Page:Punch Vol 148.djvu/472

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378
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
[May 12, 1915


of actor-management on a first night. I liked him best in his less strenuous moments. His modern uniform suited him well, much better indeed than those martial trappings of antiquity in which he has often figured. In his mufti, which showed no hint of Gallic fantasy, his moustache made him relatively commonplace, and I cannot help thinking that his murder of Falkland would have been more effective if he had done it in uniform. How he escaped general observation while entering, and debouching from, the lady's window in full view of the Bosphorus, which I understood to be packed, like Henley, with interested spectators, I shall never understand.

As Mehmed Pasha, Mr. Arthur Bourchier, disguised in an aquiline nose and a pair of eyelids which he kept lowered, like blinds, for the purpose of inscrutability, had a part that he could hardly help playing to universal admiration. Mr. Harcourt Williams, as Prince Cernuwitz, a chevalier d'industrie of the first class, might have contrived a more obvious air of villainy, but the atmosphere of diplomacy at the Sublime Porte would naturally encourage secretiveness.

Mr. Edmund Maurice's art was wasted on the unrelieved and clumsy brutality of Falkland. Miss Granville was excellent in the First Act, one of those scenes—the usual dazzling reception—where you have to find out, from momentary flashes of dialogue, who everybody is and how they got there. These scenes always make me dizzy, but the intervention of Miss Granville, as a nice woman of the world, gave me courage and confidence.

The play, on its own merits, modest but sound of their kind, goes well, and should run; though its course might have been lightened by a little more humorous relief. Whether it does justice to the original novel on which it is based is another matter. I do not attempt to institute a comparison, partly because the book is no business of the critic's, but chiefly because I haven't read it. O. S.



From the cotton report of the Liverpool Courier:—

"As the situation shows but little change from that experienced lately, we can only repeat what we said last week—that buying on conservative lines on week days will, no doubt, prove remunerative."

Our contemporary's persistent discouragement of Sunday trading does it credit.



The Question of the Hour.

To doubtful Patriots: Potstill or Potsdam—which will you have?



THE TRIPLE HANDICAP.

When I was a kid of about thirteen
And rather slow for my years,
I knew a boy who in mind and mien
Outdistanced all of his peers;
His clothes were tidy, his hair was sleek,
For he brushed it morning and night;
He was equally good at Latin and Greek,
And his sums were always right.

His industry made him the masters' pet,
His neatness the matron's joy;
He never did anything wrong, and yet
He wasn't a popular boy;
For his name excited a vague mistrust
And his face our prejudice fanned,
And we all of us felt a deep disgust
Whenever we shook his hand.

His merits were mainly negative;
Tradition he never defied;
And he certainly wasn't wont to give
Offence by swagger or side;
He made no claim to be bold or brave;
He didn't hustle or shove;
But he wasn't marked for an early grave,
Like those whom the high gods love.

I saw him stand at my last Speech Day
Bowed down with many a prize,
And four full decades had rolled away
Ere next he fronted my eyes;
'Twas down at Shrimpington-on-Sea,
Where I was taking the air,
With my daughter upon my arm, and he
Was wheeling an old Bath chair.

How came it that one so well endowed
For taking the ball at the hop
Should sink in the depths of the struggling crowd
Instead of reaching the top?
Well, all through life he had fought with odds,
For his name was Adolphus Jopp,
He had an eye like a parboiled cod's,
And a hand like a cold pork chop.



"Save us from our friends."

"Four large transports of Germans have been sent as reinforcements to the Dardanelles.

"A big panic reigns in Constantinople."

Correspondent of "The Star."


"The Austrian Post Office has put into circulation a new series of stamps, on which are engraved the victories which Austria has obtained in the present war."—Central News.

Austria must, indeed, be chastened when she admits that all her victories could be written on the surface of a postage stamp. The back, of course, is reserved for the lickings.


"LAST MOMENTS OF THE
'KARLSRUHE.'

She Strikes a Beef and is Blown Up."

Calcutta Empire.

Bully Beef



IF IT GOES ON MUCH LONGER.

If it (there is only one meaning to "it" just now—the War) goes on much longer, and England, already giddy with the Chancellor's figures, is made bankrupt—a contingency which our courage declines to contemplate—American millionaires will have the chance of acquiring the Old Country. Some such advertisements as these may then be expected:—

To Sporsmen. Great Bargain.

Suitable for rich American or Argentine gentleman thinking of taking up racing in England, the only industry that still flourishes there, unharmed by the War—Hyde Park. This famous open space, or lung of London, as it has been epigrammatically styled, would make admirable training ground for thoroughbreds, and might even be laid out by an enterprising speculator as a racecourse, thus bringing the noble sport nearer still to the Metropolis and preventing any confusion between race-trains and the trains conveying passengers intent upon their work. No reasonable offer refused.

For River Lovers.

Banks of Thames. Historic building known as the Tower of London. Replete with every romantic requirement: Traitors' gate, headsman's block, moat; unparalleled view of shipping; close to Tower Bridge; constant 'buses.

To Collectors.

Messrs. Minstrel have instructions to sell, for the benefit of the English nation, the contents of the building in Bloomsbury known as the British Museum. The sale will begin each morning at 10 o'clock, and go on for a year. Every taste catered for. The collection ranges from Elgin marbles to umbrellas left by students. Send motor lorry for catalogue. Offers invited for building. Suitable as London offices of American Trust.

Abbey for Sale!

Situate at Westminster, within easy distance of the theatres, river, Houses of Parliament and Victoria Station, old-world Abbey replete with ancient associations. Twin towers; unique historic dust; stained glass; cloisters; old-world atmosphere. The very thing for American multi-millionaires. Could be used as a cute joy-house during life and private mausoleum after death. What offers?



How we get our War-news.

"VICTORY IN GALLIPOLI.
Late Wire from Chester."

The Star.