National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-01
TABLEAUX AT ELLAvILLE.

An Evening Of Interesting Entertainment.
It has been the custom slmos. from time i'm
memorial, whenever q church finds itself In
needy condition, or the pastor In Q seedy condi-
tion-and, for that matter, when neither are Pc
euniaIily pushed-to repIenish the holy Golfers by
revenue derived from levees fairs, strawberry
festivals and entertainments of various kinds,
generally gotten up by some of the younger and
more active members Of the congregation, and
countenanced by the stsid and solemn presence
herd himself.
Our earliest recollection of such affairs is ssso
ciated with gloomy gatherings Of the sntedlllylsn
portion Of the congregation, with . small sprinE-
ling Of old maids, and perhaps few gigglng girls
with folded arms, IN straightbscked chairs, and
talked about the foreign missions, and the hons
missions, ald the education Of the heatnens , IN
key, in Asia, &C., the latter squirmed around on
the hard seats and wondered how such an affair
could De called good Time Tne tDe U 1e ats
each other in
TALKING WITH THE YOUNG, UNMARRIED MINIS
TER
about the advancement Of civilization among the
thought Of except, perhaps, the worrying Of q
cabinet organ to the tune OF "Old Hundred, or
c6ns snS ds spq od e SescCness.s Would as soon
think of introducing the play Of ack Shepherd"
or attempting the transformation scene in the
chorean frivolities. The good old people would
hold up their hands in pious alarm at the bare
mention of tableauI or charades, while the sub
ject Of catchpenny games, wheels Of fortune, grab
bags, rafties, &c, filled their sanity hearts with
holy horror. A little later aleng we md that
somehow or other an innovation on these good old
shape Of a seductive game Of chance under the
holy appellation OF Jacobs Well" sort of an
all he has in a single evening, and on the other
hand may become suddenly opulent In the posses
sion Of bag Of assorted candles p'5Srs book
in the history Of church festivals we notics
NEW DEPARTURE
in the shape Of pest oce, where, for the trihing
sum CT twenty or twenty-five cents paid for post
age, ore may become the envied possessor of
Communication not much unlike the following:
Ny backward friend, cannot you see
That Annie is 10 love with thee?
Delay nc more; ind out tonight
From her own lips IL I'm not right.
Then rafhes fought their way In. Then came
prize cakes cut into twenty or thirty slices and
having real silver threecent piece in one of
or fifteen chances at quarter each, he will stand
a pretty good show Of winding the prize; IL he
IL won by the dear old lady whs baked the cake
and who only invested q single chance. After
awhile, time rolled on and people g0s more
liberal in their ideas, chsrsdes, tableauX, and
even dramatic representations and dancing took
the place Ct solemn sttings and grave conversa-
ton; and selections from IN adam Angot's Daugh-
tunes Of America" and "O!d Hundred, }" while q
more recent feature Of these affairs, though not
as yet universal one, consists in certain playful
we think, should be warmly encouraged.
Thus it is seen that church festivals fairs, &C.,
have changed for the good with the times till now
these occasions have become quite merry, attrac-
tive and profitable, and certainly more in keeping
with the natural dictates and impulses of the hu-
man heart; and while it is hardly probable that
they will ever degenerate into anything like the
CAN-cAN OR PLANTATION BKEAKDowSs,
yet 1t is quite certain they will never return to
the primitive puritanical condition that once ex-
listed.
A few weeks since the quiet people of Blsdens-
burg, Hyattsville, EllaVille, aud the surrounding
country, were electrified by the announcement
extraordinary that a seres of select tableaux
would be given for the benefit of this Episcopal
church at Ellayille on Wednesday evening, the
18th of September. 1875, at s o'clock; admission
25 cents or four tickets for e. children Is cents
each. and refreshments at reasonable rates 1t
will be observed that the day Of the eclipse Of the
sun was the 18th also; but whether this phenom-
enon was dependent on the tsblesux or whether
the tableauX were dependent on the phenomenon,
or whether both occurred on the same day by mu-
tual consent, is not definitely known, the Ella
vflIeites strongly contendiDg that this little cees
tial affair, which occurred on the morning of the
terrestrial epoch of the evening Of that day
BE that as 1t may, both of these long loOked-for
events transpred at the respective times set, and
while the eclipse was almost q failure the enter
tainment in question passed of in q most success
ful manner, being OF highly pleasing and mirth-
ful chal acter throughout, and largely attended.
The tableaux were particularly fne, thanks to
Miss Chafhe. Miss Jackson and Mr.. Sturgeon,
who were the prime movers In this feature Of
the entertainment. 1.-THE Gypsy Fortune Teller
was the first, then followed .In Trouble, " "Rats-
ing a Beard" "Village Postmistress," "Blue
Beard" in which Mr.. Sturgeon appeared to
great advantage, the whole winding up with the
"MuldOon Guards" which was received with
thunders Of applause.
After this came dancing, which was kept up till
5oclock the next morning. Refreshments OF the
NosT'TEMPTING QUALITY
put in their appearance from time to time. Much
credit is due Miss Annie Young for the zeal, en-
ergy and public spirit displayed in arranging en-
tertainments Of this kind, which result IN so much
enjoyment to the boys and girls Of the country,
to the church.
Among the gertler ones present on this occasion
we can name but few-He noticed the Misses
Foster, the Misses Magruder, the Misses Duffy
this Misses Young, Miss Baker, of Claremont, N.
H; Miss Hattie Tinker, Miss Wright, Miss Chat
fe, Miss Evan, Miss Jennie Jackson, Miss Carrie
Stevens, Miss NeUlan, Miss Hamilton, Miss
johnson, Miss Bland, Miss Long the Misses Van
Horn, Miss West, Miss sVOEeIs, Miss Baden and
Mrs. Casey. Also among the fair ones VIC noticed
Miss in iet Magruder, who received the special
attention Of DR.. Romeo Foster during the even
ing, the two not being much unlike the Romeo
and Juliet Of the bards creation, in point Of grace
on her part and cOurtIy demeanor on his
The country beaux and the city beaux were
countenances Of Messrs Bingham, Tiffany, L1ti-
mer. Green, Wright, DanenhoweT, Hyatt, Chat
fee, Fuller, Jackson, Sturgeon, Omohundro, Bat
chelder, Duffy, johnson, DIR. Lewis and Lieuten-
ant Young: also, Adam ii. Onkee, Of Cuba, whose
arrival was noticed in THE NATIONAL REPUBLI-