, then in great - 11 / , 4 v d&& & * Canterbury rhyme of 1852; ixA Few* l**ving been mode, the pit lie protest to the autho- "' "Strongly representing that the et&ervatkai Of fa people's 'limb* and lives from <raoh & Brtuatioik i#ti»t ia which they find themselves, if . through precipitation Ibty tumolea into, head over ibeels, »iid recited excavation, Wt* a qnestion which merited their first eoottderation — ffcaf. 4irty roade and dark nights were ramdent bothtratiou, fPVTien moon and stars were clouded, and m illumination in neighbouring cottages to afford an intiniation . To the luckless traveller) without tihie infernal excavation." ' Jtow9TeT, the excavation was filled at last, - batetill the market pbee ikad no market.

The next development was on later official lines. On one aide of Bktory. tiho intersecting road appeared the Immigration Barracks, and

~tbe «aol, which, to the delight of colonial fatetory, is recorded as having been "opened" with a dance. On the other was , took the poet office, long familiar to (fariatebweh eyes, where came' the rare mails oi still early diaya, to be delivered mfer the gloss verandah, where fanners nbj their letters, and did their "business, ' tkttMing Colombo street afterwards to the "floßea Fteeoe" for the business "nobbier," which was the correct accompaniment to * doaL When both immigration and gaol boeinose found place at Addington their temporary abodee—not edifices, but "shedificee," to use the pleasant word-coinage of FrteGeraldi—were rightly cleared away. It wiui so that the Oiity Council were left with a clear field, again for a market experiment. Fine stone had replaced an early dfooden (ttruotore, and "Victoria Bridge" #liad changed the adjacent "Whately road" £ into "Victoria street." The Council let itf sites lor produce shops at low restate, and ■" hoped for a flourUbing appearance in "Mar- ; ket Square." It will be easily remembered '•■• ihow this scheme fell through, tbow the !, shops were shanties, how the ordinary : . fcradera growled, the public protested, and finally how, as each lease feU in, tie Coun-

cil hod to demolish instead of re-letting the building. Once more the spot lay de- ' Vulat*-- a triangular dlegrftce. Only in quite !atw days, after the old post office wae removed, on one side appeared the grassy lawn ami the band rotunda.; while it was reserved for the Chrya&ntiemum Society to lav out upon the other the "People's Uarden," which now blossoms throagL the yw.* To-day, in a decorated town, centre, tjve moot imposing celebration of tire Royal visit takes place, as we have said, upon the very spot once left forlorn as an unfilled gravel pit. It makes no bad illus* tration of colonial progress to glance from ■■:' tbe pilgrim's "Market. Place," to a Prince ; laying the foundation for Victoria , * statuej '■' in the nmw. re-named once and for all "Vie- ; tdri* Square."

... * Viewed through European spec- ,< abioese taoles the way* of the Chinese ... t' Opera, are certainly reiy peculiar.

, . ' . Lately a number of Melbourne ■ , fcvoteee of Chinese literature and music jbavft been steadily working at tie produc- | tian of one of the best known classics of L , ti» Celestial Land. Hitherto the perform. ; MOW of this particular band of musio lovers W* been confined to the crash of the gong , Ifc&ica signifies defeat of the senseless guga- • ". Sbfc, and now tbe lyric bill-of-fere ie to .„ cewtast of some of the masterpieces of Chinese musio. Tho new work bears the mys- , terioM title, "Yee Tow Mooi," which means ;, ' te EagHea "The Silver King." It bears, we gather from, the published description _.:, J d tiba piece, little resemblance to its. JSag* .• liah aeneeake. It possesses no pig-tailed Counterpart of Wilfred Denver, but "the .; «MPe" spirit of reverence and pksty pervades :*, *T**y *°k" Tbe degree of simplicity and ,"'. '•'-< s6raightfoTWardn<es which Chinese drama ie nay be gauged by the fact thai, Mooi" takes a week to perform. > first performance* began on a Monday • '\\J*^ ia^f *"** *^ c moe * interesting act* were on Saturday night, -when \ r fM tike bed character* fell to the solckersee • >< _, M ,tfc* exeoataaaer, and the good, characters ; gmtped themselves about the centre of *h» play, casually remarking tibat tib© clouds , ;*w roUvd away. Scenic effects were not f .;:*W I » , e«> for. According to the laws of l\ ,^ B » «"wy dramatu* ie compelled to write '"•.*■'■.• * religious and optimistic strain, and |_. ■' •"* writers of immoral plaint, in addition ", *> of the oaague, are under- • ••> stood to remain in purgatory as long as \'" F W>rks *"* P"* 1,,0 * 41 - author of ; -,; T«e Tow Mooi" has, accordingly, introi> #<»d a KttJe sketch fllueteative of the

•acacy of prayer, which we are told works

v Oβ* pay effectively. The music of the opera, it would appear, wae creditably per- • ietwed. To quote from a Melbourne paper, . orcteetration vnm mast careful and , Wicate. and during both tie soloa and eboroses it was utilised ao as to give the .; -•- mot powibie effect, withtmt interfering with \',\ tfce voioee." Tne taao&g&camt of the opera ; *w duuiubiy inclined, and intend giving ■} » performance in aid of the Melbounw HoeP pital.

Mr Pinero recently provoked Boyial the ridicule of "Punch" by Reading, the confession thai he could

-) . «* mite a pky about the Huddle daases. In devising hie dramatic f : •■•- ewnpUcafcione J»e found himself compelled to phoe his characters higher in the social ..; «c*le. Novelists are much less limited in !'. their range. They hove even more heroines „ of the middle c&ss than of the class rey< pw*»ted by "Moid Em a ly," and we doubt ;,/ if aagr writer is j*wr compelled, like the ,;, aatiuw of "Walter Lonraioe," to promote " -~ «tt hk oharaotem "at request of hi* i ; pnbliaher." StiH one observes in book £i, a cortfldn run itpoa Prinoee and ]g-'2tiaoiMm, and Queens. Tb<*e J-S&umnm ceteinJy inhabit «r nile over curiooe klugdoint. Ibef » a ."■■flftbHtm of the Getter" «nl a "Princese of "A CWi«> Priooee," and "Two Beoilew Frinoeaeee"; bwde* "Princess eifaqfcwr," the "Erinoew Aline," «ad a 'ww** , mtrodaoad u PxinoeM Sopbi*," in

the ssae«-tray witih Qeeemr, t*« e«|(e* swms very-oftm of the fantastic tie mbAtantial sort, wad w« fcave#Qoeett of the Meadow," "goeea «tf Hβ?***" "Quean Stunmer, ,, "Qoeea of Love.'/wad. "A Queen of Curds and Cream," a#Si «> of their romaatic kin appears, under more serioos cdrcamstaaifees ac to reigning, a neroine must absoktfjely describe herself as "A Crowned Qgwn," or, pathetically, "A Real Queen. , '/;On the male, eide of Royalty, the PriJiee in book titles is either more attaioftbiM>r more popular than the King. "Kings of the East," a "King of pgers." <«d "The King With Two Foc#r" and a few more actual occupants o/4hron*9; but "Prince Fonfcunatus," "Prinze Otto," find, companions in many a "Prioce of the 8100 d ,,, Finally, us to Dtfkee and Duchesses, fiction offers us Rodney's Secret," "The Duke's Bweetheart," and "The Duke's Childwn"; we reed ftbo of "The Deeceat of the Duohesa," "The Indiscretion of the Duchess/ "Dnobese Frances," "Tbe Duchess of Powysland," and simply "The Duohese"; while, if we may place the other Royal persons happily "la the Palace of the King," or "Lα Palace Gardens," these may be assigned with pleasure their fitting bauut in. "The Delectable Duchy."