AMUSEMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7790, 9 November 1886, Page 5

AMUSEMENTS.

AssoTr'a Opera House.—Lash night " The Guv'nor" gave place at Abbott's Opera House to the comedy of "Artful Cards, ,, which was placed on the boards by the Wyburd Dramatic Company. There was a very fair attendance, and the piece passed off with great success. In yesterday's ieeue we published the plot of the piece, consequently it only remains for us to say that a'.l the parts were admirably sustained, Mr. G. P. Carey ae Robert Spicer Kumford, Mr. Dunbar as Fred Flutter, Mr. Grenfell as Sir H. Shortleigh, Miss B. Vivian as Mrs. Rumford, and Misa Hill as Miss Dora Stuart, being conspicuous by their clever impersonations. To-night the same bill is to be repeated. The entertainment concluded with the farce of " My Turn Next," in which Mr. J. L. Hall took the part of the village apothecary.Taraxacum Twitters. Crnr Hall, Operatic Entebtaikment.— At the City Hail, yesterday evening, Mr. J. Edmonde'a juvenile pupils gave their second entertainment, which, as on Saturday night, passed off with eclat The two operettas, "The Picnic" and Red Riding Hood," were presented under the able conductorahip of Mr. Edmonde. The opening chorus was giren with spirit, the second scene being varied, and the solos and duets rendered with pleasing effect, Miss Mabel Rickett's singing creating a very favourable impression, the dances through the piece being given with preciaion. The second part consisted of " Red Riding Hood," and opened with a solo by Master Drummond. He has a voice of excellent timbre, lor one so young, and was heard to advantage. The other soloists were Misses Davis, Harrey, Ricketts, Reid, and Mr. Kilpatrick and Master Edmondes. Misses Mabel Ricketts and Reid were very successful in their duet, and received an enthusiastic encore. The performance will be repeated tonight, with the additional attraction of a musical olio by Miis Wilson, Messrs. EdQondee and Menziee, and pupils of Mr. W. E. Webbe, and will include (by desire) the quartette, u Pro Fhundo Basso." The manner in which the operettas were performed last evening proved that in the matter of training, etc., a great amount of time and attention had been bestowed upon the performers by the conductor, Mr. Edmondes.

Professor Woodruffe opened his interesting and instructive exhibition last evening at Mr. S. Coombes' old premises, Queen-street. There was au excellent attendance, among the visitors being Hie Worship the Mayor. The Professor visited this city 17 years ago, and his hand has not forgotten its cunning, as he turns out as deftly as ever the most beautiful and delicate works of art, and discourses on glass and glass-working in his old humorous and instructive style. The first portion of the performance consisted of making a decanter, in which a basket of flowers is suspended in water, and a magic wine-glass, which to all appearance contains a glass of wine, but when the experimenter tries to imbibe the contents he finds it " a vanishing quantity." The Professor then made an elaborate Turkieh hookah, with its twisted stem, which was fit for Mahomet to have smoked in Paradise. By means of a spinning wheel he also drew out and spun some glass hair, but inconceivably finer than that on the heads of fashionable beauties, as in a few moments he had turned off 3200 yards of it. more or less, and the Professor distributed "locks of glass hair" to the ladies, for use as "silver threads among the gold." Experiments were also shown of blowing glass to so fine a teiture that the glass balloons exploded, making powdered glass for ball dresses, &c, While the Professor was delivering his lecture, with illustrations, Misses Maggie ■od lea Anderson, his clever pupils, were at •eparate tables engaged, surrounded by carious sightseers, in making delicately finished glass ornaments, namely, baskets of flowers, miniature glass ornaments, candelabras, vases, and inketands. But the great attractions were the ingenious parti-coloured giMe ateam engines (said to be the only glass "team engines in existence), stamper battery, and chain pump. One of tde engines l> a low pressure beam engine, and the other a high pressure horizontal engine. The Utter drives the stamper battery, and •11 the details of crushing can be seen carried °nt. Steam is got up by heat of gas in two gl»w boilers, and though only a sixteenth of an inch thick, can stand a pressure of 81bs to tb e gquare inch. The mechanism of the toachinery was graphically explained. Alongside ww a fountain throwing up a column of ~ • 9 ne pf the glass manufactures was a P u lee indicator," a glass instrument with a bulb a t eaca eaif half-filled with proof "pint of a red colour, which when subjected w the warmth of the hand showed by the motion communicated to the liquid the exact pniaation going on in the body. Another carious instrument was "the philosopher's oammer, ' ehowing the non - elasticity of water. The exhibition is valuable from an educational point of view, and the pupils of ant« . a , oat,onal institutions of the city should "°j»«l to see it. It opens daily at halfinth ' c ? rnmencin g »t three o'clock, and Jnr, I e y enin 8 at half-past seven, commences at eight o'clock.