The record-union., 1896-06-28

| summoned to paw a visit with his wife
| to Balmoral During the interview with
her Majesty. Signor Tosti felt his wife's s
| eyes fixed steadily, intensely on his face
| without release He was convinced MS
wife was i'll and dared not say so. Nat
| urally he became embarrassed ana
when the visit was over anxiOusly in
| ouired if she were really feeling un-
well. No said she, I was so profound
| ly astonished at seeing you behave well
| for once, I was compelled to keep my
eyes on YOU In fact, she was wonder
| ing all the while whether it was not ne
who was i'll"
Felix Morris is giving in London
| nonologue called "a Row in the Fiat,
which is a travesty of the big-hat the
alter nuisance. 1t is said to caricature
| most drolly the miseries of those con-
| demned to sit through play behind
| towering feminine headgear. The joke
| Of the thing is that among women VINO
| laugh at the skit are frequently seen
| those whose hats cause precisely the
same inconvenience as burlesqued In
| the play. The trouble with the ladies
| seems to be that they do not see them
selves as others see them.
Camille Saint-Saens, who is unques-
| tionably the most thorough musician
| France has ever produced, has just
completed his fifth piano concerto and
his second sonata for piano and violin
| He played both of them at recent con-
cert in Paris, the sonata with Sarasate,
| to whom it is dedicated. The concert
was for the benefit of the Association
des Artistes Musiciens, and 1t gained
additional interest from the fact that
| it commemorated the fiftieth anni-
yersary of Saint Saens debut in Paris.
Thalberg, List and Chopin were then
| before the public, but the ten-year-old
| boy did not fear to enter into competi-
ton with them by playing works that
| they neglected-concertos by Mozart
and Beethoven. The day after that
debut "L'Illustration" printed the pic
| ture of the boy pianist, together with
an article in which mention is made Of
his precocious talent:
His infancy shows peculiarities
which recall the first years Of Mozart.
AT the age of % months, brought from
the country, everything resolves itself
| for him into a musical sensation-even
cTeaking door, The cries of street.
| hawkers make him dumb with aston
ishment; he runs from one room to an
other to compare the novel sounds.
$ The first time he hears piano
the child is ecstatic, approaches the
instrument, puts on a finger, then an
other, produces chord. He wants to
know what relation exists between
L
on the sheets of music. They promise
to crafty his curiosity as soon as he
has learned to read. At the age Of
two years and half he reads f1uently;
at he already writes down music he
has composed. Some of these early at
tempts have been preserved, notably a
set of waltzes written at >.
He is fond Of improvising, and is in
| spired above all by religious subjects:
But it is not only for his re-
fined musical organization that this
child is remarkable. He shows an equal
aptitude for the study of the exact
| sciences, natural history, mechanics. y
Joseph Hart is President Of the Dec
orators Club, which has it's headquar-
ters at the Bartholdi Hotel, New York
They had big celebration on Memorial
| Day. Among the guests was an indi-
vldual who has an extensive acquaint-
ance among theatrical people When
the latter arose late the next morning
he pulled a little heart-shaped diamond
lccket out of his pocket
| Where in the world did 1 get this ?'
he unused quite loudly
What's that?" said his sharp-eyed
wife, who had not yet forgotten her
late sitting up.
why, 1 don't know where 1 got this
lccket,'' he replied
well, it's a woman's, at any rate"
she said, taking it out of his hand
! Opening 1t she saw the picture of a
middle-aged man. with well-plastered
hair and well-brushed, thin sidewhisk-
ers.
Il don't think much of him, at any
rate, for a married mans companion. "
she remarked; "he looks like gay old
boy"
The husband remained automatically
dumb. Suddenly light broke over his
face. Then he exclaimed gleefully:
I've got it! You hit it, It belongs to
Joe .Hart's. wife. It's his picture as
The Gay Old Boy I'll take it down to
him and get an affidavit"
When he found Joe Hart the latter
threw up his hands in ecstacy. you've
saved me- old man." he said. 1--WE lust
been trying to explain its loss to nv
wife,
| w. 3 Gilbert told a good story against
Sir Arthur Sullivan and himself at the
! iy1y
While the "Mikado" was In the process
of incubation the collaborators decided
that it would be an excellent thing to
herald the entry of the japanese mon
arch by suitable japanese tune set
to real japanese words; and they ap-
| pealed to gentleman learned in mat
| ters concerning the far East to helm
them in their difficulty. The result
was the chorus in the second act. "Miya
sama, miya sanna," the strains of which
are also heard with such singular effect
ir the overture. Until quite recently
Mr.. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan
were under the impression that this
air belonged to something in the ma
tional anthem; but it now seems that
they have been badly sold A friend
of Mr.. Gilbert's, who saw the .Mikado''
the other day for the first time. has
written letter complimenting the au-
thor and composer upon the general
scheme of their local color, but ex-
pressing establishment at the introduc-
ton of the .Miya sama" chorus the
tune of which he declares to be that of
a song sung only in the lowest tea
houses of Yokohama and calculated to
make the Lord Chamberlain's hair
stand on end.-Public Opinion.