TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 13939, 12 January 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

We have not been told ''Salome" how ""Salome" impressed in the English public, but London. certainly a great deal of

interest was being slvwn in the production when the last mail left London. The opera has been popular on tho Continent for some years, and the curiosity of the English pubic has been whetted by descriptions of it, and by tho "Salomo" dance of Miss Mavd Allan. Tho anno ar. cement that tho box-office at Covent Garden would be open at ten on Tuesday morning, though not made officially until late on Monday night, drew a largo crowd to the office .at half-past six in the morning, and after eight the street was blocked. The whole house was sold within an, hour and ahalf of the opening of the office, and unsuccessful people vainly offered £0 for v stall. Several alterations had to bo made in the play before tho Censor would pass it. The most horrible part of it, the production of John the Baptist's head, is left out, and a bliod-red sabra indicates Hie tragedy. Indeed all mention of John tho Baptist has been excised. There are minor alterations, such as the omission of the word Jews, and the substitution of "tho learned people." It is extremely doubtful, however, whether England will tako to the cpera. Curiosity may draw crowds for a time, but the theme will bo repellent to most people. Besides, the music will be caviare to the general. "That is too gentle-—we want wild beasts here!" shouted tho composer to an Austrian orchestra. "This is no civilised *.nusic; it is music which must crash!" Tho English, who retain a preference for music with tunes in it, will probably find ''Salome" dull. In America it has had a chequered career. The Metropolitan Opera House in New York discarded tho opera after a single performance, though the rival house staged it repeatedly. It was produced the other day at Chicago, to two crowded houses, but w.i 3 withdrawn in deference to public opinion. The chief of the Chicago police, speaking as a private citizen, described tho opera as disgusting, but not immoral.

The finding of a missing A panel of Hampton Court Lucky tapestry is a romantic story Find, of treasure trove. The tapestry was once the property of Cardinal Wolsey, and depicted the Seven Deadly Sins. The history of this particular piece since tho days of the Tudors is not at all clear, but it is known that it was for long the property of a Cornish clergyman, in whose rectory it lay, a little-regarded piece of furniture. The contents of the rectory were sold in 1846, and the tapestry went for less than £2. Since then it has apparently lain unappreciated in ono or more houses. The other day an agent of a well-known London firm discovored it packed away in a box in a house in Cornwall belonging to two maiden ladies, who were unaware that their houso contained such a treasure. The tapestry at onco attracted attention, and various offers were made for its sale by private treaty. As several of these exceeded £2000, the temptation to sell must have been great, but wisdom prevailed, and it was decided to send it to the best market for such things—a London auction-room. Bidding there started at £500, and was run up to £6600 before the hammer fell—truly a nice sum to find in an old box. The tapestry is thirteen feet square, and is in a fair state of preservation. What it would have fetched had it not come from Hampton Court and had been put up on itß artistic value alone, is a question impossible to answer. The discovery suggests that there may bo still in English houses hidden treasures of very great antiquarian, historical, or artistic value. The antiquary and the artdealer's agent have long been very busy rummaging amid rubbish in old houses, hut there must be a great many old storerooms still untouched, which may some day give us a Shakespeare manuscript or a document clearing up some long-disputed point in our history.