The record-union., 1896-02-12
IN THE THBATER.
Pointed Letter to the WeaTer Of the
Big Hat.
Anne Warrington Witherup Makes
an Appeal for an Opportunity
to See the Opera.

Anne Warrington Witherup is writ
ing some open letters, which are being
published in "Harper's Weekly" They
are full of good sense and are naturally
attracting wide attention, as they deal
with everyday matters which come
home to everybody and are therefore
understood and appreciated. The last
one was addressed to the LADY who
occupies the seat in front Of her at the
matinee It needs no comment, as it
fully explains itself. Here it is:
Dear Madame: I do not know your
name, and am thus compelled to ad-
dress you by the number of your seat at
Saturday matinees at the Opera-house
You are the matinee occupant of seat
number 6,077 in the row lettered u.
That yoA are a permanent fixture there
in know by my observation of the fact
that you have occupied that seat at all
the matinee performances yet held this
season. In short, you are subscriber
I. too, am a subscriber and have the
misfortune to occupy chair number
e,077 in the row lettered XXX, in other
words the chair located Immediately
behind yours I had that chair last sea-
son-in fact, have had it for three years,
and hitherto have found it as desirable
q seat as could be had in the house, but
this year it has been absolutely worth
less to me, save from the hints / have
managed to derive from a three-hour
weekly contemplation Of your millinery
which, being a writer by profession,
and not milliner I have been utterly
unable as yet to turn to account. AS a
woman, however I cannot deny that
millinery does interest me, even when
it is on so large a scale as your own. At
the opening performance of the year,
when Carmen" was rendered, having
heard Carmen" previously, and never
having seen so exquisite a specimen Of
the Virot hat as that which graced
your head upon that occasion, was not
at all disposed to complain. In fact, l
thoroughly enjoyed studying the COM
plexities of that wonderful hat-so
thoroughly, indeed, that the occasional
glimpses of Madame Calve that would
thrust themselves through the feathers
on the left side was distracting and an
noying. The opportunity to inspect at
so close a range so beautiful a crea-
ton was in itself worth the amount of
my subscription for that day, and
left the house full of enthusiasm for
Virot. and was not at all disposed to
lament the the cost Of my afternoons
diversion
/ was rather pleased, too, to find at
the performance of "Traviata," some
time later, that you were not compelled
to rely upon Virot alone. The truly
gorgeous Gainsborough which you had
on that afternoon 1 regarded as a
boon, for, candidly l attended the mat
inee that day in a spirit Of protest. I
had no wish really to witness the woes
of the foolish hero and heroine Of that
opera, for I am a Wagnerian, and it
does not suit my ideas to hear lady
in the thrOes Of death singing square
and round dances, as it were. but I went
as a matter of duty Fortunately your
hat was between me and the stage, and
I was not compelled to see that for
which my eye had no prediction, and,
thanks to your Gainsborough, nothing
was obtruded upon my gaze which !
had no wish to see, and safe behind its
gorgeous plumage l was enabled, lis
tening to the diaphanous measures of
Verdi, to construct my own libretto as
the orchestra went on. And as for the
'Cavalleria Rusticana" which was sung
that afternoon as a curtain -dropper, as
you may remember, the intermezzo,
which, after all, is all we go to hear,
was softened and dreamifed, if I may
SO speak, by having to strain itself
through the furry flaps of your delicious
top covering.
But, madame, I now come to the real
point of this communication, which, de-
spite all the pleasant things I have said.
is none the less a complaint. When
Tristan and Isolde was sung [ must
confess that you filled me with some
irritation. / had never seen Tristan"
nor have yet had that pleasure, for
upon that date you wore your furs all
through the performance. These
reached upward from your shoulders to
your ears, outward to the sleeves of
those who sat next you, and from the
Schomburgk line of your chin began a
veil Of slight translucency, leading up to
an overwhelming combination of feath-
ers. ribbons, shoebuckles and floral
monstrosities which well nigh obscured
the chandelier above my head, to say
nothing of it's cutting off the three first
tier boxes nearest the stage on either
side of the house. obscuring wholly the
proscenium arch, and giving to my
sense of millinery taste no comnensat-
1LS plGdSuIO DIS IL III lear
that the hat was insufficient for the pur-
pose of obstructing the view of all be-
hind it, you continuously bobbed your
head this way and that, now to the left,
now to the right, backwards and for
wards, until my nerves fairly leaped;
and when finally one of the pistils of the
densely poulated garden ornamenting
this creation went into my eye as I en-
deavored to peer through a peep-hole
which discovered, in the middle of the
third act, between your fur boa and the
puffed sleeve of the lady next you, l
was so thoroughly Frustrated with ner-
vousness that l apologized to you in
stead of demanding an apology from
you. At Faust" and "Lohengrin" it