"THE INNOCENTS ABROAD."

Evening Star, Issue 6481, 24 December 1883, Page 2

"THE INNOCENTS ABROAD."

At the Queen's T|jjea£re on Saturday evening Messrs J. Fickerpgill and ,}', S. Willis gave the opening exhibition of their panorama of scenes Ulnstrative of Mark Twiiu'a humorous descriptive work ''Tho Innocents Abroad." There was a capital house, and from the frequent outbursts of applause as the successive pictures before the view of the audience, it was evidenjb the eaterfcainment was thoroughly appreciate!. Mr Willis has had a heavy task before him in pajntjng the long series of views incidental to th«s .but he has come out of the ordeal most creditably, there not being a ningle bad or weak picture In the lot. while the majority are of an artistic merit far above tho average of each works. Most of us have read the American humorist's most familiar work, and therefore we need not detail the views at length; suffice it to say that the spectator la shown a truthful representation of every place of interest visited by the excursion party on board the steamer Quaker City, The entertainment is dlv'dGdinto three parts, and in Hie first pa?t the most effective and Interest' ing pWtwaa $n those of the frowning and formidable reek of £lbredtar, England's great fortress at the entrance to ih# Sea; a view in Genoa, that olt? 'of p*laasß { and several beautiful scenes in Venice, including those $f suoh oft named spots as the Eialto, the Bridge of' Sighs, Ms<Tt'he Square of St. Mark. Neyt \ve are taken (through Pisa, with a view of it* celebrated loaning tower,'and Oiyl'ia Vccchia, to Rome. Kerje yrp are sh.own some |ne pictures of spots of absorbing Interest, suph as the immense Coliseum, tne Ca&hedral of st - Peter, and the picture-corridors af she Vatican—the tehidenpe of the Pope. The artist has also given an imaginative repVessnfcSitjon of a bull tournament in the Coll'sfiUW, but £h}s Is not one of his happiest efforts. £'nb £>ea,utl/oJ of Naples is of course j?ot omitted. £?d vi,ta it are views of Ischia, tho seine of tbe recent' terrible earthquake, and of tho won4erfujl blue grotto in vicinity. This last is a mes* effective picture. Mount Vesuvius is shown from various pfllntspf view, with tho resuscitated city of Pompeii, which so many hundred years ago was burled under its showers of vohjanic ashes. This gives tho management an opportunity of introducing one of tho»o pyroteohnical displays vhich always take bo well in connection with a panorama, and it k very effectively e*rried out. Tu tLe third portion of tho programme we find ourselves feayelling through Greecn s w'tn a ijiimpao of the &nc!cnfc city of Athens, to Constantinople, of which f.»pital there are several good yiewa, Thence oA iU the principal p!*o6 of interes.-' in tj.ie and to tho Holy Lanxl, where we aro shown places mailo famijav to as by Bible history. The bj.st pictures *.,%. those of Jericho, Dw'cwi, the Jordan, and £he FEoly Sepulchre. A doscrnt is now mr.de upon Egypt, where \vc .-.a introduced to the mystic Sphinx, some of the equally mysterious £Bd to the n»w commercial city of *i»e fortifications of which wero so battered by the guns 6* the English fleet during the late short but decisive var. We then accompany Sir Garnel Wolseley to where the final blow of tho campaign waH struck, and so the show concludes. As we

have said, the pictures are exceedingly goed, and thoy reflect great credit on our old townsman, whi *o in Mr Pickersgill he has a lecturer who is very well adapted to the office, he having i.. quiet, dry utyle of delivery that is admirably suited u. Mark Twain's quaint descriptions of what ho saw, and to the cracking of his many good jokes. Of late years it soems that no panorama can attract paying audiences unless a quantity of gifts are distributed nightly, consequently it is no surprise to find that Messrs Willis and Pickersgill have adopted this course. A number of presents weie given away on Saturday evening, and a similar distribution will form a feature of every evening's performance. On that night the lecturer was three or four times put out by a crying baby, and he had at last to request the mother to remove it. When the best present was about being awarded, however, Mr Pickersgill gave It to this lady, saying that he wished to show that there was no ill-feeling between them, and that he regretted the annoyance to the mother as much as to himself. This little act of magnanimity of course evoked great applause; but in caso any othi r mother should turn up with ft crying child in future, with a view of getting a suite of furniture ior a present Mr Pickersgill said that two guineas admission would henceforth bo charged for a child in arms.