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Otago Witness, Issue 2400, 1 March 1900, Page 35

MR BURTON'S ENTERTAINMENT.

Of patriotic entertainments there is endless variety and no end. The latest which has been held is s Mr A. H. Burton's patriotic evening — an evening of which, as that gentleman announced, the dominant motif was ardent, fervent, burning patriotism. To enable him to carry out this entertainment Mr Burton pressed into service the works of some of the ablest interpreters of the patriotic feelings of the public, and called to his aid a "contingent" of anything but absentminded young ladies, whose exertions both before the night in the disposal of tickets and at the Garrison Hall in the collection of stray coin were of considerable value. The public In its turn responded handsomely- to the appeal which Mr Burton addressed to it to help him in his undertaking to assist the Otago and Southland contingent fund. The gallery of the hall was quite full and the body of the hall was more than half-filled — altogether a gathering of very respectable dimensions. Mr A. R. Barclay, M.H.R., who towards the ■olose of the entertainment expressed the thanks of the Organising Committee to Mr Burton for his " evening," and at whose call the audience expressed by acclamation its thanks, confessed that he marvelled at the ability of- the entertainer to engage the attention of a large assemblage for two hours merely by the use of the human voice. But not only was the cause excellent, the entertainment was in itself full of merit. _ Where the fault, if any, lay was in the selection of so many pieces of a serious character. There •were " The Grave of the Hundred Dead," "John Nioholson," "The Death of Admiral Blake," " The Highland Brigade Burying it^ Dead," in all of which the prevailing note "was one of pathos and sadness, not to mention others that were less completely serious. It was the breezy pieces at which the audience " enthused "—"" — " Tommy " and " Bobs," two ■characteristic productions from the pen of Rudyard Kipling, and two of the best-known :and most popular that the masses' poet laureate has written, being received with especial ifavour. And yet no one would have missed *' The Highland Brigade Burying its Dead "—" — 'the one prose piece in the programme, — a very vivid, very impressive pen-picture drawn by "the special correspondent of the .South Australian Register of the scene at the burial of 'General Wauchope and the officers and men of the Highland Brigade who fell in the awful carnage of the battle of Magersfontein. This admirable sketch was recited by Miss Dutton, whose rendering of it caused a moistening of the eyes and a choking sensation in the throat

just as the burial ceremony itself had caused among the bronzed soldiers who followed the remains of their officers and comrades to their resting place at the Modder River. The other serious pieces did not touch the audience in the same way, and it is indisputable that something lighter would have been preferred. ■" The Absent-minded Beggar," of course, was

in evidence. He has served his purpose admirably, and still he pleads not in vain. On this occasion he addressed his appeal for help through the medium of a young lady who made her debut as a reciter — Miss Spragg, whose fresh, clear voice and distinct enunciation pleaded the cause of his " little things " very effectively. So that the appeal might

be duly pressed home the young ladies' contingent passed their tambourines round the hall and took up a collection at the close of the recitation with a result that the jingling of coin proclaimed to be satisfactory. " The Recessional " also was not forgotten, and, impressively recited by Miss Hilda Burton, it was highly appreciated. Mr Burton himself gave a very varied selection of recitations. These included "Tommy" and "Bobs," to which reference has already been made, and which were certainly the Kipling pieces that "took best," and the rest ranged chronologically from " The Battle of Naseby " to " Or-

dered to the Front " — the latter a stirring poem, as yet little known, which was written since the commencement of the present war by Henry Hamilton for delivery by Mrs Brown-Potter at a patriotic entertainment at the Empire Theatre, London. "■ Ordered to the front," recited with excellent effect by Mr Burton, was received with pronounced manifestations of approval, the audience breaking in upon the recitation, indeed, to vigorously applaud its indignant protest against the abuse of the white flag. All Mr Burton's recitations were, however, forcibly given and loudly applauded. But the recita-

tion above all in the evening that charmed the audience was undoubtedly the wholly admirable one of "The Revenge" (Tennyson) by Miss Wilkie, whose clear, musical voice rang out delightfully and provided a distinct elocutionary treat. An encore was clamoured for, but the demand was not persisted in when Mr Burton pointed to the length of the programme. Later on, however, when Mrs Hudson sang very sweetly and very tastefully a new song entitled " Sons of New Britannia," the encore had to be conceded. The song has a special application to New Zealand, and i» effectively written with a refrain that seti

the feet dancing, and the audience simply would not be denied. Mr Burton's warning forefinger and his mute appeal to allow the entertainment to proceed were alike ignored, and he had to bow before the storm. Mr Maitland Gardner also sang effectively, his numbers being " Rule Britannia '\ and " The grand old flag." The accompaniments wexe played by Miss Moloney. At a meeting of the Port Chalmers Floral Fete Committee held on Monday night it was intimated that most of those who had won prizes at the fete had donated their prize money to the contingent fund. The committee decided that all prize money unclaimed by the end of this week should be considered as contributed to the fund. A donation of £2 was received from Mr John Mill for the benefit of the Rough Riders' fund.