Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-11-01

cature cannot be caricatuYed. IL merely
was intended that one noted actor should
appear in the !charscter OF an
Owen O'Conor. Of Hoboken and
Coney Island. and Mr.. Ward McAl-
lister. Of New York and Newport, are pub
lie performers aud players OF parts. Mr..
o'Conor !: q professiqnai actor. equally ad ~ e.
Five shillinss.S Mr.. McAllister processes
to play the part of leader in q society
in which he occupies thu same position
in which MIR. Jeems Yellowplush fiiled in
the SGT he served. As actors MIR. OConor
and Mr.. McAllistcr are on the same his
trionic plane. Mr.. OConor, IN weE-
worn, snuf-colofed overcoat, and a
hat issued in the year OF our Lord
1917 would have perfectly represented
Mr.. McAjlister-- would have come closer
TO the character. than he does IN
Richard ILL.,; but then 1t is easier to
do. MIR. McAlllster resembles Dir. OConor
in his frantic attempts to play parts which
he can by no possibility perform-such as
his ambition to appear as an author or as
the Newport correspondent OF one OF the
Sunday smotherers. He may excel in COM
posing a salad, but when 1t comes TO the
composition of q seaside letter he isn't
worth cent, though be may get as much
as $40 apiece for his letters. This Is not
intended as dlsparaging view OF either OF
these noted actors. Both are very worthy
men and both are frequently fayoraoly
mentioned IN the newspapers.
THE EMINENT TRAGEDIAS's ERROR.
The dramatic mantle. of the late Ia
mented Count Johannes has fallen upon
the broad shoulders of the present James
Owen O'Conor, only the trouble Is that
he does not quite know how to wear II. or.
rather. literally TO bear 1t. Once a year or
SO the late Count consented--in difference
to the persistent popular demand-to tenn
porarily abandon his profession OF the
law and his literary pursuit IS welcome
and well-pafd contributor to the New
York sun. to appear in Niblo's Theatre IN
his favorite part of Richard iii. He knew
that no would be numerically guyed
through the whole performance. and
receive tokens Of appreciation in the form
of hard apples. and worse, from all parts
of the house. But he took oil these things
because, with them, in q few nights, he
took enough money TO live on, as he lived,
for a wear. This shrewdness has not fallen
with the egg-splasned mantle to his sue;
cessor. When Mr. O'Counor discovered
10 his dismay, at the very hrst
rehearsal, that in playing the part
of McAllister, in the snuf-colored
overcoat and hat of an earlier
year in this century his sole " business;
would be TO stand in the centre OF the
stage and be smitten with stuffed CLUBS
and fred at with miscellaneous missiles he
Indignantly threw up the engagement:
Tins, too with winter close at hand, and
no possibly not far from wanting something
70 eat, and certainly something TO drink.
Whereas. had no been a wise as his pre-
decessOr. the late Count. he would nave
stood the stuffed clubs and missiles for the
sake of the shekels which would have Kept
him warm all winter and would have pal.d
his board in the best hospital IN town wniie
ne recovered from his bodily bruises. But
these great geniuses never seem TO nave
common sense. though the late Count
Johannes was an exception TO the Renerai
rule that, by some strange fatality, governs
most of these eminent men.
sELr-suPPoBrISG BUILDINGS.
The other night thirty Italian families
were summary hustled ont by the police
| from tenement and were forced to stay
| in tne street till morning huddled around
| bonfres which they built with such fuel az
| thew could collect at short notice. The
reason for this sudden election was that
| the timber-props which shored up an adj
| Joining building threatened to give wav
| with an inevitable smash which might mash
| the thirty Italian families into Italian
rnacaroni paste. This incident was con-
sdered remarkable enough TO be ex-
plotted by the reporters And yet 1t ~ an
| everyday danger evident almost anywhere
| in the city. II il conspicuous on Broadway
espocIally. wherever an old store 10 torn
| down preparatory TO putting new store
M. Across tho chasm stretch parallel
| timbers or beams are put up from the
! ground as buttresses TO hold up the walls
| OF the adjoining stores on either side. ms
| CONVEYS the idea. which undoubtedly Is
correct, that the buildings on every bloch
| in Broadway hold one another up. IhelI
| unity is their strength. The venerable
editor, Stone, recently wrote tor the Jour
nal of Commerce some strong remarks on
| this subject. He notes that while the
massive buildings recently erected III
| Wall street and elsewhere are in no danger
| OF collapse, tho general character OF the
! edlfices put up in this town is flimsy and
| dangerous. The modern big buildings
Ike the New York Times building-the
| finest and completest newspaper building
as vet put up in this city--are self-sup
| porting, able to stand alone II everythin:
| around them was torn down or burned
IN. Editor Stone thinks that the new
buildings which adorD wall street;
| though built for Offices only. would stand
All the storage that could be piled on
| their floors. aud that they would even
| bear ND printing presses or other working
| machinery without so much as tre'
NOR in the walls"
| ANOTHER LUCKY ESGLIsHMAS.
The French Place d'tr DANES in Thu:
! CITY seems TO be giving way to
chance for the young women in SO
! cietv. will not be so ungallant
| "a TO say that all the old women are
marrying off. thus giving room for at least
some of the Younger ones: butte take onl,
three conspicuous examples, tho Widow
| Uamorsley' tho Widow Leslie. and now, the
| Widow Roberts-all of them pretty well
Along in the world, aud. of course. pretty
| we'll of. as otherwise the marriages might
| not have occurred. The eager nus
bands in every instance arc English
| men. The Duke of Marlborough was dc
| sirable husband for any American woman
| not on account of his title. but because
apart from his title he has excellent quail
| ties, which would make him an acceptable
| husband TO any woman OF cultivation anc
refinement. Mrs. Wilde's Ensllsh-lrlst
| husband is everywhere commented
and tho match is applauded. Mrs
| Marshall O. Roberts, who has al
| enormous fortune from her late nus
band, to whom she was the third WE
is now to marry Colonel Vivian, described
as very handsome and only torty-hy'
years old. or lust leetle," say, younger
Than his to-be wife. Mrs. Roberts ha;
long been conspicuous IN what Is here
called " society,"" Her wealth, diamonds
dresses, and display have made her con-
spicuous. Her entertainments and hospi
talties here, at Newport and at Lenno'
have been models for even richer bu'
somewhat later corners into the same
set" With all the rest--her many
admitted accomplishments-thIs leader
in the social set To which she
belongs and adorns is gifted with tina
rare tact which has made her many friend
and kept her from making any enemies
No woman in " society" IS more universalll
respected. The same society" IS dis
gruntled because she has kept away from
New York two years, and the expected
| opening of her house this winter for
series of delightful dinners and dances !
likely TO be disappointed. Meanwhile
| nobody knows moro about Colonel NlyiaI
than that he is an Englishman, young
good Hooking. and satisfactory TO Mrs
Marshall U. Roberts.
ANOTHER BRIDGE FOR EAST RIVER.
The people of BROOKLYN are camorOu