When the Book of Good Deeds ix opened and the names therein written are trumpeted out, the four winds will hear much of two classes of people—amateur actors and those who arrange bazaars. They are among the workers who are predestined to "splash at a ten league canvas with brushes of comet's hair"— as they have been good so shall they be happy. The list of these worthy folk is long, and day by day it is increased. The Fancy Fair which opened at the Drill Hall, Nanking Road, on Thursday made a sensible differen in its size. The fair—or bazaar—had been arranged by a committee of ladies, infrequently depend-on the mere male for assistance, and, first and foremost, they must be congratulated on a result charming and cheerful. Charming because the Drill Hall was admirably arranged from the decorative point of view; and cheering, because financial success is almost certain, and this will mean the benefit of the Victoria Nursing Institution, praise of which is trite. The eye was met by colour, movement and life, the ear was struck by music, and the heart was mored—in varying' degrees according to the individual—by persuasive tongues offering for sale things from East, West, North, and South. Age can never wither nor custom stale the infinite variety of a bazaar stall. As is conceit to some people, s0 is variety to a stall—you remove it and the remains defy identification. This is as it should be, for variety pepper and salt of existence, Also it is an nid to chitty, for the bewildered visitor, drawn as by the moving of the Kaleidoscope, looks, covets, and is conquered.
So it befell on Thursday most of the many people who attended the bazaar were will ing purchasers; but some there were—there always are—who required gentle leading, careful management. Ayainst these were directed a battery of smiles and woris, and unwillingness melted to complaisance. There was much to see. At the head of the stone steps one was met by an Art Exhibition, which gave way as the door was passed to a fortune-teller's tent, the sides sprinkled with cards. These should be passed for the moment, however, and some attention given to the money-changing office a few steps beyond. The transmutation of notes into silver aceomplished, one could revert to art and fortune, and so reach the shooting gallery. After this, and fringing the walls of the room, came the general stalls. No trifle, however unconsidered, seemed to be lacking there. There were toys in abundance, suitable for children of all ages and of both sexes, and pretilly made and tasteful in appearance. there were clothes for the very young, olls gured prominently—was there ever a bazaar at which no dolls were offered?—and the youngsters could further aniuse themselves with a pie from which they were allowed to draw a prize—for a consideration, The elder people had a much more various choice. Ornaments there were in profusion, and of all descriptions, from venetian glass to paper. There were dainty boxes of stationery, photo-frames, every article attractive or useful, most of them uniting both attributes. All this takes no account of the Post Office, where were sold excellent pictorial postcards, and where one could write a letter which would he received free but paid for by the addressee; of the electrical exhibition, the collections of pictures, the Punch ind Judy show with. its shrill mirth; or of the tea garden, where light refreshments could be obtained under the pleasantest conditions. There were tableaux vivants in the afternoon when such pictures as "A Merry Xmas," A Pitched Battle," "The Almoner," and finally "The Aim of our Work" were The First Grand Evening Concert was given in the Theatre of Varieties shortly after %, there being a much larger attendance at the Bazaar in the evening than in the afternoon. The theatre was filled with a music-loving audience, and the concert was opened by Mr. Ormiston with a piano solo admirably rendered. Mr. G. Maitland, accompanied on the piano by Mr. Ormiston, sang most sweetly and with perfect enunciation two songs by R. Schumann, Thou'rt like a lovely flower," and "The rose and the lily," the last'a brilliant little effort only too short. There was the usual applause when Miss Macleod came on to play x Berceuse by Godard, and very delightful it was. Mrs. Johnston accompanied her on the pit Miss Macleod was enthusiastically applauded and encored, but she only bowed to her audience. Miss Wehrung, most effectively dressed as a lady cowboy, with bowie-knife and revolver in her belt, then sang to perfection, accompanied by Miss Macleod on the piano, Godard's very popular Clan-on de Florian, and was twice recalled, but could not be persuaded to sing og: Mr. Vinay then gave with his usual brilliant execution Rubinstein's Tarentelle ea the piano, and the concert closed with Mr. J. C, Johnston's vigorous and tuneful rendering, accompanier by Mes. Johnston, of Jessie Botterill's "Pack, Clouds, Away." Then the audience was rapidly cleared out to make way for another exhibition of tableau: vieants.
The second evening concert came on at ten o'clock, and was again a success. Messrs. H. Vinay and E. Ormiston opened with a pianoforte duet, Patierno's Minuit, which they gave with excellent spirit and precision. Mrs. Lanphier sang Chaminade's Rosemonde with the grace and delicacy of expression which the song deserves. Mr. F. Pratt's playing of the violin solo, Windeatt's Romance, was good alike in tone and expression, and Mrs. Valentine followed with Dudley Buck's song When the Heart is Young." She gave it with a richness of tone and delivery that earned her hearty applause. Mr. W. H. Lewis was robustious in Watson's "Thy Sentinel am I." A variety entertainment concluded the evening.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.