The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-27
TRUE PUBLIC SENTIMENT.
How 1t Is Revealed by Patrons of the
Continuous Performances.

1.-The Listener" in Boston Transcript.
1t takes the vaudeville or even the dime
museum to reveal the real state of popular
feeling on public questions. The "audito
rum" at the dime museum-the little low
tunnel of a place where you get seat for
cents-is the real spot in which to get the
very ''age and BODY Of the time" If a pub
lie question ever touches the thoughts of
the people at all, it is sure to be referred to
by some SongSter or mimic on this ridicu
lous little stage; and the audience, which is
representative of the masses to most pro-
nounced extent, expresses its feelings with
regard to the matter in a manner without
equivocation. You can get a better idea
what the populace thinks about things in
enc of these places in one day than you can
gather in d months time from any news
paper published in Boston. In A day? Why,
you need not stay longer than five minutes
in the place-very likely you won't want to
lin order to get some indication of public
sentiment on some subject.
think the Anglo-American alliance
showed its face on the vaudeville stage with
some trepidation. know it has been raising
it's head from time to time there. and has
received unexpected announcement, snow
ing that the populace thinks better or
Johnny Bull than the politicians thought.
But happening in at the dime museum the
other noon, as l sometimes do for not TO
exceed ten minutes, (the great advantage
of these places over ordinary theaters is
that you don't have to stay in them a sec
ond longer than you are amusedg, encoun-
tered the first real proof that / have seen
that the Anglo-American alliance is pop
ular thing. A man came out whose part 1t
was to exhibit the UNIFORMS OF seventeen
armies of the world" He was swathed with
clothes of course, and the outside uniform
of them all was that of an American artil-
lery volunteer. That was applauded, Of
course He stripped that off and revealed
another; and with every change of uniform
he made a funny little speech in hifaultin
language describing the nation to which
the supposed soldier belonged. and the or
chestra played the national anthem of that
country if il could / noticed that when the
man exhibited the uniform of a Polish hus-
sar of a hundred years ago the orchestra
played the Russian hymn. because Poland is
now supposed 10 be part of Russia. and q
little later when he did a Russian sol
der IL played the same tune. saw that re
was keeping the British redcoat for the last
and / wondered what the effect would be
When. finally. he appeared in the uniform
of a British infantryman. and went into the
wings and got a union jack and began to
march up and down the stage with it, while
th:s orchestra played God Save the Queen"
the audience applauded wildly heartily. and
enthusiastically. There were shouts of
'Hooray!" without so much as a dissenting
hiss.
This was not all. The actor still had one
uniform more to present. He planted the
union jack on the stage by driving into the
floor a spike nj the bottom of the staff and
then went ard arrayed himself in the Amer
lean campaign uniform of Santiago, bring