New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-17
LONDON TOPICS.
PRESS, PRINCE, PROFESSIONS AND PLAYS

| Very well DONE indeed" was 'ho sono :,
mark of the guests of the proprietors Oh Inc Du"y
TELEGRAPH on the soiree by which the openihs VI "o
new buildings of that extremely successful paper
.oo aoIonr;zad Nothing was wanting-howers,
draneries music. electric light tho novelty Vi
nr,nt;nO machinery celebrities of both sexes Roy
altv itself at late hour of the evening and all 'nat
| ot,rocts Royalty in this country: love, honor'
troops of friends and the cheers OF fleet-sI' oo'
| Not the least remarkable thing about IL was tio
| spectacle of what for want OF better PHRASE L
| NET describe as the expectation of the Prince
of Wales's arrival 1t was known he was 10 De a'e'
| His previous engagements for the evening lhcluueu
the French play and State concert at buckingham
| Palace and from this latter 1t WAS supposed TIC
| might get away about o'clock on thursday ihoIh.
ing The subdued murmur and restessness OF
| n,ovep,ant which heralds the coming of the heir
| annarent began rather before 1. People deserted
| the machinery and came up from the supper-room
below and gathered in the counting-room winch
all throuch the evening had been the chlei recep
| ton hail They thronged about the entrance
Cbo clrs.e,ed on the staircase which faces IT. The
| cronns at that end of the hall became denser and
denser great many of those who were
most eager people 10 WHOM INC
sight of a prince is assuredy no novelty,
Among them were oven some members OF the hoyai
Household. and at least great official, whose
| app0iuUutNl ID HILL " IliOh' pA' "''''
except on a nobleman of certain rank and social
| position.
| This went on for another hour hear, the Prince
nof arriving till half-past Q can hardly tell You
| what happenel then for | had gone away. and
| fear | have aroused a curiosity which nave no
means of satisfying. But nothing said or done upon
the actual coming of the Prince of Wales can have
been 50 Characteristic as the pIeliminaries. l only
know fra,n friends who LOYALTY stayed later that
there were The usual manifestations and then
| snpper and tfen another promenade In the MIDST
of the printing machines and that the party dld not
finally break up till past In the morning, Wneh
they had the happiness of carrying away with mem
| complete copies of the paper whose marvellous
! prosperity they were celebrating
The notion some sorts Of people have about jour
nalism Will perhaps seem an odl one in America
a notion winch little hut true anecdote may illus
trate. ] knew a vonng Briton who drove away
from The rally telegraph soree on the box of his
mothers carriare. said tho coachman 10 him
PRAY sir is il true that this ere is newspaper
| Office AS you've "a been tor The young Briton
said it was, and seeing what a deep
puzzle the cOachman was in, added that
the Prince of Wales had been of
the company. "Well, sir, reioincd Jehu, after
much thought "if So be as the Prince has been, YOU
may be sure it was in hanson and on the quiet"
Professional life of any sort is not much better
! than journalism from the same point of view. III
deed the domestic servant seems to be the most
critical person now extant, Mr.. Mowbray Morris,
perhaps excepted. The wife Of fashionable ply
| stefan living in Mayfair is responsible for this
story. She was in want of q cook and resorted 10
the advertising columns of The Times. One Of the
advertisers to whom she wrote entered the house. it
would appear, without noticing the brass plate on
the door which here announces the doctors resi-
deuce bat heard on her way up stairs into what
| manner Of dwelling she had been beguiled. She
sailed into the drawing-Ioom, and without preface
of any sort delivered her soul thus II you please
| num- sad partckler in my advertisement that J
| wanted o situation in geatiemGas family, and /
| WON'T tronble you further" And SO sailed out
| again.
| The second season of French PLAYS has not been
altogether a good one financially. The COquelins
| and their colleagues from the Theatre Francals,
though beginning With good houses, have in the end
| failed 10 fill the Gaety, and somebody must he
| loser by the speculation. This III success is the
| mora snrprising because NJ. CoquelIn the elder IS
ey treuely popular in London, and has bern on the
| whole well supported But there is "A reason for
| everything and generally more than one, and there
| is difficulty about French season which proves
serious one under the present system The public are
| asked TO subscribe long time IN advance, and
programme is submitted to them on which the
| plavs for each night are duly SET down. But Lon
don in June and July has nearly as much as 1t
| knows how 10 DO without counting the theatre.
Many people who understand French and would be
| Glad to see play or two
if il proved convenient at the time,
dislike 10 pledge their evenings long beforehand.
They ike II the less because the price of stall is
guinea $50. and III these days of general pinching
| guinea is a large sum to throw away When the
| night comes for which it has been pad there may
be dinner to which they had rather go than
| to the play and must 60 if they are engaged.
| To bny stalls and boxes as they wanted is.
under this system. often diifcult matter. The
agents have but moderate supply, and if there is
anything like a demand they put up the prices TO a
very high figure.
| Beside, the programme is not to be depended on.
The maladies and oapriccs of artists don't much in
terfere with it, but royal or rather princey wishes
| interfere good deal. The Prince and Princess of
Wales go when they can, and if the bill for the
evening does not happen to suit Them, they calmly
| intimate to the manager that they would like
! if changed and changed it Is. This 1 have
known to happen twice this year in very strong cir
cnInstances when Nine. Sarah Bernhardt was to
| plav in lie Sphinx There was great curiosity to
see Nine Sarah III the leading part of that piece and
everything was sold for both nights The Prince
saw it the first evening, and as 1t happened to be
convenient for HIM to go again the night following,
and he did not want 10 see the same play twice,
another piece was substituted. Probably the man
acer cannot resist a royal command, but the public
does not know why the change is made, and notion
of bad faith gets abroad
The rendering of the famous death scene in lie
Sphinx" by Mme Sarah Bernhardt was wholly
| unlike the rendering by Mile. Croizette The real
ism, or 10 use the modern word naturalism, of the
latter found no favor with her successor, who