Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1869-03-11
The London Music Halls.

SlC HALO III AUuuOu, Is HUH " Il :, al Olu
Trojan. He says:
Having reached the hall, we paid an
admission fee of sixpence There was a
very neat stage, gaudy drop-scene, side
wings. and tolerable good orchestra
In the stalls sat the chairman, to keep or
der over as motley an audience as ever
was out of the gallery of the Victoria The
atre. All appeared plentifully supplied
with porter, and all were enjoying their
pipes to such an extent as to make the
place almost suffocating; for there must
have been an audiance of nearly five hun
dred. A niger walk round was just
being finished, and the shouts of "encore,"
whistling and stamping of feet made the
hall perfectly bcwildering. A name was
announced from the chairman, which we
could not catch, and amidst clapping of
hands and stamping of feet, there was a
buzz of This is the song" The walters
called loudly, "Any more orders p and
these being taken and duly executed, all
seemed to settle down quietly to listen to
the song. There was the symphony and
buzz of ''This is it y and we began to
feel anxious. Presently female came
in front of the curtain, amidst great APP
plause, and commenced, "Father, dear
father" &c. Every word was distinct,
and she sang the ballad with great feeling,
In order to fully describe the scene which
followed each verse, it is necessary to give
"Little Mary's song"
''Father, dear father, come homs with me now,
The clock in he steeple strikes one (gong!)
You promised, dear father, that you would
come home
As soon as your days work was done,
Our fire has gone out-our house is all dark,
And 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, home, home,
Please, father, dear father come home"
At the conclusion of the last line the
drop-scene drew up, disclosing the father
sitting at the door of public house, in a
drunken, bemuddled state, with his pipe
and pot before him. Little Mary was try
ing to drag him from his seat, at the same
time pointing to curtain behind, as she
took up the refrain from the lady, and
touchingly sang, "Come home" &c. This
other curtain was now drawn aside dis
closing wretched room, with the poor
mother sitting on the ground with sickly
looking boy in her lap, and in the act of
feeding him with spoon. Simultaneous
ly with the drawing Of the curtain, the
dim light was brought to bear upon the
tableaux, giving them truly startling eff
feet. After moment or two the act
drop came-down, and the lady proceeded ::
s'Father, dear father, como home with me now
The clock in the steeple strikos two! (gong
gong!)
The night has grown colder, and Benny is
worse,
But he has been calling for you.
Indeed he is worse-mother says he will die,
Perhaps before morning shall dawn,
And this was the message she sent me to
bring.
Come quickly, or he will be gore,
Come home, come home, come home,
Please, father, dear father, come home
The act-drop rises again, and now the
child has hold of the puter pot, trying to
take it from her drunken parent, and, as
she continues the two last lines, "Come
home" &C., the other curtain is drawn
aside, and we next see the child stretched
out on its mothers lap, and as gasp,
with the dim-l light rejecting strongly up
on it, there was reality about the whole
terrible to view. Sobs were heard from
the female portion of the audience, while
tears trickled down many rough male
cheek We have seen Susan Hopley,
Jane Shoe, The Stranger, East Lynne
and other effective places played, but new
er before did we witness such scene of
general crying. Even the lady who sang
the song was affected, and could scarcely
proceed with the third verse:
"Father, dear father, come home with me now,
The clock in the steeple strikes three! (gong,
gong, gong,) haq
The house is 50 lonely, the hours are so long,
For poor weeping mother and me.
Yes we are alone, poor Benny is dead,
And these were the very last words he said:
/ want to kiss papa good nigh. ,sq
Come home, come home, come home,
Please father, dear father, come home"
Again the drop rose, disclosing little
Mary on her knees appealing to her IA
Their, who, with pot elevated, is in the act
of striking her with it as she sings,
s.Come hone," and then the back curtain
draws aside, showing the mother praying
over child's coffin. But now the sobs
from the audience burst out still more free
". and two females were carried out faint
ing. The scene was truly narrowing, and
we gladly turned our eyes away. An ad-
ditional verse was sung about Poor Ben
NY being with the angels above. The
drop rose the father, sober now, is weep
ing over the coffin, with the mother and
little Mary on her knees, singing "Home,