HIM. Kuang Hsti dyes not get credit for much at the close of this remarkable century and the announcement that he is an ardent: admirer and indeed exponent of Western music and musical instruments will déubtless come as a shock to the aesthetic. But if his passions in this direction are undeveloped, not to say weird, yet he finds time in. his rigid seclusion at Peking to pursue the divine art, and it is said soothe the-untutored breasts of the numerous ladies of the Imperial Household, Strangeas it may sound, China is a strange country—the junction of all that is contradictory in life and manners—and this latest incongruity only renders the land stranger still, and fills the inquisitive Occidental with a deep desire to discover if the Chinese really have any artistic feelings beyond their love of tawdry processions, hideous colours, and even more hideous national music. What particular class of music His Majesty favours we are not privileged to relate. Whether he soars after the classically grand or revels in the mire of the music hall ditty matters not, the fact remains that he does appreciate piano music and has already in his palace quite a considerable number of valuable instruments. Mr. Syd. Moutrie, the well-known piano manufacturer on Nanking Road, has just recently returned from a somewhat lengthy stay in the capital and he has learned that if the Emperor is a mere political puppet in the hands of a crowd of corrupt officials, beset by foreign diplomats at every turn eager to wrest from him the most valuable portions of his seaboard—a veritable puppet as a man and ruler,—he possesses at least one valuable trail love of music. An audience with the Emperor of China is vouchsafed only to the' exalted few (fate is replete with irony), and consequently Me. Moutrie was not allowed to enter the precincts of the royal dwelling, but on the Emperor being informed of his skill in the matter of piano making and repairing, His Majesty dispatched an official with all promptitude and much unnecessary ceremony to ask what he (Mr. Moutrie) could do for the Imperial pianos, and whether he thought he could be trusted to enquire into their delicate mckanion, Ins. Mowtcie expressed confidence as to his abilities in this connection, and after some delay the official and others returned bearing with them a piano which had certainly seen its best days and which bore evidences of considerable hard usage. The keys were filthy and had various Chinese hieroglyphies stamped on them whilst the instrument had not been tuned for years. With very little trouble the tone was restored and the keys cleaned. This latter action however was against all Chinese taste and the Emperor sent back word that the characters to be immediately replaced whilst the opinion was expressed that there was not the slightest necessity for cleaning the ivories. li that was needed was tuning and repair Mr. Moutri the reproof with much sign was to his professional susceptibilities, but halm was forthcoming in the shape of more work. Several pianos, an antiquated bihous-looking harmonium, a strident orchestrian and a comical arrangement, which it was stated was the brilliant idea of the Emperor, formed out of a worn-out Prince of Wales' harp. All these had to be repaired not without some difficulty the last named horror having been fixed "wrong side up" with the bass where the treble ought to be. However all was put in good order and the Emperor seemed so well pleased with his work that he sent one of his guard to thank Mr. Moutrie for his pains. So great was his appreciation of Mr. Moutrie's skill as a mechanician that with the childlike guilelessness which is so natural with him he sent a perambulator and a jinricsha to he repaired likewise Could this have been sarcasm? We hardly think so. If the Emperor really is musically inclined then a good opportunity unfolds itself for him to rehabilitate the national treasury. Why not goon tour? The "Kuang Hsii Concert Patty," would be sure of star engagements the less enlightened countries of the West. He could leave China say in charge ofa few Russian officials and seo the world. His appearance at the Alhambra in a legitimate role would create more genuine enthusiasm than a Paderewski recital at Queen's Hal
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.