Punch (90.1886)

Febrtjaey 6, 1886.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 61

THE HORSES IN THE GARDEN.

Covent Garden, of course. The Great International Circus, under
the management of the People's Canterer, "William of Holland,
deserves to be a great success. Unfortunately, on the occasion of
my visit, Signor Paul Cinquevalli, "L'lncomparable," was pre-
vented by illness from performing, so I did not _ see what I am

informed is the most won-
derful part of the show.
But we saw Miss Jessie
O'Beibn, the Lady Jockey,
a very graceful and clever
"act," and Mr. Geobge
Batty on the perfectly
bare-backed and reinless
steed. "What a sight
^pJfEJic Rotten Pow would be if
all equestrians were brought up to ride
like Mr. Batty and Miss O'Bbien, and
all horses trained to be so obedient! In
the' hunting-field all dangers from being
dragged^in the stirrup, aU chance of
girths breaking, in fact all trouble and
saddlery expenses avoided by the em-
ployment of the Bare-Backed Steed.
Then there were Miles. Elviea and
Gisella on the slack wires—a feat
they could have performed with ease
out-of-doors during the recent snow-
fall, when the overhead-wires were
slackened everywhere.

Miss Nellie Peid, "with her cele-
bratedleaping-horse, Sydney," delighted
us; though, when I observed the word
W't&Sr^f "celebrated," I began to think how

a w- " r "out of it" I must have been for

Wiry Couple. years, seeing that this was the very

first time I had ever seen, or even heard, of, the "celebrated"
horse, Sydney. My loss I admit, and so, au repair. What I
always love to remark is the air of disdainful indifference
assumed by the Equestrienne, when she is being carried round
the Circus by the horse at a walk, or is standing still in the intervals
hetween the scenes of her "act." How she ignores the Clown!
With what a lazy look of half-awakened curiosity she casually scans
the audience, apparently disposed to regard them as intruders, or
admitted as a favour to see her take her usual riding exercise.
Then, when she can no longer refuse to recognise the existence of
Mr. Merryman, and when that eccentric Droll, with the permission
of the Ring-master, places his hand on his heart, and effusively
addresses to her a declaration of his passion, how she looks down on
him from her saddle with a sweetly deprecating smile, as though she
would say, " Poor
fool! how I pity
thee/ but how 1
despise the Ping-
master and the
Public who en-
courage thee! But
taere, the hoops
are ready. Away
Poor Pool! ail(3_i
hoop-Id; "

A Circus is a
great pleasure to
most of us, I
imagine, greater
Perhaps than, as
rational beings
we care to admit.'

-There is a great
feature, greateven
where all is great
m the Great Inter-
national Circus
and that is the Napoleon Holland; or, The People's Canterer.

^"reat International Band, dressed in scarlet and gold uniforms,
gallantly conducted by Marshal John Fitzgeeald, who looks the
personification of Martial Music in his blue and gold uniform and his
DJousta°he. No wonder that, under such leadership, this brave
th k a°ks with admirable precision, accompanies the horses over
xne bars, and urges them on to victory! The band of a Circus is
orttmarily a conventional affair; but this is, as I have already said,
a very strong feature of the show ; and, but that we have come to
see the horses, might well have a quarter of an hour's performance
au to itself. By the way,—Happy Thought—why shouldn't the

Musicians come in mounted on horseback, and give us a Grand
Instrumental, Ornamental, and (of course) International Overture,
Entr'acte, and Finale? A. Galop performed by the Orchestra on
trained steeds, conducted by Marshal Fitzgeeald with his Marshal's
baton, would be something to draw all London and the Provinces.
Four ponies to one on its success. Pause, William of Holland, before
you reject for ever the idea thus offered you by such a regular beggar
on horseback as Haed Nibbs.

P.S.—Excellent House the night I was there; and, going round to
view the stables, I was glad to observe that the staUs were quite full.

PP.S.—I have not yet seen Mr. CoGHLAN'snew drama, Enemies, at
the Prince's, written, I believe, for Mrs. Langtby. There is, I hear,
an idiot in it; not the first on the stage by many, but, I am told he
is a great idiot. That eminent and stately tragedian, Mr. Kemble,
plays, so I read in the Pall Mall Gazette, the part of a "dissolute
nobleman." All, to whom Mr. Kemble's aristocratic bearing is
familiar, will acknowledge that he must look and play the part to
perfection. Fortunate Manageress to have such a chance for a
pictorial advertisement all over London. "The Beauty! the Idiot!!
the Dissolute Nobleman! !! AU now appearing at the Prince's
Theayter ! "Walk up ! walk tip! "

Trois Femmes pour un Man is to be seen at the Criterion. It is said
to have been most successfully adapted by Mr. Rab. '' Who ? '' asked
somebody a trifle deaf. " Hoo-Rae ! " answered Mr. C. Wyndham
after the first night. The title in English is as clumsy as the
French—The Man with Three Wives. "Why not Much Married ?
or a Roe-union f

A new dramatic author has appeared. Young Mr. "William
Same. His comedy, called Speculation, produced at a matinee, was
not particularly strong or original; even the Mesmerism has been
used before in a three-act farce at Toole's, but whose it was I for-
get. However, Mr. Same's is at all events a fair start, and that it
is not from a foreign source is a point in his favour. He '11. succeed
after he has worked at the trade, or, as the school-boys say, after he
has "sapped" at it. His literary future is as yet a matter of
Speculation. N.

A PARTICULAR COMMUNICATION.

state eabce in two acts.

ACT I.

Ministers parting after a recent final Cabinet Meeting.
Lord S-l-sb-ry {finishing his concluding remarks). "Well, then,
that's settled. We go out. A great bother the Queen being down
at Osborne. Dear me, I never thought of that. I can't manage it
in this weather. I have it, I '11 telegraph.

Sir M. B-ch. Or send someone ? Why not Rowton ?
Lord S-l-sb-ry. Capital! Of course, that's what I'll do; I'll
send Rowton. She won't want me. Yes, Rowton shall start at once.
Dispatches him forthwith, with instructions to make a '' particular
communication " to Hue Majesty, and then proceeds to make
his oivn arrangements for the next day, mapping, out his
time carefully as Scene closes.

ACT II.

Lord S-l-sb-ry {discovered taking a hurried luncheon after a morii-
inq spent in official interviews. Looks at the_ clock}. Ah! nearly
three. Rowton ought to be about having his audience now._ I
wonder how he's getting on. Lucky job I thought of sending him,
for really, rather than face that three hours to Portsmouth, and
then that crossing in the fog, to finish up with why, 1 d—[Enter
a Messenqev with Telegram. Gives it to Lord k>-l-sb-ry. Lie opens
it) Ha' a Telegram—and from Rowton. Let s see what ho
says. [Beads.) ,PI'm no use. You're to come at once.'; Come
at once, and I was to see Hatzfelbt at four Bother ! This comes
of resigning. I told Beach what it would be. Here am I, at my
a°-e obliged to go tearing up and down the South-Western like a
school-boy out for a holiday. Really, at such a crisis, Her Majesty
ou°-ht to be upon the spot, or, at least, let one manage by deputy.
Here—bother ! Where 's Bradshaw ?

[ Consults it, and finds he has just tioenty minutes to catch a
train. Pulls himself together, and manages it by throwing
over all his appointments, and leaving everything at sixes and
sevens. Finally, after facing the three hours to Portsmouth,
he arrives at Osborne after dark, ivhen he is shown in to Heb
Majesty, and again repeats, at her request, a "particular
communication" to her, with sulky courtliness.

The Burnley Factory Girls, who in the eyes of their masters, are,
as far as their " giving themselves such hairs " goes, peculiarly un-
satisfactory girls, won't have their fringes interfered with. They
say it is infringing their rights. Fringes have gone out of fashion,
but if the Burnley girls think they look better when they 've " got
'em on," for goodness sake let 'em wear them.

vol. xc.

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