NOTES BY PASQUIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1894, 9 March 1888, Page 28

NOTES BY PASQUIN.

There is no Amy Sherwin concert to ohronicle, but there is an Amy Sherwin reception instead, with which we must be satisfied in the meantime. The reason there has been no concert is simple, but painful to Miss Sherwin. A small whitlow upon her finger— a tender and attached companion for a time— became so tender as to require the intervention of cold steel. Blood poisoning followed, and while the enthused mob was gaping beneath the Grand Hotel on Saturday night expectant of a ballad from the balcony, she, who should have tickled their ears, was under surgical treatment and chloroform. The wonder is that Miss Sherwin could have smiled and bowed so sweetly during the evening, concealing the while a torture beating anything inflicted by the impatient fox upon the Spartan boy. The account of the reception is as follows :—: —

A numerous committee comprising most of the leading musical people of the city awaited her at the station, aud cheered her heartily as ahe alighted from the train, and was led by her husband to the open carriage in attendance. A great crowd, numbering many thousand people, gathered about the station, joined in the cheering, and followed the party to the hotel. The Garrison Band, which was in attendance, preceded Miss Sherwin's carriage, in which were also tho mayor, Mr D'Arcy Haggifct, aud Mr Israel, and the rest of the Reception Committee followed with the members of the Liedertafel in a four-horse drag provided by Mr Taggart. It was arranged that the formal welcoming ceremony should take place in Watson's Commercial Hotel, and accordingly Miss Sherwin was first driven there before taking up her quarters at the Grand. The party ascended to the dining room, where Mr Dawsou, the mayor, on behalf of the residents of the city, aud especially the lovers of music, assured Miss Sherwin of the pleasure felt at her arrival, and in a short speech expressed the hope that she would carry away pleasant recollections of her present visit to Dunedin. He then read and presented an address very tastefully got up on tinted satin with a silver border. The text was as follows :— To MJbb Amy Sherwin. Madam,- It is our privilege and honour to bid you a hearty welcome to New Zealand in the name of the musical organisations and the citizens of Dunedin. . , Wo recall with pleasure the exquisite enjoyment you afforded the many lovers of tho divine art in this city on the occasion of a former visit nino years ago, and the enthusiasm you aroused by your highlycultured and artistic vocalisation. We have subsequently followed with keen interest the unvarying reports of your phenomenal success on the lyric etage of Europe and America, and more recently in tliß neighbouring colonies, where your progress has been a continuous triumph. Recognising the fact of your having so nobly won tho title of " The Australian Nightingale," and made not only yourself but your country illußtrious in the circles of high art, we sincerely trust that your proaeut visit to this colony may prove both pleasant and profitable, and your brilliant career may be continued with increasing success. Sigued on behalf of the citizens, William Dawson, Mayor. Signed on behalf ot the committee, Gko. O. Israel, Hon. Sec.

Duncdln, 2nd March 1888.

Mr D'Arcy Haggitt then, as representing the Tasmanian residents in Dunediu, addressed a few words of welcome to Miss Sherwin, and related an anecdote concerning the enthusiasm of some German students over Jenny Lind, whereat the company laugted heartily. Mr Israel camo next with a little speech of greeting on behalf of the musical societies; and then Miss Sherwin, who, it was noticeable, had one hand in a sling, and looked considerably fatigued after her journey, said a few words of acknowledgmet. She professed herself really overcome by the cordiality of the reception, and tendered her warmest thanks to the committee and the public for their kindness. Miss Sherwin then proceeded to the Grand Hotel, beneath the windows of which an enormous crowd was still stationed. The Reception Committee, left to themselves, vented their remaining exuberance by toasting his Worship the Mayor with musical honours, and an hour or two later the Liedertafel repaired to the dining room of the Grand Hotel, and, under the conductorship of Herr Scherek, serenaded the Australian vocalist.

So far the thing, if a little overdone, was very good ; but heard one ever of serenading such as this? The serenaders in faultless evening dress grouped at one end of an hotel dining room and the serenaded occupying the other 1 We know dimly what a sereuader is— or what he should be,— and the vast concourse waited vainly for the spectacle expected — viz., that the members of the Liedertafel in doublet and hose should strike the light guitar and wail passionately beneath the prima donna's bedroom window. But the old order ehangefch, giving place to the new. In connection with the cable announcement that Mr Frcderici fell down dead on the stage in Melbourne after playing Mephistophelcs in " Faust," Mr Hugo Gorlitz states that the deceased had a presentiment that the part would kill him when it was given to him for rehearsal. He had a strong reluctance to having anything to do with it, but by the terms of his engagement he had no option but to play it or lose his situation. As he was a married man and had a large family, he decided to attempt it, rather than adopt the latter alternative, and ignore his presentiment. The sequel to this story is supplied by a cable on Wednesday, which states that "the clergyman who was conducting Erederici's funeral fainted at the grave, and the service was concluded by Mr Charles Warner, the actor.

Mis* Carrie Swain, after doing first-rate business through New Zealand, closed her tour at Auckland on Monday of this week. " The Miner's Daughter" and " Uncle Tom's Cabin " were the last pieces played in the Northern city. The benefit performances given on Friday and Saturday of last week by the " Cloches de Corneville" company in aid of the families of the unfortunate men Jeffreys and M'Cutcheon netted something like £350, the house being packed on each occasion. Some good thing, it will be observed, can come out of amateur theatricals.

The Mr Clayton, news of whose death reaches us by cable, must be John Clayton, one of the most sterling actors on the London stage. He was some 12 years ago the original Hugh Trevor in " All for Her," produced at the St. James', then in Mrs John Woods' hands. Rose Coghlan, the pretty American actress, was his leading lady, and it was a performance no one who witnessed.

it will readily forget. Later on I remember Clayton at the Prince of Wales playing Henry Beauchamp in " Diplomacy," with as strong a cast as ever trod the boards together— to wit, Mr and Mrs Kendal, Mr and Mr 3 Bancroft, Arthur Cecil, Charles Sugden, &c. Since then Clayton has remained consistently at the top of his profession, and now he is gone. Fred Millis, the Australian ventriloquist, is still in New York, and is doing fairly well. A novel Yankee advertising notion adopted by him is a photo in the form of a postage stamp used as a seal to his letters. The likeness is a very good one. Bertie Ward still accompanies him, and in a recent letter gives a dreadful account of winter in New York. " Horses and cattle," he writes, "are freezing where they stand, people buried in the snow, and the thermometer at 59deg below zero." Give me the Great Loanland with all its fleeting drawbacks before this any day. Mr Walter Keynolds seems to have suffered a relapse into the devout mood that possessed him some years ago, when he wept on the bosom of the clergy and sobbed out his conviction that his brother and sister professionals were a shocking bad lot. He has written and produced at Wolverhampton a five-act drama entitled "Church and Stage," from which, I read, " good moral lessons are to be learned."

Although Irving is a real success in the States, he does sometimes get some unkind rubs. For example, Mr Wheeler, a clever feuilletonist who writes over the signature " Nym Crincle," remarks that as a rule the more real the circumstances of a drama, the more unreal is the endeavour. ''When," he says, " you have rested your claims on real water, real elephants, and real masonry, you will be very apt to give the real character the go-by. The Mephisto. of Mr Irving employed so much real fire that there wasn't occasion for real ardour. His sword flashed. But he didn't. His goblet was electric. He didn't have to be. Had his Hamlet been annotated by realism it would have come to us something in this way :—

To die— to sleep No more, and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache— [Heart-ache by Slirapkins], And the thousand natural shocks— [Shocks by Mur-

ray's improved battery] That flesh is heir to— 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished

For who would bear the whips and Scorn of time— [The whips furnished on this occasion are from the establishment of Welsh and Walters], The oppressor's wrong : the proud man's contumely— [The proud man's contumely should be well marked. It has won much commendation In the ateliers of London], The paugs of despised love, the laws delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes— [The spurns, it will be noticed, are litwith an opalescent light. This has been thought to be a great improvement on the saffron tint previously thrown on them],

When he himself

Might his quietus make With a bare bodkin— [The bodkin is an antique, especially imported from Elsinore]. Who would fardels bear To grunt and sweat under a weary life— [Mr Irving takes this occasion to say that the grunting and sweating Is in strict accordance with physiological data], But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country— [The undiscovered country has not been represented by the scenic artist, it being Mr Jrving's conviction that a terra incognita should be left to the imagination] —from whoso bourne— [The bourne Is well marked out by a gesture] No traveller returns. [&c, &c, &c]

Lester Wallack, the well-known American manager, who has made and lost fortunes in theatricals, is retiring after 23 years of New York management, not so well off as when he began, and a mammoth testimonial performance is being arranged, in which Booth, Jefferson, Barrett, and all the leading New York professionals will take part. Rival managers are cordially assisting in the matter. The wisdom of withdrawing little Josef Hofmann from public life at present can scarcely be doubted. The following extract from a New York paper shows the tone of the American press on the subject :— " A talent like Hofmann's is like Dr Wendell Holmes' egg, a sort of promissory note, good to the artistic public for a great artist some day long hence. It is the public's right to insist that the note shall, if possible, be paid at maturity, and to protest against the tendency of foolish or selfish administrators to discount its future value in cheap and petty gains beforehand. Josef is much such a promissory note. As matters go now, he runs the risk of being, artistically, spoiled, or at least debarred from properly appreciating before manhood. The present joy of rural amateurs and gushing mothers of families should be postponed for the real interests of higher art and a finer appreciation in the future."

Henry Herz, the pianist who created an immense furore 40 odd years ago, is dead. It is announced that Dion Boucicault has been for years at work upon his memoirs, which will soon be published, and are sure to be of unusual interest.

By last advices Mr Daniel Bandmann was to be seen about the streets of New York picturesquely clad in flannel shirt and furtrimmed great coat, suggestive of the ranch in Montana that he left a short time ago to resume acting for a time. Bandmann has made a close study of the cattle-raising business. He owns a large tract and a promising herd. Thus far the enterprise, he says, has brought no profit, but he predicts a cattle famine on account of the large losses of stock in certain sections, and expects soon to derive a handsome surplus from his investment.

A terrible pun has come to my ears concerning the present year of grace. Why, it is asked, will this be a prosperous season for the stage ? Because it is a thrcc-cigM-rical year. Anyone in the habit of propounding this requires to carry a life preserver. A most ludicrous performance of " Julius Cresar " was witnessed at Macon during the visit of President Cleveland to that town a short time back. The railways were all overcrowded, and Keene's company managed to arrive in town in time to commence their engagement but without their baggage. When the curtain rose, Mr Keene, the manager, came to the front of the stage and said if the audience did not desire to see a performance without the costuming and appropriate stage properties they could retire and their money would be refunded at the box office. A cry went up from all over the house, « Go on and give ns a performance without the costumes.' The house was packed, Everybody stayed in,

their Jseats and the play went on. Julius Csesar appeared on the Lupercal in a conventional Prince Albert coat and silk hat, while Cassius wore an abridged frock and a derby ; Brutus was attired in a Scotch plaid cut away. He stabbed Caesar with a carving knife borrowed from the hotel where the company stopped. Mark Antony stood on the head (of a flour barrel with a Minneapolis brand on it while he stirred the multitude to mutiny. Taken altogether, it was the most singular commingling of American and Roman ideas that the stage ever presented."

Tennyson's " Elaine " has been dramatised by G. P. Lathrop, an American writer, and produced with conspicuous success. The poet has written over expressing his gratification.

Mr J. M. Hill, an American manager, advertised some short time back for an office boy, and requested the applicant to write, statins; age, condition, and salary expected. He received many answers to that advertisement, but none as interesting as this one : — "I'm twelve yers old and im a orfan. I haint got no father and I haint got no mother. I'm a boy. I haint got no brother and I haint got nothin'. I'm all alone and I got to hustle. Beats Hades how hard times is!" That boy got the place, and is doing well. Nothing more grimly melancholy has happened of late in the theatrical world than the death of Marie Bastia, once a popular opera artist and a particular favourite in the part of Aida. As time rolled on Mdlle. Bastia fell upon evil days. Her voice left her, and she grew too stout to appear upon the stage. Grief and poverty turned her brain, and one fine day the discarded prima donna dressed herself in the clothes she had been wont to wear for her favourite part, and immured herself in a dark cellar below ground. Here she actually died Aida's death, which she had counterfeited so many times on the stage, and succumbed to cold and starvation. The body of the poor mad artist was not found until days afterwards.

Gentlemen at the theatres no longer " wet their whistles " between the acts. They now go out to " have their throats sprayed." Although Messrs Holt and Wilmot's Grand Theatre at Islington was burnt down after it had been emptied of spectators, the occurence created a scare that greatly injured theatrical business in London.

Hermann, the prestidif/itateur, is following Mrs Langtry's cute example and investing his profits when and where he makes them. He recently bought real estate in Chicago, St. Louis, and Pittsburg, investing all told something like £10,000, and he intends purchasing land in Baltimore, Washington, and Cincinnati with the profits he confidently hopes for in those cities. As Miss Minnie Palmer is going to trip it again in Australia and New Zealand shortly some interest will be taken in her new piece 11 My Brother's Sister." Its main idea is that of Claude Melnotte reversed and localised. A girl, who is to help her father to fight against adversity, dons boy's clothes and becomes a bootblack, is taken in hand by a jilted woman, who is determined to wreak vengeance upon her fickle lover by causing him to marry a girl of the streets. The supposed " boy " is to have his sister fixed by the scheming maiden and introduced to the young man as an heiress. Of course, the heroine simply changes her disguise for proper feminine apparel, and impersonates the sister. The intended victim apparently plays into his enemy's hands by falling in love with the girl. His love is reciprocated and his proposal of marriage is accepted. But just as the jilted woman imagines that her plan has succeeded, it is shown that her " tool," instead of being a child of the streets, is the daughter of a French baron. Sir Arthur Sullivan, who is not in good health just now, has withdrawn from social life in order to devote all his energies to tho forthcoming Gilbert and Sullivan opera. The late Sir Charles Young le:t a play in an advanced state, which is being finished by Mr Wills.