The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1883-02-13

the Antonio specialties, and concluded
with the farce My Uncle John,
or 1.-THE Cashmere Shawl" Here is
another. 1t is Drury Lane, March
4, 1926. Ii gives the drama Of '-Faus-
tus, in three acts. the Clio of the
.AntouiOs' aud concludes with the en-
tire opera of 'Freischutz.' You see
that the theater-golng public got the
worth of It's money in those old DAYS.
| can remember we'll when the gallery
gods at the Bowery would have torn
down the building if the performance
didn't ran till midnight, anu To ACCOM-
mediate their prejudice the manage
ment resorted TO all sorts of farces and
in,eriudes In those days there were
no street cars, and visit TO the thea
ter was looked upon as nearly an all
night job. But all this has been
chsnsed. and possibly for tie best
The Hunchback' or AS You Like IL
is certainly enough for Il rersou to d.
gest In the course of an evening AMI
yet have a Christian time"
"What do you find from leok at
those old bills:" continued the Signor.
why. You find that the stage has
wofuiiy degeueratej. Glance at that
.Hunchbsck' cast at the Chestnut
all trained artists, capable Of almost
anything in the dramatic line at a
moments notice. Meme of this scrub
business you see to-day. Because a
fellow could sing sons or dance a
dance or recite few lines of Shakes
peare acceptably. he didn't regard
himself as a star Now you nave as
MANY stars oh earth rs there are In
heaven, and most of them look about
as we'll tn the observer. All a mis-
take. sir. all a mist ke don't sup
pose the old stock company system
could be applied 10 the whole United
States to-day under the changed con-
dition Of dramatic business; but it
should ne kept alive in the large cities.
The esprit du corps is gone. it seems
t. me. Tastes have become mawkish
and depraved. Under the old regime,
when the great Fannie Elsler came.
prejudice compelled her to appear and
dance in dresses reaching to her ankles
and even then the ladies would put
their handkerchiefs to their faces to
hide their bushes. Nowadays the
handkerchief is dropped altogete er.
apd the ladies growl if the premier
daneuse is encountered with more
than short skirt. Everything caters
to the spectacular, and the purity of
stage art is gone" Here the Signor
heaved a sigh from he sole Of lis
boots. The hook containing the GER
life ties was then produced. 1t CON-
tains over d hundred famous auto
graphic letters from the secretaries of
royalty, the Lord Mayors of London,
and various dignitaries of Paris. Ber-
lin and St. Petersburg.
Here" said the Signor, "are tw*
o. special interest. They certainly
were. One was an ELUSIVE letter of
commentator, in the clear running
hand of Sheridan Knowles, and anoth-
or, brief. but emphatic testimonial
to III Diavolo III The ciamped and ir-
regular chirography of Charles KEN
bic. Another of value was a hearty
endorsement. of the performance of
Antonio" written by VIM Wood.
At the time it was penned. he was. in
confidential capacity, acting for
Queen Caroline, and served laier as
counsel for the Queen when that bru-
tai cid hog. George ". had her tried
for an alleged fall from domestic grace.
'Of course she was s9uitted." remark
ed the Signor, "because no tirst-ciass
gentleman would compromise a queen
in his testimony. and farther. because
the action brought was generally
thought To he hesrtiess and grOundless
1t was espeech of this man Wood
that settle the question, He Was
great attorney Ia his day.
before you CO. said the Signor.
''le; NE show YOU a curiosity" He
went To an old drawer AMI fished up a
shop worn photograph. The outlines
were visible enough, but the features
were very indistinct. 1t was a @onen.
with dark ewes and long curls, and
suppcrtably regular features.
ANY special points about thisY
queried the reporter.
well, rather. Tn at is picture
of the famous Ella Zosra, who created
as much excitement in this country
and Europe in her day as Patti is Gre
ating now, and the beauty of it was
that the entire fabric of her fortune
was built Oh the most gigantic founda-
ton Of frand. Remember s. @
S,okes. t,,e circus man. He used To