Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1869-01-09
SCENE IN AmELoDEoN.

THRILLING SCENE IN AMELODRON.
Father, dear father, come home with me now"
A London publication gives the fol-
lowing account Of the singing OF
"Father, Come Home" in one Of the
music halls in that city. Our friends Of
the San Francisco "Alhambra" should
take the hint
The admission is sixpsnce. There
was o neat stage, with q gaudy drop.
scene, sidewings and tolerably good
orchestra. In the stalls sat the chair
man to keep order over as motley an
audience as was ever seen outside OF the
gallery of the Victoria Thsater. All
appeared plentifully supplied with por-
ter, and all were enjoying their pipes to
such an extent as to make the place al
most suffocating for there must have
been an audience Of nearly five hundred.
A "nigger wslkround" was just being
finished, and the shouts Of ''encore,"
whistling and stamping Of feet, made
the hall perfectly %bewildering. A name
was announced by the chairman, and
amidst clspping Of hands and stamping
| of feet, there was q buzz Of This Is
the song p The walters called loudly
"Any more orders2" and these being
taken and duly executed, all seemed to
settle down quietly to listen to the song.
There was the symphony, spd another
buzz Of "This is it," and we began to
feel anxious. Presently a female came
in front of the curtain and commenced
"Father, dear father" etc. Every
word was distinct, and she sang the
ballad with great feeling. In order,
however, to fully describe the scene
which followed each verse, it is neces-
sary to give the "little Aary's' song:
Father. dear father, come home with me now,
The clock In the steeplc strikes one lgong.I
| You promised, dear father, that you would come
home
As soon as your days work was done;
| Our Are has gone out-our house IL all dark,
Our mothers been watching since tea,
| With poor little Benny, so sick, In her arms, .
And no one to help her but me.
Come home, come home, come home,
Come, father, dear father, come home.
At the conclusion of the last line the
drop-scene drew up, disclosing the faith
er sitting at the door of n public house,
in a drunken, bemuddled state, with
pipe and pot before him. Little Mary
is trying I o drag him from his seat, at
tho same time pointing to u curtain be-
hind, as she took up the refrain from
the lady and touchiugly sang "Come
home" etc. This other curtain was
now drawn aside, disclosing II wretched
room, with tho poor mother sitting on
the floor with a sickly looking boy in
her arms, in tho act Of feeding him with
a spoon. simultaneously with the
drawing of the curtain, the lime-ligh.
was brought to bear on the tnblsaux,
giving them a truly startling effect.
After o few moments the act-drop cam
down, and the lady proceeded:
Father, dear athcr. come home with me now,
The clock In the stecplc strikes two lSong,
The night has grown colder, and Benny is worse;
But he has been calling for you.
Indeed, he IL worse. mother says he viii die.
Perhaps before morning Will dawn;
And this was the message she sent me to bring
CONF home quickly or he will be gone.
Come home, etc.
The act-drop rises again, and now the
| child has hold Of the pewter pot, trying
to take it from her drunken parent, and
rs she continues the two last lines,
"Come home" ETC., the other curtain
is drawn aside, and We rsxt see the
child lying stretched out on its mothers
lap, and rs it just raises its little hoad
and falls back with Il gasp, with the
lime-light reiecting strongly upon it,
there was a reality about the whole ter
rible to view. Sobs were heard from
all parts Of the hall, coming from the
female portion Of the audience, while
tears trickled down many u rough male
cheek. We have seen "Susan Hopsly,"
"The Stranger" "Jane Shore" "East
Lynne" and other effective pieces
played, but never before did we witness
such a scene of crying. The principal
feature called to mind the picture of the
"Sister Of Mercy" with the dying child
in her lap, and the death was fearfully
natural Even the lady who sang the
song was affected, and could scarcely
proceed with the third verse:
| Father, dear father, com home with me now,
The Clock In the steeple strikes threol [gong,
gong, gong.l
The house is so lonely, the hours arc so long
For poor weeping mother and mo.
Yes, we arc alone-for Benny IL dead,
And gone with the angels Of light!
And these were the very last words that he said {:
~ want to kiss ~papa-good night"
Come home, etc.
Again the drop rose, disclosing little
Mary on her knees, appealing to her
father, who, with the pot elevated, is in
the act Of striking her. with it as she
sings, "Come home," and then the back
curtain draws aside. showing the moth
or praying over a child's coffin. But
now the sobs burst out still more freely,
and two females were taken out faintiug.
The scene was truly narrowing, and we
gladly turned our eyes away.
An additional verse was sung about
poor Benny being with the angel above.
The drop rose; the father, sober now,
is weeping over the coffin with the
mother, and little Mary on her knees,
singing, "Home, home, father dear
fathers come home |" At this momont
the other curtain is drawn aside, and
little Benny is suspended over the coffin
with wings, smiling upon them and
pointing upward. The father falls for
ward on his face, the act-drop dcsceuds,
and for a minute all is hushed save the
sobs Of the females. "There p said a
working man by our side, as he heaved
a sigh of relief, "Mr. Spurgeon never
preached a better sermon than that p
IN expression to which we assented, and
then left the hall.
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