Morning journal and courier., 1884-11-12

lights the booming of cannons and the dis
 charge of pyrotechnics. Had the play ended
 right here I should have thought that I had
 seen enough glamor for one evening-or one
 century, in fact; but had not begun to see
 the wonders which have been aggregated
 (without much coherence) into this one
 spectacle" The second act introduced 6 peasant girl who came in where basket of
 these wonderful eggs had been left She
 tried one of them and a lovely white shoe floated down to her. Another and the shoe had replaced the old one on her foot, while 8 l white silk stocking was where soiled brown
 one had been. A third egg, after a song or
 two, and the remaining limb was similarly equipped Of course these changes must l have been effected through the floor some l how, but her feet were visible all the time ! and it was done in twinking Another i folding of scenes out of sight and the full stage appeared. Myriads of tiny children 1 came out equipped with miniature saws, l wheelbarrows, planes, hods, hatchets and | boards upon their shoulders. A palace be- | gan to come up out of the floor at the rear of | the stage with scaffolding in front of it. As l it slowly ascended the workmen mounted 1 rious parts of the scaffolding and ascended l with it. The echoes of the hammer and saw
 were heard, while horses with drays of mate 1 rial were led up to the building that was in process of construction. It was an animated l scene. Some of the little ones were engaged 1 in occupations that could hardly be consid l cred accessory to the building of the palace l such as blacksmithing and gardening. At l length the pile had reached the top of the stage-loft, and the scaffolding dropped away from it through the foor The basement un- der that stage must have been forty oT fifty | feet deep Then all the children rose, their l days work done, gathered up the imple
 ments of their industry and were gone. Each one had the special thing which he was to
 carry off, so that in a moment as it were, the crowded stage was cleared of everything ex- cept single enormous (stutfed) beam. The smallest child of all returned presently and carried off that beam amid great applause and good-natured laughter.
 Night came on. Presently sparks appeared
 from the palace, accompanied by smoke and
 then by flames. Two little boys came walk
 ing along, saw the fire, threw up their hands
 and rushed away for help. In a moment 8 miniature fire brigade appeared with hand engines, hose carts, ladders, trumpets, etc. The youngsters wore helmets and uniforms and went to work in earnest. A little later the militia arrived to guard the prop erty and make arrests, as they did in one or two cases where treacherous helpers were carrying off valuables. Then came two real fire engines, drawn by horses that came in upon the stage at full gallop. The l vastness of the stage was apparent from the | diminutive appearance of these engines by | contrast. The twinkling of the lanterns, | the leaping of the flames and the throbbing 1 of the engines, which were really fired | up," all tended to make the scene startling 1 ly realistic.
 The conf1agration scene gave way to a l milling scene, and this to boating scene, | I believe. I could not trace the sequence 1 of things at all and presume there none. 1
 The act was closed by grand ballet and | apotheosis that eclipsed anything in either | the prologue or the previous act The reg ular body of dancers numbered about fifty, | led by the best talent of the French capi tai; while the three hundred other partici pants were ranged in phalanxes on the sides and at the back of the stage. The cos tunes were so varied and fanciful as to de- fly description. How anyone ever had the ingenuity to devise so many novel and pretty l combinations exceeds my comprehension. The delicacy of the color blendings es- pecial1y noticeable There were pinks and | violets, and buffs and lavenders, and purples and crimsons, and creams and sea-greens and | oranges all mingled in exquisite confusion. l The costumes displayed in the whole piece l could not have been under fifteen hundred in | number, and I do not believe that sueh law ishness would be justified in any city in the 1 world except theatre going Paris 2 But I started to give some faint impression of this Advertisement It seemed to repre- | sent 8 carnival of illuminators. Each per son carried some sort of 8 lamp lantern. There were some bands that carried Japanese lanterns, others that bore lighted torches i aloft others with many armed candelabra, and others with glittering baubles at the tops of long gilt staffs. A phalanx of twen- ty damsels had immense brass helmets on their heads and shields in front, the glitter of which was scarcely endurable their wearers danced down to the footlights. Of l wings, fancy hats, flags and unique decora- tions there was no end The music was catchy and the evolutions of the dancers were verify the poetry of motion. A stage
 ,5oI all posing or dancing in bewildering but sys- 1 tenatic confusion, is Terpsichorean exhibi- 1 ton that is not often seen except in Paris.
 The apotheosis at the close was a fitting finale to the act The cloud scenery in the extreme background rolled away, disclosing a magnificent example of aerial suspension | The floating fair ones were in the midst of a gigantic star of Edison incandescent jets, made up of stars of the same, that were also made of stars.
 When the curtain went down it was hard at first to see the gas jets by which the orches- electrical display. Upon the rising of the curtain in the third act more comedy followed. Glorified peasant number one came in, sang awhile, and then seated himself in canopied alcove. No. ? entered, and exploded an egg. The pavilion rose eight or ten feet, disclosing chair in a story below in which No. 9 ensconced him self. No. 3 now loomed up, exploded an 1 egg, and seated himself in the next story be- low, which had generously come up now entered. discovered No. 3 and began spooning with him, having seated herself in a chair beside him. Princess drops hand kerchief and No. stoops to pick it up. In the meanwhile chair glides up to second story, princess resumes her love making with No. ,, without noticing the difference for a and No. tries to find someone up- on whom to bestow the handkerchief. Sur prises all around. Chair jumps up to third story when the interested parties are look ing away from each other, and more sur prises follow. Mo- 1 is about to bestow his first kiss, when princess disappears, etc., etc.
 Suffice it to pass over the other novelties of the act, and mention the grand carnival of musical instruments with which it ended.
 There was another full stage flooded with electrical illuminations. The scenery rep | resented the porticoes of palace construct ed entirely of musical instruments. The great staircase consisted of piano eyboards. In came the instruments, huge drums from which the wearers head protruded, bass viols, immense silver horns with the face looking out of window, slender flutes, deons, hand-organs. etc. Fifty boys { with tiny drums came run ming in, and seated themselves on the key board steps. Then fifty girls with bright metal saucerS around tnelf Wa1StS, represent 1 ative of table bells. Then fifty more girls with dresses like church bells and the clappers their shoulders. Then fifty more with tambourine hats and dress Then an immense animated harp, the supports of which were two fair naidens, whose dresses were formed by the yilt scroll-work of the harp, and so on. There were melodious little snatches of and vocal music attending the ad- vent of each class of instruments, and finally a grand pandemonium of singing, dancing, bell ringing, tambourine rapping, &c.,, as the curtain went down.
 The final apotheosis was preceded by an exercise intended at once to give an idea of the uses to which stage floor may be put ] and to give time for the preparation of the last tableau. Elves and satyrs in green tights appeared and disappeared in every possible way. I have seen such exhibitions before, but usually the athletes have popped up through only three or four places in the