The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 27, 1901, Page 18

18 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 1801. BY BLANCHE @t et ettt i HAVE this week received a circular concerning a projected ““Wagner So- clety” of San Francisco, which is distinctly unique after its fashion and to which only the justice of free quotation is adequate. The object of the soclety is thus stated: “To thoroughly study and present to tha public the works of moGern masters, e pecially the works of Richard Wagner. There will be taken up works of Saint Saens, Massenet, Tschalkowski, Svend- een, Greig, Glinka, Cui, Rimski-Korsa- koff and modern English and American | composers. “To study these works practically and artisticaliy, through the medium of lectures, essavs «nd discussions, in conjunction with con- certs, employing soloists, chorus and or- chestra. The concerts and lectures will, with a few exceptions, be given in th2 evening. “Admission to any exercise of the Wag- ner Soclety is not confined to citizens b 1s open to persons of other cities who a able to attend regularly. These lecture combined with the rehearsals and co form the most unigue musical m- n of its kind end is strictly up tc theoretically, cets Gate. “In this day the study of Bach, Han- del, Beethoven d Wagner is not con- fined to musicians; for men and women of the perind feel it a necessity to under- stand the principles of Wagnerlan art, conprehending s it does, ethics, esthet- ics and philosophy.” Concerning this quaint extract from the the following considera- are respectfully thrust upon the literary gnd art division” of the society: First—It is unusual to split the infinitive, 25 in “to thoroughly study.” Second—It is usual to make the verb agree with its governing noun in number, therefore the sentence, “These lectures * * * 1is etrictly up-to-date.” cannot be said to conform to good usage. It s unlikely that even the hungriest Wagnerian enth: consent to the wholesale canr natve effusion, vlied in the \third tence, study these works practically, theoretica 1y and artistically, by absorbing * * soloists, chorus and orchestra.” (!) There are others, as he who runs may read, but Jet us not linger too long amid the initial delights of the circular, for there is fur- ther entertainment in its ingenuous pages. The personnel of the proposed soclefy Is ar ced as follow “Orchestral and choral divisions—Presi- dent and conductor, James Hamilton Howe; concert master, Wiillam F. Zech: eccompaniste, Miss Mabel Gordon; secre- tary, Miss M. Jane Little: treasurer, Charles O. Perry; librarian, Abner S Wiester; assistant secrotary, Claus B. Pe- assistant treasurer, Walter R. oice committee—W. B. Anthony, W. R. Kneiss and the conductor. “Advisory committee—Frederick Zech, Dr. Franklin Palmer, Mrs. Marriner- Campbell, Robert Tolmie. “Iiterary and art division—President, James Hamilton Howe: chairman and lec- arer, Mrs. Mary Fairweather; secretary d treasurer, Claus B. Peterson. Of the president and conductor the cir- cular gives the following artless biog- raphy, which speaks for itself: “The president and eonductor, who has planned and worked out every detail for the organization of the Wagner Society, ‘was et an early age a student in the Bos- ton University, College of Music, in con- ducting under Carl Zerrahn (the veteran oratorio conductor of Boston, for many years conductor of the Harvard Associa- tion symphony concerts and for over thirty ars conductor of the Boston Handel and Haydn Oratorio Society). Later he was a student of Georg Hen- schel's methods while Mr. Henschel was conductor of the Boston Symphony Or- | chestra, recelving also a pass to the pri- vate rehearsals as an aid to his studies. “Still later Willlam Gericke's method. was closely followed and that of Arthur Nickish, both conductors of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But the greatest pleasure of all experienced by Mr. Howe was while with Anton Seidl (who was for & long time a ant of Richard Wagfer 2t Bayreuth, slso making for him the firet copy of the score of the Nibelungen | tetrology) for seventy cencerts and noting carefully his interpretation of Wegner's works and other modern creations, sides having access to his valuable library of expensive scores. “Since completing these studies -Mr. Howe has directed many oratorio socle- ties and orchestras, one chorus being of 6 singers and another of 160, and now | enters upon this new work full of enthu- | siasm. All he asks is loyal support, that be may be enabled to carry out his ideas snd give the people the best music in an scceptable manner.” SR One phase of the “loyal support” so- | licitéd by the soclety is that of patients who may present themselves for “private instruction™ in how to become “ngnerlud in twenty weeks, at the following rates “Private Instruction—Initiatory (ten weeks' course): Strictly private instruc- tion of the highest values, including mo- tives and all general comprehension, Terms $20. Required scores supplied | thout further cost. “Advenced (ten weeks' course): The whole Wagnerian art in its highest phas- ing, including scores, vocal and instru- mentel, beginning with ‘Flying Dutch- man,’ ‘“Tannhauser. ‘Meistersinger’ and the 'K!beluflm Ring.' Also ‘Tristan’ end ‘Parsifal’ Terms $200. Scores alone furnished for $50.” 1t hath an occult and ingenfous alr, that “strictly private instruction of the higher value, including motives and all general comprehension,” but what under heaven does it mean? And what under the star- WW%M%. by absorbinz | be- | B I B B I I 2 e 2 e -l+-l-|-|-|-l—H-l++H-l-!+l-H‘H‘H-l-. PROJECTED WAGNER SOCIETY AND ITS QUAINT PROSPECTUS. FAKTINQTON | ful firmament is the “highest phasing™ of the Wagnerian art? I confess myself “:phased”; also, 15 l( worlh the price? | | One familiar um. \he uork of Mr. Howe [as conductor since his advent into Call- | fornia is at a loss to know which most to’ admire: his absolute Irrepressibility in face of the fallure of one musical venture | after another—philharmonic socletles, | oratorio socleties, conservatories and the | rest of it; or theperennial faith of the pubs lic which greets with grave face each new | venture of the man who would be conduc- tor. With the careless good-nature com- mon to musicians, a number of the most prominent among them have given their countenance to this latest absurdity, each one of whom knows individu- ally that the exposition of the gospel of Wagner according to Mr. Howe must be a bathetle jest, a stupid paradox, a fatu- ous irreverence. Perhaps the attitude of these musicians is the more comfortable one, as they are fully aware of the in- evitable fate of the “Wagner Soclety” be- fore its inception, but in the meantime the cause of good music suffers, time, temper and money are lost by credulous students, the public taste is impaired and Wagner and the other fortunate dead among the “executed” composers turn helplessly in their graves. Mr. Howe possesses some small knowl- edge of the ethics of the conductor's art, of the notes “of the scores, but he lacks entirely the first essentlals of good lead- temperament, inspiration, m , authority. Such being the case, en proved over and ovepagain | these ‘*'societies” Become | a jns(' th' are an imposition. more th Mende nzonetta” and Bach and Tschalkowsky's nce,” were the features concert of the | the and last Minetti quartet series. be club was ted by Otto Bendix, uhrer and William Wertsch. j Bendix is nothing if not various. sixth | | | | | The srhumqnn D minor plano trio, thai { | A He bore an admirable part in the Schu- mann trio, which came as a complete sur- | prise after his work at the last concert. | 1t was discreet, charmingly colored and | balanced, and in happy accord with the | spirit of the composer. The whole trio was most enjoyable. The lovely Tschai- kowsky sextet was given with a more cer- tain touch and familiar handling than on its first hearing, but the intonation was by no means faultless. The thistledown elegance of the Mendelssohn number and the broad, grave movement of the Bach— | a happy contrast—were both given with happy effect. The series of concerts will probably be resumed next season, as lov- ers of the strings will be glad to hear, An unusuvally large audience enjoved the good programme of the Ethical Insti- | tute concert, given on Thursday evening | last at Metropolitan Temple, under the | direction of Professor Herman Genss. - It | is understood that a series of concerts un- der the same auspices will be held month- v, and if the further programmes are 11n interest to the initial effort of the Twentieth Century Club in this direction the patronage will be deservedly large. “The programme was an unusual and | | ambitious affair, containing the *Lohen- | As‘rin Tale” of Wagner, the “Radames and | s” duet from “‘Aida,” “Tannhau- ser March,” Wagner-Liszt; “Hungarian Dances” of Brahms-Joachim. - another | Liszt and Hayden, Rover and Laub num- be Miss Bruntsch, who possesses ‘a pleasing contralto voice, with lower tones | of fine quality, and a good dramatic in- stinct, gave the “Mignon” song of Lizst | with much grace of rendering, and with Mr. Barrangon gave the “‘Aida” duet. Mr. | Barrangon’s principal number, loudly r | demanded, was the ‘‘Lohengrin’'s Tale. | The singer has a robust virile tenor, of | the true Wagnerian build, and as vet only { & hint and promise of what with further cultivation it may become in the future. Mr. Barrangon is evidently possessed of any amount of temperament, and his voice and method, with added smoothness, fineness and control, will doubtless be heard from in no unworthy fashion. | Mr. Weiss’ work is almost too well | known to need comment, and in the “Cap- rice Hongroise” he was at his admirable best. Harry Samuels played the Laub | “Polonaise” " and the Brahms-Joachim “Hungarian Dances” in effective fashion; and the accompaniments were in the c; pable hands of Professor Genss, who also gave a clever bravura rendering of the Liszt arrangement of the “Tannhauser’ | | march, which was enthuslastically en-{ cored. o laln The programme for Dr. Stewarf's half hour organ recital at the close of the afternoon service at Trinity Church to- day will be: Prelude and Fugue, tn C mino “In the Morning” (Peer Gynt | Traumeret | Marche des Rols Mag A “Gran Concerto” at Sala 41 Washing- ton Square for the benefit of .the Italian Free School 18 announced for this even- ing. Miss Nice Barbareschi and. Signor | Castellano, former members of the Tivoll and late Azzali grand opera companies, will sing during the evening. B The farewell concert of Miss Alma Berg- lund will be given on Tuesday evening next at Sherman-Clay Hall. Miss Berg- lund will be assisted by Mrs. J. E. Birm- ingham and Dr. H. J. Stewart, and an in- teresting programme s promised. 3 i8Ny The next notable forelgn attraction will be the Henschel recitals, which begin on February 5. There has been a most en- couraging support so far accorded these excellent artists. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A SOPFT DRINK-S8. L, City. What is generally understood b: E5G that do not MINERS' GOLDEN JUBILEE-J. P. O., City. The golden jubfles of the discovery ©of gold i1 California, commonly called the Siifere Golden Jubiiee, commenced Jante ary 24, 1868, and continued until January 2, inclusive. SPIRITUOUS BEVERAGE—H. B., City. In the strict sense every liquid that is used for Arinl purposes alcobol is & spirituous beverage, and as port wine contains alcohol it comes under that head. DISTINCTION—W. B., City. The first use of “a distinction without a differ- gnce” i credlited to Macauley in *Di bilities of the Jews,” in which appear: ““The distinction which is sometimes made between civil privileges and political pow- er is & distinction without a difference.” ot st TEMPERATURE The temperature in New York City ranges rom 100 maxtm mint Pomion e B o A o Borembor B io: for New York 32 mean and London 33 mean. These are ayerage figures. In dif- ferent years there are different figures for that month. JEWELS IN A WATCH—C. O. T., Glen- wood, Cal. The greatest number of jewels in & watch is twenty-one. Any jeweler will n to you the location of the Jewels in a watch, and will then dis- cover why they are numbered. ‘Mflnvytntunmldmm space than this department can devote to and contains | C. 8. Haywards, | one question, and the description would be technical and not of general interest. PUTTING OUT POISON—Subscriber, El Cajon, San Diego County, Cal. The law’of California relative to the setting out of poison is as follows: *“Any person who ‘willfully administers any poison to an an- imal the property of another or malicious- ly exposes any gouonous substance .with the Ttent that the same shall be taken or swallowed by any such animal is punish- able by imprisonment in the State prison rot exceeding three years, or in the Coun- ty Jail not exceeding one yur. or, Hent of & fine mot exceeding $500.” There is nothing in the law that exempts any erson who “puts out polson on his own and after he has had out notices, and stray cattle m!(ht get it.” HULDA-IL J‘. Cl's. Hulda was tha graclous lady of Northern Germany de- scribed in old German legends and tradl- flon._ Orlgh:'l‘ly she was the goddess of arria; e was worshiped a in- voked fvy maids and wives. To tl?ofl for- mer she sent bri 8 and to the lat- ter children, great numbers of .whom were believed to 'surround her In her f: haunts in the depth vthe sea ::m:l:: hearts of hills. She wae also the pat- roness of agricultur with its manifold efin'l'«';‘;-nf::t':u%omt:l times she was regare lelfl:l.l :‘g'.‘ n“t.g anciently i th;‘peo e 8now fell, ** l!n‘ bed.” In Southern'German; .h jerc her' rchta a fairy who ST R nanl when = as demons, ita lost her (:g charnc\ and a bogle to frig! @"flw o : - JOHN D. SPRECKELS, -Proprietor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Mlnag" PUBLICATION OFFICE... e .. Market and Third, San Francisco i THE MAYOR'S MORALITY. O LOCAL question has more greatly affected the reputation of California, to its injury, than track gambling. - Perhaps no city in the Union has suffered more severely from this form of vice than San Francisco. Its victims have been found in both sexes and in every class and kind of society. Employers have been robbed of their money, mothers of theu‘ hope, children of their bread and many of their lives by this appalling vice. Business men, social organizations, the pulpit and the press-have joined in exposure of the evil and deprecation of its existence. Judges from the bench have delivered homilies against it, as they have passed the judgment of the law upon moral wrecks that have lost character and lib- erty as a result of its seductions. It has been the fecund parent of every crime, from taking away virtue to taking away life. No one pretends to defend it on any ground that deserves respect. The people fear it as they do the physical pestilence that walketh in darkness. They have a right to the sympathy and the effort of public officers, their servants, in ifs suppression, as they have a right to the effort of the same officers in curbmg an epidemic, l\cepmg prllC order and protecting life and property. sive parent of sin. Indeed, they have a higher right to such service against this sodden and repul- Epidemics end life, and fires lay property waste, and thieves break through and steal, but the injury and sorrow of these are without stain and without disgrace. The gambling on the track takes life and property, and smuts their loss with turpitude, disgrace and degradation. In view of the horrors it has caused, the hearts it has broken, the lives it has ruined, the in- nocence it has transformed into g uiit, we know of nothing more disquieting, more this city and its people than the declaration made by Mayor Phelan. disgraceful to If he had lived in Babylon when the annual tribute of maidens was exacted, or in the Rome of Nero, or in the Paris of Louis X1V, in his advocacy of an open season for vice in this city. he could not have shown a heart more callous to all moral considerations than he exhibits His language is so at war with everything that is expected of a man in his position, that to have uttered it is to forfeit the respect of all decent men and women. Ponder for a moment this language from the Mayor of San Francisco: “I do not helieve that we should give the gamblers of Oakland an opportunity for an ex- clusive privilege to pick pockets simply because we have a moral crusade on in this city. I believe we ought to permit this racing season of thirty days simply as a dissipation for our people. I would therefore approve an ordinance for a limited racing season.” He declares that picking pockets by the gamblers is so good a thing that it should " be passed around, and envies Oakland, where it is permitted! Why not declare for an open sea- son for murder or any cther form of crime as well as poclret -picking? Again” he declared in the same interview that he favored tmck gambling for an equal number of days in San Francisco, Oakland and San Mateo, saying “This would give the gamblers an equal number of days in each city and an equal oppnrtumtv to [)K‘l\ the pockets of the same public, for the public is the same in the three counties.’ When this is put alongside nf his denunciation of this public gambling, in which he in- dulged a year ago, it is plain that this city must protect its morality without the help of the Mayor, who favors the crowd that he declares is “engaged in pocket-picking.” His belief that the people of this city need track gambling is not shared by the business men and decent folk of San Francisco. cipitates a crisis. pation” His attitude pre- “simply as a dissi- These must not sleep on their rights. These declarations of the Mayor inust be met by an aroused public opinion. The people must mount guard and stay under arms until the Mayor’s purpose to introduce pocket-picking as a dissipation has been defgated and forever overthrown. IHe has made an issue that cannot be ignored nor put down. Tt must be met, and pocket- picking must not be introduced into this city by official action or the Mayor’s: favor. Enough hearts have ached, enough youth have gone wrong. , enough tables have lacked food and hearths have lacked fire, by that pocket-picking which the Mayor favors. It must be no more. THE PARIS PRESS. ITH few exceptions the Paris press has been very rabid and radical in its open and covert attacks upon the late Queen of England while she was dying and after she was dead. Of course it is the height of folly for any one to consider the death, from natural causes, of a person past four score as a special judgment for errors in government policy. Yet the Paris press has been capable of just that folly. Tt is somewhat difficult to account for the recent anti-British feeling in France. The mem- ory of Malplaquet and Blenheim and the newer twinge of Waterloo ought to have been forgotten in the later attitude of England toward certain representatnes of the French people. Louis Napoleon found an asylum in England after his" Strasbourg fiasco, and again, when the fabric of empire crumbled at Sedan he and his family had a royal refuge at Chiselhurst and re- ceived every attention from the Queen. When the exiled Empetor died on British soil, no kinder pillow could have been found for his last sleep. St. Helena should have been forgotten in the incidents of the second emplre It is probable that we must look more to commercml rivalry than to political sentiment for the cause of Irench feeling. There was great resentment in France when some London jour- pals proposed to snub the Paris Exposition on account of the Dreyfus affair. That resentment was natural, whether wise or not. “The Dreyfus affair was a peculiarly domestic concern of France, and was no more to be made the cause of international retaliation than the Maybrick triaJ or any other enforcement of English Jaw. But the Queen was in no way responsible. for the comments of the London press, nor the course it proposed to the English people, and retahatlon upon her personahty was without excuse. It would be regarded with wonder in this country i any foreign people retaliated upon President McKinley for editorials in the press of New York or San Francisco. That the French Government is unaffected by the attitude of the Paris press is shqwn by the promptness of the President and Cabinet in the tender of official condolence. As the Government “has done its manners,” it is probable that but little attention w111 be paid to the discourtesies of the press. It is gratifying to.Americans that the pastime of making faces at the dead’is not in favor in this country. The kindly and polite spirit and propriety of demeanor shown by our people need not be misunderstood. The general sympathy is like that shown abroad when Lincoln fell. The death of a leader of a people, under gvhatevcr form of government, is an event which impresses the thoughtful world. We do not mingle with it any preference for British institutions, nor hold it as abating our fondness for our own. The Americans are a people of good heart and good man- ners and good feeling, tolerant of other political institutions, but devoted to their own. In this spirit the American press has uttered the sentiments of the people. We bave no grudges to nurse, no ill will to express, no unkindly feeling to be voiced. . His Highness the Mayor says that for the people of San Francisco a month of dissipation, with the incidental diversion of having their pockets picked, would be beneficial. Perhaps he does not realize that in the municipal administration, which he represents, we have had more thana month of dissipation and more attempts upon our pockets than we care to, guard aga.ihs‘t. . A New York clergyman, interested in municipal rdorms, has endeavored. to make a dxstmc. .tion between gaming and gambling. If he were'in Quentin Prison he would discover that in what t there may be a dxstmctlon ‘but no dlfierence. position to obtain a few of the records of San the wovds tepmt in disastrous consequences LT supenntendent of the City and County Hospxtal has iuggested to the Board of Super- visors that certain reforms in the institution are a matter of necessity. From what the public knows of the hospital it is safe to" say that nnythmg tha.t the supenntendent will sugeest will be mthen;tmoianmpmm AR POSDERSS JANUARY 27, 100t | z . @I&Iu % ECHEGA erate all the inconveniences and dis- abilities under which we Americans suffer from having abandoned the |. control of dramatie art-to a set of | Broadway speculators. who gamble | in plays exactly as they would in | stocks, potatoes or wool. T would take a long article to enum- l We have be- come %o accustomed to all that is cheap, | common and vulgar that it is only when somebody comes along like Mrs. Fiske, | with bralns, taste and independence—it is | only then we realize how much origin: ity is worth and what slaves we have | been to a pinchbeck oligarchy whose Ideals of art find their first and last ex- | pression in an attempt to. ‘“cormer” thcy theatrical market. | So long' as present conditions continue not only shall we fail to produce a flour- ishing, dramatic literature of our own, | but we shall not even know the best that | is a-going in foreign literatures. How many readers of this article, for instance, have ever had an opportunity of seeing in English a play of Augler's? Yet “Le Gen- dre de M. Poirier” is confessedly the best | comedy of the century. How many peo-"| ple know anything of Dumas’ fils, except the hectic “La Dame aux Camelias,” his | est and In some respects his worst If he ever wrote nn)'lhxmz worse | “La Dame aux (amnlia« it was | “L’'Ami des Femmes,” and this, of all} his works, was the particular one picked | out for John Drew (“The Squire of Dames’). Why? Because Charles Wynd- | ham had been ill advised enough to think | he saw In it a star part for himself. Could | slavish imitation be carried further than this? Ts it not enough to make you tear | your hair in despalr at the apparent hope- | lessness of the hope that we shall ever be | delivered from the Philistines? Several years ago an actor well known | in California left the stage for politics, | where he has since achleved honorable distinction. When abandoning the one | profession for the other, he sald to | an actor friend (who now wishes he had | done the same): “I leave the stage be- cause it is getting worse and worse every | day.” Is this true? The gentleman has tried both occupations: he ought to know. € eva | These somewhat pessimistic reflections are induced by my having read this week two remarkable plays by the Spanish | poet, Echegaray, and by my realizing how | impossible it would be to get these plays produced in any regular theater in .the | United States to-daw One of them, I believe, did, last winter, get a matinee production by the Independent Theater Society of New York, but that is the last [ that has ever been heard of it. Yet the | last act of this play—“El Gran Galeoto” (the Great Go-Between)—is characterized | by a profound psychology and contains a situation such as only a dramatic poet of high rank could have conceived. “El Gran Galeoto” is a powertul and tragic indictment of that tendency to gossip and slander, whose humarous side has been satirized by Moliere in “Le Misanthrope,” by Congreve in “The Way | of the World” and by Sheridan in *“The School for Scandal.” This tendeney is| one of the most primitive, the most deep- 1y Tooted and the most detestable vices to which humanity' is heir; as such it is rec- | ognized and as such it is prayed aga.lnsl:‘ hebdomadally by millions, who, in the eloquent words of “The Litany,” do be- | seech the Lord to deliver them “from all | blindness of heart; from pride, vainglory \ and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred and | malice and all uncharitablenes: most excellent, a most necessary, a mon salutary prayer—a prayer, moreover, | toward the fulfillment of which the ade- | quate representation of such a play as “El | Gran Galeoto” can contribute much. For in “The Litany” we do but pray for de- BY L. DU PONT STLE | pean reputation. |in _Echegary, | pleasure and profit. | that can be drawn from the play ia that THE SYNDICATE \ % RAY AND MRS. FISKE'S REPERTOIRE too often the desire that prompts the' prayer liverance from things abstract and is cooled "with the breath that utters it; when we look at the play. we behold in the concrete the terrible consequences of evil-speaking, Iying and slandering; weo are forced (as I@aid In the quotation from | Dumas last week) to look within oursely and our moral nature Is stirred to its ve depths. To all students of Spanish literature the names of Echegaray and his numerous | plays must be familiar. To those who may wish to make acquaintance with him in English I would say that there ! good translation of his fine trage« riana,” published in Boston in 18 that Miss Hannah Lynch has a brief ography of the poet prefixed to her & lations-of “The Great Galeoto™ and “Folly or Saintliness” (London, 15%5). !-rr m this biography we learn that Echegaray was born in 1832. He is a graduate of ‘he University of Murcia and is by pr sion a civil engineer. For some ¥ he was professor of theoretical and ap- plied mathematics at the School of Engi- neers in Madrid, and,after the revolution of '8 was appointed Director of Public Works and Minister of Commerce. In 1872, on the prociamation of the repubiic, he was forced out of polities, retired to Paris and betook himself to play writing. Recalled to Spain in 1574, he was again | nominated for the Ministry and accepted, but the immense success of “El Gran Galeoto” (first presented on the 19th of March, 1881) seems to have determined him definitely to abandon polities for play writing. He Is now credited with the au- thorship of more than fifty plays, half a dozen of which (among the thres | I have mentioned) have attained a Euro- ¥ o e The combination of the mathematical | with the poetical faculty, such as we =ee is extremely rare The only other instances I can think of in Iit- erary history are those of Pascal, and Gray, the author of the “Traite des Sec- tions Coniques,” was certainly a poet, and the author of the egy Written in a Country Churchyard” had soms reputa- tion as a mathematiclan. But Echegaray stands absolutely alone, I think, as a mathematician gifted with the peculiar and very rare instinct of the dramatic poet—a species, as it were, under the genus Poet. oY e I hope it is not too late to put In a plea to Mrs. Fiske for a more extensive repertoire than what she at present prom- ises. As a matter of personal feeling I should be only too glad if she would shelve altogether the horrible tragedy of ““Tess,” from the representation of which I cannot imagine any one deriving pleas- ure, profit or instruction. The book itseif | contains (with much that is squalid and disgusting) some subtle character study and some far-reaching speculations on questions of heredity; but these things | cannot be represented dramatically and “Tess" contains of The only instruction in these lis all that Angel Clairé. was a fool and that Mrs. | Fiske.can do a Bill Sykes murder scens in highly realistic style. Both of these facts I am more than willing to believe | by faith rather than by sight. Mrs. Fiske is an admirable comedienne: let us have “Divorcons.” Or, if she will do the tragic, pray let her give us a play that is really a play, and not merely a A | successton of scenes from novels. Magda | is one of Mrs. Fiske's roles; that would be interesting and novel, for it has never been really plaved in San Francisco. It has simply been played at by Modjeska and by Nance O'Neill in a manner to make angels weep. PERSONAL MENTION. E. T. Maxwell, a Bakersfield ofl man, is at the Grand. Senator T. H. Selvage of Sacramento is at the Grand: J. A. Hull of the Unitéd States army is at the Palace. Judge John F. Davis nnd wife of Jack- son are at the Palace. Deputy Sheriff W. M. Bpencer of Selma is registered at the Lick. P. F. Wood of Tulare, a stockman and land owner, is registered at the Grand. J. Chiampion, a Phoenix mining man, is among yesterday's arrivals at the Grand. Lieutenant and Mrs. M. L. Crimmins have taken apartments at the Palace for a few days. H. R. Gregory, a prominent railroad man of St. Louis, is spending a few days at the Occidental. President E. P. Ripley of the Santa Fe will arrive in tbis city to-night. A num- ber of other Santa Fe officials will accom- pany him, Including J. M. Barr, vice pres- jdent, and A. S.- Wells, acting general manager. _—————— CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. .NEW YORK, Jan. %.—The following Californians are in New York: From San Francisco—H. _Coan, at the Herald Square; J. E. Hansen, at the Hoffman; E. W. Linforth, at the Imperi: C. G. Monhequest, at the Hoffman; A. Zuker- man, at the Imperial; R. D. Davls, at tke Herald Square; J. O. Harrlon, at the Imperial; 1. B. Block, at the Herald Square. From Los Angeles—J. M. Neeland, at the Murray Hill; L. 8. Read, at the St. Nicholas. From San Jose—Mrs. E. Carsom, Miss Mahony, at the Park Avenue. ———————— AMUSEMENTS. } Tivolt—*"The Fencing Master.” Central: Theater—'Darkest Rusela.” . California—"Becky Sharp,” Monday night. Orpheum—Vaudeville. Grand Opera-house—'The Moth and the Flame.” Albambra—‘‘Shooting the Chutes.” Specialties. Chutes, Zoo and Theater—Vaudeville every afternoon and evening. Fischer s—Vaudeville. Metropolitan Temple—Lectare by Rev. Peter C. Yorke, Thursday evening, February 1. Metropolitan Temple—Henschel Recitals. Unlon Coursing Park—Coursing to-day. Tanforan Park—Races to-morrow. —_—— Cholce candles, Townsend's, Palace Hotel.* —————— Townsend's California glace fruits, 50e a und, in fire-etched boxes or Jap. bas- 'A nice present for Eastern Market street, Palace Hotel building.* [ril st SSEs e Special lnformnuon supplied dally to business houses and public men u,. Press cll{ph_}g Bureau &.h m&fli elephone A CHANCE TO SMILE “Darling,” ll.d sh much as eve “Yes, deari buried In his newspaper. That ought to have satisfied her, but she bad to ask, “Why BI“Oh I dunno. szit, I suppose.”—Tid- over the a[un” }:vldunuy you find it hfl-nly 1o~ leruun‘. mx 1 -p.u. :v:rb 80 different from the know.—Boston D The beggar had approached the reformer. “Why don't you £o to oot asked the social ref *I never thought ot that,” exclatmed the be ’lg next evening the soclal reformer do- a lecture on * slmv s Advice to the Philadelphia Record. “Clara, 4 we've been careful .- h.r. and I don't t.hlnk they just married. You must scol m‘:;hl:‘wa get off the m" ariply and in a high-pitched voice) “George, !lflln[, when we get to th. hota! ou must certal: that absurd vender necktie. Poor me & Htut ‘Witherby—Now, my dear, I M be serfm:t(ly &mdlldbflthmvot;n. ‘ going lown to e lub to-1 ker 273 have a Mg o1d e, o Doy Do Mrs. Witherby—That's like & man! You might at least have l:’:‘::e to suppose you were innocent.—Brool PATTOSIEN'S. ARME ACROSS THE CONTINENT —— Two Freight Trains Started at the Same Time. . S — One From Grand Rapids, the Other ——— On January the 15th a freight started from and one m Grand Rapids to the Pacific Coast. The one from Chicago made the quickest time ever known. It took just nine days to land In this city. The one from Grand Rapids came two days later, which, how- ever, is a record time. Two carloads of furniture came with the Chicago train, containing fine dressing tables, birdse: maple and " mahogany bedroom suits, Com On the Grand Rapids trat cuzen came just l: u‘mc fo‘: I.M Pattosien Col ny, as their stoci had run rather low t chal- w sale. Among the carpets are tho 1 Brussels $1 they g0 at e & finnflu Wil all will : E a the . ehal- ‘corner leenth s §%