The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-12-12


Bensdstu. fezing hi. sword, made tarust at Dir.
Fry and bys,anoer received cut ao his hand, or to
that effect. ard yea il that satenest true or iase
A. have wiiten statement to tAst ELECT ths state
that WAS believe, true tbs words referred
to occur in smsnt vote of quarrel and hgat b
tween the slantia and SgI 8ensde behind the
of the said and In the interval of ths second
and tnirc Of the public approximation OF the opera
of Lucrezis Borga about evening of the LIST
o. December ls4S the statement referred to written By
reads thus" In the dressing room Of Sguor Bene
dett assembled Immediately after the second act
Messrs Fry, Colt W. Girard, and the other mem bers
of the subscribers committee Tho conversation
animated that after rems ks made by Mr. Fry In regard
to that affair, Sgnor Benedetti called him id liar.
At these words MI Fry answered with his cenched Ast
when Signor Benedesti sezing his sword made thrust
at the manager regular prise avr cheeir eususd and
during the melee Mr. Grard having tried to separate the
complaints, received cut on the back Of the hand"
q II you say in your direct nation that you
ing the LIST Of Drcsmss, lS4s please state whether
not Mr. Fry did not address the audience that
sion and after said address whether not said
Benedetu did or not appear upon the stage to go on
with his part and that then shortly Afterwards did or
not all disturbance noise interruption Of the
MI Fry did ADDRESS The audlen % on that OCCASION
and soon after sad address Bensde did upon the
stage to go with his part All disturbance, noise and
int. Eruption did not shortly afterwsrd, cease, and the
opera did not go as usual to its close
Q Were you not acquainted with either Truth or
Bsnedeth members of Mr. Fry's company, and II yea,
how long have you been tainted with them; and did
you not equen ly how Often converse with them or
either Of them ON the subject of the opera. or OF M
acquainted with bt tn said Tru and said Bene-
cett have acquainted with them sinss have fire.
quently but cannot Say how often conversed with them
the subject Of the opera, and Of Mr. Frys manage
plent while he manager
O If YOU fay In your direct examination you ever
heard ruMor about Of Venice when for the
first tine cid you hear such rumor where and from
wbom and who present. state particularly tae pre-
else ms ~ near rs you can, the place. occasion and
the person present and how came to hear
any such r. and also whea, from whom and where
was the second tine YOU ever heard any such rumor If
or. lpar d 4 time
de stand by the term room, wlsre was 1t, and
hetfer you were ever N tauc BY whose permission
A Tae drst time | he1rl the rumor as
to the panor in ths green room of said
opera house; cannot say from whom frst heard
! first heard it nor can | state how came to hear
such rumor other vie than by having the OF my
ears; tate when, from whom, and where was
the secon time heard such runr excsp that was IN
the green Of said opera house understand By the
term " green room. room for ihe accommodation OF
the actors sken actually engaged the stage in
their dressing room The green sit lated under
the parquets of the theatre was in IL oy the prms
sion OF Sgnors Bnedvtt and Ross and Signora Trua,
with whom / was On terms OF inti macy
O. State what mean by the term coulse, or couses
also whether ever behind the scenes OF said
opera house during Mr. Fry's management; and If yea,
when, how often and by whose pern sion, and who rs
with you and was there not At 10 tine pubic repre-
A. By the term ooulisse, or 'co,slisse," mean
behind the cur ain on the stsgs; have been behind
the scenes of said op.ra HOUSE during Mr. Frys
management, several occasions; i cannot desi-
gnste tie times, how often who WAS with
me; was here sometimes alone, sometimes
company with enc, sometimes another was
there by permission of the actors already named Bens
detii, Rosi, ard Trri There at thu times was
there pub ic representations Of opera
q Please state what you mean by the term 'prvate
boxes" at said opera house that yOu Alude to- and in
what part Of the house they ua.ed and BY whom
they usually occupied by subscribers to the opera
with their antilles how otherwise?
A. By the term private boxes mean parts OF said
1.-The boxss' they situated the stage; haze
Them occupied BY various persons DO not know IL
any OF them were subscribers to tbs opera with their
families Tut know some OF them were gamblers and
son prostitutes
Q If in your direct examination you FAY that any
gambler prostitute attended the Aston place opera
house. any OCCASION please state only your per
sonal kr the Independent Of hearsay
also the precse in- near as you can and each 'ca
sion you refer to- al the Of zach and every one
OF them each occason also In what particular part or
parts OF the house they, and in what part Of the
h9uRe you at the time saw them or either OF
thsm2 Were you intro lucsd TO them either Of
them; also state when where and how often you ever
any and which Of raid alleged gamblers gamble, also
what acquaintance you had with al or either OF them,
also What acquaintance you had with sad prostitutes or
either Of them, and how you became acquainted with
them or Ell her OF them2
A cannot state tbs precise time, nor each occasion,
Vhen gamblers and Prostitutes st tbs said opera
house they ,he:e every hit which there were
performances vhen present; they in the par
quete and the private in s parts of the
house inoscrminas ly saw them from all parts of the
house, was never intr oduced TO them; never any
OF the persons gamble had no personal Acquaintance
rith SAL pros flutes or any Ct them.
Q Bow Icing is it since you have seen and cenversad
with the defendant IL this cause, and where IT. ana
hos e.n have you conyersed with him during the last
six months
A. II is about six or seven months since last saw the
defendant and conversed with hin have not conversed
with linn the subject of this suit since lett New YORK
last him at Paris BENEpICr henry REVOLT
EXAMINATION OF J. B. BENEILI.
Jean Baptiste Benell, being duly and publicly sworn
and say folows:-My ia Jean Bap,iste seneI;
reside in Paris France .. 92 Rue 90 Richeleu and my
profession has been for thirty years that of theatrical
ut; know neither the plaintiff the defe ndaLt in
this case know by the broth of the plaintiff that tina
latter was director Of iheare-an Italian theatre
New York and Of another theatre somewhere else the
United States, during the lS47 and ls48 in
relation with the plaintiff through the medium of his
brother, Mr. m Fry for the purpose Of engaging
lists for his Italian tn atre at New York by his nstruc
tioIs employed Mdlle Enelie de Merle prima donna
conralto Who received advance from Mr. W. g. Fry
the Of Geo francs it stipulated thai before her
departure from London where she gagged for the
season, she should receive the of the advance
and the voyage for three persons, but Mr.. VIM q y
not having kept his last engagement Mts &c Merc az
ter having waited in vain for for two weeks
cor trscted engagement with the Imperial hsatre OF
st. Petersburg; hac frequent interviews with Mr.. W
Fry during he whole period Of h residence in Paris
ON the beginning Of 1s47; DO not know what the
private occupations of Mr. W a. Fry at Paris at that
time, but know that he as ursd me that he the
agent OF his brother of New York. for the purpose
gagiDg artists fe his Italian ppany; TENOR
under the reign of Napoleon L. at the Court theatre
during rne years at Paris; directed the Imperial and
Roy al Italian theatre and during five sears, the Royal
theatre at london-consequeLt Halter myself that
can Judge whether director is capable not; know
nothing of the manner in which Mr.. Fry directed hs
theatre in New York, hut it that in choosing
his brother, Mr. W. Fry, for his agent, he acted In
inconsderate manner, nAsmuch hit brother mad, in
of the its for choosing an
Italian opera troupe Mr. W. Fry contracted Nth me-
for his brother only the engagement with Mds de
Mer c. the stppatons Of which he did no. keep; know
that Mr. W FL Fry had engaged At Milan, artists of
second and third order, who had celebrity the
hierarchy of human singers; do know the tenor Of
,hs ensagements contraoted by Mr.. W. II. Fry at
Milan, but ] know that he was greatly deceived by
the theatrical agents of that city persuaded that
With more judgms Mt and ~ consulting enshtsi ed per-
sem. Nj w ii Fry could have found artists to engage
far superior to hose whom he then sent to his brother
but sod that DO not know what terms he made
eresgemen:s IN ally; had proposed TO Mr. II. F, ,
TENOR OF the hrst order, SgnJr 9razi .n whom lie
beard and whom he Refused TO engage good terms
because he happened 70 have cold the day he was
heard ne ,oud rot have judged of his meris; do
hetitste then to sey hat M W. H. Fry had followed
my se be could hsve procured artists far preferable
to hose whom he fent to New York; saw Nr. w. II.
Frs again his return from New York whence
back furious at the ooo IL the troop .hch he had
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