The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-19 00:00:00

ASTLEY' THEATRE.

Real watermen, if not real water, ruled the waves at
Astley's last night, and in such aquatic force as almost to
elbow the great Italian warrior, Garibaldi, from the stage, li
and certainly the horses from the arena. But this unprece-
dented muster of jolly young watermen and their boating
patrons, concerned something nearer to them than the
question of Italian independence or the success of Mr. Tom
Taylor's hippodramatic piece. It was to give a helping
hand to a brother waterman, Henry Kelly, the ex-chain-
pion of the Thames, whose laurels were so unexpectedly
won from him by Robert Chambers, of Newcastle, in the
recent contest for the championship. A very general sym•
pathy was felt for Kelly's defeat, and, under the active
superintendence of Mr. Thomas Moreton and other friends,
it was arranged that the gallant man should take a benefit
at one of the metropolitan theatres, te reimburse him to
some extent for his loss, and show the high appreciation in
which he was held by the aquatic world. Astley's was the
theatre chosen for the purpose, and last night the house was
crowded to overflowing. With admirable judgment the
musical farce of " The Waterman" was chosen as the piece
de resistance; the new drama of " Garibaldi," a miscella-
neous concert by some of the choicest of the Canterbury
Hall singers (with the permission of Mr. C. Moreton), and
the indigenous " scenes in the circle," making up the rest
of the evening's entertainment. Mr. Augustus Braham was
the Tom Tug and Miss Rebecca Isaacs the Wilhelminainthe
"Waterman;" and the encores of the favourite nautical songs
of the former, and the interpolated ballads of the latter, were
fast and fnrious. The most striking incident in the operetta
was the appearance on the stage, in the last scene, of "all
the celebrated watermen of the past and present day, each
man wearing his coat and badge." These are very pic-
turesque garments, more especially in the contrasts they
present of scarlet and green ; and this part of the entertain-
ment was particularly relished by the amphibious audience
who had assembled to do honour to the fallen chief. The
great excitement of the evening was produced at the finale
of the farce, when Kelly and Chambers, stepping from out
the ranks of their "coated and badged" friends, came to the
footlights, and, at the timely instigation of Mr. Braham,
thanked the audience for their presence, and at the same
time exchanged a friendly word over their late contest. All
the " jolly young watermen" on the stage (and they in-
cluded the chief prizemen from London Bridge to Putney),
comported themselves admirably, and none but an enemy
would say that they looked like fish out of water. Mr.
Moreton, of Canterbury Hall, deserves much praise and
many thanks for the admirable and business-like way he
carried out the whole of the proceedfngs.

DEATH OF MR. ROBERT GUNN, OF

GLASGOW.

We regret to observe from our obituary the death of this
highly-respected gentleman, which took place of Lisbon on
the 14th inst., whither he had repaired to recruit his health.
Mr. Gunn had been connected with the newsaper press of
this country for 30 years; and by unremitting energy and
perseverance, in conjunction with his partner (Mr. Came-
ron) succeeded in establishing two lucrative newspaper
properties, viz., the General Advertiser, Dublin, and the
.Yorth British Daily Mail, Glasgow. Mr. Gunn became
the acting proprietor of the Nail in 1848; but it may be
mentioned that previous to his connection with the Mail
it had undergone so many vicissitudes that it had well-nigh
become engulphed in the general wreck of that stormy
period in commercial affairs. His large experience and
forethought, combined with considerable capital, enabled
him to weather the storm; and from that time up till within
a short period of his decease he had been unceasing in his
endeavours to make his journal the thorough representative
of the interests of Scotland at large, whether social, political,
or commercial ; and taking Glasgow for its centre, it may
fairly be said that to his assiduity the commercial metropolis
of Scotland in particular owed the existence of a daily organ
at a time when such a privilege was not enjoyed in any city
in Great Britain, London only excepted ; but in the attain-
ment of this object Mr. Gunn had to surmount obstacles
that would have overwhelmed any ordinary man, and
thereby, we fear, helped to produce that illness which has
terminated in depriving the city of Glasgow of one of her
most intelligent and enterprising citizens. In business he
was a man of unimpeachable integrity, straightforward in
all his dealings, and gentlemanly in his deportment to all.
It is only a short month since he left his home to seek a
warmer climate in order to restore his shattered frame, but
death has stepped in and cut him down in the prime of life
and in the midst of his usefulness.