8
THE SCBANTON TEIBUNE-SATURDAY MQIWINCr, APRIL' 13, 1895.
Random Notes of
Life to London, -
Chatty Letter About
Teas and a Visit to
Indon, March 30. London Is bright-
enlng up wonderfully Just now. and
everything and everybody la "perking
up a bit" and getting ready for the sea
son, which opens here at Easter. The
opera at Covent Garden commences on
Hay 13, as Sir Augustus Harris begs to
Inform the "royalty, the nobility, the
aristocracy, the gentry and the public"
on his announcements this spring. We
are to have all the artists whom you
huve hud over there In New York this
winter, besides a few more Important
eponent of the divine art of song
Albaul. Calve, and even Puttl. Think
or It! I do hope 1 can go a great many
times, for I have been living In the
lu-.pes of the opera season all winter
long, and If I urn so fortunate as to
realize my dreams. I shall certainly
treat myself to a perfect repast of It,
ond as often as I cun, too. There Is
only one drawback. Opera Is expensive,
the cheapest seats costing half u crown,
instead of a shilling, us the concert
tickets sometimes do.
Apropos of concerts, we are going to
huve a perfect surfeit of them this sea
eon, and In fuel, are seeing the begin
ning of them even now. The Philhar
monics, us 1 told you before, are al
ready begun, the one last week having
been particularly Interesting, on ac
count of its being the occasion of tho
linn Introduction of Vlllleis Stanford's
new symphony, "IVAllegro U Pente
cost." H 'HS conducted by the com
poser, of course, and was a lovely per
formance of a beautiful piece of work,
the audience receiving It with the
heartiest approval, and even the critics,
who always find fault with a thing If
they can. praising it way up to the
skies In the puper next day.
Something About New Music.
Ir. Stanford Is an Irishman and is
the foremost teacher of harmony and
composition In London to-day, besides
himself being one of the finest present
time composers of lovely things for the
pio 'and for orchestra. Dawson, an
English pianist, and one trained en
tirely in England, was the soloist of
honor, and Mine. Ve Vere Saplo sang
ugaln. In place of Ella Russell, who was
ill. She did no better than at her first
appearance two weeks ago. and was
not. by any means, an overwhelming
success, nor does anyone else who sings
like that deserve to be, either, and the
disappointment of the English audi
ences in her is intense. T am dreadfully
sorry. At the next Philharmonic the
voice soloist Is to be no less a person
than Adellna Patti herself, whose
agents In I'.lnnlngham have kindly con
sented to allow her to appear, as a great
favor to the Philharmonic directors.
Every seat In the great Queen's hall is
already sold, and everybody that can Is
going to hear her. Fortunately for us,
we had our tickets for the whole series
and so rest easy on the subject of get
ting our seats all right. I dare say the
audience, as well as the soloist, Willi be
well worth seeing on that night. I do
hope she won't get one of her charac
teristic little tits of temper on the long
looked for day and send word at the
last minute that she is "Indisposed."
And may Providence protect her from
catching a cold, also, so that, when the
auspicious night arrives, I may have
the pleasure of hearing her warble the
threadbare favorite of hers "Una Voce
IMco Fa" with which she promises to
delight our ears.
The Divino Master's Son.
We are soon to have no less a person
than Herr Segfried Wagner, over to
conduct some concerts of his father's
music, and then there are to be some
more orchestral concerts of the highest
class, directed by the famous foreign
conductor, De flans Rlchter, at one of
which the adorable PaderewskI Is to be
the soloist, which artist Is to give one
or two only one or two recitals also,
liefore he files back to, Paris again.
Daniel Mayer, the agent who first "ran"
PaderewskI as a risk a few years ago
when he first came out, and to whom
PaderewskI owes a big debt of grati
tude for believing In his genius when
no one else did, ha3 prevailed upon him
to emerge from his temporary compar
ative retirement for the sake of his
worshippers In London. Herr Felix
Mottl is also expected, and a visit
from Herr Herman Servl is on the
cards.
Great Interest will necessarily at
tach to the debut here of Mr. Arthur
Xlklsch, conductor and director of the
opera at Iluda Pesth, who gained such
a distinguished reputation as conduc
tor of the Boston Symphony orchestra
nt home. Mr. Xlklsch will. It Is now
arrranged, direct four orchestral con
certs to take place In June and July.
It Is understood that Slavonic music,
will be a prominent feature on the pro
gramme of these concerts.
Last Thursday I attended the last one
of the Thursday subscription concerts,
at which my friend, the Scotch girl,
made hpr debut on the concert plat
form.' We all went to support her and
she deserved It, too, for she did splen
didly We are very proud, indeed, of
her, as she is quite clever, besides being
gifted with a lovely voice. She sings
foreign songs simply charmingly.
An English Afternoon 'leu.
Yesterday afternoon I went with a
friend to an out and out English tea.
It was all very smart and grand, and I
suppose I was the dingiest looking one
of the constantly going and coming
stream of people, but that did not
trouble me much, as no one seemed to
object to my old winter clothes. In
fact the wearers of the nicest gowns
kept persistently coming up to me and
my chaperone, until I rather suspected
them of wanting to use me as a foil to
all their spring bravery. The handshake
at these occasions Is heart-breaking, or
rather arm-breaking, correctly speak
ing. You are expected to hold up your
hand on a level with the top of your
head, and all the llmper you can make
it all 'the better. Then you waggle it
to andl fro sideways while shaking
hands. It Is hard enough on me, who
am so small. to keep my hand up as high
as my own head, but after several at
tempts of the sort, shaking hands wMh
people much taller than myself and
trying to reach their standard of height,
why I was rather tired out. I shall not
go there again. There were perfect
hosts of women and only one man, and
he, I suppose, was being what they call
at home "lionised," for he was an In
dian from Calcutta, very little and
very brown, and (whispered with bated
breath) "Im-mensely rich, you know."
Very entertaining he was, and, some
how finding out that I was non-English,
too, by my American accent, I suppose,
he asked me all about America In very
funny questions. The interesting young
man is a student nt Oxford university.
In the Tower of London.
This morning I treated myself to a
. look at the tower of London, which J
New Concerts, Afternoon
London Tower.
have long intended to visit, but for
which I never seemed to have time un
til to-day. The underground railway
took mo there, and then I had a whole
half day of the most delightful poking
about the grim old place that I could
ever ask for. 1 do love to go sight-seeing
by myself In these old places. J
can find my own way about and don't
have to talk to anybody all the time,
and can go about places thinking all
my own .thoughts, which may not be
very fine ones, I own, but which uro as
much company as I want In these quiet
old places that call for so much reflec
tion. You know, of course, that this is one
of the oldest lumlmurks In Englund.
having been begun by King Alfred,
continued by Wllllum the Conqueror,
and finished sometime In the eleventh
century. I think. Its purpose was, they
say, both to protect the port of Loudon
und to overawe the citizens, and was
surrounded on all sides by a big moal.
which Is now dry, and down at the bot
tom of which are little flower beds and
grassses, instead of the ugly stagnant
water which used to stand there. Ow
ing to the strength of Its walls it was
used very much as a prison, and Is sur
rounded by linmensei fortifications,
through the first of which, called the
Middle Tower. I went, passing by the
old Hell Tower and the "Queen's
House" to the Traitor's Gate, above
which Is u part called St. Thomas'
Tower.
Interesting lieininiscences Suggested.
The Traitor's Gate, by which state
prisoners used to enter the tower, Is at
the opening of the mont and guarded
by two stiong water gates. I could
almost fancy I could see Anne Boleyn
or Lady Jane Grey or any of those poor
unfortunate royalties beheaded hero,
entering at the gate and ascending the
water steps to their pluce of Imprison
ment. I went next to the White Tower,
In one part of which Sir Walter Raleigh
wus once Imprisoned and where he wrote
his "History of the World." Immedi
ately over this cell, which Is formed in
the thickness of a single wull, some fif
teen 'feet thlckfc Is St. John's chape!,
"one of the finest and most perfect
specimens of Norman architecture" to
be found in the kingdom. It was very
cold and bare, but wonderfully beauti
ful, and was no doubt used by Wil
liam the Conqueror and his family for
the purpose of worship long ago.
The Bloody Tower, through which one
enters this chapel, Is so-cnlled from the
spiral staircase, under which the two
princes, the sons of Edward IV, were
burled after their murder. The crown
jewels and regalia are kept In the
strongest of the tower rooms, and in
elude various classnijjf objects, crowns,
scepter and father things worn or car
ried at the coronation ceremony: sacred
vessels used at Westminster Abbey on
the same occasion, and at certain other
religious ceremonies; the gold and sil
ver table plate used at the coronation
banquet, and a set of the Insignia of
British Orders of Knighthood.
C-uccn Victoria's Crown.
The crown of Queen Victoria occupies
the highest place In the case. It was
used for the coronation of her majesty
In 1838 and Is perfectly gorgeous with
diamonds, large and small, and con
tains the "Inestimable sapphire," which
we hear so much about, beside the fam
ous ruby which belonged to the black
prince and which was worn in the hel
met of Henry V at the battle of Agin-
court in 1415. The Prince of Wales'
coronet Is here.beslde the model of the
Kohlnoor, in Its original setting as
it came from India before cutting, and
several other things of Interest, such as
the gold spurs for the king, the great
maces of gold for the sergeant-at-arms
at the coronations, great gold salt cel
lars and so on.
From here I went to the White Tower,
where I ran through the banquetting
hall, the state floor, and the council
chamber, now occupied by a vast col
lection known for two centuries or more
as the Tower Armory, where there
are suits of armor from all the periods
during which armor was worn. Some
of the figures wearing armor are
mounted on great horses, which are
themselves Incased as much as possible
in heavy armor. On one figure there
was a suit of armor weighing over 114
pounds, the helmet alone weighing as
much as fifteen pounds. The poor horse
that carried all this load was himself
helmeted and protected with a most
cumbersome armor besides.
Heavyweight Suits of Mall.
Some of these figures are armed to the
very teeth, or rather to the very finger
nails and toe nails, not a speck of them
being visible. These are called "enp-a
pie," so I suppose "armed cap-a-ple"
means completely armed. The old
spears, the halberds, boar spears,
glaives and so forth, are Interesting in
the extreme. There Is in this room also
a case containing various Instruments
of punishment and torture and a model
of the rack. Among the Instruments
of torture are two executioner's swords,
a sort of stocks called "Skefflngton's
daughter," thumb screws and so on.
There are several mounted and ar
mur covered figures of Henry VI U
here In this room also, almost wonder
fully comparlsoned, both horse ''ml
man, some of the armor consisting of
over 118 separate pieces and very heavy
Indeed. He must have been a dread
fully conceited piece of humanity.
Guns, swords, famous pieces of old can
non, battle axes and such pieces, be
sides great old shields, abound In this
armory.
But I could not linger here forever,
and so tore myself away to the next
ining, wnicn was tne parade, across
which one must go to reach the Beau
champ Tower, which Is one of the most
Interesting of all. It Is here
that so . muny prisoners have
worn away their lives, and It
Is In this tower that these prisoners
have carved Inscriptions on the walls,
some of which must have taken years
of trouble and patience, having been
done with the aid of forks, needles,
sharp stones, etc. They were most
wildly Interesting and I puzzled over
some of them for a long time. There
was a book of etchings of them there,
over which . my heart fairly yearned
but they were rather expensive and
forebore. There was such a ourloui lit
tlo old winding staircase In this tower,
I was admiring it as I descended until
I neaYly fell, which rather Jostled my
admiration out of me. I went out on
the terrace afterward and watched the
Bhlps going up and down and saw them
lading for departure.
The l'ort of London.
The port of London is right below the
tower bridge, which is one of the most
beautiful speclmenta of bridge architec
ture in the whole world. It la fe, most
quaint and old-fashioned place, . the
whole thing, and looks very mediaeval
with the thick stone walls, with, the
little silts of windows, and the heavy'
portcullis and drawbridge, and the
windlass which raises it. The yeoman
of the guard and the warders who take
care of the place walk about in very.
ery queer old liveries, with Bklrted
coats and big hats. They are very
kind and direct you everywhere you
wish to go. They still keep up the an
cient custom with regard to the tower
and do all the things which the old
keepers used to do, as nearly as they
can In these modern times. . .
When the gates are locked at night
the yeoman porter Is accompanied by
a military escort, and on his return the
old ceremonial Is stllll scrupulously ob
served. The sentry cries, "Who comes
there?" The yeoman porter answers.
The Keys!" The sentry then asks,
'Whose Keys?" and the yeoman por
ter replies sturdily, "Queen Victoria's
Keys," the guard and escort saluting
the keys, and the yeoman porter com
pleting the ceremony, before taking the
keys to the queen's house, Inside the
gates, by saying out loud, "God pre
serve Quten Victoria!" e
Sadie E. Kaiser.
AKE WE DEdiEXEHATIXH?
Arguments Which Seem to Prove That
People Nowadays Think Entirely Too
.Much for the Good or Their lloalth.
The verdict of guilty In the case of
Oscar Wilde lias made doubly luterest-
ng a book recently published by Max
Nordau, entitled "Degeneration." What
the author undertakes to prove In it Is
this (to use the brllliuut words of Mayo
W. Huzletlne, In the New York Sun of
April 7): "That degenerates are not
always criminals, prostitutes, unurch-
Ists, and pronounced lunatics; they
ure often authors und artists. The
latter, however, manifest the same
mental characteristics, and, for the
most part, the sume somatic features
as those members of the anthropologi
cal fumlly who satisfy their unhealthy
Impulses with the knife of the assassin
or the bomb of the dymunlter, Instead
of with pen and pencil. Some among
these degenerates In literature, music,
and painting have, in recent years,
come Into extraordinary prominence,
and are acclaimed by numerous ad
mirers as creators of a new art and
heralds of the coming century. The
aim of this book is to demonstrate that
the tendencies of the latest fashions in
art and literature are aberrant and
morbid tendencies: that they have their
source In the degeneracy of their au
thors, and that the enthusiasm bf their
admirers is for manifestations of more
or less pronounced moral insanity, Im
becility, and dementia?
"What Is meant." .nntiniies Mr. Tin
zletlne, "by the tesfh fin de slecle? The
author says truly that this rather silly
but conven let if term Is used to connote
what Is characteristic of many modern
phenomena, and also the underlying
mood which In them finds expression
Yet, Jfowever silly the term fin de slecle
may be, the mental constitution which
It Indicates Is actually present In in
fluential circles. The disposition of the
times Is curiously confused, a com
pound of feverish restlessness and
blunted discouragement, of fearful
presage and hangdog renunciation. The
prevalent feeling Is that of Imminent
perdition and extinction. Fin de slecle
Is at once a confession and a complaint,
The mood to which it testifies Is the Im
potent despair of a sick man who feels
himself dying by Inches In the midst
of an eternally living nature, flower
ing Insolently forever. It Is the envy
of a rich, hoary voluptuary who sees a
pair of young lovers making for a se
questered forest nook: It Is the morti
fication of the exhausted refugee from
a Florentine plague seeking in an en
chanted garden the experiences of a
Decamerone," but striving in vain to
snatch one more pleasure of sense from
the uncertain hour.
An Age of Hysteria.
"To what is this tired and despair
ing attitude attributed? To degener
acy and hyBteria. But why, again,
should these maladies be exceptionally
prevalent at the present time? Morel
ascribes their prevalence largely to poi
soning through alcoholic drinks, tobac
co, opium, arsenic and tainted foods.
To these noxious Influences the author
of this book would odd residence In
large towns, where even the richest in
habitant is continually exposed to un
favorable Influences which unduly
diminish his vital powers. . He breathes
an atmosphere charged with organic
detritus; he eats food which In more
or less contaminated and adulterated;
he feels himself In a state of constant
nervous excitement, and he may be
compared, without exaggeration, to the
Inhlbitant of a marshy district. Now
It Is well known that at the present
time an Incomparably larger portion
of the whole population of Europe and
the United States Is subjected to the
destructive influences of large towns
than was the case fifty years ago;
hence the number of victims of urban
degeneration is proportionately more
striking.
"Still another cause is suggested for
the enormous increase of hysteria in
our day. A phenomenon which, If not
adequate to the production of degen
eration, hi at least able to produce hys
teria, may be recognized in the excep
tional fatigue of the present ' genera
tion. To the fatigue which, according
to pathologists, may change healthy
men Into hysterical, the whole of civil
ized humanity has been ' exposed for
half a century. All its conditions of
life have In this period of time 'experi
enced a revolution unexampled In the
history of the world, Mankind can
point to no century In which the Inven
tions which penetrate so deeply, so
tyrant lly Into the life of every Indi
vidual, are crowded so thick ax in ours.
The discovery of America, the Refor
mation, the French revolution stirred
men's minds powerfully ho doubt, and
certainly, also, destroyed the equilibri
um of thousands of brains which lacked
staying powers. But they did not
change the material life of man. He
got tip and lay down, ate and drank,
dressed, amused himself, passed his
days and years as he had been always
wont to do.
The I'aeo That kills.
"In our times, on the contrary, steam
and electricity have turned the customs
of life of every member of the civil
ized nations upside down, even of the
most obtuse and narrow-minded citi
zen who Is completely ' Inaccessible to
the Impelling thoughts of the times.
Besides, an Incomparably greater pro
portion of the population is accessible
to such thoughts than was formerly
the case. The humblest village inhabi
tant has today. If he do but read his
newspaper, a wider geographical hori
zon,, more numerous and complex In
tellectual Interests, than the prime
minister of a petty or even a second
rate state a century ago.- A cook re
ceives and sends more letters than did
a university professor, and , a small
tradesman travels more and sees more
countries and peoples than did the
reigning prince of other times. It la
manifest, however, that all these ac
tivities, even the simplest Involve an
effqrt of the nervous system ' and a
wearing of tissue. Every line we read
or write, every human face we see, .
every conversation we carry on; every ;
Bcene we perceive through the window
of the flying express, sets in activity
our sensory nerves and our brain cen
ters. Even the little shocks of rail
way traveling not perceived by con
sciousness, the perpetual noises and the
various Bights in the streets of a large
town, our suspense pending the pro
gress of events, the constant ex
pecting of the newspaper, of the
postman, of visitors, cost our
brains wear and tear. In the last
fifty years the population of Europe has
not doubled, whereas the sum of its
mental labors has increased tenfold,
In -some directions even flftyfold.
Every civilized man furnishes at the
present tlmo from five to twentyrfive
times us much mental work as was de
manded of him half a century ago.
"It is next pointed out that this enor
mous Increase in organic expenditures
has not, and cannot have, a corre
sponding increase of supply. Euro
peans now eat a little more and a little
better food than they did fifty years
ugo, but by no means In proportion to
the Increase of mental effort which to
day is required of them. Even If they
had the choicest food In the greatest
abundance, It could do nothing toward
helping them, for they would be In
capable of digesting It. Our stomachs
cannot keep pace with the brain and
nervous system. The latter demand
very much more than the former are
able to furnish. So there follows 'what,
always huppens when great expenses
are met by small Incomes: first, the
savings are consumed, then comes
bankruptcy. In a word, their own new
dlcoverles and progress have taken
civilized mankind by surprise. They
have had no time to adupt themselves
to their changed conditions of life. Un
questionably our organs acquire by ex
ercise an ever greater functional ca
pacity, developed by their own activity,
and cun eventually respond to nearly
every demand made upon them; but
only under one condition, that the de
mand Increases graduully and that
time be allowed to them. If they are
summoned to fulfil without transition
a multiple of their usual task, they soon
give out entirely.
"No time was left to our fathers, that
is to say, to the generation born in the
fourth decade of this century. Be
tween one day and the next, as it were,
'without preparation, with murderous
suddenness, they were obliged to
change the comfortable, creeping gait
of former existence for the stormy
strides of modern life. Their heart and
lungs cuuld not bear It. The strongest
could keep up, no doubt, but the less
vigorous soon fell out right and left,
and fill today the ditches on the road
of progress. Statistics indicate In what
measure the sum of work of civilized
mankind has lncreused during the last
half century. It had not grown up to
this increased effort. It became fa-
tlgued and exhausted, and this fatigue
and exhaustion showed themselves in
the first generation under the form of
acquired hysteria. The new aesthetic
schools constitute, according to Nor
dau, a form of this general hysteria;
but they are far from being the only
one. Analogous phenomena are recog
nizable In the increase of alcoholism,
crime, madness, and suicide; of nervous
disorders, Including such new affec
tions as the 'railway spine' and 'rail
way brain;' the Increase of heart dis
ease; the prevalence of precocious den
tal decay and baldness, of nearsighted
ness and deafness, and premature old
age.
Why Franco Is Art Crazy.
"All the pathological symptoms enu
merated are the consequence of states
of fatigue and exhaustion, and these,
again, are the effects of contemporary
civilization, of the vertigo and whirl
of our frenzied life, the vastly Increased
number of sense impressions and or
ganic reactions, and, therefore, of per
ceptions, Judgments, and motor im
pulses, which at present are forced into
a given unit of time. To these general
causes of contemporary pathological
phenomena Is coupled one special to
France. By the frightful loss of blood
which the body of the French people
suffered during the twenty years of the
Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars,
and by the violent moral upheavals to
which they were subjected during the
same period, they found themselves ill
prepared for the Impact of the great
discoveries of the century and . sus
tained from these a more violent
shock than did other nations more ro
bust and more capable of resistance.
"Upon this nation, nervously strained
and predestined to morbid derange
ment, broke the awful catastrophe of
1870. It had, with a self-satisfaction
which almost attained to megalomania,
believed Itself the first nation In the
world; It now saw itself suddenly hu
mlllated and crushed. All its convic
tions abruptly crumbled to pieces, ev
ery single Frenchman suffered reverses
qf fortune, lost some members of his
family, and felt himself personally
robbed of his dearest conceptions, nay,
even of his honor. The whole people
fell Into the condition of a man sudden
ly visited by a shattering blow of des
tiny in his fortune, his position, his
family, his reputation, even in his self-
respect. Thousands lost their reason
and even those who did not at once
succumb to mental derangement suf
fered lasting Injury to their nervpus
system. Thus would Mr. Nordau ex
plain why hysteria and neurasthenia
are much more frequent In France, and
appear under a greater variety of forms
than they do anywhere else. The opera
tion of the same special cause, added
to the general causes of fatigue, would
explain, too, why it is precisely In
France that the craziest fashions in
art and literature arise, and why it Is
there that the morbid exhaustion else
where less acutely experienced became,
for the first time, sufficiently distinct
to allow a special name to be coined
for it, the designation, namely, of fin
de slecle."
She Was Too Good.
From Texas Olftlngs.
"Madame, there is a poor man at the
(loot1 who says he In out of work and hat a
large family who depend on him for sup
port and have nothing to eat.
"Do tell him to go away, Mary. I am
keeping Lent and my prayers end medita
tions must not lie disturbed." ,
LAUGH A LITTLE BIT,
Here's a motto Just your At
Laugh a little bit.
When you think you're trouble hit.
Laugh a little bit.
Look misfortune In the face,
Brave the beldam's rude grimace) ,
Ten to one 'twill yield Its place,
If you huve the wit and grit
Just to lough a little bit.)
Cherish this as sacred writ
Laugh a little bit. .
Keep It with you, sample It,
Laugh a little bit. '
Little 111 will sure betide you, - ,
Fortune may not sit beside you, )
Men muy mock and fame deride you,
' But you'll mind them not a whit
' If you,lauKh a little bit.
News
the
Room
All London is now talking about Ptn-
ero's latest play, "The Notorious Mrs.
Ebbsmlth." The play is described as
strange one, full of pathos, full of
human nature, full of power. The chief
characters are Lucas Cleeve. a weak
man, filled with shallow enthusiasm for
doctrines that he but half appreciates,
and Agnes Ebbsmlth, a woman of
strong passions, which she takes for
strong character, and who finds her
womanhood too strong for her, to the
utter destruction of her ideals and the
ultimate unveiling of their falsity.
These two It Is, acting one upon the
other, who achieve the tragedy not
a tragedy of poison and dagger and
death, but the trugedy of two wasted
lives. Agnes is the daughter of a rav
ing Socialist demagogue, and has by
her vehemence made herself known
down in the East End as "Mad Agnes."
Then she has married, and her violent
enthusiasm and raging for Impossibili
ties has wrecked her married life, and
then she seeks peace as a hospital
nurse. In this capacity she Is sent U
Venice to nurse Cleeve, who is 111, her
fierce passions rouse the enthusiasm
of his nature, and for the time hide its
weakness, and she, triumphing In find
ing her Ideal, a man who thinks as she
thinks and who feels as she feels, is
found when the scene opens, dwelling
with him under his name, proud of her
position, and filled with the conviction
that they two will lead a movement
that ahull shatter all preconceived no
tions and bring happiness to all.
Plainly they have started off down
the cflmnion road to "free love;"
the power of Mr. Plnero's art in
which he la magnificently aided
by the perfection of the acting Is that
with this commonplace motive he has
so perfectly drawn his picture that we
see the motive only, as the truth, while
we appreciate the anguish of the char
acters who are working their own mis
ery, through their Inability to come
down to the common level and Bee it
too. The truth of human nature Is clear
before us, and the equal truth of human
nature deceiving itself, and the result
Is a work of astounding power. Re
lief from the gloom Is given with per
fect truth so different from the com
mon "comic relief" of melodrama by
the. entertaining cynicism of Cleeve's
uncle, the duke of St. Olpherts, who
seeks to detach Cleeve from Agnes.
In the end Agnes finds peace in the
quiet home of a stalwart, muscular
Christian parson and his sister. The
scene where they try to move her reso
lution, when, recognizing the weakness
of Cleeve, she casts off her own over
wrought ideas of nobleness and seeks
with dress and all that woman can do
to hold his love In any form, and, fall
ing then, hurls Into the fire a Testament
which the two true friends have given
her then aa they go out, suddenly
recognizes the truth of all, and thrust
ing her bare arm Into the stove, drags
out the book and clasps It to her that
scene riveted in silence the attention of
every ear and every eye, and when the
curtain fell upon it brought forth round
upon round of applause in recognition
of a scene as finely conceived by the
author, and aa finely acted as any
that London has known for many a
day.
e e
Col. Sam Boyd, the Irrepressible, he
of the loud trousers and the winning
way, came up from Wllkes-Barre last
week to see a really good show. Atter
an evening of unrestrained merriment
evoked by the "Brownies." he returned
to the city of sighs ond wrote as tol
,i . .,.
"A;1""-"'"! YZ:L
pi lac nun pumi vi v. ....... .v.. ........ ......
has given them. It Is by all odds tne
finest amusement house In the state,
except possibly the Alva Joslin theatre
at Pittsburg, and it Is but a trifle Infer
ior to that and only In unimportant de
tails. The acoustic properties are ex
cellent and there Is not a bad seat In the
entire 1,664 that the house will hold."
Tho appearance to-night In this city
of the Kendals, in their decadent play.
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray. will af
ford local theater-goers a chance to as
certain about how far polite nastlnesa
can project Itself Into the modern drama
without getting thrown out bodily. ve
will not say anything in advance con
cerning the acting powers of the Ken
dals. That Is a point which must be
settled by each spectator, through per
sonal observation. Our own opinion is
far from eulogistic. But concerning
their play It may be said that It is a
shadeclevererand a shade better sugar
coated than were some of Oscar Wllde'B
productions, but still of the same gen
eral decadent class. We quite agree
with the Chicago Herald In Its remarks,
apropos of Wilde's collapse, that "those
who defend problem plays and assume
that they are certain to regenerate
stage literature and reform the world
will find It . difficult to discover any
moral or Intellectual benefit in the writ
ings of Ibsen, Plnero, Sudermann or
Wilde. When not honeBtly cynical, if
vyQiclsrn can be honest, they are brual-
ly indelicate and dangerously unwhole
some. They are the living pictures of
stage literature, and If not in-tended to
excite vicious thoughts and atlr evil
Imaginings it Is difficult to understand
wnat the real purpose Is. Possibly the
downfall of Wilde will open many eyes
heretofore closed to the truth."-
FOOTHQHT FLASHES:
Mine. Modjeska Is In Rome.
Mrs. Langtry Is worth (700,000.
Lewis Morrison Is worth $100,000.
Henry Irving has engaged Julia Arthur.
Isabella Coe has Joined Mansfield's com
pany. Lillian Ruasell can shoot, fish, swim and
play poker.
Miss Hull Calne, sister of the novelist.
Is an aotress.
William Gillette Is the son of a United
States Senator.
Beer boh m Tree will be seen here In new
plays next season.
Barnum's circus boasts "the only lady
clown lu he world."
New Yorkers pay 1, 000,000 a year for
theatrical amusement.
Mansfield pays $18,000 a year for the lease
of Harrlgan's Theater.
Mansfield will give a new play by Q.
Barnard Shaw, called "Canldu."
Palermo, "the city of churches and thea
ters," Is building a $10,000,000 theater.
Ada Rehan added the rote of Juliana, In
the "Honeymoon," to her repertoire on
Friday night.
A new play by William Gillette will be
produced In Philadelphia for the first time
on any stage May IS.
. Agnes Booth will appear In the leading
role of "A Modern Duchess," to . be
brought out In the autumn.
Charles and Rose Coghlan will short!
'appear in a new play by the former.
Green V:
Foyer. :
Some of the More Important
Doings of These, Our Actors.
will be called the "Head of the Firm, or
"Madam."
Sol Smith Russell sails for Europe on
the steamship New York, May 21. He Is
to make a tour of England, .France, Ire
land and Scotland.
Madeline Shirley sued a New York man
ager for saying that she was discharged
because she was always Intoxicated. The
manuger was discharged.
Dun Rice entered the circus ring a half
century ago. He has been married three
times. The retired clown in living at
Long Branch and speculates In real es
tate, hive Is 71 years old.
Joseph Jefferson, William H. Crane, Mrs.
John Drew, N. C. Uoodwln, and Sol
Smith Bunnell are to appear In "The Ri
vals" at the Couldock benefit.
This Is the way Town Toplca describes
Mrs. Potter: "Nature has Illuminated
her with a sort of starry sweetness and she
steals upon the vision In a delicate glory
that Is Inexpressively silvery and sort.
Charles Frohman led the way for a re
form In orchestral music when he gave
William Furst, the New York Emplre'a
director, carte blanche. Mr. Furt dropped
the heavy bass out of his orchestra ami
recently had a small church organ put
under the stage.
Anna O'Keefe says: "I have seen De
Wolf Hopper ao worked up by a bad notice
that he would go info a rage, only finding
relief in tears. If any one could see that
big fellow seated In the corner of his
dressing room, sobbing as though his
heart would break, he would soon come
to the conclusion that newspaper criti
cism was noticed by actors and taken se
verely to heart."
The New York Sun says the best three
American actresses now before the public
In the legitimate drama are Fanny Daven-
part, who played comedy roles In Daly's
company In Mil; Rose Coghlan, who came
to New York In Lydla Thompson's bur
lesque company at about the same time,
and Ada Kehan, who was the leading lady
of an Albany stock company, a year or
two earlier. Each had gained a consider
able advance In her profession twenty-live
years ago. and has reached her present
eminence by hard work and long experi
ence. NAGGING AS A DISEASE.
Do Women Really Goad Men to the Ex
tent Indicated Below'
North American Review.
The habit of nagging, although not
common, is more often found among
women than among men It Is natural
this Bhould be true. In- the first place,
from the time they are small boys, all
men are taught words may be followed
by blows, whereas very many women
go through life absolutely certain they
are safe, no matter what they may say.
from physical violence. It Is not a
question of courage. It is simply com
mon sense, that makes men understand
unless they consider a thing worth
fighting aiout, they must control their
speech. Secondly, men, when they be
come angry, have nothing like the
fluency of women; as a rule, they can
only swear. To nag successfully re
quires a feminine cast of mind, and
nag gens iamang men are Invariably
effemlate In character.
Thirdly, angry men generally show
their anger by becoming sullen; they
"bottle It up." The fact of the matter
Is, men are forced "to learn self-control;
If for nothing else, that they may suc
ceed In business, and when angry, this
knowledge stands them In good stead.
More than this, the majority of men
look with considerable contempt on
many words. Taciturnity Is a charac
teristic of the Anglo-Saxon race. These,
and other Influences, all tend to limit
the number of naggers among men. It
is a curious fact, toot that while women
detest the habit of nagging In other
'.women, men despise It In other men
A nagging man is invariably a coward.
I ...
while a nagging woman may be, and
more often Is, physically brave.
A nagging man Is the more contempt
ible creature, for he Invariably nags
those weaker than himself or those who
he believes will not hurt him, while a
nagging woman generally nags those
who are stronger. True, she Is general
ly confident she will not be hurt, and In
the "war of tongues" she has the
heavier battalions.
His Won't Power.
From the Amusing Journal.
The crown prince of Germany, though
only about VI years old, has a very ready
wit and a queer way of saying things. He
sees the funny side of a situation at once.
One day, while visiting Potsdam, the Utile
prince was amusing himself by trying to
make a donkey draw a cart, tsui tne
donkey was stubborn and would not "go."
Your donkey has a great of will power,'
called out the emperor, who had been
watching the struggle between his lit tlo
son and the stubborn beast, "un, no.
papa," replied the little prince quickly, "It
Isn't his will power that troubles me. It
Is his won't power. He won't go."
- .- - .
l'ar Worse.
From Life.
"Jack was very disagreeable last night."
"Was he full of whisky?"
"It was worse than that. He was full of
himself."
THE PLD FRIENDS.
i .,,.,
The old friends, the old friends
We loved when We were young.
With sunshine on their faces.
And music on their tongues!
The bees are In the almond flower,
The birds renew their strain;
But the old friends, once lost to us,
Can never come again.
The old friends, the old friends!
Their brow Is lined with care;
They've furrows In the faded cheek,
And silver in their hair;
But to me they are the old friends still
In youth and bloom the same,
As when we drove the flying ball,
Or shouted In the game.
The old men, the old men,
How slow they oreep along!
How naughtily we scoffed at them
In days when we were young!
Their prosing and their doting.
Their prate of times gone by.
Their shiver like an aspen leaf -
It but a breath went by. '
But we, we are tho old men now, i
Our blood Is faint and chill;
We can not leap the mighty brook.
Or climb the break-neck hill.
We maunder down' the shortest cuts,
We rest on stick or atlla,
And the young men half ashamed to Uuih
Yet pass us with a smile.
But the young men, tSie young men.
Their strength Is fair to set;
The straight back, the springy stride,
The eye as falcon free: -The
shout above the frollo wind
As up the hill they go;
But though so high above us n6w,
They soon shall be aa low,
aweary, weary drat the years - f !
Jka life draws near the end;
Atid sadly, sadly fall the tears
fPor loss of love and friend.
HUt we'll not doubt there's good about
jn all of humankind;
here's a health before we go
To those we leave behind I
The Spectator, '
IJb
t V
DR. E. GREWER,
The Philadelphia Specialist, and his asso
I , ...4 t ii ft il I-n .r 1 V. .ml r. i .i n
physicians, are now permanently
located at
Old Postofflce Building, Corner Panit
Avanua and Sprue Street.
TtiA Arift ir la a MrmAitnm nt Ihu IfnlvnM-
Ity of Pennsylvania, formerly demon
strator of Dhystoioa-y and auraerr at the
vous. uitin. Heart, womn ana aiaoa a
uses.
U1SKASKX OK TrlK HKKYilUa SYST
i nee. ss vmnYfimui nr wninn straw nivvinoiiei i
oi commence, lexuai wvftvnwi in
unaui to concentrate tne mind on
UVMDU W, HU UU1I UIBII niBOU UI11IU. Wl
Zo.c!DOUInKS. coward o. Tatar. f1raim
mo IIIUI III II K MB Wlifjfl rHl
idi: k ui nicii, uprvnuinPBB ramri
ard be restored to perfect health,
i t ,r a
tLJiJ 1IKU1111UUU BT"a. K ar:
Weakness of Young Men Cured.
it vau mn nfn riv.n tin ,.u i.mi
iviku van uyuu ma ngvior ana De exam
Mid. He cures the wont riui ,.f v.--
ous L'eblllty, Scrofula, Old Bores, Ca
tarrh, Riles, Female Weakness, Affec
tions of the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat,
Asthma, Deafness, Tumors, Cancers and
Cripples of every description.
Consultations free and strictly racr4
and confident. OtlK-e hours daily frem
t a.m. to (p.m. Sunday, to t.
Enclose five 2-cent stamps for symtpom
blanks and my book called "New Ufa."
I will pay one thousand dollars In sold
to anyone whom I cannot cure of EPI
LEPTIC CONVULSIONS or FITS.
... . DR. E. GREWER,
Old Post Office Building, corner Peua
avenue and Spruce street.
8CRANTON. PA.
STILL IN EXISTENCE.
The World Ranownad and Old Reliable,
Dr. Campbell's Grtat Magic Worm
Sugar and Tea.
Every box gnrranteid to five aatiafactloa
or monty refunded. Full printed directions
from child to a grown person. It is pumI y
table and cannot positively barm th idukI
Under infant. Insist o.i haTing Dr. Camp
bell's; accept ao other. At all Orogf lita, 2&
WONDERFUL
BotTTB 8-hakto. Pa, Vov. 10, 1W4.
Mr. C. W. CaracbcU-DMr Sir? I hav
given my boy, Freddie. 1 years old, some of
Dr. Campbell's Magic Worm Sugar and Tea,
and to my surprise tois afternoon about I
o'clock fa pMd a tapeworm measuring
about ti feet in length, head and alL 1 Lav,
it In a bottle and any person wishing to aeo
it can d ao by calling at my etora. I hud
tried numerous other remedita recommended
fur taking tapeworms, but all tailed. In my
estimation Dr. CumpbeU'a la the greatest
worm remedy in existence.
Yours wjtv reanertfuliy.
FRED HEFFNEB, 782 Beech St
Note The above la what every body aava
after anee ming. Mann fact ured by C. W.
Campbell. Lancaster, Pa. Successor to Ds
John Campbell A Sob.
BREWERY.
Manufacture of the Celebrated
PILSENER
LAGER SEER
CAPACITY :
loo.ooo Barrels per Annum
DU FONT'S
INING, BUSTING AND SPORTING
POWDER
Manufactured at the Wapwallnpen Mttla, L
seme ooanty, Pa., aad at Wil
mington, Delaware,
HENRY BELIN.Jr.
General Agent for the Wyoming District.
IIS WYOMING AVE Seranton. fa,
Talrd national Bank BaUdiag.
Aoajroias:
THOB. FORDT PHtaton, Pa.
JOHN B SMITH BON. Plymouth, Pa,
K. W. MULUOAM, Wllkes-Barre, Pa.
Aganta tor the Repaano Chemical Uoaa.
aaay's Bigh Ksplosivea
THE SCR ANTON
VITRIFIED BRICK TILE
: MANUFACTURING CO.,
MABBBt or
SHALE PAVING BRICK
.. AND BUILDING BRICK
Ofiloe: 3119 Washington Avenua.
Works: flay Aug, Pa.. E. W. V. R. R.
iM. H. DALE,
General Sales Agent, Scrantun, r
f OkMeeter'a Kaatlel Masm Bnai,
Pennyroyal pills
DranM a aummr. Jm sf A
h.. Mnl xik mm iIMm. Take'
If JUmm a auttalu.. ManaMUa nit
aUO. llt.l.,-l
tHWMWI'l i " 1
im's in
LAGER
BEER
1 BeMkr eaten
i '
V, ...PUfcti
9
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