Morning journal and courier., 1885-10-17
MAX O'RELL'S LETTER.
Lively Times i'm England and France A Big ssGonservatfves, Show-POli- tics i'm ParIs-Paulfnes' 'sAucca-Foi- lowing Fashions-FaetsA About Lon- don. y.-a
 Special Correspondence of the JOURNAL AND CouR-

Special Correspondence of the JOURNAL AND CoUR-
 FER. All Rights Reserved
 LONDON, Oct. 3. To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Conservatives and Liberals are racing hard in England to catch the ear and the vote of the two millions of newly zenfranchised peo- pie. The Liberals rae talking and the Con- servatives are picnicing. To give you an idea of the latter proceedings, I will quote the programme of a grand Conservative de monstration for the west of England and monster fete and gala that is to be held to- day in Sherborne Park, Dorset: "At p. m. a public meeting will be held, the chair be- ing taken by the Right Honorable Lord Arlington, and an address will be delivered by the Right Honorable the Earl of Iddes- leigh (Sir Stafford Northcote). Amusements of a varied character. Amongst others the following celebrated artistes will appear: The world renowned Brothers Levene in their sensational performances upon the rolling globe upon the high wire; M. Athol, the talented slaek-wire walker, juggler, hat spin ner, balancer and musical momus; Barton and Hart, the celebrated negro comedians, dancers, burlesque actors and eccentric per formers; Sydney and Alphoneo in their won derful bicycle and skating feats; Bayliss and Berril (the comical clowns), in their extraor- dinary performances upon the horizontal bar; MT. R. H. Sanders, the we'll known comic singer, dancer and comedian. Three per formances. The talented Brothers Leanders. The celebrated aerobatic clowns in their re- nowned performances upon the double tra peze and flying rings. Three performances. At 5:30 D. m. balloon ascent will be made by we'll known London aeronaut, and at intervals during the day captive ascents will be made from the grounds at fixed charge per passenger. Bands will play selections of music in different parts of the grounds dur ing the day. Grandest display of fireworks ever seen in the west of England. Glorious illumination of the grounds and ruins. Dan cling on the green, swings, roundabouts, shooting galleries, Slc., &c." Surely this programme ought to satisfy the most fastidi ous music hall patron, both on account of its variety and attractiveness. Lord Iddesleigh and the other artistes who will make their appearance will no doubt score success, and I expect that on Monday next it will be duly recorded in the Conservative press that twenty thousand people assembled in Sher- born Park to listen to Lord Iddesleigh.
 I thought the passing of the corrupt prac tice bill rendered such proceedings illegal. A candidate cannot now offer 8 glass of champagne to an elector, but I suppose he can treat him to sensational globe-rolling upon the high wire, hat spinning, clowning, dancing, ballooning, shooting galleries, etc.
 Apropos of electors and candidates, find good anecdote in M. Darty's ''Public Life in England" to shoR how the electors iden- tify themselves with their representatives in Parliament. One day the member for Fal- kirk won the Derby with ''Thormanby." Immediately he telegraphed to his constitu ents: ''Thormanby has won." Half an hour later they replied ''Falkirk, to a man, is drunk"
 Napoleon the First said that France would be socialistic or cosaque, and as one looks on at events of the day in France one is fain to believe that he had the measure of his sub iects. The French people will vote en masse next Sunday, but, as it were, in darkness. Voltaire said that light sparkled from dis cussion. But it is difficult to see how light can emanate from the discussions that have been going on at Parisian meetings lately. To these meetings the electors set out with the firm intention of listening to no discus sion and standing no contradiction. Those who differ from them in opinions are only fit for the gibbet. Blows and insults have been marked feature of these popular en- tertainments, and l altogether fail to see how black eye is calculated to improve mans sight The good voters leave the meeting, knocked down, ''shut up," all you like ex- cept enlightened. Their forefathers made big revolutions to obtain the right of hold ing meetings, shed their blood for it, over turned thrones for it. What will be the re-
 suit of the elections of Sundaya Into whose hands will the helm of the fair barque be confided? Many of us look to M. Clemen- ceau as coming captain likely to steer the poor storm tossed craft into pacific waters, but fear he has already seen his day. Gam betta, once the idol of the democratic mass 1y hpino at ha last general election, and M. Clemenceau, the new and talented chief of the Radical party, undoubtedly the best governmental man on the Republican side, is already bran ded traitor by the more advanced sec tion of his party. So in France men pass and no man remains. Will it be communism or Cesarism?
 Many who havs heard and enjoyed Bizets opera Carmen are no doubt unaware that when first brought out it obtained but small success d'estime, almost failure. The public was not impressed by it and it was poor George Bizet's fate to die unapprecia- ted But if he had lived till to-day he would have been amply satisfied with the success that his chef doenore has at last scored in Paris. It is Madame Pauline Lucca who has worked the change and made Carmen one of the favorite operas of the present day The story of this ladys life since she was first discovered by Mayerbeer to possess a voice of wonderful quality is very interesting. She was chorus singer in Vienna when she en- chanted him with her singing and he after trying her voice in widely different parts
 and finding that it equal to any task, even Beethoven's Fideio, set himself to work to find an opening for her on the operatic stage. She did not know enough French to appear in French opera, 50 he got her an en- gagement at the Royal Theater of Berlin. How from Berlin her fame spread; how she
 went from one country to another, winning 1 fresh laurels wherever she appeared, and | reaping substantial proofs of admiration every one knows. Paris alone remained un-
 enthusiastic. A story got abroad that Pau | line Lucca had sung at Versailles to the Ger
 mans during the war. Paris believed it and | cold -shpuldeped her. The fact was that Luc-
 ca had been to Versailles, but on sad er-
 rand. Her first husband was German off
 eer, and though the marriage was an un-
 happy one, when she heard that he was
 wounded in the head she rushed to Yer
 sailles to nurse him. When he got well l enough she took him home, tended him l till his recovery was complete and then ob-