Life — December 28, 1905 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Canny Crocodile. HERE once was a crocodile, old and stout, And a trifle clumsy 3 ig about ; River Nile— This lumbersome, cumbersome crocodile. getti din th He was chiefly fou Sometimes all day on the sand he'd lie, And deeply and thoughtfully wonder w Then he'd smile a slow, inscrutable smile— This emoti Ifa friend He would noisily argue on this or that 1, notional crocodile. by for a cosy chat, His oppo! This babbli nt’s opinions he would revile— scrabbling, crocodile. Sometimes he would stand up on the shore, And declaim in a voice like the ocean’s roar rd a mile— speech cout This wonderful, thunderful crocodile You see, by his crafty and subtle art, He made people believe he was clever and smart ‘They praised his wisdom, his speech, his style— This notable, quotable crocodile ! Carolyn Wells, paar wes 771 RRS Gorgeous. NY ordinary, common, or garden, New Yorker, who possesses the colossal sum of twenty-five cents, may any afternoon or evening (except Sundays) feast his eyes on a scene of gorgeousness such as not the Roman Emperors with all their resources and extravagance, not the Asiatic potentates with all the wealth of Ind, -LIFE: not the dissolute Kings of France wasting a whole kin Jom in spectacle and display, none of them could even imagine, It took the combination of a building like the Hippodrome, the latest in stage mechanic and of these could see and non nm discov ether with the brain of Mr. Fred, ¢ The Court of the and make possible this to cre; Jen Fountains momentary pleasing of the senses of the American of to-day with an artificial spec tacle which it is safe to say has never been equaled on or off the stage. No photo- graph, no painting, no word-picture in con vey any idea of its gorgeousness. Not the least marvelous thing about it is that it is created and destroyed twiceaday. It is possi- ble to imagine former creators of barbaric splendors makin; their slaves or subjects toil of something of permanent ence, but this has two timesa day to be brought into place, toendure in the erection spectacular magni a few minutes, and then to disappear com- pletely. The great spectacle of * A Society Circus” is only the climax to a feast of entertainment which cast even the last year's excellent per- formance at the Hippodrome into the shade. Mr. Thompson has evidently grown more fa- miliar with the possibilities of his great stage, and the mechanical resources at his command. Chief among the attractions of the present piece are the picturesque gipsy encampment, the great minuet and ballet, with their dainty color effects, and the jungle scene with its monkey-like human monkeys and the funny burlesque lions. The circus features are kept down to a point where they do not bore. It seems impossible that the Hippodrome entertainments can be carried any further io the way of magnitude and magnificence, but it seemed as though it had reached the limit last_ year, so it would be foolish to predict, KATHERINE FLORENCE IN “BEFORE AND AFTER.” At all events, New York may congratulate itself on possessing the finest home of spectacle in the world, for nowhere in Europe would it be possible to produce such an effect as that shown in ‘The Court of the Golden Foun, tains.” T was a question whether New York would stand for any more of the French farces, of which * Before and After,” at the Man- hattan, isan example, but there is no doubt that the piece is good of its kind and thor- oughly amusing, It is practically free from THE MINUET AT THE HIPPODROME. * comicbooks.com