Posts
“An Ominous Year,”
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated
Newspaper.
These
gleanings were plucked from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper beginning 26
Jan 1861 and ending at 27 Dec 1862 in the early days of the Civil War. I would
have continued with my notes but for a lack of access to further volumes.
The
South seceded from the Union in January of 1861 and on April 12 the American
Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter. Frank Leslie covered the war in
his Illustrated Newspaper until it ended in the surrender at Appomattox on
April 9, 1865. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper began on December 15, 1855
and lasted to May 4, 1899. In 1860 Beadle and Adams published the first dime
novel, Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter by Mrs. Ann Stephens from
a story originally published in 1839.Beadle would post small ads in the
Illustrated Newspaper for dime biographies and dime novels throughout the War.
Leslie had formed a friendship with the humbug P. T. Barnum, whose chief
engraver he had been in 1851 on Barnum’s Weekly, The Illustrated News. They
remained close and hardly a Leslie paper appeared without some mention of
Barnum’s doings. In 1891 Leslie published photos of the funeral of his old
friend in the Illustrated Newspaper.
26
Jan., 1861.
The
Last Romance of Paris.
The
Wild Lady of the Woods.
The
French papers announce the approaching marriage of a young lady, whose strange
discovery, ten years ago, was the talk of all Paris. Her history is so
remarkable, indeed almost unique, since it’s only parallel is the nursery
legend of “Valentine and Orson” that we publish the following account from theCourt
Journal of London, a great
authority for all aristocratic romance:
Some
ten years ago, some peasants were passing through the forest of Acher, in the
Department of the Drome, when they caught a glimpse of a young girl, perfectly
nude, who, as soon as she saw them, fled with a velocity which perfectly amazed
them. One of them, who was remarkable for his speed, immediately gave chase,
and, after a short contest, the poor, trembling thing was caught, by the
slipping of a stone beneath her foot, which threw her on the ground, spraining
her ankle.
She
was borne with all care and tenderness to the nearest cottage, and there
carefully nursed, but for days and weeks she lay with eyes closed and uttered
no sound. It was not until some months had passed, that, at the approach of
winter, the peasants of the village thought it best to convey her to the
hospital at Valence. From her inability to answer when spoken to, they had
imagined her to be deaf and dumb, and therefore trembled at the useless burthen
she would become to the commune. Here the surgeon and almoner both took immense
interest in the poor, forlorn little savage; and the former, having won her
affection by his gentle care, became so much attached to her that his whole leisure
time was spent in endeavors to teach her to speak and understand the meaning of
sounds. The child was then, as he supposed, about eight or nine years of age;
but as her intelligence awakened, and she grew able to communicate with her
friend, the surgeon, great was the disappointment of the latter to find that
she could give no other history of her life than that of a solitary wanderer in
the woods, as she had been found. No remembrance of any other state of
existence, up to this very hour, has ever visited her mind. All is dark. The
earth has been the only mother she has ever known, the trees and flowers of the
woods her only companions from the time she first began to note external
objects.
It
was while the interest and astonishment of the inhabitants of Valence were
still at their height, that the Princess Bobrinskoy, a great Russian lady,
passed through the town, and was told of the great wonder of the place. The
princess sent for the child, and, delighted with her appearance, proposed to
the administration of the hospital to take charge of her education. The already
over-burthened administration gladly consented, and behold, in a few days the
untutored savage daughter of the woods, in a magnificent carriage, attended by
lacqueys in rich livery, and seated by the side of one of the noblest ladies in
Christendom, was driving full speed towards Paris. The princess, instead of
making the poor little, still terrified and bewildered creature a show to her
fashionable friends, wisely resolved to place her at once with the reverend
ladies of the Sacre Coeur. With them she has remained ever since, and is grown
up a distinguished and elegant young lady, retaining nothing of her wild life
but a somewhat restless and distrustful flashing of the eye when first introduced
to strangers. Her hair is jet black, and remarkable for it’s length and
thickness. At the last fete of St. Catherine at the convent, the pupils of the
convent being attired in fancy dresses, she attracted the greatest admiration
by wearing a splendid Russian costume, the gift of the Princess Bobrinskoy, and
allowing her hair, woven in two thick plaits, to hang loose down her back. It
reached the hem of her dress, and it’s gloss outshone that of the satin bodice
over which it hung. The gentleman to whom she is about to be united is an
officer of the Cent Gardes, high in favor at the court, whose heart was won,
not long ago, by hearing her sing Marcello’s hymn, “I cieli narrano,” in her
rich, contralto voice, which still possesses a strong souvenir of her “native
wood-notes wild.”
2
Feb, 1861. Personal.
The
French journals have a strange story about the elder Dumas being captured by
some Spanish journalists, disguised as bandits, and compelled to write a
romance as ransom. Fortunately for the great novelist, their demand was only
for one volume, which Alexandre dashed off before dinner.
Blondin,
the great rope-dancer, is now in New York. He will soon sail for Europe.
Foreign
News and Gossip.
A
tale of scandal and murder in high life horrified the public some short time
ago. It was to the effect that the Marquis of Downshire, who is now with his
family cruising in the Mediterranean in his beautiful yacht, the Sylphide,
caught his captain on his knees to his daughter, Lady Alice. In a rage, so the
story went, The marquis took the sailor up by the waistband of his trowsers and
deliberately threw him overboard, where he was drowned till he was dead as a
herring. This hoax was seriously swallowed by the Advertiser , and believed by many of those
who look upon a nobleman as capable of any atrocity. Lord Sandys, the uncle to
the marquis, has written to the newspapers pronouncing the story a weak
invention of some penny-a-liner.
Obituary.
Lola
Montez.
“It
is said that “Becky Sharp” is a picture of Lola Montez. We can only reply that
the picture is a libel. Becky sharp sinned by malice
prepense - Lola simply erred
from a fiery and ungovernable temper.”
Serial;
Earl Gower ; or, The Secret Marriage. By Pierce Egan, Author of “The Flower of
the Flock,” “The Snake in the Grass,” &c., &c., &c.
News
Of The Week
A
terrible proof of the brutality of some of the lower orders was given on Friday
night, when a dissolute Irishwoman was choked to death in the basement of a
house in Twenty-seventh street, Twentieth Ward, by a shoemaker named Bradley.
It appears that he had actually attempted to outrage the woman, in the presence
of her brother, and that it led to a free fight, in which the woman got killed.
They were all frightfully intoxicated. Bradley and Love, the brother, are both
arrested, one as the principal and the other as the witness.
Brooklyn
seems to be all the worse for its numerous churches, for the streets are
infested by gangs of footpads, who rob in open daylight. On Sunday afternoon,
as two boys were coming from church, they were attacked by four ruffians of the
age of fifteen to eighteen, and their pockets emptied. One of the young
scoundrels drew a knife and swore he would stab them if they cried out. They
were arrested, and the articles stolen, with the exception of six dollars,
found upon them. This occurred at the corner of Degraw and Seventh avenue. The
police ought to disperse the little bands of loafers that gather around corner
groceries.
9
Feb., 1861
Barnum’s
American Museum.
Splendid
Dramatic Performances Every Afternoon and Evening, at three and half past seven
o’clock.
The
following wonderful combination of Living Curiosities are all to be seen for
the very low price of 25 cents:
OLD
ADAMS CALIFORNIA MENAGERIE.
THE
LIVING MAMMOTH BEAR, SAMPSON.
THE
LIVING BLACK SEA LION.
THE
TWO LIVING AZTEC CHILDREN.
THE
LIVING ALBINO FAMILY.
THE
LIVING WHAT IS IT?
THE
LIVING CANARY BIRD SHOW.
THE
LIVING LEARNED SEAL.
THIRTY
LIVING MONSTER SNAKES.
THE
LIVING HAPPY FAMILY.
MISS
DAWRON, DOUBLE-VOICED SINGER.
THE
$150 SPECKLED BROOK TROUT.
And
near a Million other Curiosities of every conceivable variety. Children under
ten, fifteen cents.
12
January, 1861.
Something
New To Read.
Great
Books For children ! Books for boys and books for girls, and such beautiful
books too, from the teeming press of TICKNOR AND FIELDS, of Boston. We can
imagine how the Harrys and Charleys , and the Sidneys and the Valentines will
devour, line by line, Mayne Reid’s new book, Bruin; or, The Great Bear Hunt !
how pale will they grow as they read of the desperate encounters in which the
chivalric courage of man overcomes the savage fierceness of the brute. We
almost envy them the genuine excitement they will experience and half wish that
we could be a boy again for a few breif hours.
We
thought we had got through with TICKNOR AND FIELDS, but we find still another
and another of their publications awaiting a line of recognition. We find that
“Tom Brown” is out in another part of Oxford, or rather that another part of Tom Brown at Oxford is out. We notice the issue of the
first volume a week or two since in terms of the warmest commendation, which it
deserves, and we take this occasion to say that the interest increases with
each monthly issue.
Feb.
16, 1861.
Editorial
Glances At Men And Things.
We
copied in a late number of our paper a paragraph from an English journal that
the Marquis of Downshire, having caught the captain of his yacht on his knees
to his daughter, the Lady Alice, caught hold of the sea-serpent, or marine
Lothario, by the waistband of his breeches and pitched him overboard, and that,
horrible to relate, the unfortunate lovyer (sic) sunk , never to rise again.
His lordship has contradicted the report in the following letter :
"Royal
Yacht Schooner Sylphide, Naples, Jan. 6.
"Sir
- The statement of what is said to have ocurred on board my yacht, copied the
end of last month from the Manchester Guardian into several Newspapers, is false, and
totally devoid of a vestige of foundation; nor had any thing ocurred on board
or ashore, directly or indirectly, to give any coloring whatever for such a
villainous calumny and lie. The man who forged this production, whether he be
an Englishman or a foreigner, is a wilful liar and a slanderer, and I will
leave no means untried to punish his audacious calumnies. I do not, of course,
know how far I might have gone, in my exasperation, had the statement been
true, but this I do know, that if I catch this scoundrel I will throw him
overboard, nor will I trouble myself further about such worthless carrion.
I remain,
sir, faithfully yours,
"Downshire."
This
is charming. It is a rule of three some : that if the marquis will drown a man
for a false report, what would he not do to a man who had the impudence to make
love to his highborn daughter ? Drowning is evidently too good for him : let us
suggest a severer penalty - marriage in the Down-derry-Downshire family !
5
Jan. 1861.
Paris
Correspondence.
There
are so many anecdotes current in which Alexandre Dumas silences somebody, that
it is quite refreshing to hear one on the other side. A few days ago, a
gentleman, once in the service of the DUKE D’ORLEANS, met M. Alexandre Dumas in
Naples and in the Via Toledo. It was a few days, by the way, after the evacuation
of the Palace of Chialamone. “Ah, my dear Dumas, are you there?” said the
Parisian, “They tell me that you are no longer the Superintendent of Museums.
What is your present business?” “My dear sir, I am as Beaumarchais once was, a
seller of guns.” “Ah, so much the worse. I would have preferred that you would,
like Beaumarchais, sell good prose.” Then turning away , he added, “After all
my dear Dumas, one can only sell what one has in the shop.”
5
Jan. 1861.
Drama.
Winter
Garden.- Mr. Jefferson made his first appearance for that season on Monday
last, as Rip Van Winkle, in the play of that name and to great success.
14
Jan., 1861.
FROM
THE SEAT OF WAR !
From
Our Own Correspondent.
Republic
of South Carolina.
Charleston,
Jan. 14, 1861.
WAR !
Of
premonitions of war we have had a plenty anytime during the last three weeks,
and what these premonitions have resulted in the telegraph has, of course, long
ere this made you aware. War is actually upon us ; war , always deplorable, but
now bringing with it a train of horrors beside which the carnage and rapine
engendered by the quarrels of nations in all the world’s history, must sink
into insignificance. For this is a war of kinsmen ; a war of brother against
brother and of father against son. In short - a civil war - the bloodiest of
all wars, to end only heaven knows when.
26
Jan., 1861.
News
Of The Week.
A
mass meeting of workingmen , the bone and sinew of New York, was held on the
fifteenth of January, at Brook’s Hall, 261 Broome street, it was generally considered
as a Weed meeting, although it had the authority of certain parties who were
decidedly opposed to him. It had for it’s ostensible object the reunion of
those who were opposed to “the horrors of Civil War which Black Republicanism
is bringing upon our land.” The meeting was not very largely attended, not more
than 400 being present. Speeches of the thoroughgoing stamp, suited to the
occasion were made by the President, Mr. Groot, Hon. Levi S. Chatfield, Marshal
Rynders, Mr. McMahon, and others. With the exceptions of a few interruptions
from individuals opposed to the objects of the meeting, and who were summarily
ejected, everything passed off smoothly.
26
Jan., 1861.
ADOLPHUS
H. DAVENPORT, ESQUIRE ., COMEDIAN.
Mr.
Davenport, or, as the public loves to call him, “Dolly Davenport,” - we always
pet - name those who we love - is now in New Orleans, at John Owen’s Varieties,
and has just made a tremendous hit as Pinchbeck in “Paying With Fire,” He has
become just as great a favorite in New Orleans as he is in Boston,
Philadelphia, New York, and elsewhere; and we need hardly add that the
play-going public of New York,, and a very large circle of warm, personal
friends will most gladly welcome him back to his native city.
26
Jan., 1861.
Personal.
JOHN
BROUGHAM, the popular contributor to the BUDGET
OF FUN is “expatiating on the
Continent of Europe” When the pantomimes have had their run, he will complete
his engagements in London. Mr. Brougham made a mistake in hankering after an
England that rejected him, and abandoning an America that received and fostered
his talents.
26
Jan., 1861.
Our
Weekly Gossip.
Brooklyn
Jubilant - And So It Ought To Be.
Tuesday
Night, the 15th inst., having been appointed as the propitiousho-(illegible)-
for inaugurating the New Academy of Music in Brooklyn, we felt it our duty to
be present, to show, in the first place, our respect for and interest in the
enterprise, and in the second place, to tell our readers all about it. It is,
perhaps, unnecessary to say that it poured with rain, as it always pours with
rain when any great musical event is to come off. On this occasion, however,
the rain was doubly annoying, as it fell upon two or three inches of snow,
which it converted to a sloppy pulp of a most abominable nature. It was equally
discouraging over head and under foot , but we were determined to go, and to
reach our destination we embarked in four conveyances - not at the same time
but one after the other. We rode down the Third Avenue in the cars to Broadway,
where we took a Fulton street stage to the ferry. Having crossed the ferry in
the boat, we took the Greenwood cars, which finally deposited us within fifty
feet of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Despite the wretched state of the
weather, there was quite a crowd of gaping idlers lining both sides of the
street, watching the carriages as one after the other they dashed up to the
door, and deposited their contents of richly and elegantly dressed ladies. The
people were quite excited, and seemed to regard the building with a mixed
feeling of reverence and admiration. Matting was spread over the walk from the
curbstone to the portal of the doors, and this, with the ample shelter over
head enabled the visitors to enter the building spotless from any effects of
the weather. These arrangements were both thoughtful and judicious, and were
deserving of commendation, as, indeed, were all the arrangements for the
convenience and comfort of the audience.
26
Jan., 1861.
Drama.
AT
LAURA KEENE’S there is as yet no change in the programme. Rumor has it that a
skating scene is to be introduced into the burlesque of the “Seven Sisters”
which will prolong it’s run indefinitely.
Winter
Garden. - MR. JEFFERSON has made a decided hit with “Mazeppa, “ with which
character he will bring his present engagement to a close.
Niblo’s.-
MR. FORREST as Damon, crowds the house nightly to overflowing.
9
Feb., 1861.
Drama.
Winter
Garden.- It is with great regret that we are forced to confess that we did not
witness the debut of Mr. Dillon at this house on Thursday evening last ;
honestly, the horrible weather frightened us, and after taking a look from the
street door we resumed our chair at the fireside and tried to forget that Mr.
Dillon was to act that evening. Act he did, however, and is said to have made a
genuine success, and we can only hope that he will soon be afforded an
opportunity to confirm the good impression he then created.
9
Feb., 1861.
NEWS
OF THE WEEK.
On
Wednesday, the 30th, the revenue cutter, Cass, surrendered to the State
authorities of Louisiana.
9
Feb., 1861.
Advertisement.
HIGHLY
IMPORTANT TO THE MARRIED, - Send stamp to D. A. Williams, Lowell, Mass.
9
Feb., 1861.
Advertisement.
“FAMILY
NEWSPAPER.” MRS. HANKIN”S MAMMOTH PICTORIAL circulates among families all over
the American Continent, and has 300,000 constant readers. FIRST and only
SUCCESSFUL Paper ever published by a LADY. Largest, handsomest, and best in the
world, for only 75 cts. a year, or a dollar for a year and a half. FIVE copies,
$3; TEN copies, $5; One copy with Frank Leslie’s Weekly, a year, $3; with
Leslie’s Budget Of Fun, $1.50. AGENTS WANTED : Ladies, Teachers, Clergymen, or
Postmasters. For Specimen Copies and Terms to Agents inclose a red stamp to
Hankin’s & Co., New York.
9
Feb., 1861.
Advertisement.
100
pages complete. Price ten cents.
BEADLE’S
Dime
Biographical Library,
No.
2.
Daniel
Boone.
The
Hunter
of Kentucky.
Including
The
Adventures
of Simeon Kenton, McClelland And Others.
For
Sale At All News Depots.
Frank
Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.
16
Feb.,1861.
Jenny
Lind, on the 5th January, presented her husband with a little boy. They are
resting at Argyle Lodge, Wimbledon Common.
16
Feb.,1861.
News
Of The Week.
A
Respectable looking man named King went into Miller’s Bookstore, and, while
pretending to look at some books he wanted to buy, was seen to secrete a couple
of volumes. Upon being accused of the “plagiarism,” he drew a revolver and
fired at the clerk’s head ; fortunately the ball missed, and lodged in the
ground. He was arrested, and committed on a charge of felonious assault.
2
March 1861.
Foreign
News And Gossip.
MR.
AND MRS. CHARLES KEAN are performing a round of their favorite characters at
Drury Lane Theatre.
BOURCICAULT
and his wife have performed “Colleen Bawn,” at the Olympic, one hundred and
twenty-five nights !
BROUGHAM
has concluded to remain in England, and has sent for his amiable wife to join
him there. So popular is he with the public, that there is every prospect of a
theatre being built for him in the neighborhood of Regent’s Circus.
9
March, 1861.
OUR
PORTRAIT OF THE PRESIDENT.
JEFFERSON
DAVIS,
President
of The Southern Confederacy.
9
March, 1861.
Personal.
CARL
SHURZ is specially excluded from the amnesty granted by the King of Prussia. So
long as Carl can read Frank
Leslie’s Illustrirte Zeitung he
does not want to go back to Germany.
9
March, 1861.
Personal.
We
heartily endorse the following recommendation in the Daily News : “We have already noticed in our news
columns the death of Hattie James, the ballad singer, who received fatal
injuries by being burned at the footlights of the Gaieties Concert Hall in
Broadway. She was the sole support of a whole family, and efforts are being
made to get up a benefit for her mother and sisters. Let all charitable members
of the singing - house fraternity club together and do the thing decently.” If
the proprietor or the man who owned the saloon where she was killed has one
spark of humanity he will repair in some degree the effect of his carelessness,
as implied in the censure of the Coroner’s verdict.
16
March,1861.
Barnum’s
American Museum.- While our President, Gulliver Abe , is about getting his
White House Museum in order, President Barnum is reaping the fruits of his
numerous crops of curiosities, and receiving hosts of admirers every hour of
the day. What Seward is to Lincoln, Greenwood is to Phineas, What with the
“What Is It ?” and the thousand other curiosities, a month can be easily and
agreeably passed at the corner of Ann street and Broadway. In addition to
these, there is the new drama of the “Woman In White,” which attracts large
crowds. For further particulars see the Prize Rebus in “Frank Leslie’s Budget Of Fun for March 15th. It is a triumph of
ingenuity.
16
March,1861.
Advertisement..
Beadle’s
Dime Books.
THE
GREAT FRONTIER.
And
Border Stories, by Edward S. Ellis, Esq.
Seth
Jones;
Or,
the Captive of the Frontier.
Bill
Biddon, Trapper;
Or,
Life In The Far North-West.
The Frontier
Angel;
A
Romance of Kentucky Ranger’s Life.
Just
Published,
NATT
TODD;
Or,
The Fate Of The Sioux Captive.
A
Romance of unique beauty and interest - of Life, Adventure, Heroic Deeds, Love
and Death In The Wilds of the Far North- West and on the Oregon Trail.
For
sale at all News Depots.
Single
copies sent, postpaid, on receipt of ten cents.
BEADLE
& CO.
General
Dime Book Publishers, New York.
23
March, 1861.
SOMETHING
NEW TO READ COLUMN.
BEADLE’S
DIME NOVELS, BIOGRAPHIES, &c.
The
Success which has attended this dashing and well- conceived speculation is one
of the signs of the times. BEADLE & CO. have only been established a few
months, yet, in that time, they have built up such a vast and important
business, that they have established a branch house in London. The idea was to
reduce the price of literature to the lowest possible paying point , and to
carry out the idea, ten cents was fixed on as the maximum point.
For ten cents they sell a novel of 128 pages, neatly and carefully got out. A
large number of novels, tales, and adventures have already been published in
this form, and have met with an immense sale. It seems just to have hit the
public’s pocket, and by that means has secured an immediate and wonderful
success. The publishers, Messrs. Beadle & Co., encouraged by popular
approbation, intend to issue, besides the light literature, already mentioned,
a succession of works of general, varied, and useful information, so that their
catalogue will soon assume a rapidly increasing importance in the publishing
world. The volumes before us are the lives of “Kit Carson,” “Daniel Boone,” and
the “Dime Family Physician,” which is full of useful and reliable information.
Beadle & Co. have made a decided hit.
30
March,1861.
Personal.
KIT
CARSON, the famous hunter, guide and mountaineer, is living at Taos, New
Mexico, as agent to the Ute tribe of Indians. He has fifty or sixty cows, five
hundred head of sheep, and is married to a Mexican woman.
30
March,1861.
Personal.
Mrs.
Gaines, whose recent triumph in her famous law suit has made her a heroine is
in her sixty - third year.
30
March,1861.
Personal.
“Whom
the Gods love die young !” for Mrs. Patten, the heroic woman, who ,three years
ago, nursed her sick husband, the captain of the Judith, and navigated his ship
home, died in Boston, on Sunday, the 17th March.
30
March,1861.
Drama.
Barnum’s
Museum.- This great institution of our republic is maintaining its union of
amusement and popularity without any seceders. Day by day, and night by night,
enthusiastic crowds visit it to see the Swiss Bearded Lady and the Lilliputian
Queen; but the chief attraction is Herr Driesbach, whose wonderful Grizzly
Bears are more wonderful than anything ever seen before. Dancing bears, singing
bears, and cinnamon bears are there, and above all the great bear Samson.
30
March,1861.
Personal.
Foreign
News And Gossip.
BLANCHARD
JERROLD has assumed the editorship of the Welcome
Guest, and will commence by a
serial called, “The Ways Of Life- It’s Ups, Downs, And Final Resting Place.”
30
March,1861.
Advertisement.
The
King’s Daughter;
Or,
The
Romance of Royalty.
This
is the title of a new Historical Romance written expressly for the HOUSEHOLD
JOURNAL, by Mrs. Marian M. Pollan, the accomplished authoress of the “Regent’s
Son,” and other first- class works of acknowledged merit, which will be found
to be a fitting sequel to Thackeray’s admirable history of the “Four Georges,”
commences with the first number of the enlarged volume of the HOUSEHOLD JOURNAL,
now ready.
SIXTY
- FOUR COLUMNS, FOUR CENTS.
A
Double-Page
Map
of the World,
On
Mercator’s Projection,
Will
be given away free along with the first number of the new volume of the
HOUSEHOLD JOURNAL, now ready.
30
March,1861.
Personal.
Capt.
Latham, who was confined in Eldridge street jail to take his trial for piracy,
escaped last week from the custody of a keeper, who was appointed to escort him
to Broadway to buy a new suit of clothes. The idea of a prisoner going out in a
public thoroughfare to buy clothing is too ludicrous to be funny.
30
March,1861.
Personal.
J. W.
BISSELL, who was tried in Chicago some time since, and aquitted on a charge of
conspiring to burn the ROCK ISLAND BRIDGE, has had John F. Tracy, President of
the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Company arrested for malicious prosecution
and false imprisonment, laying his damages at $20,000 in each action.
30
March,1861.
Personal.
MR.
ADSY, whose melancholy mission to this country to start a comic paper met with
so summary a failure, is about to return to England. Having failed to establish
an English Punch in New York, why does not he try to
establish an American Budget
Of Fun in London.
6
April, 1861.
A
GREAT VICTORY WON
OUR
TRIUMPH COME AT LAST.
OUR
BATTLE WITH SWILL MILK CORRUPTION FOUGHT OUT AT ALBANY.
SWILL
MILK ABOLISHED BY LAW.
THE
FIGHT WAS OURS,
THE
VICTORY IS FOR THE PEOPLE.
6
April, 1861.
Our
Weekly Gossip.
The
New York Academy Of Design.
THERE
IS SOMETHING very agreeable in lounging through a Gallery of Paintings, with no
other intent than that of amusing oneself. The privilege so enjoyed is
unalloyed, because one need not look at anything that is not pleasant, and the
sense of critical responsibility knows you not. Not so with us. We are obliged
to combine pleasure with business, and take as much notice of the bad pictures
as of the good. We were compelled for instance, to look again at that swollen
monstrosity painted by WILLIAM PAGE, and called the “Infant Bacchus.” It is
catalogued No. 117, and is for sale. We mention this fact in justice to the
artist who has the good taste not to wish to keep it himself. If we were to
judge by this picture, the “Infant Bacchus,” was the great original of the
wineskin, it has no anatomy; it is simply a grossly distended skin, which, if
pricked, would collapse into flatness. Therefore, cut off those bulbous
excrescences called legs, and your wineskin is perfect. The fat boy is lying on
about an acre of leopard skin, which has no more texture than the painted
calico which makes sham hunters out of supernumeraries at the theatre.
The
washy background is in imitation of a bad old master; and the rich coloring,
and the dainty manipulation amount to nothing, because they do not counterfeit
nature. No artist, however great his name and fame, whether that fame be
meretricious or real, can afford to send to a public gallery so poor a picture.
6
April, 1861.
Personal.
FOSTER,
the song writer, is, we understand, engaged by Frith, Pond & Co., to write
popular ballads on the topics of the day.
6
April, 1861.
Foreign
News And Gossip.
A
FRENCH GENTLEMAN, M. du Chaillu, has been engrossing the attention of the savants in England, delivering lectures and
narrating his travels in Western Africa, that strange country immediately south
and north of the equator, inhabited by cannibal negroes, gorillas, and
ferocious chimpanzees. M. du Chaillu had divers adventures with the black
cannibals, and shot twenty-two gorillas.
6
April, 1861.
CHLOROFORM
is becoming quite an agent in robbing the unsuspecting. On the 22nd, as captain
Wright was taking his siesta after dinner on board his vessel, the Ashby, lying
at pier No. 2, a couple of rogues stole into his cabin and having applied to
his nostrils a handkerchief steeped in chloroform, they rifled his desk,
pockets &c. They were seen by a vigilant darkey, who, when they had
departed, awakened the sleeping captain. The men were found in a vessel adjoining,
in the very act of dividing the spoil. The chloroform applied to them was the
police.
13
April, 1861.
Beadle’s
Dime Books.
We
have received another batch of the wonderfully cheap and excellent works
published by BEADLE & CO., 141 William Street, New York. They are the “Dime
Chess instructor,” “Book of Cricket,” “Baseball Player,” “Guide To Swimming,”
“Florida, or, The Iron will,” by Mrs. Denison, and “General Anthony Wayne, the
Hero of Two Wars,” by G. J. Victor. They are all published at ten cents each,
in convenient form, with clear type, good ink and paper. Excessive cheapness
has given to the publications of this house an immense sale all over the
country. The liberal enterprise of the proprietors fully deserves this
gratifying result.
13
April, 1861.
Personal.
THE
EX-KING AND QUEEN OF NAPLES will take up their residence in the Castle of Pauz,
near Lichtenfels, in Bavaria. This estate, situated at a short distance from
Munich, and once belonging to the old abbey of that name, is one of the finest
monuments of Gothic art. It belongs to the Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, the
father of the fugitive Queen.
13
April, 1861.
Toujours
Gai !
Heaven
be thanked that there are some quasi-poets who are not steeped to the lips in a
sublime and preposterous despair ! It is quite refreshing to find one “jolly
dog,” who looks upon life through acouleur de rose medium. He informs us that the
following lines are after Beranger. He is right; they are after the style of
that great poet, but so far after, that they’ll never catch up with it !
Toujours Gai
!
Toujours
Gai is still my cry-
Life
has lost no sunshine yet;
Sorrow
has not dimmed my eye-
Beauty’s
bright star has not set-
Toujours
Gai - though very ill,
I am
blithe and happy still.
Toujours
Gai, though
youth is gone,
On Hope’s
altar burns a fire;
And
the love of my sweet one,
Will
not let the flame’s expire.
Toujours
Gai, is still my cry-
Gay
I’ll live and happy die !
Toujours
Gai, though hoary age,
Grasps
me now with heavy hand;
Bright
is still life’s closing page-
Round
me smile a cherub band,
Toujours
Gai, with latest breath-
Gay
through life makes happy death.
13
April, 1861.
Advertisement.
“Incomparable
in Excellence.”
Beadle’s
Dime
AMERICAN
LIBRARY.
Issued
in New York and London.
Ready
April 1st, a New Story.
By
Mrs. M. A. Denison.
Florida;
or the Iron Will.
A
Story of Today.
Beyond
question one of the most powerful and beautiful Romances ever penned by Mrs.
Denison.
By
the Same Author;
Chip,
the Cave-Child;
A
Romance of the Wilds of Pennsylvania.
The
Prisoner of La Vintresse,
Or,
The Fortunes of a Cuban Heiress,
Each
128 pp., complete. Price 10 cts.
20
April, 1861.
News
Of The Week.
A
duel was fought on the 8th between Mr. banks, editor of the CONFEDERATION, and Mr. Moses, the correspondent of
the CHARLESTON NEWS. After one round, in which neither was
hurt, the belligerents shook hands.
20
April, 1861.
Advertisement.
A NEW
STORY BY MRS. ANN STEPHENS.
Beadle’s
Dime Novels, No. 21.
Sybil
Chase; or, The Valley Ranche.
A
Tale Of California Life.
27
April, 1861.
“An
Ominous Year.”
The
Beginning of Civil war.
The
Bombardment Of Fort Sumpter
By
The Forces Of The Southern Confederate States.
Important
Notice ! Leslie Calls For Artists.
18
May, 1861.
Advertisement.
Books
For The Times,
Beadle’s
Dime
Squad Drill Book.
Beadle’s
Dime
Songs for The War.
Life
of Lieut.- Gen. Winfield Scott.
8
June, 1861.
Frank
Leslie
Begs
to inform the public that
during
the War the
Budget
of Fun
will
only be published once a month.
15
June, 1861.
Personal.
Beadle’s
“Military Handbook and Soldier’s Manual,” is a book of general information for
the soldier. It contains the Articles of War, General Orders and Regulations,
Pay Department, Ordnance, Rifles and their use, Culinary and Health
departments, The Law of Prizes, Personal Hints To Volunteers, Dictionary of
Military terms, &c., &c. It is really a very valuable book, and will
command a large sale at the very reasonable price of twenty- five cents.
22
June, 1861.
Battle
at Great Bethel, Va.
20
July, 1861.
The
Battle at Rich Mountain, Western Virginia.
20
July, 1861.
Personal.
MR.
BONNER, of the Ledger, has presented a thousand dollars
to the families of the Massachusetts's Volunteers.
3
August, 1861.
Battle
at Bull’s Run, Va.
24
Aug.,
Battle
At Wilson’s Creek, near Springfield, Missouri.
31
August, 1861.
Barnum’s
American Museum.- The Living Hippopotamus, or River Horse, from the River Nile,
in Egypt, of which the above is a faithful illustration.
7
Sept., 1861.
Bombardment
of Fort Hatteras, North Carolina.
7
Sept., 1861.
Personal.
We
understand that Hermann, the wizard, magician and sorcerer par excellence, is to make his
appearance at the Academy Of Music for the first time about the 4th of next
month.
14
Sept, 1861.
A
VOICE FROM OLD ENGLAND.- The author of “Tom Brown’s Schooldays At Rugby,”
concludes a letter to Macmillan’s Magazine in the following words: “It is the
battle for human freedom which the North is fighting, and which should draw to
them the sympathy of every Englishman, and make him cast to the winds all
Morrill tariffs and angry talk about Canada, all bad manners and harsh words. “
14
Sept, 1861.
Art,
Literature, Music, and the Drama Abroad.
SIR
EDWARD BULWER LYTTON is said to receive 100 guineas for each weekly installment
of his “Strange Story,” in All
The Year Round.
14
Sept, 1861.
Personal.
CHRISTIE’S
MINSTRELS were recently engaged especially by the Mayor Southhampton, to appear
before their Imperial Highnesses, the Archduke and Archduchesses of Austria.
14
Sept, 1861.
Personal.
MR.
EDWIN BOOTH has arrived in England, and would appear for the first time, at the
Haymarket, in the character of Iago.
21
Sept., 1861.
ACCORDING
TO THE Turin correspondent of the London Times,
the ex-Queen of Naples is a “character.” He says she goes about in a man’s
clothes, “smokes like a sailor and swears like a trooper.” Though robbed of her
scepter she disdains to handle the distaff; she carries her dread revolver at
her side - She aimed at a cat the other day, in the Quirinal Garden - who was
basking in the morning sun ( the Queen is up at 5 o’clock ,) on the wall
hanging over the grottoed fountains and waterworks -. Purring, and stretching,
and gamboling, did the unwary tabby luxuriate in the sense of blessed
existence, when the Queen took aim and fired, and the poor thing leaped up in
the air, hit through her head, and dropped down like lead into a basin of water
beneath.
28
Sept., 1861.
Personal.
ALEXANDRE
DUMAS has turned pork merchant in Naples. His shop is in the most conspicuous
and frequented part of the town : it is gilded and furnished with great
splendor, being adorned with pictures whose themes are taken from the works of
the great Romances. His sign is “THE THREE GUARDSMEN ;” and inside beautiful
girls sell sausages, and hams, and tarts in La Tour de Nestle. These girls were
at first dressed in fancy costumes so contrived that they scarcely seemed to be
dressed at all. So the young men of Naples hastened to Dumas’s shop to buy ham
and sausages, and the police deeming it unnecessary for the purposes of the pork
trade that so great an affluence of charms should be displayed, required the
shop girls to wear a garment better adapted to the object for which clothing
was devised by our first parents in Paradise. It is stated that if the police
of Naples thought itself obliged to interfere, the dishabille of the assistants
of Dumas must inded have been complete.
28
Sept., 1861.
Academy
Of Music.- The Prestidigitator, Hermann, has completely changed his programme,
albeit the public were satisfied with it as it stood, and has introduced an
entirely novel series of experiences, if possible more remarkable and
entertaining than the first. He is now assisted by the charming Mrs. Hermann,
who “does” second - sight and clairvoyance in a manner that puts to shame all
Spirit - rappers and Mesmerists. The Foxes may hide their diminished heads, and
Andrew Jackson Davis go to planting congenial cabbages.
12
Oct., 1861.
Advertisement.
Beadle’s
Dime Novels.
Frontier
and Border Stories.
By
Edward S. Ellis, Esq.
Since
the days of Cooper no author has written with so much success in the field of
Indian Frontier Life. The Books named have had a most astonishing circulation.
23
Nov., 1861.
Personal.
HERMANN
IN PHILADELPHIA.- Mr. Hermann has been drawing excellent houses in
Philadelphia. He concludes his engagement there on Saturday, and from thence
goes on to Washington, where he will remain a week.
30
Nov., 1861.
Art,
Literature And Science.
The
well - known African traveller, Captain Burton, is about to publish an account
of his journey to the Great Salt Lake, under the title. “The City of the
Saints.”
30
Nov., 1861.
Personal.
The
“American Gaslight Journal,” published by Professor Buck, No. 39 Nassau street,
is a work worthy of patronage of that much abused majority, the gas - burning
public.
7
Dec., 1861.
Advertisement.
A New
Frontier story, by the author of “Seth Jones,” etc.
BEADLE”S
DIME NOVELS No. 32.
Irona;
or, life in the Southwest Border,
By
Edward S. Ellis.
7
Dec., 1861.
Advertisement.
READY
TUESDAY,
December
10th,
Beadle’s
Christmas Story,
MAUM
GUINEA
And
Her Plantation Children;
Or,
Christmas
Week among the American Slaves.
By
Mrs. Victor.
220
pages, beautifully illustrated. Price twenty cents.
Nat
Turner’s Insurrection is Told At length in Maum Guinea.
14
Dec. 1861.
Foreign
Items.
Surely
Alexandre Dumas pere is the most astounding litterateur of the age. He has written more
novels, plays, and feutilletons than any other living author : he built the
Chateau de Monte Christo; he bought a yacht and patronized Garibaldi ; and the
last thing we hear of the versatile Alexandre is that he has been “presiding”
at a duel in Naples between two angry Italian politicians, M. M. Petrucelli and
Nicotera.
14
Dec. 1861.
Advertisement.
BARNUM
introduces a LIVING WHALE, from the coast of Labrador, swimming in a large tank
and 200 Educated White Rats, performed by Signor Pietro D’Olivera, just arrived
from Italy.
21
Dec., 1861.
The
Battle Of Ball’s Bluff.
21
Dec., 1861.
Personal.
CAPT.
THOMAS, the famous “French Lady,” of awhile ago, has become insane at Fort
McHenry. He amuses himself by sticking matches into cracks in the floor, tables
and chairs, arranged in the form of the regiments, battalions and companies,
which he styles the opposing armies. He does the fighting with a long stick,
and closes with igniting the matches, which represents to him the burning of
Washington by shells from the rebel guns.
28
Dec., 1861.
Campaign
In Missouri.
28
Dec., 1861.
Persecution
Of Negroes In The Capital-
Astounding
revelations.
“ I
find incarcerated in the city jail in this city, in the midst of filth, vermin,
and contagious diseases, on a cold stone floor, many without shoes, nearly all
without sufficient clothing, bedding or fire, and all in a half-starving
condition, 60 colored persons, male and female, confined because- in the
language of their commitments- they were suspected of being runaways, and no
proofs had been adduced that they were not runaways.”
28
Dec., 1861.
Theatrical
And Musical.
LAURA
KEENE’S.- Miss Laura Keene announces the withdrawal of the “Seven Sons” between
this and Christmas. The extravaganza has enjoyed a phenomenal run of nearly 100
nights. It will give place to a Christmas Carol entitled “Little Tom,” and a
burlesque entitled “Robinson Crusoe.
Gleanings 1862.
Final Notes From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.
New York.
4, Jan. 1862.
Serial: Living Or Dead ? A story founded on fact.
4, Jan. 1862.
Book Notice.
Maum Guinea And her Plantation “Children.” by Mrs. Victor. Beadle & Co. New York.
Mr. Beadle’s new story of “Maum Guinea,” is most happily
timed - without any of that one-sidedness which made Uncle Tom’s Cabin so
tabooed a book by all moderate minded men and women. Although full of
“sensations,” it cannot be termed a sensational romance, since it’s influence
is at once truthful, exhilarating and healthful. Despite it’s apparently
hackneyed subject , it may yet be called a novelty in literature. Although the
fact is no recommendation on our side of the Atlantic, we may as well add that
two editions have been sold in England. At the present time we advise all who
wish to see slave life daguerreotyped to read Beadle’s new novel of Maum
Guinea.
11 Jan. 1862.
CANADA.- It is stated that in view of probable hostilities
between England and the United States, the militia of Canada, to the number of
50,000 men, have been ordered out, and every preparation is making for military
movements, should the government call for them.
11 Jan. 1862.
Battle of Dranesville, Virginia.
11 Jan. 1862.
The Octoroon in London.- The production of this play in New
York, a couple of years ago, was attended with considerable excitement- threats
of violence to the author and actors, etc., Most of us then thought , and all
of us are now pretty certain, that the circulation of these stories was part of
a profound advertising scheme of the manager. At any rate, the play “took,” and
has held it’s place in public favor. It’s reproduction in London, by Mr.
Bourcicault, seems also to have been stormy. In the first place, the English
critics didn’t like to see the lovely “Octoroon” killed by poison. The present
English taste, it seems, is for happy denouements - marriage, “a quiet cottage in
--shire, with three sweet daughters, and a son who has already distinguished
himself in the Indian army,” or something of that sort. Besides, if people have
to be killed off, the Cockney, like their congeners of the Bowery, prefer to
have it done with a stab or a pistol shot. Poison creates pains in the stomach,
and no one can die of it without hands clasped around that portion of the
person- and this is neither a graceful nor effective mode of exit. However
Bourcicault defended the suicide of Zoe on artistic grounds (while doing a
little cheap advertising), in a letter to the Times.
But his troubles (if such they be ) did not end here. It is now asserted that
the “Octoroon” is a plagiarism from Mr. Mayne Reid, an adaptation of his
“Quadroon;” and that, where it does not follow that work, it is a parody on
real Southern life. The charge made upon Mr. Bourcicault and his play is thus
formulized by the Athenaeum :
“We are assured that the scenes introduced into the
“Octoroon,” originally, or from some other source than the “Quadroon,” are so
unlike the real life of the country as to suggest the idea that Mr. Bourcicault
has found his original on the stage of New Orleans, not in the plantations. The
captain of the Mississippi steamer, we are assured, is a very gross caricature;
the original being as well-dressed, well-bred, debonair a gentleman as the captain of the
Quirinal of the Alahambra. The French planters of the coast are not less
vilified, we are told, in the “Octoroon.” In dress and manners the real men
resemble their countrymen on the Boulevards and the Rue Rivoli. These points
have an appearance of supporting the charge made against Mr. Bourcicault, that
he has adopted without permission or acknowledgement, the work of a literary
brother : but our readers know that appearances are often extremely misleading,
and it would be unjust to condemn Mr. Bourcicault until he has had, and
neglected, the opportunity of justifying his acts. As the case now stands
before the public, Captain Mayne Reid appears in the position of a man of
letters who has suffered a literary wrong.
25 Jan. 1862.
Col. Sam Colt, whose name has obtained a world-wide
celebrity in connection with his revolving arms, died at his residence, in
Hatford, Conn., on the morning of Jan. 10th, aged 48 years leaving an estate
valued at some millions of dollars.
1 Feb. 1862.
Barnum Outdone.
Strange as it may sound, Barnum has been vanquished, but it
has taken Barnum to do it; his Tom Thumb is no where. That great General has
succumbed to a naval hero-- it is Commodore Nutt. The General does not take his
defeat to heart so much but he could crack a joke at his own defeat, as he did
when he told the Commodore that, “he was a hard Nutt to crack!” It is somewhat strange
that so great a curiosity should never before have been exhibited, but the fact
is so - his father, a most respectable farmer, having invariably turned a dear
ear to all suggestions, till, as the poet says, great Barnum’s whispered honey
won his heart. The great showman has made the Commodore and his family
independent for life, since he pays him $30,000 for three years, his outfit and
his traveling expenses. The Manchester Mirror says:
“It has been a matter of great astonishment to people in
this section that Gen. Tom Thumb should have been the center of attraction
wherever he went, in this country and Europe, visited by the poor and rich, by
statesmen, Congressmen, Presidents, Kings and Queens, the pet of Courts and the
most royal circles, loaded with jewels and diamonds, when we had a specimen of
the Lilliput family here in Manchester, ‘head and shoulders’ smaller, perfect
in form, handsome, witty and winning, and still ‘unhonored and unsung.’ For
years he has occasionally walked our streets, but never without the crowd
stopping and looking at him in wonder, to see a man of the size of a baby
walking along with the ease and nonchalance of the Benicia Boy , or some other
person who had got used to the staring throng.”
“The little fellow is an honorary member of the Amoskeg
Veterans and Governor’s Guards, and is really the pet of his native town. On
Tuesday last he bade his numerous friends farewell, and set out on his travels
in search of fame and fortune, followed by the good wishes of all the good
folks of Manchester. He is now in this city, and will in a few weeks appear at
the American Museum.”
It is significant of Mr. Barnum’s liberality that the offer
he made was more than double that made by other parties. Due notice will be
given of his first appearance at the Museum.
8 Feb. 1862.
Theatrical and Musical.
Winter Garden.- The fairies of the nether Rhine have given
way to the substantial men, women, and negroes of Louisiana. In other words,
the ever popular “Octoroon,” takes the place of the “Naiad Queen.”
15 Feb., 1862.
Personal.
John Brougham, the dramatist and actor, announces, in a
letter to Judge Bernard, of Hoboken, that he is closing his campaign in
England, to return to New York. He will be welcomed by his old friends here.
15 Feb., 1862.
Theatrical And Musical.
Barnum’s Museum.- The great hero of the day, who, to use a
favorite phrase of the dailies, is at once the right man in the right place,
and the master of the situation, is Commodore Nutt, who, it is confidentially
whispered, is the probable successor to Secretary Welles of the Navy. Barnum’s
original method of introducing him to the public is attracting immense crowds.
He is certainly a wonder, and in the words of Dryden, “He is so great, because
he is so small.” As the prince of showmen observes, “He is the very next thing
to nothing at all.” In addition to his being such a gigantic specimen of the
infinitesimal , he is a most accomplished Lilliputian, and sings, dances, and
converses a de morveille.
22 Feb.,1862.
Domestic News.
On Saturday, the 1st February, Baltimore was the scene of a
desperate riot, which fortunately was unattended with bloodshed. As a few
members of the 5th Zouave regiments were strolling in the evening in Lewis
street, they were attacked by some rowdies, who very freely used brickbats as
their missiles. The Zouaves finding their lives in danger, took to their
revolvers. The arrival of the police put an end to the disgraceful riot. Three
or four were slightly wounded. Several arrests of the rowdies were made. We
trust a military example will be made, for it appears the soldiers were not in
the least to blame.
22 Feb.,1862.
Personal.
Mr. Mark Lemon, the Jewish editor of Punch, is lecturing in
London.
1 Mar., 1862.
The Victory At Roanoke Island.
1 Mar., 1862.
Art Notices.
If our readers wish to enjoy a hearty laugh, let them go to
Ross & Tousey and buy the “Bill Poster’s Dream.” We shall not attempt to
describe it, for it must be seen and read to be appreciated. The fun appeals to
everyone’s comprehension. It is equally potent with the millionaire and the
beggar. It would set Barnum, as well as the hippopotamus, laughing , and throw
the “What Is It ?” into convulsions. It is difficult to be serious over so
comic a publication, and we therefore dismiss it with the earnest wish that
such another capitol dish of fun might be ready for us once a week. We only
hope that Forrest, our great native tragedian, Parson Beecher and other
tightrope dancers will commence actions against Messrs. Ross & Tousey for
libel. Rumor assigns this excellent brochure to Mr. Sinclair Tousey, whose
productions hitherto have been of a more serious cast.
1 Mar., 1862.
A gang of coffin robbers have been detected at Weston,
Somerset county, England. The leader was the sexton of the church, and the
party were accustomed to open vaults, break coffins with tools, cut out the
lead lining, and take this lead, with the coffin handles and plates, to sell as
old metal at Bradford. The wood of the coffin and the bones of the inmate were
broken up and stowed away in the further corner of the vault. This had been
going on for over three years, and at least 50 coffins, including those of some
of the most prominent people of the neighborhood, noblemen and others, have
been thus outraged.
8 Mar., 1862.
Personal.
Bourcicault has written a letter to a morning paper denying
the report that he hoisted the secession flag on the Adelphi theatre , London,
on hearing of the seizure by Captain Wilkes of Mason and Slidell.
1862.
8 Mar., 1862.
Advertisement.
Great Books ! - Rich and Racy ! Send stamp for catalogues. A
package containing sketches, songs, a rich plate, and other “fixins,” sent for
25 Cents. Address, Edgar Morphy & Co. No. 81 Nassau st. N. Y.
15 Mar., 1862.
Charles Dickens on the 7th of the present month, completed
his 50th year, having been born at Portsmouth on the 7th of February, 1812.
15 Mar., 1862.
Advertisement.
New Dime Book.- The Rifleman of the Miami, by Edward S.
Ellis, Esq.
29 Mar., 1862.
Obituary.
Mr. Enoch Boone, the first white male child born in
Kentucky, died at his residence in Meads county, in that State on the 8th,
inst., in his 85th year. He was born at Boonesboro on the 16th October, 1777.
He was a member of the Baptist Church for 58 years.
5 April, 1862.
War On The Mississippi River.
5 April, 1862.
Oh, yesterday’s gone, and to-morrow’s to come,
The trumpet is warlike, and so is the drum,
But ‘tis useless to pine or to give way to sorrow,
For to-day will be yesterday - certain to-morrow.
12 April, 1862.
The infelicity of literary marriages is proverbial. Even the
shrewd and sensible Fanny Fern has been unable to evade the inexorable law, for
we regret to hear that she has felt obliged to separate from her husband, whom
she charges with violent usage.
12 April, 1862.
Theatrical And Musical.
Mary Provost’s Theatre.- Mr. J. Wilkes Booth, who has been
playing here during the past three weeks with much success, possesses many of
the distinctive characteristic’s of his father’s genius. He is fiery and
fitful; astonishing the audience with the lightning like vividness of one
phrase and the thunderous heaviness of the other. He is essentially uneven -- a
bore is always smooth; he has just enough of traditional knowledge to make it
extremely difficult for him to be natural, and sufficient genius, we hope and
believe, to lead him right in the end. So far, Mr. Booth’s “Richard The Third,”
has been his best effort. The company here is not very creditable to the
metropolis.
19 April, 1862.
Barnum’s Museum.- The $30,000 Nutt is creating a perfect furore at the Museum. Everybody goes to
see him, everybody is delighted with him. He sing’s, dances, gives the Grecian
Statues, &c., &c.
19 April, 1862.
Leotard, the gymnast, has just concluded an engagement in
Paris for two years, by which he binds himself to give eight performances a
week. For this he is to receive expenses and the enormous sum of $2500 a week,
or no less than $130,000 a year.
19 April, 1862.
Latest News.- Theatrical And Musical.
Barnum’s Museum.- Mr. Barnum delights in extremes. As a
contrast to Commodore Nutt he has secured a Belgian Giant, and prepared a play
in which both appear.
26 April, 1862.
Personal.
The London Correspondent of the New York Express states, in a recent letter, that
Bourcicault and his wife have played the “Colleen Bawn,” in London, upwards of
300 times, and that “the attendance is as good as ever.” Mr. Bourcicault’s
present income from his plays and his performances is said to be one hundred
thousand dollars a year, showing that he must be a much greater man than
Shakespeare, if success be the measure of merit.
26 April, 1862.
Book Notices.
Life of General McClellan.- Beadle’s Dime Library. This is a
very carefully prepared biography of the present leader of our army before Yorktown,
and cannot fail to be very popular. The convenient shape in which it is
published renders it a very desirable book for our soldiers to carry with them
to read at bivouac.
10 Mar., 1862.
Art, Music, And The Drama.
Church’s magnificent picture, the “Heart of the Andes,” is
still on exhibit at Goupil’s. This is the last public view that will be
afforded, and we earnestly advise those who have not yet seen this great work
of native art to visit it without delay.
3 May, 1862.
Art, Literature And Science.
Charles Dickens has been invited to deliver a course of
lectures in Australia, for which he is offered the sum of $30,000, or $25000
and his expenses.
17 May, 1862.
The Censorship.- The Richmond Dispatch ridicules the absurd restraints
which the Department of War has put on the telegraph and press. “the idea that
the leaders on either side derive information of the enemy’s movement’s from
looking at their newspapers is simply ridiculous.
24 May, 1862.
M. Alexander Zamoyski having been accused of printing a
clandestine journal in Poland, was tried by a Russian court of inquiry.
Refusing to answer the interrogations of the court, he was stripped of his
clothing and subjected to a frightful flagellation. The rods used were thicker
than one’s thumb, and the flesh was literally cut to ribbons, particularly on
the right side of the body. M. Zamoyski endured this torment with a noble
courage, without giving the least response and uttered no word. after he had
received 100 strokes he fell senseless, and was hauled over to the care of a
doctor. It is not probable that he will recover.
24 May, 1862.
The preparations for the Great Baby Show go on swimmingly.
About one million babies have been offered by one million of National mothers ,
each believing her babe to be the finest in the world.
24 May, 1862.
Obituary.
Edwin P. Christy, who attempted to commit suicide at his
residence in this city, a few days since, by throwing himself from a
second-story window, died on the 21st of May. He was well known as the founder
of the most successful troupe of Ethiopian Minstrels.
24 May, 1862.
Obituary.
Mr. Henry D. Thoreau, of consumption. May 7, 1862.
31 May, 1862.
Winter Garden.- Miss Bateman’s play of “Geraldine; or, The
Humpbacked Bride,” was performed several times last week with great success,
miss Bateman taking the part of Geraldine, and her father Mr. Bateman, that of
the Welsh Bard. The plot is deeply interesting, and evolves situations of great
dramatic power. The language is forcible, and in many parts highly figurative and
poetic. The chief fault of the play is in the attempt to imitate the old
dramatists, not only in the form of expression, but in the minor details of
carrying out the action. But it is, nevertheless, a remarkable production, and
merits the success it has met with.
Geraldine is a fine character, and affords ample scope for
the genius of Miss Bateman. In the first act she is young, beautiful, hopeful,
and betrothed to the lover of her youth, everything seems bright before her,
when at the betrothal banquet a curse is cast upon her and her house, and her
first sorrow begins. In the second act her lover has returned from the Holy
wars, but in the interim the curse has done it’s work. The parents of both are
dead, and she, through illness, and unknown to herself, has become deformed.
This she first learns at the meeting with her betrothed, and her agony may be
imagined. But they are married, and life seems to brighten for her again, when
fearful suspicions are engendered in her mind by a monk, who proves to be the
son of the provoker of the curse, that a guilty love exists between her husband
and her sister, whom she had so loved from infancy. She is urged by the monk to
kill her sister, but the pleadings of the poor and innocent girl, although she
acknowledges her love, convinces her that there has been no wrong, and she
spares her. Then the morbid feeling, bred from her misfortune, suggests that
her husband cannot love his mis-hapen wife - that the two young and beautiful
love each other hopelessly , and that she is called upon to make a great
sacrifice for the boundless love she bears them both. Overwhelmed by this
feeling, she swallows poison, and dies at the moment when the truth of her
husband is made apparent.
It is a sad story and absorbingly interesting, from the
wonderful power thrown into it by Miss Bateman. There are but few characters in
which the situations are more intensely tragic; they are based upon the most
terrible emotions of the human heart, and in their delineation tax to the
uttermost even Miss Bateman. The close of the fourth act, where she discovers
that her sister loves her husband, and stands over the prostate form of that
broken-hearted sister, and with one hand raised to heaven, exclaims in her
utter agony, “And now I am alone !” was one of the grandest pieces of acting
that we ever witnessed. It was sublime in the depths of its despair and
profound in it’s effect, because free from all exaggeration. We mention this as
an isolated beauty, in a performance which was beautiful through-out, because
it was the great dramatic point of the play, and because from its very nature,
it rose above all her other efforts in force and sublimity. The acting of Miss
Bateman in this, in some measure, an original character, tends still further to
confirm us in our expressed opinion, that her place is in the foremost rank of
living artists.
The brief but marked character of the old Bard was rendered
with remarkable power by Mr. Bateman, and we have rarely heard any speech more
impressive , from its terrible and earnest vehemence, than the withering curse
upon the house which had so wronged him. It brought down a torrent of applause.
The other characters were ably sustained, especially those by Mr. J. W.
Wallack, Jun., Mr. Edwin Adams, and Mr. Davidge.
31 May, 1862.
Barnum’s Museum.- So great has been the success of the
“National Dog Show,” at this establishment, that, unable to accommodate
one-half of the crowds thronging to witness it, the proprietor concluded to
continue the exhibition one more week. It required much diplomacy on the part
of Mr. Barnum to induce the owners of the dogs to consent to the arrangement,
but Barnum never gives up a point, and manages somehow or other to have his
way. The exhibition is really most interesting, and the variety of dogs truly
astonishing. There are many fine specimens of breeds which we never saw before,
and which are very beautiful. One of the most interesting features is the
collection of Esquimaux dogs , for they brought up a thousand recollections of
the horrors of the Arctic voyage, and the inestimable assistance these little
animals have given to man in those regions of eternal snow and ice. The
beautiful drama, “The Flowers of the Forest,” the $30,000 Commodore Nutt, the
Aquarium, and all the myriad curiosities of the Museum are open every day and
evening for inspection. “The National Dog Show” continues all week. Our readers
must bear in mind that the “Great Baby Show” comes off in the first week in
June.
31 May, 1862.
Last Words.
There is something very pathetic in these last words of Dr.
Adams of Edinburgh, the High-school headmaster : “It grows dark, boys; you may
go.”
14 June, 1862.
Theatrical And Musical.
Winter Garden.- Miss Bateman.- The closing nights of her
engagement witnessed a new and genuine triumph for Miss Bateman. The new drama
written for her by Mr. T. De Walden, called “Rosa Gregorio; or, The Corsican
Vendetta,” was, through her efforts, a complete success. It is cleverly
constructed, well written, and contains some striking dramatic situations, and
is, in short, an effective sensation drama.
14 June, 1862.
Barnum’s Museum.- The Great Baby show is in full blast - we
had almost said in full cry, but out of respect for the babies we forebear.
21 June, 1862.
Theophile Gautier, in a letter to the Paris Moniteur, about the opening of the London
Exhibition, says that the architecture of the building for want of a better
title, should be termed “the mechanical,” and adds that, “it unites the
characteristics of the railway station, the market, and the green-house.”
21 June, 1862.
Frank Leslie leads all competitors in the illustrated
newspaper business. His Artists appear to be omnipresent. Nothing remarkable
can happen in any part of the country but it is accurately represented in the
next number of LESLIE’S ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPER. As his regular issue don’t
afford him room enough to “spread himself,” he sends out nearly every week a
supplement of from eight to 16 pages, filled with fine illustrations and choice
reading matter. How he can afford all this we don’t understand. The editorial
department is fully equal in merit to the artistic. It is under the control of
Hon. E. G. Squier, well-known to many of our readers as formerly editor of the Gazette, and a gentleman of high literary
reputation. Some of the most pointed and able articles on the rebellion that we
have read, have been those from his pen published in the editorial columns of
the Illustrated Newspaper. Our readers who want a first rate pictorial and
literary paper should get Frank Leslie’s. - Scioto
Gazette (Chillicothe), Ohio.
21 June, 1862.
Miss Bateman has deserted the WINTER GARDEN, and her place
cannot be supplied; but the great Wizard, Professor Anderson, steps in to
mesmerize the people by magic and humor. He presents a grand spectacular
burlesque, entitled, “The Wizard’s Tempest; or, The King of the Magical
Island.”
25 June, 1862.
In Press : Nearly Ready, Incidents Of The Civil war In
America. One hundred pages, Large 8 Vo., Part 1, Profusely and Elegantly
Illustrated; will be ready in a few days. Price Twenty-five Cents. Frank
Leslie, Publisher, 19 City Hall square, New York.
28 June, 1862.
Miss Bateman - Her success in Brooklyn.- After the close of
Miss Bateman’s six week triumphant engagement at Winter Garden, she gave, at
the solicitation of many friends, one performance at the Academy Of Music,
Brooklyn. She selected for the occasion, Sheridan Knowle’s play, “The
Hunchback,” and drew around her an excellent company as support. The character
of Julia is one of Miss Bateman’s most striking and powerful personations - the
one, indeed, in which she first impressed the New York public with the force of
her genius. It is hardly necessary to say that her personation of Julia, in
Brooklyn, created as profound a sensation and as fervid an enthusiasm, as it
did in New York; for we are satisfied that, go where she will, her abounding
genius will make itself felt, and that the more highly refined her audience the
more signal will be her triumphs. Her success was so unequivocal , and the
desire to see her again so general, that upon a request made by a number of the
most prominent citizens of Brooklyn, Miss Bateman made arrangements for two
more performances at the Academy Of Music, which resulted brilliantly for her
reputation, and successfully in every other respect. We understand that Miss
Bateman will not act again until the fall season, when she will appear at
Winter Garden, assisted by a powerful company. We shall hail her coming.
28 June, 1862.
Barnum’s Museum.- The Great Baby Show has concluded. After
crowding the Museum all day long for two weeks. It was certainly a great
success, and Barnum reaped a golden reward for his energy and enterprise. As a
manager, Mr. Barnum is never at a loss; the excitement attendant upon one
novelty has scarcely subsided before the interest is revived by something new
and startling. So with the close of the Baby Show the visitors of the Museum
are presented with a new and interesting moral drama, called, “Gwynneth
Vaughan; or, the Fate of a Coquette.” It is produced with the whole acting
strength of the establishment, and new and beautiful scenery, dresses, and
music have been prepared to render it specially attractive. “Gwynneth Vaughan,”
will be performed in the Lecture Room every afternoon at 3 o’clock, and every
evening at a quarter to eight, together with the amusing farce, “A Journey To
Richmond.” Commodore Nutt - the $30,000 Commodore - still holds his levees, and
charms the crowded assemblages by his vivacious and witty conversation. A new
juvenile wonder, Master Waller, also does extraordinary things for a child
hardly six years old. We advise all who intend visiting the Museum to be sure
to be present when the monster serpents are fed. The interesting ceremony takes
place at 2 P. M. every day.
28 June, 1862.
Advertisement.
Cal Ganza; or, The Flying Islands.- This is the title of a
most alluring story, just opened in Wilkes’s
Spirit Of The Times. The
hero, a young Spanish sailor, falls in with a pirate, then becomes a captive
among the tribes of Africa, and finally is ship-wrecked, alone, against a
desolate and rock-bound lodestone island, far away in the South Seas, and till
then undiscovered. The work enchains the attention at the outset, and the
style, which is not unlike that of Gil Blas, is so familiar and so fine that as
we read we continually fancy we recognize an old acquaintance. The end of the
fourth chapter leaves the hero about landing upon the unknown coast, to follow
the flight of some strange birds, in whose craws he has discovered a sparkling
sand or gravel, which turns out to be a diamond. Unless we are much mistaken,
we trace the magical touch of George Wilkes himself in some of the best
passages.
28 June, 1862.
Advertisement.
Sinclair Tousey, 121 Nassau St., New York. General Agent for
Publishers, Newsdealers, and Booksellers. Everything required by the trade.
Supplied at the lowest rates.
5 July, 1862.
The War In The Shenandoa Valley.
5 July 1862.
Barnum’s Museum.- The dogs and the babies have had their day
and the reign of adipose matter has commenced.
5 July 1862.
George Christy Once More at Home.- We need hardly tell our
readers that George Christy is not only one of the most popular delineators of
the Ethiopian character, but that he is the best, the funniest, and the most
original of all.
5 July, 1862.
Advertisement.
Artificial Legs And Arms.
Selphe’s Patent. 516 Broadway, N.Y.
Opposite St. Nicholas Hotel.
Send for a circular.
23 Aug., 1862.
Personal.
Belle Boyd, the Secesh Cleopatra, is caged at last. It
appears that she has red hair and large teeth, and a loud, coarse laugh. She is
a devoted admirer of Stonewall Jackson.
6 Sept,1862.
Personal.
CHURCH, the painter, is to be at work on another picture
entitled, “The Volcano Of Cotopaxi.” It is described as being more startling
and original than any of his previous works. The picture is about eight by ten
feet, and represents the volcano in action.
20 Sept., 1862.
Second Battle Of Bull Run.
20 Sept., 1862.
Personal.
Dion Bourcicault is said to have realized $185,000 by his
share of the profits of the “Colleen Bawn,” in London, and has invested $85,000
in the purchase of an estate at Brompton, England, known as “Hertford House.”
4 Oct., 1862.
News, Scraps, And Items.
Duels between females are not uncommon in Italy. Two sisters
named Munzia and Maria Granata recently met by appointment, and fought with the
national weapon, the knife. The combat was only terminated by the death of one
of the sisters. Jealousy was the cause of the rencoutre.
18 Oct., 1862.
Antietam.
18 Oct., 1862.
Weekly Gossip.
In the fine art way there is a new sensation picture at Ball
and Black’s called “Columbia,” painted by W. M. Davis, which is full of
ability. The subject is most skillfully treated, and is elaborate in
allegorical detail, which must be studied. Mr. Davis achieved a sudden
notoriety by his previous picture, “Dead Gone,” and “The Neglected Picture,”
both of which we believe were purchased by Norman Wiard, Esq., whose rifled
steel guns have done such famous service against the rebels in arms.
1 Nov., 1862.
The painter Boutelle is now engaged on a large picture of
Trenton Falls, for which he has made many striking studies. While on a visit to
that remarkable series of beautiful cascades, not long since, he made sketches
and small paintings of the finest of them,, besides the one chosen for his
great picture, principally with a view of familiarizing himself with the
character of the place. The picture is of the size of Church’s Niagara.
1 Nov., 1862.
Editors are exempt from military duty under the new rebel
Conscription Act, as likewise such help as they require in their business;
employees of transportation and the telegraph companies, ministers of the
gospel, physicians, shoemakers, farmers, blacksmiths, wagon masters, millers;
superintendents and employees in hospitals, wood, cotton, and paper mills;
employees on Government work, overseers of plantations; one man to every 500
head of cattle.
8 Nov., 1862.
The London Exhibition.- The so-called “World’s International
Exhibition,” in London, has proved a failure in every sense. The building is a
hideous monstrosity, and while the expense of “getting it up,” has been much
greater than was the affair of 1851, the receipts have been considerably less.
The building, or the materials that compose it, will have to be sold to pay the
contractors, and the whole affair, which can only be compared to a gigantic
advertising van, will very soon be forgotten.
8 Nov., 1862.
Personal.
Tom Thumb has been duly initiated a Master Mason in St.
John’s Lodge, No. 1, of Bridgeport, Conn. The Hall was crowded on the occasion
of the ceremony.
15 Nov., 1862.
News Scraps, And Items.
The young ex- Queen of Naples has entered herself as a nun
in the convent of St. Ursula, at Augsburg. The step is rumored to be the finale
of a Mary Stuart or Countess of Zell romance, with love, jealousy, rage and
homicide for ingredients. Ex-King Francis II. protested against the flight of
his consort, who is, however, upheld by her Bavarian House.
15 Nov., 1862.
What The World Abroad Says.
Sleepwalking.- A laboring man at Angouleme, France, while on
a visit to a friend, took a notion to walk in his sleep. He got up and opening
a window, fell 20 feet to the pavement, without awakening; after which he
started off on a walk through the town, and only came to himself on being
challenged at the barrier.
15 Nov., 1862.
Foreign News.
A DWARF elephant , 20 years old, and only 30 inches high - a
perfect Tom Thumb of the elephant tribe - has just been added to Edmond’s
menagerie in England. It was imported from Mallaca.
15 Nov., 1862.
A stranger, bent upon seeking amusement in New York, would
hardly credit that the country was in the midst of a devastating civil war. Let
him visit the theatres, high or low grade, the minstrel halls, the concert
saloons, and he will find one and all crowded by as free-from-care a people as
the world could produce. Such is life !
15 Nov., 1862.
What The World Abroad Says.
The Velocipede.- Many of our old citizens will remember how,
about half a century ago, a rage grew in New York for this method of locomotion,
and how the streets became so full of these leg-worked horsey characters that a
municipal edict had to be issued against them. We see now that the fashion is
arising in England, and that two gentlemen have been experimenting on traveling
long distances. They went from Bristol to London, 118 miles, in 27 hours and a
half, and after staying three days in the metropolis, returned to Bristol in 18
hours, that being at the uniform rate of six miles per hour on the return
journey.*
22 Nov., 1862.
What The World Abroad Says.
SHE WILL BE A NUN.- It is asserted that the late Queen of
Naples, the spouse of Bomba II., who by the way is infinitely too good and
spirited by such a husband, is about to take the veil, and is undergoing her
probation in a convent at Augsburg.
29 Nov., 1862.
What The World Abroad Says.
BARRY, THE ST. BERNARD.- This most famous of dogs is dead
and stuffed. Barry was as well known upon the mountains of St. Bernard as the
monastery itself. The records of his deeds show that he has saved the lives of
forty persons. He was sent off upon his daily and nightly errands with a warm
garment strapped upon his back, and the never-failing cask about his neck, and
his intelligence taught him when he found a traveler overcome, to arouse him by
licking his hands and face, and if this failed, to hasten back to the monastery
at his highest speed and return with help. One day Barry was seen returning
with a boy clinging to his back. He had found the lad frozen upon the glacier
of Balsone, and had licked him into life so that the boy was enabled to drink
from the cask, and to get up on the dog’s back, and so was saved. After a long
life of usefulness, Barry was pensioned off in a comfortable home at the foot
of the mountains, where he expired full of years and honor, and his skin has
been stuffed, and now stands in the Museum at Berne, with his collar and bottle
on as an example to dogs and men for all future time.
6 Dec. 1862.
The Female Blondin, who fractured her thigh-bone while
performing some foolhardy feat, is crippled for life.
6 Dec. 1862.
An English Bishop has published a book in which he denies
the inspiration of the Pentateuch, and he also throws great doubt upon JOB,
whom he pronounces to have been a Hindoo.
6 Dec. 1862.
THE EX-QUEEN OF NAPLES has been pronounced insane.
6 Dec. 1862.
From the New York Herald
: A boy about fourteen years
old, who left home on Thursday afternoon, 6th, inst., previous to the
snowstorm. He said he was going hunting to the Catskill Mountains; had with him
a single barreled gun; was dressed with gray overcoat , check pants, rather
wide black cloth cap, black cloth jacket, check shirt. Any information on the
above errent youth will be thankfully received by his father, etc.
13 Dec., 1862.
Book Notice.
ELLIOT’S INDIAN BIBLE.- Among the curious books in the
library of Harvard college is a copy of Elliot’s Indian Bible. This was the
first Bible printed on this continent, and the type was set up by an Indian. It
was printed in the house of the President at Cambridge. It is in the Natick
language, and there is not a person living that can read it. There are some of
the words remarkably long, of which the following is a specimen :
“WUTTEPPESITTUKEPISSONWEHTUNKQUO.”
20 Dec., 1862.
-The ex-Queen of Naples has left her nuns and nunnery, and
is now in Rome, applying for a divorce from her husband.
27 December, 1862.
The War.
Our next paper will contain accurate pictures of the Battle
of Fredericksburg, from sketches made by our special Artist, Mr. Henri Lovie.
Every occurrence of importance connected with the pending campaign will be
faithfully illustrated in our paper.
27 December, 1862.
Foreign.
-The great prize-fight for the championship of England,
between Jem Mace and Tom King took place on the 26th of Nov. After fighting 21
rounds, most of which were in favor of Mace, King put in one of his
sledgehammer blows, and knocked Mace insensible. As Mace did not come to “time”
when it was called, King was declared the victor. It is reported that John C.
Heenan has agreed to fight King for the Championship, each man to put up $500.
END.
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