LONDON GOSSIP.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8663, 27 December 1889, Page 3

LONDON GOSSIP.

WHEN the sewiug machine mude its first appearance, the cry was raised that even . (In miwiblo pittinci earned by tht poor

seamstresses would be taken from them and it appeared as if the wages, which hardly kept soul and body in one, were doubled in importance by their jeopardy. These forebodings were not justified by the result. The sewing machine created work instead of curtailing it ; but it did not better the wage, and to-day, as thirty years ago, the " Song of tlie Shirt" is sung " still with a voice of dolorous pitch, by women in uwomanly rags, plying needle and thread in poverty, hunger, and dirt, sewing at once, with a double thread, a shroud as well as a shirt." But the situation to-day has more of hope for the labouier. Union is strength, and even , the weak so become strong. If the working-women of London succeed in combination, with efficient organization, the unskilled ami idle of their number will necessarily bo weeded out, and they themselves will command a fair and market price for their labour. The copyrights and staeerights of nineteen of Dion Boucicault's plays have been sold by auction in London in October: The chief purchaser was Mr Sam H. S. Austin, a provincial manager, and Mrs Agnes Boncicault also bought one or two plays. ' London Assurance' and ' Arruh-na-Pogue' brought the highest prices, the former running up from £10 to £150, tlie latter from £12 to £152, both falling to Mr Austin. There was little competition for the smaller plays, < Babil and Bijou,' in which occurs the famous 'Spring gentle Spring,' fetching 14 guineas. ' After Dark' went to Mr Austin" for 75 guineas ; ' The Long Strike.' brought 40 guineas. Mr Melville, a Birmingham managor, purchased ' Formosa ' for £54, and also decided to take the chance of ' Omoo,' a play about which everyone. seemed in the dark until informed by Mrs Boucicault that it was a version of the ' Sea of Ice,' for a guinea. The once popular 'Irish Heiress' was bought in by Mrs Boucicault for fifteen guineas. ' Foul Play' was withdrawn from sale on the discovery that the executors of the late Charles Reado might claim profits on the copyright and stage right, the novelist being registered conjointly with the dramatist as proprietor. Next year the world-famed Epsom Derby takes a new departure. No longer will it be a sweepstakes of 50 soys. each, half forfeit. From 1890 it will be. of the fixed value of £5,000, no matter what the number of entries, and the Oaks will be worth £4,000. Mr Percy Sherwood, a young English man who has recently been studying at Berlin, must be congratulated on carrying off the Mendelssohn State Prize for composition, in that capital. He sent in ti pianoforte concerto and a "Requiem" for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, and in the opinion of the judges (Messrs. Joachim, Radecke, and Bargiel) our countryman in fair and open contest beat all his German and other competitors. This, at any rate, is a point to the credit of our " unmusical nation."