Evening star., 1953-02-24

Welcker's on 18th street, where
splendid apartments are pre-
pared for him during his tarry
in Washington. AS is well known,
Mr.. Dickens will give his first
reading at Carroll Hail., Ion Mon
day evening next, and from the
character of the people who
have purchased tickets, we can
safely say that he will not only
have brilliant, but a very dis
tinguished audience"
Monday, looking back on
Dickens first Sunday in the Ma
tional Capital. The Star report
ed: Yesterday, he (Mr. Dick
ens) walked over a great portion
OF the city, visiting the Capitol
building in the course of the day,
and called upon a few friends,
including some Of his own coun-
trymen. He dined, by invitation,
(no craSher. he) yesterday with
his old friend Senator Sumner"
y -
All this was preparation on the
part of the city, Dickens and The
Stars news and drama depart
ments for the big fete Monday
night, February 4. This was 1T,
a whopper that Williams could
not equal if he read the "Pick-
wick Papers" while standing on
his head and juggling six leather
bound volumes of the masters
works.
High hearted, but still little
groggy from the experience, The
Stars critic reported the event:
Dickens has read, to begin
with. There is no doubt about
that. This fact can be attested
by the large number of enthu-
siastS, who. provided with the
essential So bit of pasteboard.
made their way tortuously to
Carroll Hall via F and H streets,
into the no thoroughfare' of G
street. ;. Petulant young ladies,
cross over their damaged skirts,
asserted quite openly that the
reason why no chairs were al
lowed in the passages was be-
cause there was no room for
them! When seated there was
something more than the usual
buzz of expectation.
The buzz was checked by
a movement at the curtain,
which was pulled aside at the
left by an unseen hand, and Mr.,
Dickens passed in and walked
quickly up to the reading desk.
He commenced by an apology for
the badness of the gaslight,
which should be remedied by to-
morrow night, meantime the de-
f1ciency Of light must be supplied
from the bright countenances of
the audience. which was pleas
antly said by Mr.. Dickens, but
he evidently was not pleased. .
Report has it that Mr.. Dick
ems was exceedingly wrathfuI
behind the scenes, at the bad
light, and at first positively re-
fused to give the reading in such
a lugubrious shade. Report has
it further that when Mr.. Dolby
Dickens agent). urged him to
go on with the reading and make
the best of it, he, Mr.. Dickens,
in the language Of. his own
Scrooge, said to Mr.. Dolby that
he would see him - -,
yes indeed he did. He went the
whole length of the expression
and said he would see him in
that extremity first. But he
thought better of it. and made
his appearance promptly when
due, at 8 o'clock.
AS to Dickens actual perform
ance, The Stars man had res
ervation or two, to wit: de-
Scription has exhausted itself
upon his style of reading; in the
main accurately. but causing the
hearer to expect too much. AS
an elocutionist he does not sat-
iSfy the ear as do some of our
well-known professionals. i.
The true fire of genius is shown
behind the uttered words, and
the wonderful play of eye and
countenance, now mirthful, now
tender, tell of the fountain-head
that has sent out these inap-
proachable efusions of the hu-
morous and pathetic"
BY the time of the fourth per-
formance, The Stars critic was
bit more flippant, and con-
siderably more terse, when he
wrote: His 'Smike' was a poor
affair, and-as some one de-
murely remarked to a neighbor,
who, however, failed to see the
point-'Dickens does not seem to
have a proper conception Of the
character"
But it was not on this dour
note in the going -on-16 Star that
Dickens left town. It was rather
on the words: $50, a hearty
goodbye to Charles Dickens and
may God bless him for the good
he has done us by his words,
both written and spoken"
Enter, Mr.. Williams.