New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-21

ter? Is that then so far from here?'
Presently we descended at the portal
Of that great establishment which is the reputed
hub of all the wild gayety in -London-that
Nirvana where gilded youth and painted beauty
meet. to the strains Of music and the twinkling
OF Terpschore, in glare OF electric light L
had not wanted to come to 1t for my own sake.
But l had thought that a visit might perhaps
explain to my friend the point which / had
been trying to impress on him: that obvious gay
ETY. is not possible In London. So had consented
to show him the place. We bought two seats
AS passed. on our way to them, into the
far-famed Promenade | asked my friend to
walk slowly, and to observe carefully the
throng's demeanor. Everything was the same
1t had ever been. The same glare, and the
same music; the same congestion of silk hats
and swallow-tails. pressed against the barrier
OF the circle. watching the ballet the same
SLOW and Serried procession OF silk hats and
swallow-tails, biilicocks and racing coats, mood
lily revolving along the space between the bal
let-gazers and the long row of large-hatted
ladies who bolt upright on the crimson settees
against the wall conversed with one another in
undertone; the same old absence, in fact. Of any
gayety, of any sembance Of gayety of any
wish or effort to contrive any little hollow sem
blance Of gayety. / saw that my friend was
puzzled, disappointed. Around him were all
the common ingredients for revery-light. gilt
ter youth. money, beauty. dancing. alcohol; all
those things without which reyelry is indeed
quite possible, but with even a small measure
of which revery would seem, to the child of
Latin race. quite inevitable l was amused
by my friends establishment. We loitered
contempative. There was no need to clinch
my previous argument by pointing for him
with words the moral OF the Promenade A
we descended the staircase to the stalls NV
brave, he said to me simply, you had reason"
The ballet-"Alaska'-wa winding to its CON
clusion. The battaons of slim and spangled
limbs were whirling through their final evJlu-
tons, and the orchestra blared to the climax
CaValazZl, the immense. the inscrutable-for
any meaning she ever conveys to me CavaIazzj
Is a sphinx indeed-came striding through the
coryphees She threw back her head and pointed
to the ground. She frowned and folded her
arms. She smiled. unfolded her arms and
pointed with the foreinger of her right hand
to the middle finger of her left hand She STROBE
significantly away through the coryph6es, leav-
ing them and the orchestra to bring things IN
fell. two footmen appeared before IL with brooms
and swept away stray fakes of the golden rain
which had fallen in the ballet. A celebrated
operate vocalist being indispOsed the orches-
ira played a selection. (Surely extra turns
might be contrived these occasions0 NJ
Delbosq appeared in due tme-"comic tumbler
and vaulter" Mr. Imro Fox followed him
comic conjurer" This gentleman. though he
spoke with unique blend of the German and
American accents. did not persuade me that con-
juring that gloomiest of the arts. can be
brought into any kind Of relation to comedy
man may bring rabbit out of a hat and
pigeon out Of a canister. A may make
puns, and may pretend, more than once to
trip up as he crosses the stage But when
these two different kinds of activity COM
bined they really are intolerable. Mr. ImrO
Fox combined them. and could not bear him.
Came the three Harveys, who walked very
gracefully on wires. Their performance pleased
me unusually finished example of that
art which the author Of Elementary Jane"
has prettily said seeming to defy the laws of
gravity. owes its success to the completeness
OF its obedience to them" Their performance
pleased me, too the one thing the pro-
gramme that was neither deadly dull in itself
nor utterly unsuted to a vast stage and vast
auditorium.
Came Yvette Guilbert She is one of the
turns" which of no use in the Empire.
Her art is art Of little nicetes and nuances.
of little halftones and fine shades, and in sing
ing at the Empire she is about effective as
the writer Of the Genius Of Place" would be in
addressing mass meeting In Hyde Park. OF
course the audience applauds her-the educated
part Of 1t, lest il be thought not to understand
her: the uneducated part OF it, because she re-
ceives a fabulous sum for her every perform
ance So / suppose the management is wise to
engage her AS soon she had sung her last
song the orchestra played another long selec
ton. Then came the most appallingly tedious
thing | have ever seen in place of entertain
ment. How long it lasted | do not know; we
left before il was over, before there was any
symptom that it soon would be over. It may
not have been for more than quarter of an
hour-it seemed an eternity-that we watched
four young American men riding around the
stage on bicycles and trying to project with their
front wheels a small ball into one or other OF two
small goals. Bicycle polo" the name given
to this cheerful pastime. When go to a music
hall do not pay my money to four young
men doing what they might on a winters day
in the open air possibly do with some enjoy
mcnt. Nor can believe that any one Is so nane
as to enjoy seeing four young do this thing
in the Empire. | said much while conduct
ed my friend up the staircase. who knows"
he laughed. 1T seems to be droll of city,
Londres"
As threaded way out the Promenade
was still gitterng with its habitual gloom. I
noticed in the distance two young men who
seemed more gloomy than the rest; my
brain. | suppose, was a trifle dulled by the
whole evening for it was not until / came quite |
myself In mir q uvn mn