Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-23

TAcascF-goin8 NuiSances.
From the New York Times.
Some social economist should try to find out
why the people who 60 to public places ofamuse-
ment have grown SO inconsiderate, inattentfve,
and selfish. It is true that the foles Of fashion
nave prevailed In all ages. The old English sat
irlsts have left us many entertaining pictures of
the difficulties to be met with by those who went
TO see and hear . play. Then, as now, people
Chartered during the progress of the piece and,
In general way, behaved with rudeness and
vuigarity. The times have improved, too, in the
matter OF the customs observed inside the thea
ter There are no vendors of oranges, no flower
sellers, permitted to range through the auditor
ium, as in the Oden time. But those of us who
nave passed their fortieth birthday NAV remem-
Der the audiences of their youth as being at least
tolerably attentive to the play. The present Gus
tom OF the theater- goer is to affect profound in
dllierance to all that goes forward on the stage
Perhaps our people have become bldse, perhaps
we have so exhausted pleasure that we go to the
opera or theater because we must do something
10 cheat Time Of his tedium; and the theater is q
place to see and be seen.
The inattentiOn of which we have made men,
ton is the cause of two or three theater-g going
nuisances. These nusances are the people who
arrive late at the tbeater, the people who go
away early and the people who chatter during
the performance. Other causes promote the
existence of other classes of nuisances to wit:
Men who go out between the acts ito practice
at the bar" and women who wear enormous
hats OF this last and most intolerable nuisance,
men must speak with bated BREATH They are
on dangerous ground when they assail any
fashion which lovely woman chooses to follow
But it must be admitted that the big hat at
performance, to enjoy which eyes must be used.
is something like permanent nuisance. 1t
cannot be avoided, and it usually stays until the
show is over. Perhaps all of the annoyances
herein referred to may be fairly charged to
thOughtlessness. There are many people who
are habitually late wherever they go. and others
don't care for the first act;' so they file into
their seats toward the close of that act, or just
after the curtain rises on the second act with
as much clatter and fuss as if they were the
only persons in front of the stage. No matter
how important to the audience is the dialogue
and action. or the singing, on the stage the
belated ones hustle in without any regard what
ever for the comfort and pleasure of those who
have gone to see the play or hear the opera. II
such people would only consider, when they
make their plans for the evening, that other
amusement seekers have some rights, their
thOughtfulneSs might urge them to be in their
seats when the curtain goes up. The shrewd
observer of mankind, when he sees two or three
people elbOwing their way to their seats and
causing eight or ten early Corners to rise up and
shut Off the stare from fifty others, says to him
self. "ThOse tardy ones are ill-mannered because
they are thoughtless." For all such there
should be positive rule fOrbdding any person
from entering the seated spaces while the cur
tain is raised.
have charity. Many of them are servants in
houses where there is standing order, "Ser-
wants must be indoors before half-past ten
O'Clock at night" 1t is true that they often
make weak attempt to impose upon the public
by wearing the garments of their masters and
mistresses. But when, after glancng uneasy
at their borrowed time-peces, and appearing to
calculate how long it will take them to reach
home and skurry in by the basement door, they
rise and snatch themselves away, just in the
middle of the finale of the piece-when they do
this, we recognize an unmistakable trait of ''sar-
ventgalism," and are sorry for them. Well-bred
people do not arrive late at the theater. But it
would not be fair to say that only ll-bred people
go away while the performance is in progress,
for many city servants have better manners
than their mistresses Then, again, mothers
who have careless nurse-maids, and who are
anxious about 1.-The baby" cannot be expected
to sit on needles and pins, as it were, until the
curtain falls.
The selfish people who arrive late, and the
servants who must GO away early, are not after
all, SO serious annoyances as the chatterers
When the person who goes to enjoy the play or
opera finds squad of chatterers near him, just
after the curtain goes up, he may as well give
up his evenings entertainment. Mere whisper
affects an undertone that is SO audible that one
needs must hear what she Cor he) has to say
The chatterers make running comments on the
play, the house, and current news of the day.
They seem to assume that what they have to
say is vastly more entertaining than the per-
fOrmance behind the foetli@htS. Chattering in
place of public amusement. during the pro-
Sress OF the program, is umitigated vulgaIity
Some OF the other nuisances are defensible
The chatterer conspicuously adyertises his Cor
herr ill manners.
AS for the young men who 90 out between
the acts to drink or smoke and who come back
redOent of gin and tobacco there is hope of
them. When they are older and have more
sense they will learn better manners They will
outgrow this youthful folly The discour-
aging feature of the case is that the ranks of
the weak-minded are continually replenished
from the advancing generation of boys
When male infants are forbidden to smoke
cigarettes and tipple beer the next rank above
them in age will be more worthy of admiration
than now. And when that happy time arrives
lovely woman will think twice before she puts
on her PREDETERMINED hat, nodding with plumes
and decked with gimcracks, when she is adorn-
ing herself for the theater. One of those ire
mendous hats in front of person at the play is
an aggravated nuisance. With two or three be-
fore one the stage is in total eclipse and the
performers might as we'll be behind the curtain
SO far as their action is concerned. The wearers
OF these hats are, to say the least, very selfish
anu mcOnslderatc. In some European COun-
tries they would not be permitted to make their
head gear nuisance. Let US hope however
that the frequent admonitions that have been
addressed to the ornamental sex will induce
them to take in sail before gale of popular
disapprOyal wrecks the offensive finery.
A Cold Day for Magic.
From the San Francisco Post.
Everybody has read the marvellous stories of
travelling magicians mystifying people by ex-
hibting their skill in public places. OF all the
leading wizards such stories are published, and,
in fact, they have the discernment to see that no