The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-26 00:00:00

SCENE IN A THEATRE.

The Birmingham Gazette of yesterday has an
account of an extraordinary scene which was wit-
nessed at the Adelphi Theatre in that town on
Saturday night. It seems that, during the panto-
mime, the " supernumeraries" struck work, and the
clown explained to the audience that none of them
had been paid their wages. At last it came to a
scene in which the clown has to jump from a spring-
ing board through a trap-door. The clown went
to the side wings, and appealing to some one there,
with outstretched hands, said, "I cannot break my
neck. There's no one on tho other side." As may
be supposed, the hisses, groans, whistling, and
noises that ensued were almost deafening. After a
time, Mr. Grattan, the manager, came forward i❑
front of the footlights, and entered into a statement
to the effect that the great cl:pen&,s of the panto-
mime did not allow him to pay all his debts. The
clown denied many of Mr. Grattan's statements, and
made various charges against that gentleman. At
last the performance went on, the clown, pantaloon,
and sprites doing their tricks as far as possible
without the aid of supernumeraries. The only per-
sons belonging to that fraternity who appeared on
the stage was a solitary man dressed up as police.
man, and one young girl, and they, in the orthodox
style, were beaten and kissed by the clown. Still
the greatest confusion and noise reigned amongst
the " gods," and the respectabe people in the stalls
and pit had nearly all left the house. Sundry fights
took place in the gallery, and pieces of the seats
were thrown into the stalls. The columbine, clown,
pantaloon, and sprites still appeared on the stage,
and the band played music, not a note of which
could be heard. The fights were ultimately quelled
by the two policemen stationed in the gallery, and
the "gods" having tired themselves a little order
was restored. One of the sprites then came for-
ward, and saying, " This is for the rest of the com-
pany," went through a clever gymnastic perfor-
mance, which called forth hearty applause. Some
one then shouted from the gallery to the sprites,
" Got any money, Fred
Sprite—No.
A Voice—Got any money, clown ?
Clown—No.
Pantaloon—l have 10s., that's all.
The sprite then held oat a shilling, saying, "That's

all."

One of the gentlemen, who had remained in the
stalls, then threw a shilling upon the stage, which
the sprite picked up. The shilling was followed by
several others and by a shower of coppers, amongst
which were sundry farthings from the "gods," some
of which fell upon the stage, others in the orchestra,
striking the musicians, who had remained at their
posts during the whole disturbance. Several of the
supernumeraries then rushed on the stage, and a
regular scramble, to the great delight of the "gods,"
took place for the money. However the " gods" in-
sisted upon its being handed over to the sprite, who,
amidst overwhelming applause, bowed his acknow-
ledgments. The curtain then rose upon "The Fairy
Realms." Such a scene—a piece of scenery in one
place, another in another, and a regular mass of
confusion. A few "fairies" stood in the background ;
some were in their places, others stood laughing.
Frameworks of iron where fairies should have stood
were empty, and amidst a flickering ray or two of
blue and red coloured fire the curtain fell upon a
scene of confusion such as we have never before wit-
nessed upon a stage. The lights were then lowered
and the noises and groans in the gallery amongst the
" gods " were greater than ever. The writer was
glad to beat a hasty retreat, and to find himself safe
in the street, where there was a crowd of persons—
men, women, and boys—surrounding the entrance
to the stage-door, some of them swearing that they
would not go until they had got their money. Their
language was loud as to what they would do if they
did not have their money. The " performance,' was
not concluded until a little before Sunday morning,
and when the writer left the spot she noisy "amuse-
ment" seemed to be at its height.

A Saxon leaden coffin has been found at Bishop-
stoke, Hants. It contained the skeleton of a young
woman. A glass bottle and two drinking cups were found