The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-07-28
HONOLULU BY NIGHT.
The Chinese T~heatre--Its Appear
ance and Its Audience.
The Stage, the Orchestra, the Play
and the Hash House.
rBy TIE Midnight ProwlsTl

t.1Crazt 10 under tn -,llIuce and protection
Of the Special. who laL i-t u- safely in the region
Of Iauudnes and Odors at
THE CHINESE THEATRE.
The building Is not remarkable for Its archi-
tsctural beauties. but it answers the requirements
Of our Celestial population. Everything Is plain,
verv plain. especially the rafters where the cell
inc ought 10 be. Admission, two bits, but We
cot in as dead heads, 4" on the never" The first
tbiug that attracted attention was q large clock
hing AGAINST the wall IN the center Of the stage.
On either side Of the clock are superscriptIOns
which were not translated; doubtless they were
pIav bills. The orchestra sits at the back Of the
stage. behind the actors. We thought 1t 4 pity
they didn't go further back towards Nuuanu
Valley. \ hole IN the vail dIscioses the
prompter's box, and on either side OF this are
the means Of ingress and egrsss for the perform
ers. The house was full, there was q good piece
on. We were IN luck. \ glance around the house
disclosed several hundred Cinnamon IN the PIT,
all smoking. all with their hats Oh and all listen
inc inteutly to the performance. We then be-
came t,uey and went to the dress circle, which
Has also very well pltronizei. One native lady
sat In the center, and there were several Chinese
Ladies in q private box. There are four private
boxes. and all were occupied. 1t was evidently
= GOOD night for the treasury. The appliances
for lighting are primitive, very. They consist
Of three kerosene lamps at the back Of the stage
and three common oil lamps, containing IN all
seven burners, that were suspended from the
~rafters. These smoked and smelt like torches.
At intervals they were lowered and more oil put
in so that we shouldn't fud ourselves, like the
foolish virgins, IN the dark. The atmosphere was
somewhat dense from the sraoky lamps and the
-.
The ladies', however, seemed not to mind it, so
smoking was continued. The band IS har-
monious, to the Chinese ear; to our ears it re-
sembled the noise caused by the haInmering and
kicking Of several zinc wash tubs. There was a
violin, a Chinese violin. Yerbum sap. There
was another instrument. This was novel to US
in appearance, but the sound was not unknown.
It rosembIed the drawing OF cOrks, from the
diminutive drug store cork to the Geneva gin
and the aristocratic champagne cork. The gin
sound pleased Us best, it was the most familiar.
The audience was decidedly cosmopolitan. There
was the a-istocratic Monaghan, as we'll as the
more humble Iaborer; there were the tall, the
thin. the short, the stout, the old and the young,
those who hadhad smallpox and those who had
not. All were quiet and orderly. and rapt up in
THE PLAY.
When we arrived the priml donna of the COM
pany was in front singing a solo. From subse-
quent proceedings it appeared that she repre-
scented one Of the Expresses Of China. For
there were several Expresses her costume was
quite too all but, she carried in her hand a whisk
TO brush the flies off her face, in fact, all the
ladies did the same, and seated herself gracefully
on a chair, with a bit Of red stuff over it, repre-
sentiug the throne. Suddenly the villain ap-
peared and eudeavored to remove Her Highness
by force, but was 50 pounded by the maids IN
waiting that he yamoOsed the ranch. His place
was taken by a gentleman who Hshered in a lady
with a whip, the band making II dreadfully dis
cordant din. She was evidently distracted with
grief for she knelt down before the Empress and
finally whirled her head around with such velo-
city that her hair formed q regular circle about
six feet in diameter, taking her head for the
center. When she felt giddy she retired and
made way for an old gentleman, with a long
beard and two long feathers stuck in his head,
who was one of the EmperOrs. There was evil
IDENTIFY some law suit before the court, aud the
woman, who pleaded her own cause, obtained a
verdict. Then some scouts, gorgeously clad IL
crimson, came to spy out the land on behalf Of
an enemy Of Emperor Number One. The En-
press was seated on a chair raised on top Of a
I4ule Auu "a lOL8 tDllplAE tu7utuf u "hAl III
the world it was about, none of US could under
stand. She evidently understood it however, as
she went for the intruder, aud, with the assist
ance Of her maids, efectuaIIy turned him out.
Another fight followed in which Her Highness
got Knocked down, she didn't mind it as she
kicked up her heels and trottel of. Then we
had a priest and two more Emperors and attend
ants who settled matrimonial matters for the
boss Emperor his bIushing bride-to-be was in
troduced, and, after the fashion Of the country
she concealed her face from his august gaze.
One man tried TO get 10 the ceremony, as We
had done to the show, on the cheap, but he was
turned out amidst immense applause. The con-
traltO appeared for the first time and favored Us
with a song, as did t. tenor, who came along
with q baby in his arms which nobody would
own. so II was finally handed over To the
newly-wedded Empress. There was a man with
red, white and blue face whose costume, We
this to young VI, would do we'll for
the next appearance Of the Antiques aud HoT-
ribIes. For the next half hour everybody fought
with everybody else, and As nobody was killed,
or II they were they came to life again, We got
disguised and left. The costumes were generally
tasteful and rich, especially a red satin night
gown and 4 pair Of wings worn by the lawyer
who went around Aourishing his deeds in every
body's face. We presumed he thought that the
wings would help him TO a better land as
there Is a generally expressed opinion that
lawyers seldom find their way there. The
supposed mother wore black aud old gold. She
was a good helpmate in the serimmages, flooring
her men IN less than no time. The Boss Emperor
was accompanied by his Minister Of Finance, who
carried the money bags
THE HASH HOUSE
l. situated to the left Of the main vestibule. and
contains everything from hot soup down to cold
peanuts. We didn't try anything. although No A.
$50 had made up his mind to be poisoned with n
cake as bilious looking as the most bilious look
ing Chinaman. We didn't want an inquest, so
dragged him away. \ perfume that savors o
this city Of Cologne Is highly attractive in the
neighborhOod OF the theatre At low tide, as it
was on Monday night. This is used as an
essence for havOring the cookies.
The play, which is still going on. will conclude