The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-02-16
COLONEL P. DOMAIN, ON THE OF
 AT CHICAGO
Nt. l.ouls speaa,oI.

St Louis Speetator
 aiancl Donan can put pen to paper that he does no, wnfe something reada- ble The extract from private letter l published two weeks ago was so widely capled. and the following paragraph from another private letter from Chicago under date af January .7th, to l gentleman trend m St. Louis. contains 50 many points of interest tha, publish, even at the ,isk of offending our Chicago subscri- bets The Abbey opera season here has ihus .n been d noisy. high-pnced dsap pain,men;. almos, big enough to be de- nauneed as d fraud. The company in- elade whole constellation of alleged ,tus buf many of them are only boy ,rattns ~lll-o-the-wIsps. or jack ian ems. that could only be mistaken for ce- Lesttal inminaries in a very dark night or by pery inebriated astronomer, while others are comets that swing a vast amount oi reputational trail to very little real merit None of them are of the first magnitude. unless Sembrieh, Nilsson and amp4niHi are to be set down as such Tn he sideria charts of squalliferous ar and oi these, Sembrich and Nilsson have been hoatse with bad colds, and Campa- nina has been drunk as boiled owl. "Wednesday night, the closing scene of Lohengnn had to be omi,ted entirely an account of his " indisposition." and i.,s, night in "Carmen his eyes looked like chunks of salt maekerel fred in ran cd oh. D. the heieminine celebrities, Sem bC.ch .s delightful. with voice sweet as a Annehaha oi honey, purhng trout oraok pt maple syrap. the @arbling ot laiIan harpS at eNentIde. oi the cooing ot whole woods-f8il of rainbow-,inted .-o2cs Nilsson ls pasSable aS singer agd poor Is m actress FursCh- Madi. , deh. and Nalleria are all good artists. ttuking just below first class; and Ire 5,.tli s ugly as sin. but sings and acts ~-h. Among the he-mcmners of the troupe Campanini. the most noted, has Ter ,:own in every respect. Capoul never ~ ,s much more than a falset,o squash saae whistle. Novara Is nearly nsed up. anl -. hts best was but tobaCoonist's wooden inJun with hoarse cyclone ho~.llng through il j; kaschman is d triie above s fair average eer-gardep vocal la A,rabella IS six-and-a half feet ions hollow hickory log with section of thunderstorm or bariione-blsso earthquake m il. Stagi or Stagno is human piccolo, able to play all sorts of s4ueaky tricks. but without more force than tunetul monkey with his tall cut oH The rest of the much advertised tSrnortais are about up to the Hess and \hicago church choir standard of com m ,npiacer ess The costumes are elegant and costly, but in many instances glar- ,ngly inappropriate. as when Margueri,a m taust,' strolls around the garden and seats herself a, the spinning wheel of gen erauons ago m Saratoga morning cos tune ot last summer and the Italian Ro- sips in . Il Barbiere." saunters forth on uopicai morning done up in the tubby fashion O! a Dutch frau al a harvest home. The orchestra Is an uproarious abcEiination, the scenery ranges from ordinary to downright shabby, and near Y every performance has shown an mex cusaeie lack of proper care in rehearsal and preparation. Even the moonlight reqaIes half dozen trials to hit the spat where the expectant lovers stand with uptucncd faces waiting for 1t to pu, the fIntshiag. touches to takleau. After sec ing hat week of II, my plain Dakota. frontier snan opinion is that i: is barely good dollar or dollar-and-a-quar,er minstrel show
 And yet Chicago has turned ou, in all liet glory to attend it at from two and half to tve dollars seat Hayerly's handsome hrc-tIap has overfiowed with poxk-and-lard corner aristocracry and wheat gouge style. Bushels of diamonds nave blazed in boxes and dress circle. parquette, and orchestra chairs. Robes that cost queens ransom have shim- n,ered and dazrled everywhere. The whole air has been heavy with the per fume ot the magnihccn, bouquets of roses and lilies, carnations and violets. borne by the )eweled hands of wealth and fash ron. The grea, house has looked every evening like vast and brilliant flower garden But i, has been a mighty array of gorgecusly attired ugliness. The opin- ioa expressed in my private note, which was published week or two ago. has been confirmed. Chicago female home illness IS unsurpassed in any American city. In all these huge parterres of ra- diant and riehy-frocked womanheod, I nave not seen one beautiful face Night after night, my eye has wandered. like Noah's weary dove. over the wild waste ot faces, without finding one spot ofbeau- ty on which to rest-without being able to bring back even an olive leaf of per- sonal pulchritude.
 The fashion of having ladies' cloak and dressing-rooms gives them the same