The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-25
ROME FAILING AT STATEN ISLAND.
A Big Spectacle Promised on Staten
Tale

A Big Spectacle Promised on Staten
Island.
NEW YORK, June 23-There is a decided
pagan tendency in the show business,
and by the 'show business" | mean that
order of public entertainment which
appeals to the senses merely, and mainly
depends upon what has been called the
wink of the eyen for its success. If
Barnum were not restrained by viewless
something called public sentiment, he
would long ago have revived the Roman
arena, and in fact has got as near to it as is
possible in christian community with his
chariot races and his unwritten promise to
kill female charioteer or two every week.
| think it altogether likely if New York
had had an architect capable of building an
amphitheater, New York would very soon
have found Nero to fill it.
We had an actress here not long ago who
put pagan drama on the boards and de-
Tended It's lust and brutality over her own
name in the newspapers, and naturally
enough got the ready pen of Mr.. lngersoll
to say he didn't see anything bad in 1t.
The pagan tendency is not, | am glad to
say, in the direction of lust and cruelty. 1t
is rather In the dir elton Of magnifcence
and sensuousness. 1t exhibits itself in the
effort to produce monster" shows. which
to the multitude of people take the place of
anything like thought.
Down at Erastina, which is only half an
hour from the CITY hall, we have what is
called the wild West" 1t is an exhilarat-
ing spectacle in which men and horses risk
their necks, and from 10000 to 10000 peo-
pie daily revel in the barbarous pageant Of
hundred Indians mimicking the outlawing
and violence of their native wilds
On the same island, and even more con-
venient to the city, we now have ready for
grand opening the most pretentious effort
IL. s l. IL
ever attempted since the Roman emperors
taxed their morbid imaginations and
drained their treasures to furnish visual
amusement to the jaded aesthetics of the i'm
perial city.
Imre Kiralfy is ballet-factor don't for
the sake of the revised code print that male
factor.) He is a dance contractor. He
rains girls on the stage when the public is
arid and thirsts for that kind of human ma
ture that can be got at wholesale for SO
week.
He now proposes to give us what he calls
gigantic historical spectacle of Nero, or
the Fall of Rome
1t is presumable that Mr. Kiralfy thinks
Rome fell during Nero's time.
At all events he is going to make it fall
with 1000 girls, and his logic is so much
better than his historical accuracy, that 1
am bound to say that number of girls ought
to bring down any average city.
Hitherto, | don't think the ambition of
this spectacularist ever got much beyond a
hundred girls, and that put a great strain
on the morals of New York. What 1000
girls in hot weather will do staggers our
fondest anticipations, so to speak.
| suppose the average man everywhere
has pretty clear idea of what one girl can
do when she sets in. But we've got to re-
vive our pagan arithmetic; no less than one
pagan fancies to grasp a Thousand of them.
My faith in kiralfY is SO great that |
believe he will make Rome howl, and New
York also. The bill calls for 300
athletes, chorus of 800 voices, a
a band of 100 musicians and procession of
$500 persons. There will also be thrown in
100 elephants, lions camels and tigers and a
squadron Of horse. The whole spectacle
(here quote to close with supernal de-
struction of Rome by fire and magnificent
apotheosiS showing the dawn of christian
ity.
This takes the pagan edge off as it were.
Evangelical men and women will now flock
to the arena and take an hour of animalism
for the sake of ten seconds of dawn.
What | want to know is this-is Mr.
Kiralfy's little stock company of $500 peo-
pie going to live at st. George, or come up
every night ON the boatl If so, which boate
Is there to be salary listG Does the Staten
Island ferry company put up for this COM
bined exhibit.
They used to do this sort of thing at Pom
peii and Ephesus though am too young
TO remember much about it, But I've
seen some of the frescoes that have been
left.
am glad as l said that our paganism
runs merely to largeness, not to usefulness.
We want to feed the senses-cram the eve
with enormous and multitudinous exhilara-
tions. That's all. And while the dog star
RACES the weak man prefers to see something
gong on to being made to think.
There is. too, sanitary side of this new
enterprise. Capt. Williams has been for
years advocating the plan of getting all the
bad women of New York into one street
where he could keep his eye on them. Now
all the good-looklng and big -limbed girls Of
New York on an island whore The fast man
and the sport can keep their eyes on them.
ought to lend a sense of repose and Quaker
quiet to upper Broadway.
NNvzE (fuV-