Evening star., 1903-11-28


removed them from his black list. Talley-
rand was a yokel to your modern impresa-
rio Just as Nero was the quinteSsence or
humility to your modern tenor of eminence.
One famous woman singer few years
ago absolutely Cancelled her Metropolitan
engagement at the beginning of the season,
went back to Europe and fought the result
ant lawsuit, on account of the hopeless be-
havior of certain of the Metropolitan box
occupants.
No Signs of Reform.
But there are no signs that the box people
are going to reform this year. They still
babble. They still clomp around from box
to box in the same old disquieting. way
during the singing. They still break out
into boisterous and raucous laughter when
your mind Is the old Rhine of myth or
in the cloudy eyries of Valhalla. The peo-
pie who have paid 50 for orchestra seats
hard-wrung money in a good many cases
and the more humble musical fanatics in
the cheaper seats above may hiss and
groan all they choose The box people
must talk and they must laugh.
Most of them reach the opera from din
ner tables at which there has been much
wine and everybody knows how much of
garrulity and laughter there are in wine
Nevertheless, 1T seems very great pity
that the pleasure of n couple of thousand
genuine lovers of music should be ruined,
! or nearly ruined, in this fashion every
night.
Lohengrin, inwardly fur,ing and with
n wrathy eye upon boX-ch2tterers the
| while he is exuding the magical notes or
| the swan song, cannot. of verify, be the
| ideal Lohengrin Tannhauser in pilgrim
robe, singing his .rccantation IN voice
| broken with rage over the strident croak-
| ings from the boxes. is lacking in the nee
essary penitential appearance.
Elsa with two red spots her cheek
bones that are not all paint, but indigna-
~ tln
| self Justice with such a surge of protest
muting her tones. Some day there Will be
| Bayreuth methods at the Metropolitan, and
| then the "convers ziones with ob1gato OF
| voices and Instruments will cease. You
| do not talk and giggle at Bayreuth per.
formance if you have any expectation OF
! ever being admitted to the Bayreuth Opera
! House again.
Weary of Alienists.
New York is becoming pretty weary OF
| its "alienists" The New York species or
| alienist seems to be about one remove
| above the fake boardwalk phrenologist. He
hunts 'stigmata'' more incessantly that a
| Virginia farm boy does rabbits and reed
| birds.
| The hereditary transmission of criminal
| instincts is the bug of the breed of New
! York alienists, and they are gettins tneIr
| queer and crazy deduct1ons-wltn terrlly
| ing illustrations-into the New YORK yer
! low newspapers all the time If your ears
| stand out it is not because your mother
| failed to push your ears under Wnen SHe
laid you on the pillow as oaby, Dut e. pes
cause you are "stigmatized.' If your eyes
| are too close together, it is not the Will OF
| God-it is your mark of degeneracy-
| If your chin recedes you are hopeless
| weakling-in spite of the 1act that solie
| of the greatest leaders of hosts in history
| have had recedng chins! And so on Inc
| New York "alenst' will find some way OF
| branding you if you give him the least sort
| 10, Il 1iIrhrf ing
what these "alienists" would have SAD OF
/ Abraham Lincoln, with his homelg phSsi-
| cal peculiarities had they existed IN MS
! youth and had he presented himself 10 tnefn
| for an opinion of his makeup. He had
| nearly all of the ''Stigmata' of these eX-
| traordnary believers in the tommyrot ten
! cts of Lombroso and Nordau
! All of this apropos OF the pictures the
yelIows are now publishing of the brains of
| those three Van Wormer lads who were
| elcctrocuted UP the state Whlle ago 1or
| numbering their old uncle. The New YORK
| al;enists got hold of the brains OF the lhree
| hoys and now the saffron sheets are print
| ing pictures OF them, together with the
| jumbled deductions of the ahen!Sts "a
| hodGe-podge of nonsense ahout retroSres-
sion and arrested Development, the ar
| cuate- fssuration type of the carnivores
! lack of somatic Improvement and thus
! on sprinkled with references to that queer
/ Italian Juno deliquente' school.
All of this useless waste of foollSh IAN
| euage about the gray matter of three badly
| brought-up. tough boys such as are to De
| found in any village in the land. the great
| er the pity If these 'alienists' could hear
| the. disgusted conVerSat ton of the man on
! the street in New York they would come
pretty close to understanding that the
town is sick and tired of these publicly
discussed autopseS on the brains OF crl1nl-
nails.
For the matter of that New York has
about all it can attend to in looking after
| its live criminals, instead of being asked
70 cyf,- &c attention less imDe-
cile dissertations on the subject of the dead
ones.
A New Use for Coal.
| An Irish cook had her mistress arrested
| here last week for hitting her-the cook
| with lump of coal. The cook had just
got out of bed and was out in the back
| yard when 81 number of cats on the back
| fence began to yowl. Immediately there
| was fusillade of Jumps of coal from the
| cooks mistress apartment, the third floor
| back.
| One of the Jumps of coal struck the cook,
| infiicting a severe scalp wound. and the
| cook unreasonably rushed off and had her
| mistress summoned to the police court.
| You We're throwing the coal at yowling
| cats, you say?" the magistrate inquired of
| the mistress.
| Yes she replied.
| And your apartment is on the third floor
| of your home, / understand-that is queer"
said the magistrate. Have you a stove in
| your room. and, if not. how did you happen
| to have coal up there?'
| oh" replied the mistress, Il carry half
! bucket of coal up to my room every night
! upon retiring to throw at cats. All of the
| householders up our way do that. They
| found 1t too expensive to throw water jugs
| and shoes and things
! Which will be illuminating to those who
| visiting New York, have heard those volleys
against the back fences during the cater