New-York tribune., 1912-04-29
KING LIKES THE HALLS
With the Queen He Sets the Seal
Of His Approval Upon Vaude-
vile Shows.
vile Shows.


.,,ore or Queen Victoria In all the sixty
IA Years that she exercised sway over
~. british Empire. Hitherto the 80
csrlea "rousic halls" have been regarded
-. most people in England as the very
lowest and most vulgar kind Of popular on
tertanment.
There Is nothing quite like them ia thls
country. tho nearest approach thereto being
.ba French cafS Chantant To begin With.
.-,okfnc and alcoholic refreshments arc
%. only permitted but expected, and such
: ching as a temperance music hall would
"a considered an inconceivable anomaly.
,,,,seouently. music halls were until few
,sars ago looked down upon by the re-
.nActable element Of English society as a
so-t OF halfway house to perdition. and
,or Young nian to be known as fire.
cuenter Of music halls was supposed by
,o,ra 10 Indicate that he had embarked
,,,on a career Of dissipation that could
,nd only in utter damnaton. The pro-
.-.rue included topical songs. with quips
a, the leading personages Of the day. in
,gb,ch no one was spared, from royalty and
40 Prime Minister down TO the latest cul-
~, in the current cause celebre; skirt
dancing, acrobatic feats legerdemain
,rd stunts" Of similar character. The
conversation between the people on the
,tnge and the audience wes uninterrupted
throughout the evening,
IN the early days Of the halls only those
ror,en Of the great world who were con-
.idered very fast ever yentured TO put In
an appearance, and then with a conscious
ness of the fact that they had nearly over
,,spped the limits Of propriety; while the
men Of any social position 10 be found
.bere were usually those who had dined
rs,,4cularIy well. and who had dropped in
for an hours amusement.
King George and Queen Mary. however
,srA brought 10 realize. especially through
thA obstruction Of q popular music hall at
ra,,hurgb lust before their state visit
,hnra last summer, that the music hall is
the house OF entertainment Of tho huge
lower middle class ana or the working
nan who goes there with his wife or
sweetheart 10 listen 10 the songs and TO
,o,n in them on occasion. while smoking
his pipe over a mug OF ale. The music hall
managers have ended by realizing that this
narticular clement the bulk indeed or
their clientele, resents anything directly
,mproper. and they have been gradually
eliminating the former Objectionable feat
ures OF their programmes. To-day, indeed,
there Is no doubt whatsoever that the en-
,ertaipment at the various music halls in
Iondop and in the provinces is, though
not specially refined, infinitely more moral
and wholesome than many Of the plays
that are given in the most popular London
theatres; plays largely adapted from the
yrench. with this difference. that the indel-
icacies which are CLOSED over so lightly IN
French as TO give no offence are empha-
sized when rendered in English.
The other day an entertainment was
riyen at the Palace Music Hall, in
London, for the benefit Of the employees and
victims Of the music hall that had been
destroyed by fire In Edinburgh last year
To the amazement OF everybody, the King
and Queen announced their intention or
being present, and attended the perform
ancs with Just tri1e more state and royal
pomp than when they visited the opera
King Edward, even as Prince of Wales,
never ventured 10 V.sil a music hail, save
with the utmost privacy, keeping well De-
hind the curtains Of a box, so as not TO
be seen by the public. But King George
and Queen Mary have gone there quite
openly, with no conCealment Of their royal
state and with no attempt at incognito, and
have thereby relieved the music hall OF
the stigma under which il has always sui
fered until now and have given II the
stamp Of their approval as respectable
and reputable form of evening entertain
ment.
It seems little thing for them 10 have
DONE and yet Il will accomplish much
and add TO their ever growing popularity
II will Undue the lower middle classes' 10
whom the music hall has been the princl-
pal form OF musical and theatrical enter
tanmeut, with the assurance that 1t IL
thoroughly reputable. since 1t has received
the approval OF sovereigrs who are already
noted for their strict sense OF the proprie-
ties Of life and henceforth the peo-
pie will no longer feel that in spending their
evening at the music hall they are doing
something that is lacking in respect either
20 themselves or their wives, children or
sweethearts.
OF course, It Will enormously increase the
music hall business throughout the land.
and the rnanagements will. from motives OF
policy II for nothing else, feel themselves
compelled 10 keep their shows up to the
standard OF respectabilty which won Tor
them the approval OF the sovereign and his
consort
In view OF the fact that the ceremonies
connected with the canonization or INC
Maid Of Orleans will be brought 10 close
toward the end Of the year, all other pro-
eedure in the affair having been hneiiy
completed, and that Joan of Arc Will then
re recognized as the national saint OF
France, n is worth while calling attention
10 the sensation created abroad by the
snry Of the Contesse doilLanson' OF the
oiscovery IN the library of her uncle the
Conate de Maleyssie, Of some four or hve
autograph letters Of ia bonne Lorraine.
The coultc claims 10 be a collateral De
seendant Of the warrior maid. and the
library referred 70 Is I'm his very ancient
castle Of Beuvriere
The Maid Of Orleans left no descendants.
Tor there is no truth whatever i'll the story
OF her escape 10 Metz with the assistance
of her brothers: OF her marriage and or
her death not having actually taken place
IN 1881 az Rouen
evident that the peculiar arrange
mehts made by the French crown In the
aIsenih century for honoring her family
sfe IN measure responsible for the fairy
tdie as to her marriage. Already two years
pnor to her being burned at the stake
namely, in l429, King Charles VII bestowed
ba'ents of hereditary nobility upon the
iS'her and mother Of Joan and upon her
trothers, the patents expressly stipulating
mat the nobility thus accorded IN reward
ioF her services should descend In the fe-
male as we'll as in the male line Of the
posterity Of her brothers.
This was a terribly tall order for II