Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-11-08

York.
From the New York Harald Oct %

From the New York Herald, Oct. 80.
Nothing in any other Christian country
or in modern times has approached the in
decent and demoralizing exhibition at
Wheatley's theatre, in this city. The
mod ell artists are more respectable and less
disgusting, because they are surrounded
with sort of mystery-something like a
veil of secrecy-which women do not look
behind and which men slip in stealthily to
see But the almost nude females at Wheat
ley's are brought out boldly before the pub
lie gaze. Mixed crowds of men and women
congregate nightly to witness this indecent
spectacle, exhibited in the most public
manner. Fortunately for the credit of the
city there are many more men than women,
and, of course, no respectable female, I'M
less size be entrapped to so without know
ing what she is going to see. We venture
to say that if the same grossly immoral ex-
hibition had been made in Green street, or
any other such locality, the police would
have felt i, their duty to have arrested all
the parties and to have broken it up at
once. But because it is on Broadway and
in one of the established theatres they suf-
fer it to go on. The place, however, does
not change the character of the representa-
ton
As a matter Of course Wheatley is making
money. It is just such spectacle as will
make an excitement and draw those crowds
of loose characters and people with morbid,
prulient TASTES which may be found in all
large cities. Then there are great many
people who come in from the surrounding
country to get q glimpse Of this new thing.
We must not, therefore, give credit to our
citizens for being the only supporters of
the shocking performance. 1t gets great
deal of support from the countrymen who
come to town expressly to see the "ele-
phant." Any man who is base enough to
introduce an indecent spectacle in any
large city-the police allowing him to do
so-can certainly make money, as Wheat
ley does, because there is always III the
lower and immoral strata Of society a suffi-
Gent number who want to see it. 1t is re-
markable to witness crowds going to see
the highest order of art, as shown by Ris-
tori, and at the same time crowds going to
see the most disgusting scenes. Such is
the mixed society of a great city.
Nothing as we said, has been witnessed
in theatre in modern times so indecent as
this spectacle. We can imagine that there
might have been in Sodom or Gomorrah
such another place and scene, such q thea
tire and spectacle, on the Broadway of those
doomed cities just before fire and brim-
stone rained down upon them and they
were buried in ruins There were, too, we
believe, similar places and scenes i'll Pom
pei, just us that city was buried beneath
the eruption Of Vesuvius. We may be
saved, perhaps, from q like fate, on account
of the many good people there are in New
York on account of our benevolent inSti-
tutions numerous churches, extensive char
tiles, and enlightenment III other respects
but that does not DO away with the guilt of
or permitting such an exhibition
to exist as that at Wheatley's. Our respec-
table citizens should cry it down, and the
police should arrest all engaged in such
violation of public decency and morality. |