The Express.
London, England, 1868-11-28 00:00:00

ZEE NEW GLOBE THEATRE.

If good actors and actresses were as easy to find
as brisk@ and mortar, or even Wes for large buildings, the
playscing public might well be congratulated on the
mamba of sew theatres which have lately been built or
projected is London and the suburbs. As it is, the serious
lambus Inelnale Welt of been ananagen at this rate are to
end talent without lowering the standard of
bint=ti
Al tie provisoes should tars out to havescene unusual supply of genius yet undiscovered, it is quite
evident our metropolitan houses will soon have to c3ntant
themselves each with one single star as the centre of •
eyeless of theatrical nobodies. This, however,
does not concern us at present. Enterprising
managers inn no doubt keep their eyes upon
young gentlemen and ladies modestly emaying
their art in country towns, and the stimulus of
continually increasing rewards for dramatic talent will no
doubt do something to create what the political econo-
mists all "an effective demand." Meanwhile, we have
to chronicle the completion of another entirely new
theatre, situate ahoost within a stones throw of four or
five other theatres, finished and unfinished, in the neigh-
bourhood of the Strand.

f'he`,4lewlikohe,;'nhich will be opened this evening
with the performance for the first time of an original
comedy-drama by Mr. Byron, is built upon • portion of
the site of a dismal old quadrangle of moiddyhousee let
in chambers, which were long known by the name of
Lyons-inn. An hotel company lately took piesession of
this forlorn mot, and having pulled down the mouldy
houses, came to • dead-stand for want of funds. At this
juncture Mr. Sefton Parry—whose function appears to be
that of building theatres, and after working them up to •
success, handing them over to other speculators—eame in,
and taking a portion of the ground planned out and su-
perintended the construction of the elegant little house,
for which he has chosen the Shakespearian title of the
Globe. The name is not merely arbitrary. The theatre,
in fact, is perfectly circular, and it is, we are assured, the
only theatre in London in which that construction is
strictly adhered to. Another striking peculiarity is the
fact that its pit is really • pit. Visitors approaching by
the ra:pal doors are conducted to the dress circle by •
Forage perfectly level with the street, the pit being con-
sequently much below that level. A still deeper ex-
cavation has been made for the stage. The entrances are
without any steps at either end, and the audience
reach not only the drive circle, but the orchestra stab sad
private boxes, without either ascending or descending.
This approach is from Newcastle-street, and is within five
doors of the Strand. The pit and gallery entrances are in
Wych-sisreet, and only • slight distance from the Olympia
Theatre. In this street also is the private entrance for
members of the royal family.
The interior is neat, and even elegant. The decorations
are in white and gold, the ornasson of the box treats
being moulded in papier-mache. A little colour is intro-
duced here and there ; but the chief contrast is
_produced
by the crimson curtains of the private boxes. Following
out the leading idea of the construction, the ceiling is a
perfect dome, decorated like the rest of the house in low
relief, and lighted by a sunlight concealed in cut glass,
which softens the glare, and throws • powerful but tran-
quil light upon nearly the whole of the house.
The gallery is immediately above the dress-circle, be-
neath which the pit runs back to the outer wall of the
building. The peculiar advantage of the construction is
that there is hardly • scat in the house which does not
command • good view of the stagg. The seats are all
divided by arms, and in most cases numbered. The
audience portion of the theatre consists of 90 orchestra
stalls, 660 pit seats, 130 amphitheatre stalls, 130 dress
circle seats, and, 600 seats in the gallery, besides eight
private boxes. Altogether the theatre is capable of
accommodating, without any inconvenience or confusion.
upwards of 1,600 persons. Saloons and refreshment
rooms—one of which is set apart exclusively for ladies—
are attached to the theatre. A few other details of the
construction may be worth mentioning. The stage which,
as we have said, descends to a considerable depth below
the street level, is constructed of wood and iron—every
plank, poet, and tie being arranged so as to shift from its
place at a moment's notice. The height from the floor to
the gridiron roof is sixty feet. The act drop,
which was unfortunately burnt in the repent fire at
Telbin's, represented • view of Stratford-u -Avon ; but
has been replaced by a temporary one. The whole of the
works were entrusted to Mr. S. Simpson, of Tottenham-
court-road, the builder of the Holborn Theatre, the
Queen's, the Royal Alfred, and the Gaiety (now nearly
completed). The papier-mache decorations are executed
by Messrs. White, of Great Marylebone-street ; the gas-
fittings by Messrs. Jones, of How-street, and the general
decorative work of the interior by Mr. Hurwitz, of
Southampton-street, Strand.
Mr. Byron's new rlay, which wilelie produced this
evening at • quarter to eight, after the eiesediett•
of Gopedifor Nahiwi, bears the title of ' • amiss% as
E Story, in five acts. The beam some
well- names, and not a few fret
which seem to indicate that necessity far for new
talent which we have noticed, and whisk isbecoming
mere and moors imperative upon Ueda. arnmaffigere.

Real 000110 M in tea oan only be insured by
rzspeiriltssam., la licrif Jo be slzta, aboi
=avesltireeemiwalr—latveretriZgati sem own*

A few aerr ego car Wane were warmed that
the reema abeititilikt bigamies of the atmospheric
PeesatroiaMai Sikh ma would in all Proba-
bility" be explosioes in Many of our
coal' Ida* tiiirsi assertioes& preautions were
takes. The lerairoater lad stood fir several days
inaddleably divine* wiretelinhaght, and the in-
sane of premien thus Wheats& was to be esti-
•eleeed, by may sinker of tons. Within the
• awes a our Goal mines this increas
would hays the effect of flecking that of
ea *bah is at in times piste On with easter or
lid rapidity, on amount of thienormous presume
istitifi the sapstimemabad manes exert urea the
mei lab., Ito loon as the atmospheric Femme
had returned to its average amount it was
feared that the game would -ballo* to tow out
more reOdly than is amid, and that thus explo-
sions could beset fail to tabs plass, unless the
minas, warned of the danger, were more than
usually careful Whether the terrible calamity
whisk bee inamtly. taken place at Wigan
is to be meecialed m say way with the high
barometer tetri age i* would not
be very may to prosouraft. it may be that the
denser thou to-sled had lane ante passed away,
sad that the pram& explosion wee due to causes
more recently in salon. Oa the other hand, it is
not impossalle that the mildew of gee takes some
time in overcoming the eerie of an increase of
atmospheric primpere, and that thus the reel danger
of such an increase comes into operation several
days after the fa l of the barometer.
Be this as it may, it is barmaids to contem-
plate the continual recurrence of explosions within
our coal WINS without feeling that science has
stall much to do in the way of mitigating a source
of danger which has proved so fearfully destruc-
tive. More than half a century has passed since
Hire Humphrey Davy's safety lamp came into use,
yet colliery accidents are now scarcely lass nume-
rous, and they are certainly fully as destructive as
those which occurred before the year 1815.
The scene of the present diameter is Hindle),
Green, a small village in which, as is usual with
the neighbourhood of the mines, all, or nearly all,
the inhabitants are miners. The colliery in which
the explosion has taken place is called the Arley
Mine. Upwards of 200 miners were employed in
this mine, of whom the larger number (more than
two-thirds) worked at the east end. Fortunately
the explosion took place at the other extremity of
the mine. Even here, however, upwards of sixty
men were at work. Of these nearly all perished.
, Only one was killed by the direct effects of the
explosion. The terrible after-damp or choke-
damp was the enemy to which the others—fifty-
six in number—succumbed. This subtle foe found
its way even into the east end of the workings, and
many on that side were half-suffocated. One,
indeed, wee raised to the surface in such a condi-
tion that life was pronounced extinct ; but by the
aid of artificial respiration he was restored to life.
Terrible as the destruction of life has proved to
be, we need hardly point out that the loss of life
directly occasioned by the explosion is by no
means the only, perhaps scarcely the most terrible,
feature of the calamity. The greater number of
those who are dependent on the miners who have
perished will be suddenly plunged into a state of
helpless destitution and bereavement. We have
mentioned that the village of Hindley Green is
chiefly inhabited by maters. The inhabitants of
mining villagis are usually so intimately connected
by in , that when accidents occur in
the mines few of *see who survive but either
feel the lee. .441M1F.1250 434011itilare
than mountit
lastly calaSityttairt whinil
Lae just happened ha.dp that
throaws the whole community
living near the scene of the disaster into mourning
and desolation. Even if we look at the accident
simply se it affects the widows and children of
those who have perished, we shall see that the
number of the sufferers must be counted by
hundreds. We do not doubt that speedy mea-
sures will be taken to relieve the distrees
which bee thus been occasioned. The winter
season, so terrible to the poor, is now at
hand. Within four weeks we shall be celebrating
Christmas-day; and it behoves us to see that to
the bitter sorrow which the widows and children
of the sufferers by this terrible calamity must per-
force endure in the loss of those who were dear to
them, the anguish of sudden and unlooked-for
povertyt shall not be added.
And while we are considering measures for the
assistance of these sufferers, cannot something be
also done to combat the cause of these fearful
calamities? It seems impossible but that modern
scientific and engineering skill might be able to
find some measures of protection differing alto-
gether in kind from those which have hitherto
been looked upon as sufficient. That the Davy
lamp is a perfectly safe light for the most
dangerous mines we do not doubt. If the miners
would consent to use it in the way in which it
was designed to be used all would doubtless be
well. But we are met by the fact that they will
not consent to this arrangement, and that no
measures yet devised have sufficed to force upon
them the absolute necessity that they should do
GO if they would avoid the risk of explosion. What,
then, remains to be done ? Clearly, new measures
must be adopted. There are all the resources of
chemical, engineering and geological skill to be
drawn upon for the solution of the problem. New
methods of ventilation, the introduction of new
tests for ascertaining the safety of the mines
from day to day, the application of now methods
to determine where danger is to be looked for,
and how that danger 31 to to be met—these
and a number of other matters suggest themselves
to the consideration of scientific men. If the
question were one of increasing the productive-
ness of the mines, we fear that it would obtain a
solution more quickly than it is at present likely
to do. But after all the lives of our miners are
valuable, even in a pecuniary point of view. Put-
tine out of sight the somewhat important conside-
' that •

ration that they are men, and those who em-
ploy them in dangerous service have au ac-
count to render for any falling short in the
application of all methods which may be avail-
able to increase their security—putting this con-
sideration, we say, altogether out of sight, there
yet remains the fact that every great explosion
involves enormous cost, enormous waste of time,
and generally an enormous destruction of pro-
perty. Here then are considerations amply slit-
Scent, one would suvq, to induce those who are
interested in the working of coal mines to try and
obtain from science a so ution of the difficult pro-
blem of securing the safety of the miner. We
know that in many instances the owners of coal
mines have gone to enormous expanse to increase
the security of their men. Ventilation has been
improved, the moans of escape after accidents
have been rendered more available, and precau-
tions have been taken to enforce as far as pos-
sible the constant use of the safety-lamp closed.
But we know, also, that despite these precautions
explosions continue to take place with alarm-
ing frequency ; and we fully believe that
the means are at hand, and only need
to be sought for, to put an end to
these terrible calamities. No expense should be
spared to obtain the assistance of those who are
best able to devise such means. Scientific men
have done good service ere now to civilisation and
to trade ; their assistance has not been wanting
when men have sought to know how to slaughter
each other in more artistic and satisfactory ways
than of old ; there should, therefore, we imagine,
be little difficulty in mooring their eseviess to save