The Washington herald., 1911-05-31
WANTED-ADWARF

Soi as IN lmperSOnatOr Oh OH 1cohfcy
Hudson, the noted English dwarf. whose
portrait may be seen at the National
Gallery, he might communicate with Mr.
Frank Lasceiles. master Of the historicai
pageant which Is one Of the principal
features Of the Festival of the Empire.
which was begun at the Crystal Palace
May II to continue until october.
Hudson was one Of the most Interest,"
ing figures in English history. He was
but eighteen inches high until he was
| twenty years of age, when he grew to
q height Of three feet nine inches. He
made his first public appearance served
up as pie at the table of the Duke
OF Buckingham. After the marriage OF
Charles the First he became page in
the service Of the Queen, and after many
adventures Che was captain In the
royal army at the beginning of the civil
| war;, was arrested In 1852 on suspicion
of being connected with the Popish plot.
| but ultimately he was released.
As a contrast to this dwarf, the organ
| izers of the Festival of the Empire are
seeking to obtain the services Of fouf
men whose height is not less than six
feet ten inches, while some 120 men OF
not less than six feet will be required
to act as banner bearers in the "Masque
OF the Empire that gorgeous scene
which is to close the great pageant.
Apart from this pageant, however,
| there is a chance for giants who wish to
| win valuable prize. For there also Is
| to be a grand parade Of giants, In which
all Britons who can boast of minimum
height of six feet three inches will be
| eligible for entry. A fine prize will be
awarded to the tallest and best develop
ed man who Joins in the display.
Never before have there been such
| scenic arrangements made as those which
will characterize the performance OF the
| historical pageant at that festival. BY
means Of a system of huge revolving
platforms, tremendous changes can be ef-
fected in a few moments. Across the
artificial lake in the middle Of the pageant
grounds strong bridge has been con-
suuoted. and this will in turn represent
London Bridge at four different historic
periods. A most realistic effect will be
obtained in the Fire Of London" when
great buildings will fall before the flames
In ruins. Both old and new st. Pauls
| arc to be shown, each over sixty fest
in height and fifty feet in width.
With the aid of more than $50 large
arc lamps and a number Of very powerful
| searchlights, the pageant ground will be
as bright by night as by day. And talk
ing of lighting, 1t might be mentioned
that two searchlights. each Of 10000
| candlepower. will be placed on the north
and south towers Of the Crystal Palace
These lights will not only be visible by
night all over London, but will be seen
for twenty-five miles around.
The Pageant of London will consist
Of thirty-two scenes. divided into four
parts. There are 15.00O voluntary per-
formers, drawn largely from the boroughs
Of London. The scenery alone has cost
| some e6,o0o; the thousands OF dresses are
valued a. e14.0o0 and the properties,
weapons. stage coaches, chariots, ships.
and so forth represent another $4,000.
The scenery is infinitely more vast than
any indoor stage has ever known; but. by
the employment of ingenious machinery,
tremendous changes will be effected in a
twinkling of the eye. Thus, within a
couple of seconds, old st. PauIs a mass
OF flames will give place to a most real
istic representation of Sir Christopher
Wrens noble cathedral. For one of the
episodes which needs a continuous back
ground the longest stretch Of tapestry in
existence has been made. Though this Is
800 feet across, it will be put In place and
removed with amazing speed, sixty men
having been trained for the work. In
front OF this curtain will be the largest
carpet in the world. 1t measures GOO feet
by $50 feet and eighty men are required
to handle this ten tons of material
There will be stirring and gallant
show of armor clad knights In the great
pageant Among the distinguished perform
ers will be the Countess of Plymouth as
Queen Elizabeth, the Marchioness of DON
egal, Lady Massie Bloomfield, Lady Jane
Herbert, Sir Melv;ll and Lady Beachcroft,
! and Miss Dorothy Smith, daughter of the
mayor of Cape Town, to whom is allotted
the impersonation Of Peace" in the
Masque of Empire.
And there also will be lesser lights,
but none the less interesting and pic
turesque. For the pageant fever has
seized hundreds Of young men, who will
charge with lance and pennant down the
grassy slopes of the Crystal Palace. The
cost of such armor Is far from prohibi-
tive. One may be a knight in armor for
30 shillngs, or a belted baron for 35
| shilliRgs 1t Is facetiously described IN
the funny papers az the cheapest kind
Of chivalry ever to be seen. Many others
so into 1t to have the satisfaction of
seeing themselves photographed In AZ
NOR. And one cannot help but agree
with the remark that II ones best girl
can withstand his martial form when clad
in Mr.. Lascelles' famous 30 shillings suit
Of medieval knishthood. that maiden's
breast Is adamant.
A complete theater has been built, In
which will be an original and graphic
display of the beauties Of dress. Elabo-
rata scenes will represent such occasions
as church parade in the park, the in
closure at Ascot, the lawn Of great
country house. and other places where
beautiful dresses may be seen. On the
stage manneQz.ns win walk and pese,
showing to the greatest advantage all
the beauties Of line. form. and color Of
some of the most perfect examples Of the
dress designers art
There is a series Of five tableaux. illus-
trating all the costumes necessary to a
woman OF fashion at different periods of
the day The first shows her in the lux
ur.ous surroundings Of her boudoir. clad
in a loose morning robe; IN the second
she IL starting on q morning shopping
expedition with friend, and so on
through the day to the last tableau. in
which lady is shown In rich evening
toilette
Another tableau, also designed to show
tho costumes suitable to different types
Of woman. will represent tho prepara-
tions Of a debutante for her preeenta-
tion at court. The central figure VIII