Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-11-11

The Scenes OF the Opening Night-A
brilliant Throng Present At the First
| FerfOrmance-A Dedicatcry Poem
Read and a Brief Address by the
Manager-The Acoustic Properties OF
the House. &c.
The circumstances attending the opening last
evening OF the new opera house, erected by the
washington Light Infantry Corps, were most graf
Trying TO the friends OF the corps and satisfactory
10 the public The seating capacity OF the house,
which Is about two thousand, was fully tested to
accommodate the throngs that graced this initial
| performance For some time after the hour ap-
| pointed for the performance to begin, car
| rlageS continued to roll up and discharge their
loads The evening costumes OF the ladies' brought
out in the strong glare of the electric lights about
the entrance. gave rise TO many adm1ring COM
ments by an interested crowd OF spectators that
lined the pavement and the opposite side of the
street The only evidence that the building had
| just emerged from the hands OF the wOrkmen was
visible In the Hobbies and stairs, which still need
finishing touches This. however, only served to
gance of the interior. The general verdict was one
| OF satisfaction both with the Arrangement OF the
interior and the excellent taste shown in the orna-
mentat1on.
was worthy OF the rich surroundings While eve
ming toilets were very general many elegant street
costumes were noticeable among the ladies' the
occasion being generally recognized as one of more
than usual moment, both in social and dramatic
circles.
The new chairs were found to be very comfort
able, and this was a circumstance which, in the
general interest Of the evening" did not pass with
out comment. In the lower boxes on the left OF
the stage were the members Of the building COM
mlttee or the w. L. cOrpS-Capt. j. T. Dyer, chair
man; Capt John s. Miller. Lieut.. E. H. Nuemeyer,
Thos Somerville and Geo. F. Timms; the archi-
tects. Messrs ". Bruce Gray and H. L. Page; the
contractor, Mr.. D. J. mccarthy, and Mr.. w. s. Roose
and Col Geo. B. Corkhill. In the upper box were
Mr. Justice Miller. with the commanding officer,
"a fOhf info nfry oo6y oHlorS
his stan-Messrs. A. w. Kelley, E. G. Wheeler DR..
ii. E. Leach and DR.. T. E. McArdle In the upper
man, Miss Minnie Evan and Miss Eiie Rodier and
others The members OF the corps, in their full
dress uniform, were scattered about in the au-
dience, and helped to add to the wealth and glow
| OF color which marked the scene.
OF the general current of warm praise be-
slowed upon everything and everybody the drop
curtain received a very large share 1t was in the
form OF rich blue plush hanging in graceful folds
from the top OF the proscenum arch. for fifty feet,
then a rich border OF woven Persian stuff, COM
pleted with fringe six feet long,
THE PRELIMINARY EXERCISES.
This curtain was parted in the middle shortly
after O'Clock, and Mr. E. B. Hay stepped to the
foot lights He was greeted with round OF ap-
plauSe. He then rected very effectively pOetlcal
inaugural address. which was written for Manager
Albaugh by Mr.. John V. Hood, of Baltimore Upon
the conclusion OF the address, the curtain was rung
up. disclosing upon the stage the members of
the Emma Abbott opera company. The orchestra
began to play "The Star Spangled Banner" an
Miss Abbott. dressed as the Queen OF Babylon ap-
peared and bowed her acknowledgements to the
repeated rounds OF applause which greeted her.
Then she rendered the national hymn, the company
Joining in the chorus After these preliminaries
| the orchestra began the overture to the opera OF
''Semramde,' and during this interval President
Arthur entered. accompanied by Mr. John Davis.
Mrs. Davis, and Miss Frel1nghuysen. They were
ushered to the lower box the right Of the stage
senator Don Cameron and Mrs. Cameron were al
ready In the box and later In the evening Mr. Phil
lips. the private secretary, joined the party. The
performance OF the opera then begun, and went
along with great smoothneSs considering that the
stage fittings had so recently been put in.
THE MANAGER AND THE ARCHITECT CALLED OUT.
When the curtain fell On the second act there
were loud calls for Mr.. Albaugh, and that gentle
man appeared before the curtain. In response
to the warm reception he made brief speech
thanking the audience for their attendance and
expressing the hope that he would be as success
ful In the management as the Light Infantry was
In the erection OF magnificent opera house. Upon
the conclusion OF his remarks handsome basket
OF flowers was presented to the manager, who,
amid renewed applause bowed his acknowledge
ments The audience then began to clamOr for Mr..
Gray, the architect who planned the building and
superintendent its construction 1t was with some
difficulty that his friends Overcame his native
modesty and induced him to crafty the audience.
Finally, under the escort OF Col Corkhill, he APP
peared and bowed in recognition OF the enthusiasts
| tic reception which was accorded to him. Col.
Corkhill said pleasantly that Mr.. Gray was small
| man, but had built big theater. basket Of
| flowers was handed to Mr. Gray and he retired
The opera was then proceeded with and held the
attention OF the audience until the close. Miss
AoDOtt In the presentation last evening showed
the same faithful attention to the details that has
distinguished all her career as lyric artist.
Although there were fully 1900 persons present.
yet the method OF exit is so ample that the house
was e:nptied very leisurely in six minutes. The
acoustic properties of the house OF course received
much attention from those who attended In cr1tt-
cal frame OF mind, and general satisfaction was ex-
| pressed with the new theater this score. The
arrangements are such as to render 1t possible to
hear with ease in any part of the house. The re-
celpts last evening were $3,137 A special train
brought over from Baltimore a number of the
friends of Manager Albaugh In that city, besides
representatives or newspapers.
Two JUVENILE WITNEssEs-Yesterday morning
In the Criminal Court, when William Moore
small cOlOred boy, was on trial for second ofense
OF petit larceny, the principal witnesses were
the result OF telling lie under oath, and one Of
them answered that he would be killed and another
that his mother would whip him. The jury found
verdict OF guilty, and Moore was sentenced TO one
! year In the reform school.
CONVICTED OF Observation-Disclosures in
| the Criminal Court, Judge Wye. four young men
| John kelser, VIM. Walsh, Frederick Joseph and
James Murphy-indicted for hOuSebreaking, in en-
tering the store OF o. r. WixOm in June last. The
| principal witness was James Spaight, an accom-
pce, testified to the plot to rob the StOre that
keIser ard Walsh went over the transom to COM
case was given TO the jury, whO after three hours
| absence, found verdict against all but Murphy,
and they We're sentenced to five years each in the
| Albany penitentiary Exceptions having been
| taken TO the ruling Of the court, execution OF the
sentence was suspended till ten days after the
| next General Term.
A WIFE's SUIT FOR DIvoRcE.-TO-day Sallie s.
Emmerick, by Gen. s. S. Henke, filed bill for d.
vorce from Cornelius Emmerick, with permission
| 10 resume her maiden name OF Atkinson. They
were married here In November, 1875, and lived to-
! gether till February 2Sth, 1885, when she alleges
that he deserted her without just and after
wards went 10 Dakota She charges that before
| leaving her he lived with another woman as his
mistress at house on 4 street.
! Nathan Brown. both cOlOred. were charged in the
Police Court this morning with disturbing the SER
vices at the North Washington mission, cOlOred,
where religious revival IS going on. Rev. Samuel
johnson, the pastor, testified to their diSOrderly
| conduct, and Judge Smell fined them s. each.
| MARRIAGE LICENsES-Marriage licenses have been
| Issued by the clerk OF the court to Eugene
| Windsor and Fannie Ferguson, both OF Prince
| George county, Md; Geo. w. Henson and Julia
Beckett; Geo. w. Holt, Jr, and Bertha A. osborne;
Geo. johnson and Lizzie Jackson, both OF Bethesda
| Md; Thos W. Fague, OF Baltimore, and Mary Z.
| Ferguson.
| THE SUNDAY SCHOOL INSTITUTE.-The annual In.
Stitute, under the auspices OF the Sunday school
union Of the District will be held during the week
| beginning Monday, November 18th. Rev. j. H.
Vincent. ID. d., the conductor, Is to be assisted BY
Rev. j. ;. OStrander in normal work. and Mrs. j. S.
OStrander In her SpecialJy OF primary class in.