Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-13


| Meantime have paid nv three-penny
entrance fee, have been thoughtfully warned
by the official who received it to look to my
purse, have ascended the broad stone steps
and am standing ar last under the vaulted
roof of Queens Hall. The breadth of the
vast room is broken tonight by a central
wall or partition, rising to height of 10
| or IL feet, the purpose of which is to dis
| play the pictures which have been loaned
for this annual exhibition. Above this,
however, and around on all sides the view
is unobstructed ii you look over the heads
of the people.
Over the entrance, and opposite the great
organ, upon which some master ia now play
ing, is a colossal statue of Her Majesty,
Queen Victoria. This, however, is not the
entire reason why this fine room is called
Queens Hall. Above the galleries, at in
tervals defined by the windows, are statues
of % Queens.
The sides and central partitions of this
vast hall, and also the walls of several
smaller rooms, are covered with paintings.
The larger portion of them are representa-
tive OF the modern school of art, and not a
few are paintings that have hung on the
walls OF the Royal Academy during the
present year. There are a few oil paint
ings; one rare piece of coloring by Titan is
receiving its due need of attention, if one
may judge by the groups who are constantly
standing before it.
The Peoples Appreciation of Art.
During my slow progress around the hall
came upon ballot box and learned from
its guardians that one may vote for his
favorite picture. Due inquiry developed
the fact that of the three iavorite pictures
OF the past week two were scriptural, and
the third sword exercise. 60 at once to
see them, hoping in this way to gain some
indication OF the trend of prevailing senti-
ment. "Christ Healing the Sick is sub
iect appealing to the tenderest of human
sympathies in this or in any assembly. If
there is an additional note Of pathos in the
teeling.that holds this quiet circle around
it tonight the reasons lie in the
greater need of the promised heal
ing The second picture is one
representing that tragic flight into
strange country that took place nearly 10
centuries ago. Overhead the stars are
gllttering in the Egyptian sky. Far away
the pyramids rear their sharp outlines to a
point high above the broad plain. And in
the foreground Mary with the Christ-child
on her bosom, and Joseph beside her, is
feelng from the wickedness of man to-she
knows not what. There is, however, in
finite trust in her sweet young face, and
with the baby in her arms there is every
reason why the picture should be favorite
one. The third, the sword exercise, fully
explains itself Nothing but o genuine
encounter at fsticuffs could be more popu-
lar in British Cor American) assembly.
l passed a large portion OF the evening in
the picture gallery. The people were all
clean, which is saying. much in London,
and comfortably dressed, and many of them
seemed trying to make an intelligent study
of the works of art before them. The ap-
parent good feeling and the quiet behavior
ofthe visitors were all that could be desired.
see coarse look, which, considering the
presence Of few examples Of the nude in
art, might possibly have been expected.
Listening to the Music.
Later, walked through the winter gar
den, seated myself at a refreshment table
and listened to the playing of the band in
the gallery above my head. Here smoking
was permitted, to the delight of the mascu-
line element. And throughout the length
of this spacious room quiet groups of
young men and maidens, husbands and
wives, and also of men and
women in separate circles, were talking or
listening, and certainly were gaining some-
thing in the way of social life and aesthetic
enjoyment quite impracticable in their own
homes
Beholding all this, find it easy to be-
lieve that the encouragement of social
unity, high thought and pure pleasure are
tine reasonable hope of the founders of the
Peoples Palace, and that here the lonely,
the ignorant and the joyless may come and
6nd delights beyond their previous expecta-
ton. t. ~. a...s -.
This beautiful center, with all that it inn
plies, is but finger pointing in the ,direc-
ton of brighter future for the unfortunate,
and warmer sense of brotherhood that
shall bind together the interests of all
classes Its benefcence is not by any
means confined to the poor Like mercy,
It is twice blessed, and the prosperous peo-
pie OF this great city are at least learning
hat "the whole world must be cleansed be-
fore one man or woman of US all can be
,lean."
A Great Work for Good.
did realize, as I left the cheerful hall |
'or the crowded street, that genuine bond |
If brotherhood had been established here,
md, as passed again through the restless |
;hrongs of Mile End and Whitechapel, it |
seemed not only possible but probable that |
,y the multiplication of such centers the |
Rhole mass might become leavencd; that |
higher ideals and more hopeful conditions |
or the industrial people, and kindlier |
pIrit of brotherhood among all classes,
night soon prevail
There is faith so strong that it often
,oes far toward creating that in which it |
believes. And the trustees of the Peoples
Palace have drawn generously on this sub
tance of things hoped for in their appeal
o the public. ''We appeal" they say, "to
he rich and all who can give (howeyer
ittle) for the money without which these
,lans and hopes can never be realized;-to
10Th the leisured and workers for time and |
or pc. sonal assistance;-to those who have
aent for making music, or the gift OF a
beautiful voice, for service;-to those who
believe in the great teacher art, for
ympathy- and the loan of their objects of
,eauty or interest;-and to all those who
owe the people, and look for their emanci-
patton from the thralldom of loneliness,
ignorance, or dullness, for help in various
Ways in the various undertakings of the
2eople's Palace.
AnFIE Nj GARRICTFS