Through the painstaking energy of Mr. and Mrs, Archibald Little a most interesting matinee was given at St. George's Hall last Tuesday afternoon, in aid of the Chinese $.D.K. and the Society for doing away with the mutilation of the feet of women and children in China. The principal feature of the entertainment was the performance of Borrowing Boots, an English version of @ Chinese play, which I believe boasts of being some hundreds of years old; the translation being the work of Mr. Little. The audience was large and most appreciative. I think everyone must have recognised the enormous difficulties entailed in the task of rendering this old Chinese comedy acceptable to an audience of the present day. But the novelty of the methods adopted added to the interest of the piece, being so totally different from anything we have seen before. There are three characters: the young spendthrift, his friend and a servant.' All the parts were admirably filled; Mr. Widdicombe enacted that of the owner of the boots; Mrs. Hol-brook Blinn was the young spendthrift, and Miss St. Quinton the boy servant; her's was, to my mind, the cleverest study of the three. Miss Lolo Fuller had promised to assist and was to have danced a Chinese dance. Unluckily, owing to the severe illness of her mother she was unable to appear, but she sent a most kind and donation to the fund. Miss Lo! took her place and was as amusing as ever in her rendering of that very clever monologue Mrs. Rawdon's Rehearsal. A most charming little piece in pantomime entitled La Lecon d'Amour was contributed by Lady Clark Jervoiso and Miss Aimee Lowther and several other artistes lent th aid with excellent results.
"Among the Patronesses (most of whom were present) were Lily, Duchess of Marlborough, Theresa, Countess of Shrewsbury, Lady Charles Beresford, Lady Charlotte Montgomery (who brought a large party), Lady Collins, (who likewise had several friends with her), Lady Hart, and Mr. and Mrs, H. M. Stanley. Several well-known China residents notably Mr. and Mrs. Gowing, Mr. and Mrs Mowat, Mr. Kopsch, Mrs. Edgar, Mrs. A, Krauss, Mrs. Cloud Rees, Mrs. Brent, and Mrs. Cameron were seen among the audience. At the close of the performance Mr. and Mrs. Little received the warm congratulations of their friends on the satisfactory results of their endeavour to augment the funds of these two most deserving charities.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.