The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-05-30
THE COMING CORONATION.


l. beginning 10 put on her coronation
robes II more prosaic language. the out
| OF door preparations for the great event
OF next month are proceeding steadily.
and the saws and hammers Of countless
carpenters are heard in al the main thor
| oughfares. II all expectations are real-
lied, every inch OF available space will
be occupied BY sight-seers on these two
memorable days. ard this. OF course.
means the erection Of stands and other
! temporary structure or q gigantic scale
tc supplement the windows balconies.
and even roofs along the line OF route.
With the recent football disaster at Glas-
gov fresh in their minds. the local au-
thoritiss have gone 10 the extreme Of eau
ton. and insist upon a thoroughness OF
workmanship and stability OF material
enough to guarantee the safety OF these
erections for a twelve-month at least
Lovers OF old London deplore the van
dalism" and dissertation as they term
it, which these preparations carry in
their train. Dean Bradley declares that
the actual fabric OF Westminster Abbey
will suffer in no respect whatever from
the enormous wooden erectiuns being PM
| up within the building. and II IS fncon-
| ceiyable. in deed. that those who cherish
the traditions OF the venerable fame
| would willingly lend themselves 10 any
| thing tending 10 its permanent injury.
|
can be more hideous than the huge
, wooden stands. completely hiding the lin
| eaments OF the noble huttresses and
much OF the delicate st0nework tracery.
This is the Walhalia Of the British race
and it is made an eyesore for the sake
| OF a paitry $500. Canon Henson. in
fact. has defended the erection OF these
huge pens" and their gale 10 a syndi-
cate, on the blunt, uncompromising
ground that 5000 is wanted for the inter
nal decorations OF the Abbey, and that
this is The simplest way OF raising the
| cash.
| The demolition of trees at various points
along the route has also given rise 20
| concern and protest, for London is poor
enough in foliage at the best. However.
| London crowds on such occasions show
| both good humor and voluntary discipline.
| Instead Of creating difficulties. their aim
! seems TO be 10 assist the police and CO.
| operate with them, as FAR as possible;
| and the police on their part do what they
| can 10 reciprocate these friendly sent-
1nents.
| For this reason. If for no other. It is
satisfactory to know that proposal TO
bring up 10 London provincial policemen
| to assist in the street work has been
| abandoned. The Londoner is extremely
| conservative In some respects. ard
| though he will put up with a good deal
| from his own police in the matter OF
| Stand back. here" or Pass along.
there he would bitterly resent being
ordered about and dictated 70 by police
| men with broad Suffolk accent or
/ Sussex stare. OF course the bulk OF the
metropolitan police are countrymen born
and bred. but they are countrymen with
| the London polish on. I remember Sir
| Charles Warren saying when he was po-
| lice commissioner that he did not care
about Cockneys on the force: they had
too many friends and associations IN
London. and were too literally endowed
| with breezy Independence. The actual
| coronation road" cannt occupy an inch
less than nine miles. and as most OF the
thoroughfares are reasonably wide there
ought 20 be no special pressure except
at a few points such as the Piccadniy
end Of ST. James street and the avenues
To- Trafalgar Square, where, naturally,
the requisite precautions viii be taken.
Not in name only. but in truth, is Con-
vent Garden the Royal opera.
state performance on its renovated
stage bulks large and pompous in the
program of coronation festivities. and this
alone should suffice TO make good its re-
sal claims. But without waiting for the
end of June King Edward and his queen
have underlined the opera s title by as
sisting three nights running AT the open
ing performances of the coronation sea-
son. Last year during the national
mourning. of course. the stage heroes
and heroines had to love or die without
the royal smiles. But during the year
before, and during many years before
that, it appeared night after night that
Albert Edward Prince OF Wales sat quiet
and unpestered in the royal box enjoy
Ing his after-dinner Wagner Ike any
other enlightened English gentleman.
nd he cit .r~sfb 81. IN.
the royal box TO adorn a season which
would be nearly as incomplete without
him without Lohengrin's swan or
Brunhildes horse. And by this lavish
patronage, King Edward is serving mu-
sic no less than he IS pleasing society.
He is enough Of a grand monarch 10 de-
sire that the royal opera house shall not
ar the state performance fan very far
below the standards Of his. brother
princes subsidized theaters and he is
also enough OF a musician or an opera
gOer TO understand that a perfect enseru-
bic on a given night Of june or July Is
only likely to be achieved II the preceding
weeks Of operate activity have been
weeks of increasing efficiency and ever
refining artistry
AS for the arrangements on and behind
the stage the Syndicate is scoring heav-
lily. II has become a habit Of many Lon-
don music critics who regularly find the
annual opera season the pleaseutcst quar-
ter Of the year, and enjoy themselves
nightly in the comfortable seats prori5ed
for them. 20 decrv the Syndicate and all
its works al a hopeless rabhie Of ineffahie
blunderers. Obiivious OF the enormous
difficulties attending the production q
twenty different operas in sixty nights ia
a theater closed throughout the rest of
the year. Il has long been their habit to
labor foolish comparisons between COvent
Garden and houses where the same piece
is played a hundred nights running. Pain
lively and pstheticaily they cover T@ams
OF paper with pleas for Just IS much
PAINS and brains at the Royal opera as
one finds at a suburban theater 10 is
very little. they say. but they ask ~
more Which. Of course. IS hugely fool I
ish. For face 70 face with Infinitely /
greater difficulties than the ordinary play
houses. Covent Garden needs both larger /.
fnteliiEences and more niTnole and care I
ful instruments 20 rise anywhere near 20 4
the playhouse level Of snoothnesE. and 4
the trouble in the past has been not that f
the stage management vas g0rse than i
81 other theaters. but THAI q was not
great deal better. No doubt Sc vas
through this excessive depreciation - the i
man hahfrd that ueariy every critic lr
london shook a gloomy head last year
over The costly new rachinerr- - was ln
vain the Syndicate protested that me ma
chinsry was hardly finished and that laft
season must be "a the nature - q ions
rehearsal The critics vent cn snaknE
their heads and yowirE that tre relozEal
sf1srsditv q the star Eu1lg u1iF tl11 TIRE
reyV wheels ard levers lato more friEet-
<,f engines % destruction. But aiEezlf
81 di4eTent operas a4ve been given o.
eight davs with scarcely 2 htc1. ard Pr
fhe frst act 4 --Tanhauser and tne izFf