Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-10-12
THE BADDELEY CAKE.
SCENE IN OLD DRURY AT 1 O'CLOCK
IN THE MORNING.

hlgh Bohemla OF Communicating the
story of "The Baddeley Cake"-The
Dance Begins.
The curtain rises. Rises on a stage with
small white table in the center and long
white tables on either side. Behind them, I
taking up the whole width of the stage, are
a series of terraces, in bright yellow and
black reaching, it seems, to the ceiling ut
the back. On each terrace are white tables
and black coated walters standing rigdly in
line who, the applause breaks out, bow
and smile and bow and smile again. Under
the many lights the salads and pates look
appetizing, the banks of glasses glitter in
crystal, and the dark green of the cham
payne bottles has cool and inviting look
The scenery with which the stage has been
boxed is taken from the famous "Armor
Scene" and the result is picture to look at.
The applause continues until Mr.. Fernandez
appears Mr.. Fernandez is an elderly gem
tleman with curling locks. He is the custo-
dian of the Drury Lane fund, and by way Of
introduction he tells the story of 1.-The Bad
deley Cake"
1t appears that 100 years ago the green
room of DrWy Lane was by sacred custom
annually given over to feasting and merri-
ment upon the recurrence of Twelfth
Night" In 1874 Robert Baddeley, a COM
edian to whom the little anniversaries were
especially pleasant, died In his will he set
apart 600 as a fund whose income should
annually be used to furnish on Twelfth
Night a bowl of punch and a cake to the
green room. The request, Mr.. Fernandez
states, has been faithfully observed since Bad
deley's time. OF late years, however, Mr..
Augustus Harris, the proprietor of Drury
Lane, had added to Mr.. Baddeley's e3 few
hundred more of his own and invited his
friends to join in the ceremonial. Mr.. Fer
nandez goes further, talks about the pleas
urcs which attach to observing the tradi-
tons of the theatre of the pleasures Of
friendly meeting and other pleasant things,
making altogether clever speech of well
come The audience like it and he bows and
walks to the little table, takes up the carving
knife and holds ia Damocletian sword
over a large round white cake with red and
green icing in the center. This Is the Bad
deley cake
THE CAKE Is READY
The cake is ready, but the audience is not
They wish first to hear from Mr. Harris
There are loud cries from the floor and the
boxes of "Harrisl' "Harris!' "Where is
Gus:' and "Show up, old boy!n In response
there mounts the stage on the left man of
medium age, medium height and medium
stoutness. His hair is perceptibly thin on
top, but his face is round and his brown eyes
are bright and young and merry. This is
Gus Harris, the famous Gus merry
maker in chief to all the children, young
and old, of London, from Marlborough house
to Hackney. lie speaks easily and gives
| them all "a modest off hand welcome He
| trusts that the occasion is as pleasant to them
| as it is to him. He declines to say more, be-
| cause the cake waits and the time has come
| to cut it. He invites them up and they
| come. They first pass the cake and seek
each a crumb, because there is great luck to
| the recipient in the Baddeley cake. Then
| they mount the terraces, line the tables and
pack the stage until in a few moments old
| Drurys boards are great high hill of feast
| ing, laughing humanity in silks and broad
| cloths reaching down to a wide prairie of the
| same below.
The champagne flows like water 1t is not
| iced but simply cool. They drink it at the
normal temperature in England, and value
| its bouquet, something to which the ma jority
| of champagne drinkers in America seem in
different There are endless bottles of it, and
| its consumption is greatly disproportionate
| TO that of the cotelettes de homard or the
| aspcS de foie graS or the other dclicacieS on
the menu in cream color and red. The scene
from the summit is inspiring. The white
| shoulders and symmetrical figures of the
women light up the terraces, The merry
groups about the popular favortes here and
there are centers OF Jest and laughter, Every
where are seemingly notable faces An
| English crowd, like an English street, pre-
sents variety of physiognomy that the
more cosmopolitan civilization of America
| 1 I,,,t
seem to. Physiognomies are deceptive, too,
here as everywhere else. Wonder is a slender
man of 81, who has quiet, good humored
look, and who, from his easy manner does
not seem to be anybody in particular, and
! vet he is the eldest son of duke. Near by is
a tail young man, with magnificent facial
| outlines. who you are sure is thoroughbred to
a degree, until you are mentally paraly2ed
at finding him vigorously wiping glasses. He
is Il waiter, yet has a face that Cruikshanll
would have given to prince. Some Of the
women are pictureS-pictures such as only n
Baddeley Cake in London town could bring
in contrast.
GROUP OF sOMEBoDIES,
Down in the center of the stage, with a
group of sOmebOdieS in swalowtalls listening
to her graceful chat is a slender girl in
white, medium blonde, whose couture is a
careless arrangement of silken frizzes that
helps the statuesque poisc of her head. She
has prominent Greek nose, deeply set blue
eyes, which give her an altogether spiritual
look and grace in manner which is marked.
The corsage of her dress is high and modest
| The white soft folds of the waist and skirt
are touched here and there with a trimming
of white and black, she wears tiny bows OF
black silk in places, and her long gloves
reaching to the elbow, are of the same color
There is something altogether flower like and
pure about her, touch of that indefinite
quality of "whiteness" which, whether it be
vested in mind or dress, is dstinctvely the
gift Of some women. She is, apparently
much sought and very popular. She is Eva
Sothern, the daughter of our own Lord Dun
: dreary, the alter ego of Billy Florence, the
eccentric and much loved Ned
The dance begins, 1t is waltz, the "Sou
viens Toin of Waldteufel, that floats upwarC