LIFE AT THE EAST AND WEST END.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4444, 17 June 1875, Page 3

LIFE AT THE EAST AND WEST END.

Our continental neighbors are fond of saying that wo English take our pleasures very sadly. And, in truth, the casual observer of the upper ten thousand taking their daily exercise in the Bark (where languid swells lazily lounge about, and high-born maidens and dowagers lie back in their carnages as if the exertion of taking an interest in anything would be too much for them), or, at the opera, staring indifferently when a Patti or Nilsson is singing so divinely that the emotions of delight in the breast of an Italian or Frenchman would cause him to go almost wild with excitement, might well think that we have a strange way of showing our enjoyment. But England, and especially London, has another aspect not so frequently scanned by foreigners, or certainly not by those of them who would be likely to put their ideas of us-into print. While the West-end belle is holding her court in Belgravia, the East-end damsel is taking her pleasure in a very different way. Perhaps some account of her may interest our readers. We made a pilgrimage the other evening to Shoreditch in quest of adventure, and, on our way, dropped into one or two places of amusement, where the natives were enjoying themselves. It was a very wet Saturday night, but still the streets were crowded with their busy throng. The costermongers were apparently doing a roaring trade in spite of the weather. We accosted a policeman, and asked him if he could tell us where to find a “ penny gaff ” the vulgar name for Music Hall. “ A penny gaff !” cried he, in a tone of the deepest contempt. We assured him humbly that it was a penny gaff we wanted, if he would direct us to oue, which he accordingly did. Of course the penny seats were crammed, and so were the twopenny ones, but, by payment of sixpence, we were accommodated in the boxes, and thus were eyed as representatives of a bloated by the pit. The hall was 'small, theatre-shaped, the pit or penny seats (N.B. no one admitted without shoes or stocldngs) was full of dirty-faced boys who seemed cordially to appreciate the entertainment, and recognised their favorite performers with such facetious greetings as “ What cheer, ‘Arry,”— “ So you’ve come 1 are you,’ ” &0,, &c., much to the annoyance of the chairman, a most serious looking individual, who must have had a hard task indeed to keep order among such an “ unruly set.” Though we did not see a single female in the pit, there were plenty in the first circle, or two-penny seats, mostly quite young girls, some pretty, who, joining cheerfully in tlie choruses or quietly munching oranges or nuts, seemed quite at home. The entertainment was of the usual music-hall type. None of the performers used the letter H, but some of them were decidedly funny. One gentleman, who seemed a great favorite, appeared in a long coat down to his hoots, and, to a cheerful tune, though with a very lugubrious countenance, explained, that “He had lent and lost his trousers, his trousers, Ids trousers,” to the intense delight of the audience, whose hearty singing of the chorus made the refrain “ I’ve lent and lost my trousers" to ring in my ears ever since. At eleven o’clock the entertainment was over and the audience literally rushed out. It was amusing to see the floor of the pit; it was literally covered with orange peel and nutshells. Our next visit was to the “ Grecian ” in the City-road. This is a place of considerable size, and consists of a theatre, an open-air platform for summer dancing, and a large hall for the same amusement in the winter. Every seat in the theatre was full, so we could not get in ; but we are informed that oue of the best pantomimes is being performed there. Having paid our sixpence we made our way to the dancing-hall, and taking possession of one of the many seats which adorn its sides, watched the East-end belles taking their enjoyment. The East-cnder dances very differently from the West-ender, The latter waltzes madly round and round, seldom reversing the motion, and in the quadrille moves quietly and languidly round, backwards and forwards, scarcely touching his partner -with the tips of his fingers. But the East-ender does exactly the opposite; he whirls his partner madly round in the quadrille, and moves slowly and sedately in the valse, taking two or three turns one way, and then two or three turns the other. It was surprising to see how well nearly all of them danced; All seemed thoroughly to enjoy themselves, and in the most innocent manner. . There was none of that flaunting vice you see in the West-end dancing saloon ; we' did not hear a bad word, and if some of the compliments paid by lovesick swains to ladies fair were crouched in the broadest cockney dialect, we have no doubt that they were just as much appreciated as if they had been framed in the strictest accordance with Bindley Murray. Of course there was a good deal of broad fun, and now and again a little horse-play, but all seemed good humored and forbearing. Altogether, we went away much impressed, pondering sadly, whether, with all our education and refinement, the West-enders are much better than their East-end neighbors. —British Mail.