Puck — March 26, 1879 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

PUCK. FERO. I nave a bear, a gentle bear, But that is neither here nor there: He seems my very thoughts to mock While sitting by the cuckoe clock. He smiles beneath the taper vase, And never thinks he’s out of place; He is, like good old Captain Reece, Commander of the mantelpiece. ‘And there throughout the day he sits And never seems to lose his wits. ‘A box of matches sulphurous, mute His gay internals constitute, R. K, Munxittrick. THE RULING PASSION. Pinarores may come, and Pinafores may go; but there are two Pinafores which go on —comparatively—forever. These are Duff’s Great Original, at the Stanparp, and the Church Choir, guaran- teed, at the Broapway. : Other companies fade and die, like the sum- mer roses or the heroes of Sunday school tales; these alone flourish in undiminished vitality, and wax fat on popular favor. Mr, Duff, youngest by the name, is the shep- herd of the STANDARD flock; while the babes at the Broapway are folded in the tender arms of Messrs, Edgar and Fulton, assisted by Mr. James Meade. A brief sketch of the characteristics of the two companies may not be unwelcome to Pina- fore-struck readers. Tue Broapway Company Is a peculiar one. It represents the initial step of a grand social and artistic movement which Messrs, Fulton, Edgar and Meade are inaugu- rating—namely, the consolidation of the stage and the church All the members of this company are drawn from the best Philadelphian church-choirs, None’ are admitted from churches whose pas- tors draw less than $20,000 salaries, Every man and woman of them—we beg pardon—lady and gentleman—can fingieclo all by himself or herself, as the case may be, and most of them are competent to wrestle with a Ze Deum, ora Gloria in Excelsis, at ten minutes notice. Two or three of them make a specialty of the Venite, Exultemus Domino (no relation of the Pink article), and one is able to sling an Agnus Dei backwards. Naturally, with all these musical advantages, you can’t look for much acting from the Broap- way ecclesiastical Combination. But the Rev- erend T. Dewitt Talmage has been engaged to come across from Brooklyn and instruct them in the truly clerical style of histrionics, and they are daily improving. There is a delicate flavor of angelic purity, sweetness and light about this company that is —well, we don’t want to joke about it, it és pretty. Puck doesn’t believe in amateurs in general, or in particular, as a rule, But this modest, unassuming, clever little crowd is wor- thy of respect, and will get it from the gentle- man with the crayon holder and the dress-coat. But this is a digression. Let us resume our lurid tale. The services at the Broapway are opened with prayer, and closed with a benediction. All the members of the troupe are far above all sordid considerations of salary or expenses, which is a splendid racket for a manager. The fair Hebe is reported worth $600,000. And there is a lovely chorister in delicious blue goggles, whom we rate at not a cent less, esti- mated on the basis of herself alone. ‘The. Broapway managers propose to give a professional benefit to-morrow, and— We were going to round this off fora final sentence; but we remember that we have for- gotten the Broapway midshipmite. This is a young gentleman with a genuine talent for the stage and a ferocious affection for the profes- sion he has thus early adopted. He has to be chained up during that part of the performances when his services are not required; and when he is on the stage he is the cutest article in the midshipmite line that we have ever seen, We see in him a future Hamlet—an Othello—a Macbeth—all sorts of things. Bless the kid. Tue Great ORIGINAL, At the Sranparp the “Pinafore” has been to_a very considerable extent the standard “ Pinafore” by which all other ‘ Pinafores have been measured, ‘Thisis largely due to the Right Honorable First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Thomas Whiffen, who we ‘understand was specially created for the part. Sir Thomas is lescended from a family the members of which have always distinguished themselves by their histrionic and lyrical ability. The founder of the house was Roscius, who was leading man at the Appian Way Varieties in Ancient Rome, and traveled throughout Italy with the wefl- known “Antony and Cleopatra” combination. In fact, Roscius is the’ Latin for Whiffen, Sir Thomas's immediate ancestor was Shakspere, which is the Elizabethan for Whiffen; and Garrick, Munden and Foote were his great grandfathers-in-lav on his mother-in-law’s uncle's side, His talent therefore is no longer a matter of surprise. Miss Eva Mills as Josephine has improved, very slightly; and we’ may re- mark, not to put too fine a point on it, that there was room forso desirable a consummation. The dearest, sweetest, gentlest “ede, in the person of Mdlle, Jarbeau prevents, we fear, a large number of susceptible young men from visiting the Sranparp: they are frightened of falling in love—and they need be—we always go there in trepidation ourselves, Little But- fercup shows the stuff of which Miss Galton is made—no other Buétercup can approach her in correctness of detail and in presenting an artistic and realistic picture of the Portsmouth bumboat women. ‘The Bos'un tight pleases us immensely, and although the midshipmite stir himself about a bit, the STANDARD “ Pinafore” meets with our right royal approval. We are pleased—yes, awfully pleased—at the production of Lecocq's “‘Little Duke" at Bootn's Tueatre. It is funny, and withal pure, and threatens to make a Pinafore of itself. The cos- tumes are pretty, and so are some of the de- lightful creatures who wore them, especially My Little Duke (Florence Ellis) who, with her cunning little Duchess (Miss Louise Baudet) in her arms, struggles bravely and successfully against the difficulties of the music, and looked too lovely for anything. Mr. McDermott was exceedingly agreeable, Miss Marie Bowman ‘Mme. de’ Lansac) proved herself an artist. Mr. hapman, as Frimousse, tried to be too funny, with the natural result, Mr. St. Maur, the well known Californian journalist, is responsible for the translation of the libretto, and he needn’t be ashamed of it, either. Our friend the Right Honorable Joseph Tooker is in charge of the front of the house —and more power to him. - Answeys for the Anvious. Hasextine.—Wait till next week, and she will reveal herself. CARACALLA.—No, we won't, We won’ttell you how much you've got to add to $29.57} to withdrawn ¢ of 1%. Wedon't know, and we don’t care. But bring ‘on your $29.574 cents—especially the }—and we'll leave you the % of 12/—or thereabouts—to go home on. We're tearers on practical arithmetic. FIAT WISDOM, FROM OTTAWA, KANSAS, Aw ell of a house—. A warm matter—A hot skirmish, A printer is like a butcher when he sells his take, A HaRD set—Trying to set a hand-saw with a monkey-wrench, A MAN may truly be said to be an heir at law whea-he is contesting a will. I've seen many a dough-head take a bi horn, but I never saw a loe-head that produced one, Wav wouldn't dentists make good backwoods farmers? ‘They can grub out a good many achers in a day. Littte Rock real estate men are advertising extensively; ‘Arkansas. lands cheap.” Yes siree! Kansas lands are cheap. Ettis M, Crarke, RHYMES OF THE DAY, As Tammany masher he hid such fine work, That they fixed him in the office of the “County Clerk;” He snubbed honest lawyers with a smile quite bland, . And raked in the fees with his jeweled hand; He piled on extortions quite ontrageously, And all by himself he was a big knave, he, M, Wz B. ‘THE CINCINNATI “ SORCERER.” My name is Archbishop Purcell, In the church I'm a very big swell, In masses and ravings I’ve spent all your sav- ings, - To keep you from Satan and hell; And if anyone dollars do lack, Be certain he'll not get them back. So let him not sin, But bear it and grin, Or Leo will give me the sack. B, B. V. O THou compound of sweetest farina! Quivering, niveous, glassy Blanc Mange, The fiend who pumps at the concertina — O thou compound of sweetest farina! 1 would serve with a legal subpeena, . To sing the in musical mélange— O thou compound of sweetest farina, Quivering, niveous, glassy Blanc Mange. J. E.G. Hewson. A CORRECTION. * Mr. D. G. Purse, resident in Savannah, Gorgia, who is, it appears, agent for Mr, E. Frank ‘Coe's Ammoniated| Bone Superphos- phates, writes to inform us, apropos of our re- cent cartoon on the “ Silly Congress,” that he himself once used the figure of the ostrich that hides its head in the sand. We apologize with contrition. We thought it was entirely new, and had never been heard of before. We take off our hat to the man with the ammoniated bone superphosphates. Singularly enough, too, we find that Mr. Purse has in his letter em- ployed the word “ the,” which occurred in the caption of our cartoon, We fear we cannot clear ourselves of the charge of plagiarism. comicbooks.com