The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-09 00:00:00

The Dramatic Fete.

As the lofty Chang stalked through the Crystal
Palace on Saturday his surprise must .have been
more intense than even that of Goldsmith's China-
man when he paid his first visit to Drury Lane. On
Saturday tragedy and comedy joined in partnership,
and the players and playgoers of the great metropo-
lis held a united revel. The Palace itself was
turned into a fair, at which our leading actors
figured as showmen, and the whole body of metro-
politan actresses levied blackmail in the cause of
benevolence. To add to the funds of the Dramatic
College was the object in view ; and it is due to the
lades and gentlemen of the profossion to say that
they kept it incessantly
before the visitors. A ba-
zaar at which amateur saleswomen preside is pro-
verbially dangerous ground for a man with money
in his poekb ts. What, then, must it be, when the
presiding deity at each stall is a lady whom every
one has seen on the stage and whom all are anxious
to see and speak to off the stage, and when, among
the articles you are asked to admire is a portrait of
the fair one herself, which she offers to present you
with on condition that you make her a small pre-
sent, not for herself, but for the orphan and the
helpless ? There they were, in a brilliant galaxy
round the great transept, with all manner of fancy
wares. Miss Lydia Thompson was strong in scarfs
and neckties ; Mrs. Stirling was proprietor of a
shop that would have done honour to the Bur-
lington-arcade or the Palais Royal ; and Mrs.
Howard Paul was enthroned in a pavilion of
pincushions." To give the names of all the ladies
who traded on the occasion would be to publish a
directory of the leading actresses. Like our great
city firms, they all had travellers on the road—
ladies who waylaid you with samples, and would in-
sist on having your names in their order-books, while
you were yet at a long distance from the houses for
which they did business. The plea of " no assets"
is an effectual one with commercial men seeking to
open accounts, but in every instance it was demurred
to by those lady-traders. They told you flatly that
they did not believe you. Surely you had notcome
there without money ? At least you could buy a
newspaper, the Dramatic College Annual, which was
being printed on the premises, and of which they
could let you have an unstamped copy, as you were
so poor, for the small charge of a shilling. Consider-
able assurance enabled some of the visitors to fight
shy of the amateur news hawkers, but from the lady
flower girls there was no possibility of escape.
Armed with the tiniest of little baskets, and wearing
the most coquettish of little hats, they had the pret-
tiest of little nosegays, which they had just prepared
for your buttonhole. Perhaps you tried to put them
off by sayingyou " hadmade so many purchases you
really could not," &c. It was of no avail. They
had learnt how the flower-girls of Naples do when
you tell them you will not buy. They presented
you with the nosegay, and then followed you for
payment. Most of the actors adhered to " the
boards ;" but Mr. Buckstone and Mr. Sothern cast
their lot in with " Aunt Sally," and Mr. H. Widdi-
combe, Mr. F. Matthews, Mr. J. Povey, and Mr. W.
Worboys followed their example. Lord Dundreary
showed an admiring crowd that he could " shy" a
stick with the best of them ; and on seeing Mr. Buck-
stone fix a pipe between Aunt Sarah's teeth—he
would call her Sarah—one would have supposed that
he had been brought up to the business. Many of
the booths were admirable. When you stood before
" Richardson's Show" it was difficult to keep your-
self from imagining that you were at a t coun ry
fair, and in presence of " the strollers." There
was the rough-looking yokel at the foot of the steps,
keeping
S ps,
keeping off the small boys with flourishes of the
blackthorn ; half way up the ladder stood the man
with the white hat, high shirt collar, and knee
breeches, who cried out, " Walk up, walk up, ladies
and gentlemen ; decidedly the best show in the fair;
just going to commence ;" on each side of the gang-
way to the green baize door were a pair of tradi-
tional clowns, moving up and down, now walking,
now dancing ; young ladies in white, with pink
stockings ; in one corner a big drum and three brass
horns, " discoursing" music sufficiently noisy, but
not "most eloquent ;" a fat woman and a seedy
man at the box-office ; and an infant prodigy doing
the acrobat here and there and everywhere. The
get-up outside was wonderfully true to the original
article. Having paid your shilling, you descend to
see " The Mysterious Monk ; or, the Secret of the
Iron Pillar." The orthodox delay in raising the
curtain evokes the usual kicking, which produces
the desired effect. The curtain rises and the villain
of the piece enters boldly, in ample boots, slouched
hat, and grizzly beard of ebony hue. Having de-
livered himself of sundry imprecations on all man-
kind, he is joined by ruffians No. 2 and 3, who,
after fully coinciding in the malevolent views of
their chief, disappear to allow of a tete-a-tete be-
tween him and a venerable gentleman with flowing
white hair, who has an only daughter, whose hand
caitiff No. 1 demands. Then follows a Romeo and
Juliet scene, in which a young gentleman with pip-
ing voice makes love to the old gentleman's beloved
child. The three wicked wretches again appear ; as
do also a monk, a ghost, the aged father, and the
maiden. There is a general fight with short swords
hacks"—the entire strength of the company
taking part in the conflict; and amid blue fire every-
body kills everybody else—youth and age, innocence
and guilt, ruffianism and religion, all finding one
common grave, over which the curtain drops, the
stage manager at the same instant emerging to the
footlights and expressing his confident hope that
the enlightened audience on their departure will re-
commend the public outside not to lose a moment in
rushing in to witness a repetition of the thrilling
and powerful tragedy. Next door to Richardson's
is Addison and Robin's waxworks, with a chamber
of horrors " containing over two hundred thousand
of the most distinguished murderers." Mr. Toole,
Mr. Paul Bedford, Mr. J. Billington, Mr. J. Ashley,
Mr. R. Romer, and Mr. C. J. Smith appear in
4, Professor Toole's Chinese Exhibition of the Golden
Pay-goda of the Thousand and One Devices." The
Professor himself delivers a lecture on China ; and
Mr. Paul Bedford and the other members of the
company illustrate the manners and customs of the
inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. In this they
are assisted by Che-Mah, the Chinese dwarf, a real
native. The droll earnestness of Mr. Toole and the
mock gravity of Mr. Bedford and Mr. J. C. Smith
in the performance are to the last degree comic.
Mr. Toole, taking the audience into his confidence,
announces that it is all a " sell." It certainly is to
the only Chinese in the company, the child Che-
Mah, who evidently does not know what to make
of it. Outside Messrs. Toole and Bedford's booth
is a musician, made up as a Chinaman, who pre-
tends to play on four penny whistles at one time.
During his peregrinations round the building Chang
frequently stopped and gazed on this whistle player
with an extremely perplexed expression of counte-
nance. One of the best things in the fair is "Mr.
R. Phillips's astounding and extremely rare cat
show." On the
walls inside are some very clever
sketches illustrative of
" catsup "—a cat sitting on
a mushroom; caw.° jae..."—two cats rolling a log ;
and other words
pieci;eswilleh" cat " forms a part.
The exhibitor
cherry-coloured cat," and himself to produce t 4 a
redeems his pledge
by introducing a black cat, whose coat he
shows you is of the same tint as black cherries,
which he holds in his hand. Another of his curiosi-
ties is " a live Hibernian Chameleon." He asks in..
dividual spectators to tell him the colour of the
ani-
; but the moment he receives an answer, he
gives the chameleon a poke to make him turn a dif-
ferent quarter, which is sure to be of another colour.
He states that the genus of the brute is unknown,
the only thing pcsitively ascertained on the point
being that he is not a Fenian. Some of the audi-
ence suggest that it is a juvenile pig painted in
party colours. The showman assures them that they
are mistaken, though he feels bound in candour to
admit that one ill-informed zoologist had previously
been rash enough to suggest that the animal did
belong to the porcus vulgaris tribe. Mr. J. Bland
exhibits in his Temple of Magic " a living head
without a body, surpassing the famous Sphynx."
This ghastly object discourses from a box, and on
a table after the box is removed. The trick is an
excellent one. In another part of the building Mr.
Bland shows a beautiful and very ingeniously-con-
structed singing bird, whose caretaker is Miss God-
sall of the Adelphi. A humorous competition 15

kept upwith this little warbler by the amateur show-
men on the platform of the Temple of Momus, in
which the leading vocalists of the various music-
halls minister. In the same vicinity Mr. Frederick
Maccabe, Professor Matthews of the Polytechnic,
and Mr. W. R. Julian render efficient service in
keeping up the fun of the fair; and, at some dis-
tance off, a Scotch dwarf delivers oracles from the
roof of a mysterious cave, within which there is an
extraordinary automaton exhibited by M. Thiodon.
On applying your hand to a small lever a little lady
wa]ks out of a house, makes the circuit of a glass
platform, and returns home again ; but, if you
should want your fortune told, she will stoop at
a drawer in which you will find an answer to
your question. There is no connection between
the automaton and the platform, for you can lift
her up and see for yourself that she is not attached
to it. There is a fairy post-office in the building,
and bevies of fair gipsies are in attendance to trace
the lines on your palms ; for which process silver is,
of course, indispensable. In front of the grand
orchestra is the Derby " ring," where a number of
young ladies, in jockey caps and jackets, are ready
to book your bets for money down, and give you a
" tip" for the next Derby. The originals on Epsom
Downs do not tout with greater earnestness, but the
fair bookmakers in the Crystal Palace do business
with a charm that is irresistible. The only favour
they ask is an unusually long day for settling—the
next anniversary of the Dramatic Fete, when, if they
lose, they will make it " double or quits" for that
day twelvemonths. Facing the orchestra is a drop-
scene, with a painting of the Dramatic College, the
garden infrontbeing represented by an arrangement
of real flowers. The whole fitting up of the fair on
this, as on former occasions, has been under the di-
rection of Mr. R. Phillips, stage manager of the
Adelphi, who has admirably performed the task.
The fair will be continued and concluded to-day,
when the admission will be only is. On Saturday
the attendance was very large for a ss. day, and
most of the shows were crowded at all the perform-
ances. It was late in the evening before the visitors
began to depart.

ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH EXPEDITION.

(From a Special Correspondent of the Times.)
GREAT EASTERN, BEREHAVEN, July 5.
The voyage 'round to this harbour has been
longer and much more stormy and disagreeable
than could have been reasonably expected at this
season of the year. Strong gales and high seas
have prevailed throughout, and tested the trim and
sea-going qualities of the Great Eastern to the
utmost. At one time the wind was so fierce and so
full ahead as to take a knot and a half an hour off
her speed, and bring her down from nearly seven
to little more than five knots. The heavy swell
and wild chopping sea, too, in the Irish Channel
told not only on her speed but even on her steadi-
ness, and though her rolling was trifling, she plunged
her bows into the heavy sea with a depth and
frequency which she has never done since the me-
morable night when she was so nearly lost in the
gale off Holyhead. Beyond these disagreeables
there is nothing much of incidental interest to re-
cord. The start from the Mouse Light was made
soon after 12 on Sunday. It was intended to
start earlier, but at the last moment a chain was
found to be entangled under the starboard paddle.
This would have been a most serious check, but
that the Great Eastern seems to be provided with
all sorts of apparatus to meet all sorts of emergen-
cies. A diving dress was soon produced from her
stores, with air pump and ample length of hose, and
by the aid of these one of the crew was soon able to
descend. He was some time beneath the water, but
at last succeeded in freeing the chain, and the vessel
started a few minutes before 1. At first only the
screw engines were used, and these but slowly, for
the Alexandra Channel had to be passed, in which
there were some dangerous shoal patches and many
very narrow windings. Sometimes it almost seemed
as if the vessel was touching, so muddyand disturbed
did the water seem around her. She never did touch,
however, though at times there were so few inches
of water between her and the ground that the drag
of the ship must no doubt have stirred up the mud
considerably. Soon after 3 in the afternoon she was
safely through the worst, though it was not till the
open water was fairly before her and the leadsman
reported no bottom at 12 fathom that the word was
given to go ahead at full speed. Hp to that time she
had only been moving at from two to three miles an
hour, just enough, with the wash from the screw, to
keep steerage way upon her. But when the paddles
were set going she at once improved to about seven
knots, a rate which she maintained throughout ex-
cept when the worst squalls of wind and rain and
heavy sea were dead against her. The paddle en-
gines worked beautifully and with the most perfect
ease, making from 61 to 7 revolutions a minute, the
screw making about 25 in the same time. The con-
sumption of coal averaged as nearly as possible a
ton per knot per hour, while the water was
smooth, but unfortunately this was not for long.
Before the Downs were reached on Sunday
afternoon the weather, which had been very un-
settled, turned dead against the ship's course. The
yachts which were following alongside dipped deeper
and deeper as the wind and sea rose, and though
the Great Eastern remained as immovable as a rock
to the little breakers of the Thames mouth, it made
a serious difference to the smaller craft, which, after
being swept fore and aft by seas, at last signalled
" farewell," and ran for the nearest port for shelter.
Towards sunset the Great Eastern had passed the
Downs, where a whole fleet of shipping was
anchored, for the wind was adverse, and outside the
sea ran high. Neither wind nor sea, however, then
made the slightest difference in the Great Eastern's
steadiness, and it was scarcely possible even by
means of a pendulum to detect that she was moving
at all, far less that she was steaming against a
strong gale and high cross sea. When nearly off
Deal, the pilot, Lieutenant Brockman, was landed
in a tug which came off for him. It was only with
difficulty that he could get on board it, and the risk
of keeping the small vessel near was so great that,
though many were to have been put ashore, the
steamer at last had to shove off, leaving on board
the great ship a number of disappointed workmen
who ought to have landed, and who will have to
make a forced journey to Berehaven. After
rounding the cliffs of Dover and turning fairly
down Channel to the west the weather grew
much worse. The glass fell rapidly, and as fast
as it fell the sea rose. Just towards dusk a
rather startling incident occurred. One of the sea-
men had to go aloft to loose a block attached to
the mainstay over the engine-room. The man, as
it afterwards turned out, was ill—that is to say.
sea-sick—and one of his hands was sore, and from
both these causes he lost his nerve when half- way up
the rope,' and, seeming as if about to faint, hung
down almost helpless, holding on by both hands to
that part of the rope which was directly over the
paddle engines. It seemed as if nothing could save
him. it appeared impossible to reach him, and his
death was certain and terrible if he fell among the
working engines. Advice, entreaties, directions, and
expostulations were volunteered with their usual
liberality from all the seamen on deck, but the man's
fate would have been sealed had not Mr. Halpin,
the chief officer, comefortunately
w afs ootrwarbeos
diHt,easnadw,
at a glance that not a moment
springing to the stay, wentuspeiizn
it hand
the sailorandoverh on
as actively as a monkey, and,
the rope, managed to get hold of him in
the
aychstawainy
as enabled him to bring him down over h
safety. It was an anxious moment while Mr. Halpin
with his almost helpless burden was passing over
the open gap which led down to the engines, and it
was not till he had brought his charge actually to the
deck that the suspense was over. Only those who
saw this act of self-devotion can appreciate the cou-
ragei and skill which Mr. Halpin displayed, for never
d
appeared
more certainlyan
almost
t hisai n
toyw nef life
deatht o a
tvoe rat
whatda
fellow-creature. During the night of Sunday the
wind and sea increased, till at last at about 11 it
burst into a regular storm. The rain poured in tor-
rents, the wind kept up a perfect scream through
the rigging, and then, and not till then, was any
motion discernible upon the vessel. Yet even this
was so slight that it was only by watching the chan-
deliers in the saloon that it could be detected at all,
and but for the slight but infallible test of these pen-

dulums many would have disbelieved in the motion
of the ship altogether. The night, though very dark ,
and wild, was clear. The coast was kept close in
view, light after light was sighted upon the various
headlands, and the position of the vessel known
with as much ease and certainty as a man might
read his position in London by the names of streets
during the day. Conspicuous among all these bea-
cons was that of Dungeness, which has an electric
light, the brilliant rays from which so far outshone
all others as to be literally beyond any degree of
comparison with them. Monday at noon found the
great ship off Portsmouth. The day was tolerably
clear, but squally, with showers of rain, the sea
still high, and the wind getting every moment
higher. The Great Eastern stood so close to the
Isle of Wight that, in passing the beautiful shores
of Ventnor, every house could be distinguished,
and even people seen. But from this point out
a wider berth was given to the mainland, and
she ran in the regular track of coasters, scores
of which were met, whose curiosity to see the great
ship closely brought them so near as sometimes to
put Captain Anderson to inconvenience, and often
even expose themselves to danger. Thus, in one
instance, a small bark, under all sail, bore down so
full upon the ship that her course had to be sud-
denly altered and the helm put hard over to avoid
running her down. Off the Race of Portland, and
just before dusk, we fell in with the Baltic, from
Southampton, which overtook the Great Eastern
only after a very long race, and this, be it said, was
the first vessel that had passed her at all. Every
other steamer we had come up with, either paddle or
screw, had beer passed easily ; not that the great
ship had a higher rate of speed than seven knots, but
simply because heavy winds and seas which were
making smaller vessels plunge bows under had no
manner of effect either upon the speed or steadiness
of her tremendous hull and ponderous weight of
cargo. For nearly an hour it was a close race be-
tween her and the Baltic. The latter at last drew
a head, and seemed at one time as if about to cross
the great ship's track. But the imminence of the dan-
ger was so great that the attempt was soon given up,
though not until it had been pushed to an extent
that for the smaller vessel seemed awfully hazardous.
The whole of this night and the following Tuesday
were equally rough—wind, rain, and high seas
seemed as if they would never end. At seven on
Tuesday evening she was off the Land's-end, where
a heavy sea was rolling in from the Atlantic before
the full force of a strong sou'-westerly gale. The
lighthouse could just be discerned through the misty
haze, like a huge white tombstone on the rocks,
round which the waves kept leaping up only to fall
back slowly in clouds of spray and long white cata-
racts of foam. A more desolate picture could not
well be imagined than this solitary building in the
midst of the boiling surf with a misty background
of cloud like a fog bank, which the clouds almost
rested on, while the great black rain squalls from
the sea came up before the wind as regularly and
almost as quickly as the waves themselves. In the
centre of this gloom and cheerlessness the sun shone
out a single ray from behind a cloud, and shed a
bright, though very transient, gleam of light upon
the rocky shores of Cornwall. It was only for a
moment, but it seemed like a parting cheer from old
England, and the whole scene was soon enveloped
again in mist and spray and driving lumps of half-
made clouds of rain.

Once past the Land's-end the Great Eastern's
long maintained steadiness forsook her. She did
not roll because she could not to a head sea, but
her heavy pitches were quick and deep as she faced
the long ranks of waves that came in tier on tier
from the ocean. This night of Tuesday was a very
wild one, and the Great Eastern laboured rather
heavily to the seas. Sometimes she rose with a
long, slow, easy swinging motion, but only to drop
more heavily into the furrow of waves beyond the
ridge she had forced her way through. Often, how-
ever, she was not so fortunate, and the masses of
water struck her with a boom like thunder, and
made her quiver from stem to stern, and seemed as
if she stooped half stunned, for a moment gather-
ing her strength to face the seas again.
At about half-past 1 a.m. on Wednesday a tre-
mendous sea struck her forward on the port side,
which rushed fairly in board and threw a consider-
able depth of water on her deck. The wind at this
time was very strong, and the sea, even for that
most turbulent of all Channels—the Irish—was very
rough indeed ; so bad, in fact, was the appearance
of the weather at 2 o'clock that Captain Anderson
was called, and from that time till after 4 he never
left the deck. Just after dawn on Wednesday, or
rather soon after 4 in the morning, a monstrous
wave struck her on the port bow, which rushed in
over almost the whole space of bulwarks between
the bows and paddle-boxes. This flooded the decks
forward, and was by far the worst wave she en-
countered during the trip. As it may happen even
to the most practised hunter to make his leap awk-
wardly, so it was in this case with the great ship.
She met her wave suddenly and unawares, and as it
struck her full there was nothing for it but to come
in over her, which it effectually did. Wednesday
brought no cessation of the wind ; in fact, it was
stronger than ever. The sky was tolerably clear,
and the sun shone the greater part of the day ; yet
still the wind kept violently high, and the sea was
rolling stronger and heavier than ever. At no time
was there much broken water, though there was
still enough occasionally as the waves struck the
ships's side to cover the forward part of her decks
with spray. The rolling of the vessel during all
this time was absolutely as low as only three de-
grees each way, which in plain terms, means that
the movement was so slight that even the mode-
rator lamps on all the saloon tables were left, as
usual, quite unsecured. The pitching of the ship,
however, was by no means so moderate. In
fact, the great ship plunged till it seemed as
if she would take the green seas in over her
bows. Many times the forward pulley sheaves
which are to be used in hauling in the last year's
cable were dipped completely under water. So quick
and so continued was this pitching motion that an
examination of the cable tanks and their supports
was thought advisable. A very careful inspection
was accordingly made by Mr. Clifford, but the re-
sult showed that their fastenings were absolutely
perfect. Even beneath the largest tank amidships,
the starts which have to sustain a weight of more
than 2,500 tons, not a sound could be heard beyond
a trifling creaking noise, which was as nothing com-
pared with that in the saloons in the upper portions
of the ship. Not a single adjustment, improvement,
or alteration of any kind was found necessary. The
tanks, however, being filled with water, and the
pitching of the ship occasionally spilling it over
their edges, it was thought better to reduce the
quantity. The valves beneath the tanks were there-
fore opened, and a mass of the water was allowed
to flow away into the sea.
Beyond these bare facts there is little to tell of
incidents connected with this fifth Atlantic telegraph
expedition. All through Wednesday the Great Eastern
kept plunging on across the Irish Channel—now
dipping heavily over a tremendous swell, and now
and then striking it as she would a rock, and cover-
ing herself with clouds of spray and foam. Wednes-
day, though the least pleasant day of the cruise, was
certainly one of the most interesting. It was one of
I those rough wild times which are called in nautical
parlance strong summer gales. The sun was as bright
and the sky as clear above as on a mild day in spring,
and all the while a warm though heavy gale was
blowing, and the great blue ridges of heavy seas
were torn and jagged about, and Came rolling in with
high crests of feathery spray that carried every-
thing before them. No greater contrast could be
afforded than by the mild, quiet look of the sky above
and the wild violence of the wind and sea below.
Yet, in spite of all these atmospheric disturbances,
the large party on board did their best to make the
time pass pleasantly. There were many ladies of the
party, and music and singing were abundant in spite
of winds and waves. On the Monday, too, after
leaving, it was proposed to get up a burlesque, and
it says something for the inexhaustible resources of
the Great Eastern when we tell that a most humor-
ous
poetical skit on the cable and its
adventuresau and
sparkling
belowa
a fewh
the seaursi‘r.
wasi written
Dudley, b y
he ttwo
artist,
rf t
she
t
passengers,
drew an exquisitely amusing bill, and this, with the
text, was lithographed and distributed among the