OUR LONDON LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 7345, 18 October 1887, Page 4

OUR LONDON LETTER.

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

London, September 7. AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. The popular Irish comedian, J. F. Sheridan, who is about to commence a season at the Gaiety with a revised edition .of " Fun on the Bristol," has been interviewed by Ithuriel, of the ' Topical Times.' In the course of conversation, Mr Sheridan essayed certain opinions relative to tha Antipodes and their inhabitants. He said ; " When I first went to the colonies I opened at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, and found the Australians to be as partial to ' Fun on the Bristol' as were the English and Americans. The theatres there are simply magnificent, and is would astonish Londoners to see such aplandidly appointed places in that far : off country.'- sfr Sheridan further said he cbnsidered Australia a Rood country for professionals to visit. There is plenty of money for first-class companies with light entertainment, but anyone contemplating a trip to Australia should be very careful who they engage with, as there are plenty of managers who offer engagements, but who have neither money nor honor, and with whom it would be very unsafe to enter into any engagements. " I litp the people very much. They are warm-hearted, and hospitable to a fault. I shall never fprget their kindness to me, and look forward to returning tbera game day." i PERSONAL AND GENEBAL. The Rev. Dr Keating, " the bogus priest, whose masquerade in Roman Catholic vestments attracted considerable attention: eighteen months ago, has jnst emerged from the period of enforced seclusion in Her Majesty's gaols to which an unappreciative Judge condemned him. He and Mrs Keating sail at for Australia and New Zealand, in which colonies "the old man eloquent" hopes to amass coin as a lecturer on olerical Boandals,

Arthur Claydeu, writing from Nelson to the ' Anglo-New Zealander' on the depressed state of affairs in New Zealand, Bays:— " The real call of the hour is for businesslike economy and prudence. Government and the governed must alike cut their coat according to their cloth. Wasteful expenditure must cease. Much publio work now paid for should be done voluntarily, and for all paid work there should be an adequate quid pro quo." Then would the magnificent resources of the Colony soon re-assert themselves, and the hopes of the most sanguine amongst us be more than realised. It is stated that Mr G. J. Bonnor, although he will remain in England for at least another year, will not identify himself actively with the Australian team that will visit this country nsxt summer. Mr H. J. H. Scott contemplates returning to Australia shortly before Christmas. W. G. George, the English one-mile champion, says the trip to the Antipodes cost him LI ,000. He indulged in a couple of athletic speculations—one in Sydney and one in Melbourne—but neither of them paid. Miss Lingard is on the road again with " Sister Mary." The date of her Australasian tour seems still in nubibus. The announcement of handsome Philip Beck's marriage to a Tasmanian belle has excited much amusement at the Savage Club, where the young actor used to be known as " Philip the irresistible." He left England to escape the blandishments of a fair but unlucky manageress. By the way, I wonder if Beck has renewed his acquaintance with Tawhaio. He was wonderfully hospitable to that monarch and his chieftains when they were over here. Hearing that Mr G. Musgrove had given a good stiff price for the Antipodean rights of " The Pointsman," I went to see that instructive work at the Olympic on Saturday evening. It is, in my opinion, a poor play rendered tolerable by unusually fine acting (for melodrama) and some capital sensation scenes. Railway accidents have been tried on the stage several times before, but without achieving much in the way of realism. Now, the catastrophe in "The Pointsman" is realistic. Nothing better of its kind has been witnessed of late than the thrilling scene in the pointsman's box, with the doomed express rapidly approaching and the drugged hero endeavoring wildly to remember which lever he ought to pull. Of course a terrific crash follows, and then we have the wrecked train at our feet, and see the injured passengers being lifted out of the telescoped carriages. A quicker curtain would improve this situation. The discovery of a compromising letter on the injured heroine forms a feeble anti-climax, and gives time for the popular excitement to cool. "The Pointsman " will do all right in the colonies. The friends and admirers of Miss Genevieve VVard will be interested by the following remarks by G. A. Sala, which appeared in the " Echoes of the Week ":—'' I went to see Miss G. Ward as Stephanie, Marquise de Mohrivart, in ' Forget-Me-Not,' at the Royal Theatre, Brighton, on Saturday last. There was an excellent house ; and the indefatigable lady tragedienne had played the same day in a matinee. The last time that I had seen Miss Genevieve Ward in ' Forget-Me-Not' was at some place with an unpronounceable name in New Zealand—stay, it was in Australia, in 1885. She wore on Saturday last the splendid diamond star presented to her by the ladieß of Australia, in grateful recognition of her services in the performance of Antigone at the Town Hall, Melbourne, where she raised L.2,600 for the building of a new wing to the Melbourne Hospital for women. With the admirable co-operation of Mr H. Vernon (her colleague on her Australian expedition), Miss Ward has resumed her English provincial tour, which will include visits to Hull, York, Bradford, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, Cardiff, and Bristol. I used to think myself—ere evil days came upon me—somewhat of an adept at hard work, but I feel now that even when I was fagging my hardest I was but Thomas Idle in comparison with Miss Ward."