Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-28
THE REFORM SCHOOL BOYS.
They Furnish an EnJoy.sie Eatcrtsinmesi
90 Many Visitors.

20 Many Visitors.
Last night was the night Of the year a. the
Reform School Two hundred cleAn-faced.
neatly dressed and well-behav,d bows faced the
stage in the school room OF the institution and
Joined with. an appreciAtive audience in the
laughter and applause which was called for by
the youthful performers whose nature OF art
had given them places on the program.
The annual entertainment at thls institution
10 always success, but the one which came TO
an end shortly before II pm yesterday VAS an
improvement upon any OF it many crediiable
predecessors. great deal Of labor must have
been expended IN instruction before such re
suits as were apparent could have been ATTAINED
and there Is praise due teachers and pupils for
the assiduous application which must have
been exerted in tins yearly effort 20 amuse and
instruct members and friends of the institution
The satisfactory condition Of the weather
brought out a large number Of the philAn-
thropically inclined residents of the District Of
Columbia Some drove from the CITY in car
riages, one cheerful party filled q four-hor-s
excursion omnibus, while still others patron-
lied the baltimore and Ohio railroad. In al
at the main building and enjoyed the occasion
TO the utmost
THE ExERcIsEs COMMENCE
IL was considerably after : clock when Col.
Shsllenberger called the assemblage 90 order
by tapping on a convenient call bell and by an
nouncing that the entire school would sing An
opening voluntary. Two hundred and three
boys, the majority of them 81 African .N-
traction, rose 20 their respective feet aud sang
structed composition
The opening address was recited bv a bright
white boy after he had in a preliminary scene
shown theiaudience how difficult it was TO learn
such an address when unsympathetic inter
rupuon Was freely INDUCED IN. A chorus of
welcome by mixed choir OF white and colored
Der.
Then tall colored boy told How Vera Cruz
Was Won" and did IL in a style and manner
tnat was evidently appreciated. Following has
enort was school chorus. IN winch reference
Was frequently made 90 a hungry aud philo-
sophical crow, and in appropriate place. Ger
tam OF the boys chanted cav, cav" while
the selection
A white screen was lowered from the ceiling
the gas lights In the room were eNtinguish..d
and a shadow pantomime entitled ..Drlgg. and
MS Double Was given by members of th.
White family. The school Is divided INTO thr,,,.
families The story Of briggs and his love
and how he came 10 a violent death. through
tie actions of his double, was told i'm shad.uV
gestures, but 10 make sure that every one would
understand what il was all about a lusty-lung,-l
- commentary On
the ghostly actions of briggs. his lady loy.
and has double The performers did well.
PASToNINE WITHOUT sHADows.
Next on the program was a number entitled
"A pantomime, minus the shadow" Three
colored boys sat against the newly beautiied
scenery AT the rear of the stage: two Of them
we're armed with mouth-organs the other had
no defense but a couple of pairs of bonos The
somewhat primitive music struck up and TO it's
measures there entered eight colored bows
-Four OF these were clad in dress suits of black
sllesia; the other quartette was arrayed in how
cut frocks of glazed calico-two blue two
white. On the heads Of these alleged lnAi,lsns
were coronets of silver paper. A few prelimi-
nary movements of a walt character soon gave
way to a downright jig. Now the gentlemen
would dance alone, then the ladies would essay
To excel and finally all would Join in such AN
exhibition of saitatorial agility ms can he seen
only when the Afro-American youth starts out
10 please. An enthusiastic encore could NOT be
averted.
The Battle of Warsaw" was detained in n
really superior style by a nice-looking and
cleverly trained white boy. His rendition of
the well-known poem was most effective.
Very sad was the story told in unison by the
entire school The method was evidently
operate, and the audience grinned appre-
ciateiy rs the youngster sang the .path,.tic
legend of Jack and Jill The hopes Of the
auditors as To Jacks getting home IN safety
altcr cumming tte historic hill were dashed to
pieces by doleful recitation Of the melancholy
accident in which the drawer of water cracked
his crown while ms female companion per-
formed certain involuntary and unbecomins
gymnastic feats.
THE MINSTREL vAGARIEs.
Probably the best portion of the entertain
ment or one which was at least the only fair
competitor with the dancing octette was com
prised in ''the minstrel yagaries" I'm this an
Deared n COlOred pfastx ~ A
Stanley, native African yclept kalulu and
ten other children of the dusky race. known n
the Stanley dwaris. The arrangement of the
setting was ingenious. Ten BOYS stood against
the rear OF a screen, with stuffed legs protrud-
ing over the screen top, the aforementioned
legs being entirely fictitious and designed for
the purpose OF giving To the ten Ethiopians .
decidedly dwnrfish appearance.
The array of hosiery was perhap FPS less shapely
but quite as brilliant az that which may be seen
on any summer Sunday on the beach at ATTAIN
TIC City, and there was nothing particularly
calm about the headgear the youngsters wore
Ply! Little Children. Fly" was the first cho-
rus. and. like all the other choruses IL Ma.
admirably rendered. A banjo. several mouth
organs a tambourine, several pairs of bones
and a triangle made music, or words 20 that
effect, and there was a plenitude Of minstrel
jokes. The story of the turkey who swallowed
a number of anti-bilious pills aud who refused
to become tender In response 10 the influences
of much hot water because there Was no tile
in him" awoke roars of laughter. and there
was no lack of cachinatory Endorsement when
one of the dwarfs, who had just been informed
as TO the location and name of an elephants
trunk, asked If that little wiggle-waggle on the
elephants other end was his valise. 4 chorus
in which the coon and the mink and the rabbit
were prominent was applauded and was a
cleverly executed scrap of vocal endeavor in
which each of the dwarfs alleged that he WAS
''Gwine ter Meet a Coon Ternight.r Ar a final
effort the imitation dwarfs sang ''Ten Little
Niger Boys" and in proper season each of the
ten sank from view OF the audience by appar-
emily falling backward of the partition which
concealed their real legs. A rousing encore
was neatly responded to, each curly head bob
bling up in perfect time as the refrain OF Ten
Little Niggers" was repeated.
"Fussleton's Dilemma, a Cure for the
Fidgets, was the title of a little farce given by
seven white boys All the participants did
good work, even those who had to impersonate
females. Some of the situations we're really
humorous. and the whole thing was worth more
applause than il secured although the au-
dience made good deal Of gratifying noise.
TALK BY TRUSTEE CARPENTER
When the curtain dropped at the conclusion
Of the farce DIR. ]. T. Carpenter, one of the
trustees, stepped to the front and said he
voiced the sentiments of the board when he
thanked Superintendent Shsllenberger for the
entertainment. The doctor said he had been a
member of the board Of trustees for twenty
years and he could conscientiously state that
none Of the entertainments had surpassed the
one Just closed.