Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-18

| NOW. however, We are promised petTol
| electric bus from America. the petrol being
| used to drive electric generator. which
| in turn drives two motors, geared to the
| aXleS of the wheels
| No less disappointing than buses have
| been the motor cabs. but why this should
| be so is a mystery; for on the continent
last year more than once was enabled to
| hire this kind Of vehicle. and found them
| infinitely better than the horse-drawn
| cabs OF course. you have had them In
America for a long while.
| Theatrical Season.
| The West End theatrical season is rap
| idly nearing it's end. Until the present
| spell of hot weather came pay box re-
! ceipts showed recently great improve
nent upon their fluctuating and generally
depressed state during perhaps the greater
| part OF the season, but the heat wave
has had its usual effect upon the pits and
galleries of London'S badly ventilated the
| aters. Managers are holding out until
| after the visit Of the president and the
| moving Of the court, but in a few cases
| closing has already begun.
| On the 14th instant there is Sir Henry
| Irving's star cast performance of The
Merchant of Venice" at Drury Lane, In
aid of the Actors Association. For the
| rest July has nothing of Importance theat-
| rically. and dramatic critics will promptly
| take holiday. Dramatically the season has
| been a season of comedy. sentimental and
| romantic in nature as in The Admirable
| ),
King" and also as in Monsieur Beau
| caire." Quality Street. and Cousin
| Kate The established dramatists have
| been very inactive. and managers have
been on occasions at their wits ends for
suitable plays.
| Saturday night the old ''Gaiety' closed
| Its career. and the curtain 'rung
down for the last time, not only upon IA
| stage with a history, but upon a quite
peculiar ebullition of sentiment. Despite
| the artificiality of the atmosphere of the
| drama, those who tread the boards man
| age to retain large measure of this quail
| lty of sentiment, and in particular to cling
| almost pathetically to old professional
sociations The young people who throng-
| ed the pit and the gallery. and joined i'll
| the familiar choruses, doubtless felt some
superficial emotion, but the old playgOerS
among them. those who knew the Gaiety
| twenty and thirty years ago. We're proba-
| bly, rather less noisy. and as for the stage
| veterans who showed themselves on the
| boards in the course of the evening, they,
| it is scarcely to be doubted, regarded the
last Gaiety performance as an epoch
| For thirty-five years the Gaiety has been
center of entertainment in London. Mr..
John |1olingShead, SO long associated with
| the management of the house. has told
| its story. Thirty-four years ago Sir Henry
Irving was playing at the Gaiety. Many
men and women of what, from lack of a
better word We must call histrionic genius,
have laughed and danced their little hour
| upon its stage. 1t has given two peeresses
the Countess of Orkney. formerly known
| as Connie Gilchrist, and the Marchioness
OF f1eadfort. known in her stage days
Miss Rosie Boote, and the appearance of
the stalls and boxes Saturday night showed
that up to the last the Gaiety retained
the hearty allegiance of the ''gilded youth
of London.
The entertainment was too long and
varied to be noticed in detail. But among
old and new favoriteS who We're en-
Enthusiastically greeted in the course of the
niney =. J,I
Connie Eds, Miss Marie Studholme Miss
EVE Greene, Miss Edna May. Miss Ethel
Irving, Mr.. Lionel Brough. Mr.. Huntley
Wright Mr. Seymour Hicks. Mr.. Edmund
Payne, Mr.. G. p. Huntley, Mr.. Hayden COT
| fin and MIR. George Grossmith. jr.
The eliminating incident was the fare
well speech of Sir Henry Irving. who. sup
ported by George Edwardes and Mr. John
HollingShead, expressed regret at the alb
sence of those two Gaiety favorites Mr. J.
l.. Toole and Miss Nellie Farren, and asked
Miss Florence st. John to sing Aud Lang
Syne." This was taken up by the whole
house. and with the last strain of the
familiar song ended the history of the
Good Old Gaiety.'
Sad Chinese Emperor.
An interesting account has reached me
Of the recent visit of the emperor and the
empress dowager to the imperial tombs,
where the unhappy monarch selected the
tomb in which he is to lie when his time
comes. The correspondent was on the plat
form when the royalties detrained at
Machiapu. and he writes: THE emperor
looked thin and sad and very shy: the en-
press full of life and energy. She has
big, square face long eyes and a double
chin. Her complexion was very ford pos
slbly from rouge. The pageant was a grand
sight The correspondent adds: If the
native reports be true, there are times
when the emperor can speak to the point,
simpleton though he is supposed to be on
at Fine IN, Ni.I,
had been deliberately fitted up absoutel,
regardless Of expense. the emperor called
Yuan Shi kal to his apartments and point
ed out that he desired in his travels to see
the condition of the people and learn their
needs, so that imposing royal pageants
were unnecessary.
In other countries he Well aware
that rulers went out without much formal
lty. and though China required more dis
play on account of custom. ii should be
done as economically possible with a
view to avoid putting too heavy a burden
on the people. He also gave strict instruc-
tons that the officials accompanying the
royal family We're not to extort anything
from the people for themselves, a very I'M
popular order. Yuan Shi Kai is accord
inSly. keeping a sharp eye on his subOrdi-
mates. Yuan is not, personally, more in
clined to integrity than other Chinese Of =.
ficials. but he poses before FOREIGNERS as the
honest official. and from desire to ius-
tlfy 50 rare a title he may act up to it,
Art Objects at Auction.
At ChriSteS yesterday an aSSemblage of
objects came under the hammer. Three
Sros-bue Sevres porcelain vases and covers.
with Louis WI mounts of ormolu the cen
ter vase 1212 inches high, fetched 800
guineas; luster Cubic dish. 10 inches
diameter, 50 guneas portrait of a mon
arch in armnr. Saronnerie tapestry. Il;
inches by Pc inches. 1oU guineaS: a violon-
cello. known as the Royal George. made for
George Nv when Prince of Wales hy
ter, ST., painted with the royal arms and
the motto. Liberty and Loyalty brought
% guineas 1t is said to have been often
played on by the prince. and its tone to be
comparable to that of an old Italian in
strument. \ portrait of the Queen of Wur-
temberg, given to Cosway, $50.
l.. II. MOORE.