The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1876-06-03

night. In fact, all past and presen
events are as blank to Miss Tyner, ow
ing to the terrible injuries which she re
ceived on that morning.
| THEATRICAL COSTUMES.
The Stage as a Glass of Fashion aud a Mol
of Form-Whst It Costs the Player TO
Hold Up the Mirror.
Actors are all keenly alive to the i'm
portance of this part of their business
and not Improperly regard good dress
ing as one of the essentials of act
ing, without which they can hardly hop
to create favorable impression on al
audience. Other things being equal, tn
welldressed actor has an immese advan
tage over the actor who is poorly dresse'
or whose clothes, though costly, revea
bad taste. Some classes of actors hav
to spend very large sums on their dresse
and ornaments. The queens of TRACED,
cannot appear as queens at all, unles
they have an outfit of robes, lace, ant
jewels, equal in appearance to the finer.
of real potentates. The jewelry may b.
only glass, and the lace imitation, bu
the robes have to be genuine satin ant
brocade.::
The tragedian, also, before he can make
a creditable appearance as Richard thu
Third, for example, must put himself tt
an outlay of hundreds of dollars, or elss
\ hire wardrobe. His royal robe of vel
vet and cloth OF gold will cost clerks
yearly salary, and his suit of armor
whether it be scale, chain or plate, will
probably cost as much more.
Mere ornaments run away with good
sum of money. Charles Kean, when
playing Othello, wore a dagger with
an immense carbuncle in the handle
which seemed to cast ruddy glow around
him, and which was said to be of very
great value. Helen Faucit, in the ban.
quoting scene in Macbeth, wore a coronet
studded with real gems, rivaling those
in the state crowns of some living
monarchs, The suit of armor which G..
v. Brooks used in Richard the Third was
valued at over thousand dollars. Even
Reynolds armor in Henry "" which
was made in England, and is entirely Of
heavy steel, cost five hundred dollars.
A suit of mail, however, can be made OF
tin silver-gilt, to look quite as handsome
as the steel, for one-third of that sum.
In historical plays, and plays which go
under the name of COSTUME" pieces, the
dresses must necessarily be feature.
Those who saw Julius Cesar" recently
produced at Booths theatre and Brook
lyn Academy of Music; will have tolera-
BILE clear idea of the trouble and expense
involved in this branch of stage repre-
sentation alone. The costumes and
acooutrements used in that production
were really worth anybody's study. The
wardrobes of star actors generally are
acquired at an almost incredible expense,
and after much patient consultation of
authorities. Contemporary pictures are
the most trustworthy authorities the
actor can appeal to on mattersof costume,
but often, as in the case of Macbeth"
there are no contemporary picture to
appeal to. In the olden time they were
content to represent Hamlet or
4" Othe'lo," for example, in cooked hat,
gold-laced coat, and knee breeches-a
suit of toggery that nobody then thought
ridiculous. Garrick himself was not
above such incongruous dressing. Edwin
Booths costume in Hamlet" and
Salvini's in "Othello," well adapted to
mark the advance that has been made in
this art. The head-dress and cape of
fur, worn as one garment by Booth in
the last act of Hamlet" is a splen-
did instance of original yet appropriate
costuming; and Salvini's first dress in
"Othello," with its features of comedy
turban and flowing mantle, every one
perceives to be striking and graceful.
1t is in dressing for such parts that actors
have an opportunity of presenting the
results of their researches into the his
tory of costumes. and SO of impressing
their audience with the painstaking thor.
oughness of their art. Edwin Forrest
introduced little white in his " Hamlet !"
dress; Booth comes on all in black, or
black barely relieved with glimpse of
lavender, which is halfmourning. But
it is not always that Mr.. Booths ideas
of costuming seem to be SO well founded
on historical accuracy; for he once gave
caves, the costumer in Fulton street, an
order to make dresses for some ancient
Britons, which were to consist of cloth
tunics and pants drawn in at the ankles.
Garments of skins would certainly have
conformed more to the general opinion
of what was really the covering of our
semi barbarous ancestors, although they
would not have been so ready made up,
or so conveniently worn, as the TUNES
and pants.
Hardly any limit can be put to a star
actors costumes. A tragedian's kingly
robe of state can be made for hundred
and fifty dollars, and upward to an in
definite amount. His belt alone may
cost forty dollars, or it may cost four
thousand. The dress of a tragedienne,
likewise, may vie for cestliness with the
dresses of the wives of cabinet ministers
who have post-traderships in their pos
session.
There exists general understanding
between manager and actor as to the
is to furnish. The latter is expected to
be possessed of a whole outfit of modern
garments-coats, pants, neckties, hats and