The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-26
OLYMPIC GAMES DIDN'T DRAW
SMALL ATTENDANCE AT THE
OPENING PERFORM NCES.

n.,al rnvallds Resort to En~sianl-scott's
Spinlon OF Lord Byron-sore Throats
In I.ondon-Osprey Fumes wern De
spite Queens Protcst-Theatre Mama
gers Object 10 Directoire Gowns
Irish Costume Barred From House Of
Lords-John Burns as an Archangel
German Emigration Falls or.
LONDON, July 15.-The first three days
OF the Olympic Games must have beenta
great disappointment to their organizers,
Tho attendance for the whole three days
put together would make but O poor show
in the %, 900 seats that surround the stadium.
and il Is safe to predict that IL there ls not
a great Improvement during tho rest Of
the week the aggregate attendance for
the first twelve performances will fall short
w aono thousands Of one full house.
Ten thousand is a generous estimate of
tho number Of the public who were tempted
to the opening ceremony, at which the King
was present, and that number has not been
approached since. The price Of the cheap
Get seats bias boon reduced from two shil-
hngs to eixpenoc. without 80 far any good
result. As tho Franco-British Exhibition
takes rs per cent. Of the gross receipts the
financial outlook must be gloomy.
In an article in last months Nineteenth
Cen:ury Sir John Ashley Cooper wrote
strongly In favor OF the establishment Of
PAN Britannia, Olympic games. which
should DO open to all English speaking
peoples, including the United States. He
has the support Of c. B. Fry and other
prominent sportsmen. and II the present
scheme does not establish a stronger grip
on tho public imagination than it now
ssemsIikely to an effort will very probably
b. made to put their idea into effect.
1t Is. q curious fact that while English
persons rush abroad when they IRE In poor
health. II 10 to England that royal invalids
n other countries turn for q renewal Of
strength.
The Kaiserin has a firm belief. In the re-
operative power Of the air Of the east coast
OF England, while the Kaiser owes much to
Higholifre. where he stayed for several
weeks q few months ago.
The Crown Prince OF Sweden. who lately
had a severe attack Of measles, 10 now here
to see what English air can do for him.
He and the Crown Princess and their two
baby sons spent q few days in London with
their relatives and then left for Bagshot.
where they will stay for some time.
King Alfonso found his visit to England
very beneficial and declares that II was also
helpful to the baby Prince Of the Asturiss,
% the Spanish King and Queen with their
two sons viii arrive here In September and
20 to the Isle Of Wight. King Alfonso
broke traditions when he took the young
Prince out Of Spain last year and he will
doubly offend when he brings both Of his
sons to England this year, but he has made
70 clear 70 his subjects that he and his fam
Nv do NOS mean 20 be fettered In the matter
Of travelling out OF Spain by ancient rules
and restrictions. His personal popularity
10 90 great that all but his most oonserva-
tive subjects have come to accept all that
he may do % right and fitting.
The unfortunate Queen Amelia Of Por-
tusal. who ie suffering from nervous break
down and a severe throat trouble, will ar
rive soon and go to the country home OF
her mother, the Countess Of Paris, where Il
10 hoped the quiet and the fine air will re-
store her to health.
Queen Maud of Norway thinks that
England does wonders for little Prince
Olaf and she would spend most Of her time
in this country, an she loves the air and
surroundings OF Windsor, were 1t not that
the Norwegians are less amenable than the
Spanish and cling to the tradition that a
King and Queen should stay in their own
country. So IL Queen Maud visits England
she will AVE to leave her husband behind.
The number, OF murders and crimes Of
violence in Paris last month was record
breaking. and this month has been con-
s~picuous for the number Of suicides. The
crimes and the suicides have apparently
no connection. The former are attributed
to the lawlessness induced by the practical
abolition OF capital punishment, n the
latter to the intense heat in Paris during
the greater part Of the month.
The sum OF SIS $50 was paid for rare old |
books, manuscripts and autograph letters
at Sotheby's rooms yesterday. the highest
price being s3.O5O. which was paid for a
collection OF Sir Walter Scott's letters to
the Marchioness Of Aberoorn.
The letters number ninety-hve. and are
bound in a volume. They cover the period
from 1905 to 1929. To the Marchioness. |
whose estates his father managed. Scott
wrote some OF his most charming and con-
fdential epistles. An interesting letter |
contains the novelist's opinion Of Lord |
Byron. He says:
You ask me. my dear Lady Abercorn, |
how I like Lord Byron's poem. and answer
very much There is more original strength
and force Of thinking In II. as well as COM
mand Of language and v~ersifcation. h In
almost any modern poem Of the same length
that ] have happened to meet with.
1t is really a powerful poem. the more
powerful because 1t arrests the attention J
without the aid Of the narrative and without
the least apparent wish TO conciliate the
favor Of the reader, but rather an afTectation
to the contrary. ] say an afecthtion to the
contrary. because I should be sorry to think
chat a young man Of Lord Byron's powers
should really and unaffectedly entertain
and encourage a contempt for all sublunary
comforts and e~njoyments. This tinge OF
discomfort, or perhaps We may almost say
mlsanthropy. IL the only objection l have
to Lord r 4 very powerful and original work.
BY the way, there is a report that Childe
Harold is to be married to an heiress OF our
northern cline.
Only $3.50 was paid for an original holo-
graph draft of a love letter by Robert Burns.
"aHa ~Tennyson's family album, containing
The first draft Of the poets lyric to his wife,
hrOD chit Ann md GAor0a Waahtn Oton n |