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in "The Jibbenainosay," Joseph Proctor being the original. Though he acted Richelieu 1113 times and withdrew from professional life in 1885 in that character, yet he has never seen another actor in the part.

MRS. FRANCES HODGSON BUR

NETT has returned to Washington for the season to take possession of her $27,000 house on Massachusetts avenue. Mrs. Burnett's receipts for her literary work the last year is said to be $39,000, but I doubt it.

MISS MARY MCCRIBBIN, who died re

discusses the theatre: "All actors are not moral; all preachers are not moral. There is not a better woman in Philadelphia than Charlotte Cushman was or Mary Anderson is. Nor is there a man in this city whose character is more spotless and life more beneficent than Joseph Jefferson's. Honor to whom honor is due. Let us be fair. Religion is not scoffed at on the stage. Its spurious representatives are held up to ridicule and contempt. Crimes are committed on the stage; so they are in the Bible. The chief themes of the theatre are the passions of men; so are the subjects of the chisel of Angelo, the brush of Guido, the brain of Dore, the burden of the Sermon on the Mount by Christ, in whose lips there was no guile and whose every thought was without spot or blemish. If the exposure of sin is an indecency, to be consistent all the literature in the world, sacred or profane, must be committed to the flames. The plays that achive the widest and most permanent success are as innocent as milk."

cently in Washington, claimed to have seen every President from Washington down to Cleveland. She was born in Annapolis, Md., and was but a few years of being a century old. During the war of 1812 she was living in Baltimore and witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry. She was well acquainted with John Howard Payne, and witnessed his first appearance on the stage at Baltimore. She first went to Washing-N ton by stage in 1821, the journey from the Monumental City occupying twelve hours.

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ND now a Bishop! M. Koczan, a wealthy Hungarian, having lately founded a prize for dramatic works, an Hungarian bishop, Dr. Karl Szass, took part in the competition by sending in a tragedy in verse, entitled "The death of Attila," which he wrote years ago. This work obtained the first prize, and is to be brought out at the National Theatre of Budapest this winter.

THERE will be three short plays given at

the Berkeley Lyceum by amateurs on Jan. 14. The performance will be notable because it is said that sweet Annie Robe will be seen on the stage for the first time since her marriage. Now she is Mrs. Griswold.

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THIS report, from the daily papers,

points out an interesting moral:

William A. McConnell, once a prominent theatrical manaTM ger, was brought before Judge Massey yesterday on a charge of intoxication, He pleaded guilty and asked to be.sent to the Inebriate's Home at Fort Hamilton. His request was complied with and it is understood that friends will provide for his maintenance. At the time of his arrest he had been released from Blackwell's Island less than a week, having been sent there. for a month for a similar offence. As an actor and as a manager, McConnell is well known throughout the country. For several years he was manager of Haverly's Brooklyn Theatre, and a few years ago he and his brother, Charles H., were proprietors of the National Printing Company, of Chicago. For some time he was manager of the California Theatre in San Francisco.

Last spring William resumed his occupation as an actor, and started from Chicago to star in a play which had been written for him by a Chicago journalist. The play failed, and he became manager for the Estelle Clayton Company, which produced the "Quick or the Dead," in New York. This venture also failed, and McConnell took to drinking heavily. Shortly after that, he landed on Blackwell's Island. He still has many friends and well wishers who confidently believe that he will recuperate and become more prosperous again.

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country under two different names, "Brighton" and "Saratoga." This play is now Mr. Wyndham's private property and he did not pay a cent for it. He sold a woman for it. Think of it ye abolitionists! This woman was his lovely sister, and when Mr. Wyndham said to Mr. Howard: "You have my consent to make her your wife," the playwright showed his appreciation of the brother's cordiality, some time afterward by presenting him with the manuscript of "Brighton." I believe this information is here given out for the first time.

LETTY LIND of the Gaiety Burlesque

Company is to be married. After the performance Christmas night she announced this to her manager. She has pledged her hand to a wealthy Australian, whose name she refuses to reveal just yet. In April she sails for England. After purchasing her trousseau she will start for Australia, and on her arrival there will become a beautiful bride.

THE performance of "Faust" at the Met

ropolitan Opera House, December 26, was polyglot. The parts of Faust and Margurite were sang in Italian, the other characters were sang in German ! The majority of the people in the audience did not know it.

THE Chicago papers are very enthusiastic

over the success of Jessie Bartlett Davis, wife of the well known manager, W. J. Davis, of the Haymarket Theatre. She sang last week in "Fatinitza" with the "Bostonian's" and the Herald had this to say: "The chief interest of the evening centered in the first appearance in this city of Jessie Bartlett Davis as Vladimir. She

had been most warmly praised by Eastern critics, and her work last night proved she had deserved all she had received. It may safely be said that she is one of the best Vladimirs ever seen upon the American atage. Miss Huntington was excellent, and dramatically was probably Mrs. Davis' equal, but vocally Mrs. Davis is superior to anyone ever heard in the role. Her rich,

sympathetic contralto is perrectly suited to the varied music of the part, and during the entire opera there is never a note that is not easily and beautifully sung. In the passionate music of the second act, Mrs. Davis shows to splendid advantage, and sings this portion of the opera magnificently. In action she is bright and dashing and the ideal Vladimir. Her little bits of "business" and her side-play are capital and capitally done. It is impossible and needless to particularize as to what were the best portions of her work, for all was so finely done that no one song or act can be considered better than the rest.

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CHARLES S. ROGERS, a comedian, died

suddenly last week. He was the husband of Mattie Vickers, the well known soubrette He was one of the founders of the old Wheatly Dramatic Association of Philadel-. phia. He believed that he was meant for a tragedian, but he became a low comedian and finally achieved quite a success as a mimic. About 1877 he commenced to do sketches in vaudeville with Miss Vickers, and since that time he has been identified with her interests. The "firm" of Rogers and Vickers was one of the best known in the variety houses.

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AMONG the invariable first nighters writes

Jos. Howard, is young Albert Weber, a tall pale faced, intelligent eyed man of, per

haps, 30 years of age. His father, the original Weber, was for many years one of the best known men in town, helpful to all struggling musicians, thoughtful and considerate in dealings, richly deserving great prosperity that followed his enterprise in the line of manufacture. The three great piano houses of the day were Steinway, Weber and Chickering. Colonel Chicker. ing, a very tall, handsome man, came here as the representative of his father's famous house in Boston. The senior Steinway had, I think, three sons, William, Charles and Theodore, in business with him. William Steinway, one of our leading citizens today, has for a third of a century been a leader in affairs in general, and in music in particular. Of late years he has dabbled somewhat in politics, and is a member of the National Democratic Committee. great musical societies of the city are indebted to William for material aid, not only, but for brainy suggestions and fraternal pushings. A recent trip abroad freshened him up, restoring his normal condition of health, giving assurance of years of usefulness in the city of his choice. Albert Weber, Sr., long since passed away. His son and successor is favorably regarded by all who know him socially or in business channels, and the great success which has attended him, as it did his father before him, and as it did their friendly rivals, the Steinways and the Chickerings, is but the legitimate outcome of honest endeavor to faithfully serve the public interest, comfort and progress.

The

THE Manhattan Opera Glass Supply Com

pany was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey with a capital of $500,000, divided into 5,000 shares of $100 each. The company announces that it has acquired the control for the States of New

York and New Jersey of "certain inventions for the automatic renting of opera glasses in theatres and other places, and the right to operate the same." The contrivance it intends to use consists of a neatly shaped nickel-plated box, which can be opened only by the insertion of a dime in the slot provided for that purpose. The coin being forced to act on the lock by means of a push button causes the entire front of the box to drop, exposing the glasses to view. The frame of the glasses is of special shape, conspicuously numbered and engraved and stamped with the name and trade mark of the company. The boxes cannot be closed until the glasses are returned. An electric annunciator in the theatre office registers every removal and every return, and any person forgetting to put his glasses back in their propper place is "spotted" immediately. The cost of 1,000 boxes and 1,000 pairs of glasses will not exceed $7,000. It is estimated that at least twenty-five per cent of these glasses will be used at each performance, as the popular charge of one dime will suit most any purse, and as the average yearly number of performances, including matinees, is 300, the gross receipts of the company for one year on each 1,000 boxes would be $7,500. The expenses are estimated as follows:

"Fire insurance,

three per cent, $225; depreciation of equipment, ten per cent. $700; management, $500; total, $1,425, leaving net earnings of $6,075. Royalty to managers of theatres, ten per cent of net earnings, or $507, leaving a net profit to the company of $5468."

RUDOLPH ARONSON has the refusal of

a new opera by Chassaigne, the composer of "Falka " and " Nadjy," both popular Casino successes. The libretto is by Murray. The work has not yet been named.

THE Pall Mall Gazette says: “If it be

true-it seems scarcely credible—that M. Coquelin, in a lecture at Harvard, burlesqued some of Mr. Irving's gestures and movements, he committed an unpardonable breach of good manners. There is no question here of the artistic justification of personal travesty as a whole. Almost every professed mimic in Great Britain, from Mr. Dixie downwards, has 'taken off ' Mr. Irving, and except as regards the monotony of the process, no one has had any ground for complaint. Though they are

not artists of the same order, there is a certain rivalry between M. Coquelin and Mr. Irving. Each may be called the representative actor of his country, and the most scrupulous courtesy should govern their relations. M. Coquelin parodying Mr. Irving is as indefensible as Forrest hissing Macready."

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THE critic of the London Times, in his

review of the first performance of W. S. Gilbert's "Brantinghame Hall," says: "That a heroine who has been winning our good will should in a moment bring disgrace upon herself and the memory of the man who has loved her for such a futile motive as an old peer's scruples about accepting a loan from his plebeian daughterthis is more than human nature, at all events the human nature that goes to the theatre, can stand. Then, as if to give his play the coup de grace, M. Gilbert in the fourth act resuscitates the Hon. Arthur Redmayne, who, we are given to understand, has been cast upon a desert island, and at the sight of the husband whom she and everybody else had given up for lost, Ruth kneels and murmurs the words-which the fact that the curtain is at that moment falling renders almost grotesque-' Let us pray.'

THE

HE former burial-ground of St. Martin'sin-the-Fields, London, is about to be converted into a public garden, and a movement has been started to erect a monument to the memory of Charles Dibdin, the famous writer of navel songs, who lies buried there. It is proposed to construct in stone (or, if sufficient money is raised, in polished marble) the midship section of an old line-of-battle ship, twentyfive feet by fifteen feet, showing bulwarks and portholes, on the deck line of which will be placed the tomb, some five feet or six feet from the ground. The Chairman of the fund is Mr. Sims Reeves, the veteran tenor. On the Committee are the members of Parliament for the four divisions of St. Pancras, Miss Ellen Terry, Mr. August Manns, leader of the Crystal Palace Band, and many others in the dramatic and musical world.

AN

N elaborate revival of the popular Comic Opera "The Queens Mate" is announced at the Standard Theatre on Monday Evening Jan. 7th, which will be the 228th performance of this Opera given by the Duff Opera Company, which has been giving a series of highly successful representation in the principal cities since. the opera was last seen here. The cast includes Miss Lily Post, Marie Halton, Hattie Delaro, Mr. Harry Paulton, Mr. William McLaughlin, Edward Lowe, Richard Golden and others. The chorus and ballet will be as attractive as formerly, while the grand march in the last act still remains pre-eminently the most striking effect of the kind ever produced here.

R. EDGAR S. KELLY'S delightful composition based upon the Japanese method of music entitled The Lady

Picking Mulberries" is now played by the orchestras of five theatres between acts. The arrangement for the piano contains the words in both the English and Japanese languages.

THE

HE new Star theatre opened in Buffalo on the evening of December 25th, under the management of Mr. Daniel Shelby, is pronounced a gem by all who have seen it. Its cost was nearly a quarter of a million dollars. It stands on the intersection of three streets, thus allowing exits on its three sides ample anough for any emergency. The appointments are all beautiful and complete. It is entirely lit before and behind the stage by electricity, and the ventilation apparatus is said to be the most perfect in America. The seating capacity is large and liberal. On the opening week Mr. Palmer's compady was the attraction in "Partners with Salvini in his original role. Its presentation was sumptious and the audiences were brilliant. Mr. Shelby has introduced one innovation which is not only novel but convenient The tickets are printed in two colors, blue and white. The latter color is for all seats on the left side of the house and blue is for the right. The ushers are in uniforms of blue and scarlet. "The Crystal Slipper" is announced there for the week beginning Dec. 31.

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the student of daily journalism in New York the conspicuous improvement at this time is decidedly with The Herald, which, however, eccentric it may become-and it has a way of growing exceedingly eccentric-is bound to sustain a certain standard of complete interest which mayes it perhaps the leading newspaper of

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