The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-02-18
Oscar wilde's first Appearance in New
York.

AT the eide Of this stage, at $3.50 or there
abOuts, door uOiselcssly opened and a man and
vision appeared. The vision, which was round
sh1uldeTed, glded halfway across the stage aud
sank into one OF the fifteenth century chairs. 4
noise filed the house that was half applause and
halt laughter. The man advanced to the desk
pronounced few unheard words OF Introduction,
bowed and quilted the stage The vision arose
and stood behind the desk, and Oscar Wilde and
his first New York audience made the ne
qulintance Of each other.
The poet was tall. but modified his height tD "A
due measure by rounding his shoulders. His
hnir, brown, waving and fluffy, was parted in
the middle, aud fell, like that IN the picture of
Charles H. to hts shoulders. 'ts face looked
iorth as between set Of soft window curtains,
white. beardle-s, smiling and mild. The features
were Irish much toned dDwn. prominent, but not
strong. The brOw-the little triangular area to
be seen Of It, that Is-was wholly placid and un-
marked and the eyebrows were neat, delicate
and arched. Of the SORT coveted By women. He
wore "A swallow tailed cJat Of the ordinary pat
tern, n white waistcJat low cut and double but
toned. n pair Of knee-breeches. black silk
stockings. and low counter shoes. His broad
expansc Of his shirt front was punctured in the
exnct centre by diamond stud, and fine hand
kerchief thrust negIzeutly in between il and
his wascOlt. \ ribbon and seal dangled below
the latter garment. His collar turned down. not
very wide and not very low, and a white silk tie
was evenly knotted beneath IT. His upper aud
hIs middle section mathematical and cOmmOn-
place.
The first greeting accorded TO the poet as he ad-
yaneed to tie slender pul pit and bent Leg that
Was quite a. slender in order to put foot upon
the base Of 10. was unmista kable and rude gig
gle. HIS fee retained IT. placid expression he
laid the manuscripts of lecture upon the desk and
bowed lie began Immediately To read. aud the
gigglng quickly sub-ided- Eyes which had
changed uumistakeabe opinions with other eyes
rod ffs
ard the audience assumed the appearance Of an
audience 10 ordinary. Ills delivery was a mono
tone not once interrupted. His emissions Of hu-
NOR even were delivered IN the regular intOua .IOn
and they gathered piquancy doubtless from the
fact After ten minutes, save when joke drop
ed in, the cadence alone asserted itself, and Mr..
Wilde sounded like schOOlbOy scanning HJra-
tio ; 6rst ode. lie had hIs lecture pretty we'll
committed. and he read with his head thrown
back and his large eyes rowing softly back aud
forth between the galleries
Two OF his utteranccs which provoked mirth
were these Satire j. the homage which iguO-
rance pays % genius 10 disagree with three
Elurths OF ali England on all points - one Of the
first elements OF sanity. An idea OF his intona-
tim may be conveyed in this sentence: e. Keats
was pUTe-and supc-rIJr artist.
IL not long after the beginning Of the lee
ture that the audience began TO evince symptoms
OF wcariuess- Opera glasses were levelled toward
all points. and people more and more showed
interest in one another. Gny-headed and bald
men, though plainly tried hard, could not avoid
looking sheepish. y whispering rose in the back
seats and erept gradually through the center au-
ditorium At the end Ut an hour men who were
alone took 20 fumbIing their facial features, and
smiled vaguely. But the young poet kept on, his
brow serene and his smile still with him, and all
he did for his own relief twice TO elevate his
right foot in place Of his left foot, and once to el
eVate his left foot in place Of his right foot. lt
was after 10 when his cadence ceased, and he bOw-
ed The audience rose at once, and he had pass
ed through the little door before they remember
ed to applaud him. The applauded then, and he
came back and once more bowed. Audience and
poet then separated for the night