Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-09
EUROPEAN CAUSERIE.
The Growing Brilliancy of the Lon.
don Season.
MAX O'RELL's FOREIGN CHAT.
Receptions and Opera-Americn's Ell
feet onJOhn Bulls Daug
and English Nam mas-Love and Mat
rimOny.
II Correspondence Of THE EVENING STAR

| a. NTA stranger who had not visited it dur
IA fling that time could not fail to be struck
s9S~ with the altered aspect of the British
| capital and its inhabitants. The fact is that
John Bull ID steadily emerging from the bond
| age of Puritanism and awakening to the fact
that goodness does not necessarily mean dull
| ness dowdiness and ascetcism. Travel does
US all good, and its effect upon the English
has been to show them that outside their
| own little island there is actually much
that is excellent and worth enjoying John
| dimes better. his wife and daughters dress
better and talk BETTER they are less and less
the slaves of conventionality. The American
| influence has been for good. With the great
est matrimonial prizes falling one after another
10 the American be Hes il became worth while
| to analyze the charmers and try to discover
| wherein lay their fascination Result: de-
| cided move toward unaffected manners and a
| corresponding increase in natural charm. In
| the matter of looks the EngliShwoman who
| knew how to dress was always without rival
| but what rarity she was! Todar the English
| girl must be acknowledged without reserve to
take the palm for beauty. l say today because
she has only lately learned to dress and set off
her natural advantages properly. In this act
she is fast becoming an adept. Go into any
| fashionable evening assembly in London and
! you will see such
| DAZZLING CROWD OF LOVELY WOMEN
as can be matched in no other city in the
world All types are represented from the
Greek goddess to the piqUant fairy. The En-
| slishwoman who excited the mirth of the for
elgner by her Ill-chosen, ill-fttng and iii-worn
| raiment has disappeared and in her place we
nave a lar creature attrcd in dress which she
| has chosen to suit her face and figure and Is
| learning to wear with grace and case Drcs,
| has done such wonders that the plain women
look comely and the beauties are visions OF
| loneliness. And what an Improvement it has
| erected IN the Engishw Om&us figure! The
| modern dressmaker has brought to light the
/ graceful incurvinG Of the back, which is such Il
| noticeable feature III most EnElishwomen, aud
! Ill the case OF slight ones sometimes the Cn,y
curve worth speaking Of BY astutely managed
J seams she gives waist to her WHO never had
| one, and by clever draping gives roundness to
| meaGer bosom, in fact, comes in various ways
| 10 the rescue OF the obese and the scraggy
When woman Is looking her best she il apt to
be at her best and brightest in other respects,
| ana TINS reform III dress is think. great
factor III the increased briliancy of each sue
| ceedIng London season.
| SUMMER PLEASURES
1t is a fact that London grows gaver and
| gayer Paris will have to look to her laurels
or by and by when people the expression
| 1.-THE gay capital" we shall come to understand
| by II NOT Paris, but London. The foreigner
! VINO arrives IN the British capital expecting
nothing but the spleen is not little amazed to
| hnd tins huge city almost given over all the
| summer long to polite revclry. if not friyolitv
Tor 1t Is not only the hrlstOCrdtic ana leiSured
classes who rGveI but the large army of brain
workers make time for pleasant social inter
| course with their fellows, and their merry
| markings are the most enjoyable of any. There
| are still plenty OF Br!tIshers VINO look askance
| AT pleasure all the week and put on all extra
/ long face on Sundays. but their numbers are
diminishing, and sunday. once day of de-
| pressing gloom III London. is more and more
| utilized for national recreation. thanks to the
lead OF scientific men and the artistic and lit
/ erary fraternities. The visitor TO London need
spend 10 dull time, If he have a few friends
/ for almost every one entertains. Those who
| cannot or viii not give balls and dinners fall
/ back upon that growth OF modern England, the
| ''at home"
One might write volume upon the humors
| OF the lat hOme;'' of the lady who rushes from
| one house to another, staying Just long enough
| IN each to say to the acquaintance she meets
there that she has four parties to do that after
noon and must positively not stay; OF the
| lady who gives parties and goes to them for the
sole pleasure OF seeing her name in the society
! papers and Is rewarded with such phrases as
! Mrs. A. was everywhere" Mrs. 4. locke
! thrllllngy lovely IN pale green" Wisely used
! these informal afternoon gatherings give pleas
ure, as, for instance, when busy writers. actors
! actresses and artists OF all kinds make time to
| spend an hour or two chatting with interesting
/ people whom they already know or are glad 10
make the acquaintance OF.
! LONDON LIONS
! Each London season has its hon. Three
years ago it was Buffalo Bill last year it was
! Gen. Boulanger AID this year 1t has been Stan
/ ley. The latter did not always do his roaring
/ quite SO gently as the others; this African lion
! early grew tired OF being the disputed prey Of
/ Mrs. Leo Hunter and her sisters and caused
| frlghttul heartburnings and disappointments
! by showing that he could resist their blandsh-
| ments. Nv no will write for us the lives of the
unsuccessful poets?" asks Miss Edwardes in one
| OF her novels. The history of the real society
| lion might be quite as pathetic and far more
! instructive. l am speaking of the one who is
| taken up, wrangled over. coaxed, exhibited
| petted handicapped. What tale might he
unfold, for instance, who could give us the
| faithful account of Gen. Bouanger's brief
London career, finishing up with the closing
| OF all his hostesses doors on the day after his
failure at the French elections.
| THE OPERA.
No one person has contributed so much to
! the gaety of London seasons lately as Mr.
Augustus Harris by his spirited revival of op-
era. With Titiens dead Nilsson lost and Patti
demanding such fees as made it impossible to
! pay cast to support her there seemed nothing
| left to be done but close the opera house. And
! this was done for several seasons. But now
thanks to Mr.. Harris enterprising spirit we
| have the best operas OF Germany. France and
| Italy interpreted by worthy Successors of the
sweetest singers of old; by Madame Melba who
| from Australia came, sang and conquered; by
| the new star that America has provided in the
| person OF Miss Zelie de Lussan; by Lasalle and
the brothers of ReZke, whose singing recalls
the most glorious days of opera, and by
goodly company of conscientious artists for
| secondary roles.
A friend of mine is much exercised in mind
as to why one sees only young women at the
opera nowadays. In the days of Italian opera
| there was always sprinklng of middle-aged
and elderly ladies to be seen in the house, but
now they are conspicuous by their absence.
| tell him that that generation was sentimental
and it is natural that it should regret the decay
| of Bellini, Rossini and company, and should re-
sent the shelving of these composers by keep
! ing aloof from the triumphs of those who have
ousted them from public favor. Science is
| killing sentiment in music, in other things
| Those old ladies belong to q generation that
married for love and believed that such a
| thing as dying for love possible, on the
stage at least. Their taste in music was
nourished upon La Somnambula," I'll
| Trovatore," and such operas; is il
astonishing that they take not kindly to much
| of the music Of the present? Was it likely that
Wagner, for instance, would charm them? An
English friend of mine who without being old
| is yet old enough to remember the palmy DAYS
OF the Italian school, reminded me the other
night, after Wagnerian opera we had been
listening to, that French soldier said of the
charge at Balaklava: at is magnificent, but it
is not war;" He felt inclined to say of this
| opera, 1T il magnificent, but it is not music"
For my part had not missed the old ladies.
| In England thew occuDy auch hack saak r,a.