Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-29
SANTA CLAUs.<
North Pole

4
:............................
All these letters are sent to the Dead Letter
Department, unless some hint of the residence
of Santa Claus-sometimes one of the great re-
tail stores is given in which case the letter is
| delivered to the firm indicated. What an i'm
mense mass OF Santa Claus epistles must accu-
mulate at the Dead Letter oficel Every post
office in the country aim cst must be con-
tributor.
THERE are also two letters at the Plttsbure
postofice, Mr.. Larkln informs me, for Mr..
Daniel McGinty.
| A CORRESPONDENT from the other side of
the Atlantic writes to me in enthusiastic
| praise of the new comic opera, THE Condo
| liers.n Gilbert and Sullivan's latest. She says
with feminine fervor that "The Gondoliers" is
the prettiest opera from this source that the
world has heard since the authorand composer
became partners. OF the lihretto she says:
I" Ruddigore' certainly suggested that Mr.. Gil
bert had exhausted the resources of what 1t has
become the fashion,to call topsyturveydom so
far as his powers of invention were concerned.
"The Yeomen of the Guard" was anew depart
ure and it was supposed that it had been made
for the reason that Mr.. Gilbert had come to the
end Of his tether in the other direction; but
either the supposition did injustice to his fac
utEes OF lmARluatlons OF els6 IeSt mas Ecoburcu
him, for in The Gondoliers" he is almost, If
not quite, at his best and the realm again is
that of topsyturvev.
'Sir Arthur's music is unfailingly melodious,
and the freshness of it. considering that this is
his tenth opera, is quite extraordinary. Only
very rarely, indeed, could ] catch faint echo
of his own work in previous scores; still more
rarely is there suggestion of the work of any
other musician, except when he purposely imi-
tates-always with taste and gracefulness-the
manner of a school.N One Of the most remark
able and delight ul features in the score is its
variety. Sir Arthur has marvellous aptitued
for fitting his music to the occasion, and can be
gay or tender with equal ease and appropriate
ness, while he has always struck me as the one
composer of the day, at any rate the one Eng
lish composers who can extract genuine humor
from an orchestra"
IS
RTHE woodworki in this house seems to have
been put in green,n said Philander to
Spartacus who was luxuriating in a very new |
house.
''Yes. the doors are shrinking. the paneling
is splitting and from what can see. guess the |
builder thought might want to grow another |
story"
a SMALL bunch of pansies makes pale the |
glory of the brand new tobacco jar-in |
which, it being Christmas gitt, you cannot |
keep tobacco-and illuminates with novel color |
the dull sahara Of blotting paper and old news
papers which cover the table on which this |
"Talk" is being written.
AS general rule do not indulge in pansies
between Christmas and New Year. The
blossoms 1 speak of, however. came from a
garden in the verdant valley of SewickleY.
They grew in the open air under the kindly
shelter ef an old struggling hedge. and testify
in the most powerful way to the extraordinary
character of the weathor.
The cooler weather which set in on Thursday
seems to have delivered wholesome check to
the sanguine trees. On Christmas morning 1
noticed buckeye. the leaf buds Of which were
swollen as If very nearly ready to burst. A few
more days of such warm sunshine and rain as
we had at the beginning of last week would
have given us dress rehearsal Of spring in
nature.
I Asst December was almost. IL not quite, as
remarkable for its warm weather as this.
most delightful paper in the atlantic Monthly
for December reminds us of this fact. Mr.
Bradford Torrey gossips in this paper about the
days he spent last December out-of-doors ON
the Massachusetts, coast. Anybody who loves
birds and flowers and the breath of Gods good
air as it sweeps unpolluted by man over the
cember out-of-Doors"
-
YESTERDAY Miss Emma Juch and her mother,
Madame Juch, called, quite en- JGsnfIIe,
upon Mrs. John w. Black, at the latter's pretty
home, Lincoln avenue, East End. Itwas an in
formal and delightful visit, made by the fair
singer-who is very fond of children-to inspect
the Christmas tree at Mr.. Blacks residence and
to share the pleasure taken by Mr.. and Mrs.
Blacks bright little boys in the varied crop of
pretty things borne by the tree. Escorted by
the eldest boy and followed by Miss and Mrs.
Juch and Mr.. and Mrs. Black the charming
singer was shown the tree. She entered heartily
into the childish delight of the little fellows as
they exhibited the evidences of Santa Claus
generosity. Shortly after 2 P. M. Miss Juch tore
herself away from her youthful and elder en-
tertainers, and was driven to her hotel, thence
to rest. previous to her appearance as A0nes in
der Freischutz."
TALKING of children, / am reminded Of an
other Christmas story from the nursery.
A 6-year-old Alleghenian, arrayed in his night
dress. knelt on Christmas Eve at his mothers
knee. His little lips lisped: "Our Father who
art in Heaven" and then after a moments
pause, land Santa Claus"
His mother had not the heart to correct the
little suppliant.
nTHEY should have set hospital Saturday
last week, (" said he. sand then everybody
would not have been bankrupt after buying
Christmas gifts"
.It would have made very little difference
she replied 'for then everybody was saving up
for Christmas" HEPBURN JOHNS.
u0poEiS RIT n0STS eAA