The Press.
London, England, 1854-07-29 00:00:00

usit.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.
ANOTHER disgraceful scene was enacted at this
theatre last Monday evening. The opera was
Lucrezia Borgia; the part of Lucrezia being sus-
►ained by Mme. Grisi, and that of Gennaro by Sig.
Mario. The first two acts went off well enough,
but a wai►. of endless duration at the conclusion of
the second act having rendered the audience first
impatient, and then clamorous, the stage manager
appeared and informed them • that Sig. Mario was
too indispo.4ed to proceed, and that other entertain.
ments would be substituted for the third act of the
opera. This announcement produced a perfect storm
of indignation, which was much increased by the

715

cool impudence with which the stage manager stated
that this time Sig. Mario was really ill. Ultimately
a sort of compromise was effected by Mme. Grisi
singing the aria in La Favorita. Such exhibitions
as these are very painful and alike discreditable to
managers, singers, and the public. The singers are,
to all outward appearance, most to blame, but, prac-
tically, the public are equally guilty. They spoil the
Italians by humouring their caprices and submitting
to their insolence, and when, at last, their conduct
becomes unbearable, a row takes place ; and what
follows! The luckless manager is made to suffer,
whilst the overpaid performer goes quietly home to
supper and cigar, and is received the next time he
appears with as much favour as ever.

DRURY LANE.
THE Royal Opera evaporated suddenly in the course
of Tuesday afternoon, and is now understood to be
defunct. Whether this untoward event was caused by
the exertion of producing Maaaniello with Mr. Sims
Reeves as the hero the previous night, by the heat of
the weather, or by the want of a balance in hand,
has not yet transpired. Time will show.

pre* gtrt, Xittraturt,

A SOLUBLE GLASS was applied to the woodwork
and scenery in the Munich Theatre, for the purpose
of preserving, and, as far as possible, rendering them
incombustible. This gliss is, in fact, a solution of
free silica in caustic alkali ; and, it' the wood is pro-
perly seasoned, there can be no doubt of the value of
the application, especially if it was injected under
pr ssure.
DR. EMIL BRAUN has at length succeeded (accord-
ing to the Builder) in the production of an artificial
and fusible material adapted to plastic purposes,
which affords the same sharpness of outlines as plas-
ter of Paris, is scarcely interior in whiteness to the
finest statuary marble, and even surpasses it in im-
permeability of surface, being perfectly impervious to
wet, and capable of resisting all inch mencies of wea•
they. The inventor has exhibited several busts and
statues of this composition, which have been viewed
by the sculptors and artists of Borne, who are unani-
mous in their opinion as to the beauty and va ue of
the material, the fracture of which even presents a
ctystallised structure. This fusible marble is adapted
for the most delicate objects as for works of colossal
size; the former exhibiting the utmost refinement of
execution, whilst the latter proves that it is capable
of resisting any degree ot' weight arising from the
bulk of the objects themselves. In this material
facsimiles of the most beautiful monuments of an-
cient or modern times, architectural ornaments, etc.,
may be reproduced at a price not greatly exceeding
that of plaster casts.
A PROPOSITION hes been made in the Swiss Fede-
ral As-ernbly to augment by 25 centimes Mid.) the
price of a telegraphic despatch, which led to a lively
discussion. Federal Councillor Naeff said that the
cheapness of the Swiss telegraphs renders them ac-
cessible to the population at large, which is not the
case in other countries, where Government offices
and the high tradealmost exclusively reap the bene-
fits of the new invention. 20,0001. has been sufficient
for covering Switzerland with a net of telegraphic
lines, putting in communication all places of any im-
portance. Switzerland is, in consequence of the low
price of despatches, the country where comparatively
the greatest use of the telegraph is made. Thus,
whilst I'russia, with 10,000,000 inhabitants, has only
103,000 despatches in a year, Switzerland, with
2,340,000 inhabitants, has 84,000 despatches. Bel-
gium has 52,000, of which Brussels takes 10,000 ;
Saxony and Wurtemberg together, 27,000. Hamburg,
with 150,000 inhabitants, has only 22,00 deli etches;
whilst Bale, Berne, and Zurich, with an average po-
pulation of 24,000, have together 74,000 despatches.
A communication charged '2s. ld. in Germany costs
only 10d. (one franc) in Switzerland. The conse-
quence is that the telegraphic traffic of the latter
country exceeds that of the former by more than one-
half proportionally. The proceeds are yearly in-
creasing, and are soon expected to exceed the
expenses. They amounted, ,for.the last five months,
to 1,8801. for the internal and to 1,4r414. for the ex-
ternal traffic.
MR. BARNUM has resigned the presidency of the
New Y rk Crystal Prlace. The result fell short of
his wishes. Financially, the exhibition was a failure
afore he knew it; it remains a failure after his spi-
rited trial to make it otherwise.
THE BUILDING FOR THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBI•
TIDY OF 1855 is of stone externally, and the contract
was taken by Messrs. Goldsmid and Co. at 11,327,000 f.
M. Viel is the architect. There will be two wings,
which will cost 0,000,000 f. more, and various tempo-
rary buildings. The main structure is a parallelo-
gram in three spans, about 820 feet long and 354
feet broad. The width of the centre span is 157 feet,
and the heikht in the centre 108 feet. The gallery
will extend over the whole width of the side divi-
alone, about 79 feet.

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